First Podcast Movement Evolutions speakers announced

• First look: Podcast Movement Evolutions at SXSW has unveiled the first wave of speakers, including the acclaimed storyteller MrBallen. There will be live programming through the weekend, as well as a morning keynote from YouTube.

• Opting in for Spotify Video? You’ll harm the measurability of your podcast, warns Podscribe in an email to subscribers today. This harms your measurement whether your listeners choose video or audio, since even if your listeners choose an audio version of a show that’s available in video, they still get served the audio track of the video direct from Spotify - with no measurement from Podscribe or similar. Podscribe describes a part-workaround.

  • Spotify breaking open RSS in this way also extends to some podcast rankers like the Triton Digital ranker, which is based on logfile analysis. This led to Australian publisher Shameless Media coming out of the Australian ranker, as we reported last week. Analytics tools like OP3, which is based on server redirects, also cannot measure any plays on Spotify if that episode opted into video. It also means that you can’t serve dynamic ads on these shows as well, which means you may significantly lower your revenue. A Sounds Profitable piece from April 2025 highlights the issues - and bluntly tells the podcast industry not to take part.

• UK podcast production company Goalhanger has formed a strategic partnership with The Chernin Group to accelerate the company’s US expansion. TCG is Goalhanger’s first external investor (the company has been entirely bootstrapped until now, though co-founder Gary Lineker is a multi-millionaire). TCG has also invested in Audiochuck, Barstool Sports, and Substack.

• Earlier this week, we reported on the Edison Podcast Metrics US Top 50 for Q4/25. But, is there anything to learn from their show description, titles, or artwork that have helped them succeed? Ausha has taken a look at the anatomy of the most successful US podcasts - particularly, show descriptions are around 500 characters for all of them (with the possible exception of Joe Rogan, who still hasn’t quite got the hang of it).

• Fresh from closing a funding round, Truefans has launched its new podcast hosting platform, offering more accurate analytics, and a new model for charging podcast creators based on total plays. You can host unlimited podcasts and customise your own portal pages with blog posts, events and more.

• First look: Triton Digital released the Canada Podcast Ranker for December 2025. CBC/Radio-Canada is #1, Audioboom at #2, and the BBC is at #3. Front Burner remains the #1 show.

• The winners of the Political Podcast Awards were announced in London. The Persephonica show Political Currency, hosted by former UK Chancellor George Osborne and former shadow UK Chancellor Ed Balls, was crowned Podcast of the Year. Last year’s winner, The Rest is Politics, wasn’t awarded this time round.

  • Meanwhile, the British Podcast Awards have announced that entries are open. There are two new categories - food and drink, and The Amplifier, which “recognises podcasts with exceptional reach, influence and cultural impact, open to 300,000+ downloads per episode.” The first entry deadline is Apr 30.

• AIR, the association of independents in radio, has announced the results of its 2026 Board of Directors elections. Among the podcast names you’ll recognise are Julie Shapiro, Twila Dang, and Joni Deutsch.

From Jan 1, Podnews is no longer directly connected to the Sounds Profitable group of companies, including Podcast Movement, who appear in stories today. Full disclosures

Podcast Discovery Novels - with Ausha

Paid content

After a long day, Daniela—a young thirty-something who calls Miami home—finds a quiet moment on her commute. Wanting stories she connects with, she opens Apple Podcasts and searches “Latino activism.” At the very top of the search results: the podcast Latino USA.

Encouraged, she searches “Latino representation,” and there it is as the second search result. She follows the show instantly, having stumbled into the news and cultural storytelling she’s been craving.

That weekend at a family dinner, her cousin asks what she’s been listening to. She grabs her cousin’s phone, notices her cousin uses Spotify, but searches anyway—wanting to show her how she found Latino USA. She types “Latinos,” and Latino USA appears among the top results there too. Her cousin leans in, intrigued, and Daniela herself is happily surprised.

What Daniela doesn’t realize is that these aren’t lucky discoveries. After Latino USA worked on Podcast Search Optimization (PSO) with Ausha, the show leaped from search result #100 to #1 for “Latino activism," reached the second spot for “Latino representation” on Apple Podcasts, and surfaced to the top results for “Latinos” on Spotify.

✨ That’s the power of PSO: helping trusted news and cultural storytelling meet the people searching for it.

Explore Ausha’s PSO Control Panel for free — no card required.

Podcast News - with Airwave

For your Ambies Consideration: A Zen Mind has been nominated for Best Wellness or Relationships Podcast. With Airwave, this show gives you a guided meditation every episode - a gentle space to turn inward, release what no longer serves you, and reconnect with your truest self. Slow down, breathe deeply, and realign with clarity, wisdom, and peace.

Real Game With Cheyenne Woods has just launched. Yes, she’s the niece of Tiger Woods, and her new podcast is a bold new sports and mental-performance series. Season one features conversations with the likes of NFL Hall of Famer Brian Urlacher, LPGA Tour Winner Sandra Gal, and retired New York Yankees centerfielder Aaron Hicks.

The Laughing Mystics - now in its second season - has just hit 2500 streams and downloads. Good friends Marci Madary & Laura Lewis-Barr share their unique stories and different views of the weekly readings at church. Each week Marci shares her mystical Christian insights & infectious laughter with Laura, who ponders what Carl Jung & Joseph Campbell might say about these scriptures. Unscripted and lively, Laura and Marci offer as many questions as answers as to how Depth Psychology and Christianity might come together.

If you’ve been trying to understand what Trump’s first year actually means for our future, this episode of RePROs Fight Back is your guide. Host Jennie Wetter and Jessica Mason Pieklo of Boom! Lawyered break down the policies and pressures reshaping the US. Not because the news is good (it’s not), but because hearing two thoughtful experts connect the dots and offer real ways to support makes everything feel a little less disorienting.

Hello, Puzzlers!, did you know today is National Puzzle Day in the US? In celebration, NYTimes best selling author A.J. Jacobs, alongside Chief Puzzle Officer Greg Pliska, are hosting a special Hello, Puzzlers! livestream packed with brand-new themed puzzles just for the event. Joined by guests Matthew Broussard (MondayPunday), David Spira & Peih-Gee Law (Reality Escape Pod), and Jodi Jill, founder of Puzzle Day. Tune in today at 7pm ET on YouTube.

Portal Biotechnologies Founder and CEO Armon Sharei, Ph.D. and team have announced the launch of Boba & Biotech, a new podcast offering an unfiltered look at what it really takes to bring new drugs and cell therapies to patients. The video and audio series will feature conversations with scientists, founders, pharma leaders, investors, and clinicians shaping the future of human health.

Podcasts in the wild

To the World Economic Forum in Davos, where this fancy studio was part of the event. From the outside, a big screen telling people what was being recorded. The studio was used by everyone from The Rest is Politics to Scott Galloway, David Beckham, Matt Damon, and British Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves.