Older shows perform better for advertisers

• Some of the best performing podcasts for advertisers are tried and trusted shows that have been established for more than five years. That’s according to Oxford Road’s ORBIT data, which draws on $1.6bn+ in ad campaigns. Top performing shows include The Tim Ferris Show, Young and Profiting with Hala Taha, and Crime Junkie - all of whom have been podcasting since before March 2020, and out-perform newer shows.

• The Washington Post knew that its AI-produced podcasts were going to be poor after internal tests but launched them anyway, reports Futurism. A piece in LAist quotes Gabriel Soto from Edison Research - 1 in 5 podcast consumers say they’ve listened to an AI-narrated podcast; but many prefer the human connection, he says.

• The new features in Apple Podcasts makes the app “finally good again”, says HowToGeek. The automated chapter feature is “really slick”, according to none other than Podcasting 2.0's Dave Jones, who says that he’s now using Apple Podcasts for his work-related podcasts. (You get the new features by updating your device to v26.2 - chapters and timed links are also visible on Mac using 26.2 as well).

• Apple Podcasts added a new support document helping users who have trouble signing-in to Apple Podcasts Connect. The first step is to give them valid payment information (which won’t be used until you make a purchase).

• Podcastle has launched Async Intelligence, a tool that watches your video content and suggests edits to make for better engagement. It’s been trained with 500,000 hours of content, and more than a million sets of engagement signals.

• An opinion piece by Dan McLaughlin in JournalismUK predicts the emergence of “punk podcasters”, a return to the roots of audio-only, rough and ready podcasts, producing content for people, not for sponsors.

• The lazy luddites at Merriam-Webster have made “slop” the word of the year. Don’t they know that in the near future half the people on the planet will be AI?

The story of how a search for calm led Maya to the show Black Girl Burnout

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Maya is unpacking in her new apartment. A new city, a new job, and a challenging year have her craving a calmer, more grounded life.

She searches Spotify for a fresh start and types “mental health for Black women.” Showing up in the first 5 search results, Black Girl Burnout catches her eye.

In under twenty minutes, host Kelley Bonner discusses rest and rediscovering joy. Maya closes Spotify smiling, hopeful.

Weeks later, the pressure returns. She searches “burnout,” but wonders if her exprience has another layer. She types “black girl.” Black Girl Burnout appears among the top results again.

What Maya doesn’t realize is that these “signs” of fate are actually the result of host Kelley Bonner’s work to boost her show’s visibility on Spotify. After working on its Podcast Search Optimization (PSO) with Ausha, Black Girl Burnout leaped from search result #93 to #5 for “mental health for Black women" on Spotify.

When women like Maya search for healing, Black Girl Burnout can guide them from burnout to joy.

A story inspired by real results. ✨ That’s the power of PSO: helping voices rise to the people who need them most.
Explore Ausha’s PSO Control Panel for free — no card required.

Moves and hires

• Jake Chudnow has left Podimo. He was Global Commercial Director, and had been working at the company for six years. He plans to announce his next move early next year.

Tips and tricks

• Chris Stone shares three podcast habits that kill YouTube growth. We do all three! Brilliant. Oh.

Podcast News - with Airwave

With Airwave: As a new version of MacOS comes out this week, what better to check out than MacBreak Weekly from TWiT: every bit of news from the most interesting company in tech. From AI to Vision Pro, iPad to iPhone, these Apple experts know-all and tell-all.

In Monetize This!, we’re promised the stuff podcasters mutter in Slack DMs but never say on panels. You’ll hear why so much podcast advice feels generic, overpriced, and suspiciously divorced from real shows. Expect zero reverence for guru culture, launch theatrics, and “invest in yourself” guilt marketing. It’s a fun escape for podcasters who want to laugh at the industry, the advice, and themselves — and keep making the show anyway.

How to Be an Actor and Not Lose Your Sh*t has honest, unfiltered conversations about the realities of working in the acting industry, from early beginnings to navigating rejection, uncertainty and longevity. It promises reassurance, laughter and solidarity to actors at every stage of their careers.

Autocracy in America returns for season three in January, hosted by Anne Applebaum. Cuts to research and universities, firings of the civil service, heavily armed troops on our streets — they’re about more than just bravado, she claims. It’s how elected leaders in other countries have assaulted their own political systems in an attempt to rule without challenge.