Webby Awards nominees revealed

• The Webby Awards has announced the nominees for the twenty-eighth annual awards. The ceremony will be on May 13, hosted by comedian, writer, actor (and podcaster) Amber Ruffin. She announced her appearance on Late Night with Seth Meyers.

  • You can vote for the People’s Voice in a number of podcast categories.

• In Sweden, Podspace is now the second largest podcast platform and ad network. The company’s shows have more than a million weekly listeners.

• Google Podcasts is now said to have closed in the US (it’s still available in every other country, with no closure date yet). David Pearce from The Verge writes an excoriating article criticising Google. “The podcast app is only the latest good Google thing to die. And if Google ever wants us to buy into its promises again, this has to stop.”

• On Apr 9, Spotify will add audiobooks for Spotify Premium users in Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. The service is already available in the US, UK and Australia. The catalogue is also to grow from 200,000 to 250,000 titles. Spotify Premium listeners get 15 hours of audiobooks free each month.

• SiriusXM has signed-up Patrick J. Adams and Sarah Rafferty for a rewatch podcast of Suits, which has seen a surge of popularity since being released on streaming platforms.

People News

• Stephanie Kuo has been named VP of Content at PRX, helping to lead both podcast and radio broadcast content strategy. She’s been with the company since 2018.

• The Board of Governors have been announced for The Podcast Academy. They are: Chris Colbert, Fallon Jethroe, Ami Thakkar, Ilana Susnow, Alejandro Vargas, Sangeeta Pillai, Steve Lack, Jay Green, Brandon Schexnayder, Seth Rubinroit, and Arielle Nissenblatt have been elected to The Podcast Academy’s Board of Governors. Members continuing their term on the Board of Governors are Chris Cochran, Sirisha Kuchimanchi, Juleyka Lantigua, Christy Mirabal, Sierra Reed, Jen Sargent, Matty Staudt, and Donald Albright. (We make that 19 people; 17 of whom are from the US, with one from Columbia and the UK.) Officials are: Christy Mirabal as Chair, Jen Sargent as Vice Chair, Matty Staudt as Secretary, Sierra Reed as Treasurer, and Ilana Susnow as At Large Member.

Tips and tricks - with Memberful

• Applying for a job in podcasting? Here’s what to know.

• “333+ Podcast Episodes Later, Here’s What I Wish I’d Known Upfront” is a piece by Rick Harp in the Global Journalism Innovation Lab’s report on media funding, innovation and policy. Jump to page 16.

Podcast News - with New Podcast Trailers - the podcast

The BBC’s The Conversation podcast has announced two new presenters, Ella Al-Shamahi and Datshiane Navanayagam. The show hears from women in different countries across the globe as they share first-hand their personal experiences.

On MeSsy with Christina Applegate & Jamie-Lynn Sigler, the two hosts get vulnerable about the curveballs that life can throw - theirs just happens to be multiple sclerosis, better known to many as MS. They’ll self-reflect, learn, laugh, and grow through their own raw and often-times hilarious conversations with each other, friends, co-stars, and the people that keep them going through the messiness of life. Produced by Allison Bresnick of Wishbone Production, it’s represented for ad sales by PMM.

The Pete and Sebastian Show has signed with Studio71. It was with Audioboom. It stars two A-list comedians, Pete Correale and Sebastian Maniscalco, get together once a week to create a tight comedy radio show with stories and comedy bits.

Witnessed: 19 Days is new this week from Sony Music Entertainment. The show explores the 2018 investigation of deadly serial bombings in Austin, Texas leading up to the popular South by Southwest Festival; and is hosted by journalist Sean Flynn.

The first episode of The Brag Media’s The Music Network podcast has landed quite the guest: the man behind the Fyre Festival, Billy McFarland. He says he’ll do it again - after spending three years in jail after the failure of the original.

For Tech’s Sake is returning for a new season today from Silicon Republic and HeadStuff Podcasts. We’re in a world surrounded by tech and, in many ways, guided by tech, but how well does the average person understand it? Each episode, hosts Elaine Burke and Jenny Darmody are joined by an expert to answer their probing questions as they work out what’s the good tech, what’s the marketing bluster and what’s the stuff we should really be concerned about.