The Allusionist leaves PRX's Radiotopia

• The Allusionist has left PRX’s Radiotopia, with host Helen Zaltzman citing a lack of racial diversity at the organisation. “I have raised this fact repeatedly, recommended existing shows or potential showmakers to approach, questioned the excuses given for why the line-up stayed very white - small capacity and limited resources and insufficient money were frequently cited. So I offered money. And now, in case it makes more space and resources available, I’m removing myself.” The Bugle, hosted by her brother Andy Zaltzman, left Radiotopia early last year.

• Acast is running ads in the US to encourage voting in the US Presidential Election. The ads are non-partisan, and will be targeted to US listeners to over 20,000 podcasts.

• The University of Canberra in Australia has released Podcast Trends and Issues in Australia and Beyond: Global Perspectives. It claims that 32% of Australian news consumers have listened to podcasts in the last month; and that 42% of Australian podcast listeners use YouTube to consume podcasts (Spotify at 33%, Apple at 21%, Google at 15%). It asked 692 podcast listeners in the country.

• Just announced - Audio Recess, a new, free, virtual event from PRX and the Google Podcasts Creator Program. It’ll happen on November 21, and is open to all.

• Continuing an assault on radio, Spotify has launched a morning show for the US. It’s a “show with music” - personalised music for you, and hosted by Kat Lazo, Speedy Morman, and Xavier “X” Jernigan “who will help you start your day with fresh takes and fresh tunes.”

  • US radio will have less variety as of today. Radio owners can now rebroadcast one station on the transmitters of another that covers the same area. Yesterday, that was illegal.
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• Megaphone Studio is celebrating its one-year anniversary. Megaphone achieved 827m downloads in September, says the release; Megaphone Studio makes podcasts for brands, typically working on fifty shows at a time.

• Multicultural podcast agency Pod Digital Media has added a further five shows to its roster. The shows include former NFL and NBA players, and the hosts of NYC’s Hot 97 morning show.

• Podcast Day Online is this Monday, October 26, starting at 9am CET. Run in Europe by the popular Radiodays Europe conference, our Editor will be speaking on the latest podcast news. You can still register if you’re quick. Discount code PODONLINE20 may still work.

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• Why I Decided To Start A Patreon Page For My Podcast In 2020 During A Global Pandemic (Sam Whitfield)

Podcast News

Pugilistic British television journalist Jeremy Paxman is to host an interview podcast: The Lock In starts next week. Here’s a video of one of his most famous interviews, where he asks Michael Howard, the UK’s former Home Secretary, the same question quite a few times. Try from 4:00 in.

Launching on Monday, The Crime Time Pod is true crime stories with aloof British accents. Helen and Mary journey through some of the most horrific, bizarre and mysterious True Crime stories from around the globe.

Doctor - Am I Dying?! We’re all a bit of a hypochondriac. In this podcast, two doctors tell you whether you should chill out, go see your doctor, or rush to hospital. It’s an adaptation of a book by the hosts, Christopher Kelly, MD, and Marc Eisenberg, MD, FACC.

Kennedy Saves The World is one of three new podcasts from Fox News. Unaccountably, it isn’t a celebration of the famous Kennedy family of the Democrats - instead, it’s hosted by Lisa “Kennedy” Montgomery, Fox Business Network host and former MTV VJ. It starts today.