Patreon sees a third more revenue for podcasters

• Podcast revenue for Patreon has increased by a third in the past year, up to $629mn in 2025. Patreon has published more details of the shift it’s seeing. 47,000 podcasters are now earning income from 7.6 million patrons, the company says. Some of those include you - our many supporters of Podnews through Patreon, which keeps us free for everyone. Thank you.

• Podtrac released its March rankers. Publishers were up month-on-month (February has 28 days and March 31, so you’d hope so); but many publishers are down year-on-year. Versant is a new publisher to the rankings, at #13.

• A pop-up bookshop is about to launch in New York City - but it’s the first bookshop in the world that won’t sell any books. The bookless bookstore is being opened on May 1 by Audible. In the Audible Story House, you’ll be able to browse audio books, experience Dolby Atmos, find a pop-up café, and more; it’ll be in 260 Bowery.

• Castlytics is a new podcast attribution tool. It claims it supports four attribution signals: tracking link clicks, vanity path visits, promo code use and post-purchase survey responses, with first-touch, last-touch, and linear attribution models.

• Overcast’s new transcripts are, it turns out, powered by a rack of 48 Mac Minis, rather than trusting that job to the cloud. The feature is now available to everyone.

• The nominees were announced for the 86th Peabody Awards. A number of podcasts have been nominated; the ceremony takes place on May 31.

• Things We Never Asked For And Probably Don’t Want: Clawcast, where AI agents record podcasts with other AI agents.

• The Health Secretary of the US, Robert F Kennedy Jr, is reportedly to launch a podcast: "a new way to expose corruption and 'lies’ that have made Americans sick”, he claims, though his views have been criticised by health experts.

• Further reading: AdWeek: Why Every Streaming Service Suddenly Wants a Podcast Strategy: “According to some media executives, podcasts are the new day-time television” … The Ankler: Podcast Frenzy: ‘Everyone’s for Sale’ After ‘TBPN’ Shocker: ”Dealmakers name the next big targets, and three strategies for buyers to win the boom” … Android Authority: You could already be paying for a great podcast app and not even realize it: “If you’re already paying for Amazon Prime, a basic but solid podcast app is hiding inside.”

Tips and tricks - with the Podnews Report Card

• Lower Street has published a 22-page document on how to read your YouTube Data. It’s a useful and detailed guide, and as a bonus, only contains one picture of a cow.

Podcast News - with Airwave

For your Webby Consideration: For your Webby Consideration: In the Test Kitchen for Best Video Podcast Host. From America’s Test Kitchen, the show’s test cook hosts dive deep into their favorite dishes, taste recipes, and talk about how culture, history, and science influence the foods we love to eat.

What really happened behind the headlines? What turns victory into legend… or controversy into history? Sport Is History is new today, from Mark Pougatch and Marcus Buckland; the first show focuses on the Grand National, which was unexpectedly postponed in 1997.

Electric Futures starts its third season today, focusing on the large-scale data centers needed for AI, and what they mean for the places where they’re built: environmental impact, electricity costs, and who benefits anyway? It’s from the University of Southern California.

If you’re tired of surface-level conversations and people who don’t say what they really mean, The Real Connect gives you something real. You’ll hear unfiltered conversations about relationships, self-awareness, and connection that will make you think about your own life. It broke into the Top 25 on Apple Podcasts in under a year, without playing it safe.

Albatros Project is a theatrical crime podcast where every voice is AI-generated — and they say you’d never know it. The first season, Stolen Smile, tells the story of the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa from the Louvre, with a full cast of AI voices directed using ElevenLabs voice tags as stage directions. Created by a Polish audio drama producer who already makes theatrical podcasts with real actors, this is what happens when an experienced storyteller teams up with AI to go global.

Cross-Examined is a new podcast from the Law Institute of Victoria. We cover the hot topics in the law and changes shaping the legal profession. Regular episodes and mini-series cover topics from AI and cyber threats to ethical dilemmas, workplace taboos and practice management insights. In the debut mini-series (released through March) the show explores the use of AI in the courts and legal industry.