To the Queen!👑
British Podcast Award Winners and updates!☕
Hey Poddy People!
It’s a busy week in Startup Land. The newsletter is a day late because we’ve been in a 2-day USC Incubator mentorship session. We got a full one today. Let’s go, shall we?
Industry Update: The British Podcast Awards happened this past week. In today’s feature, we will highlight some of the podcasts that won and are on the Great Pods site.
Reminder: Great Pods is a podcast website that uses podcast critic reviews and ratings to help you find your next or first listen.
Automattic (WordPress | Tumblr parent company) just announced purchasing the Pocket Casts podcasting app to explore integrating podcasts into their ecosystem of blogging and sites. Read here.
Incubator Update: Over the course of the last two days, founders at various stages in their startups presented their learnings on specific topics. From media to team building, there was quite a lot to hear and the opportunity to ask follow-up questions. We’ll be looking to implement some of those learnings here.
One phrase that I kept hearing was “collaborate, not compete” over and over again. So we are going to figure out how to do that with our potential competitors to move this industry up.
Another clear and obvious startup implementation is that feedback loop and that includes all of you that have visited the website! You early adopters! My request is that you reply to this email and be a part of our feedback loop. I want to hear about your problems. Consider it a therapy session on your frustration of finding a podcast and how you can shape podcast discovery.
Newsletter Update: Those of you that have been reading the newsletter should notice our updated color scheme in the header and the logo. This reflects our design updates from the website. Nice. (Thanks Brian)
Educational Update: The Listen Now button on our podcast page for the majority of podcasts should deep-link to your default major podcast app on your mobile device. The desktop version will give you a list of various options. If it is exclusive like Spotify only, it will deep-link straight to the Spotify app.
On to the British picks this week…
British Podcast Awards
Podcast of the Year
Smartest Podcast Award
Best Documentary
Podcast: Vent Documentaries
Genre: Society
Publisher: Vice UK | London Borough of Culture
About: Young people from one London Borough, telling you the stories we care about.
So far there are 3 seasons or series as they call it. 1. Identity 2. Love 3. Justice
I listened to the Isaiah episode on Series 2: Love. Listening to these personal journals, I wonder how I was growing up back in the day. You could hear the growth of the narrator throughout the episode. It can be quite relatable or nostalgic, depending on how old you are.
Greg Cochrane - NME - Jun 17, 2020
“The results are gripping, empowering and resourceful.”
Listeners’ Choice
Podcast: Redhanded
Genre: True Crime
Publisher: True Crime with Suruthi & Hannah (Independent)
Some of these podcasts already put the 2021 British Podcast Awards stamp on the logos! That was fast. Nominated in 2019, Silver Award in 2020, and now a Gold winner!
About: We cover everything from big time serial killers (and those you may never have heard of), to hauntings, possessions, disturbing mysteries, bizarre whodunits and basically anything that tickles our creepy fancy.
I listened to General Butt Naked: Liberia’s Cannibal Warlord episode. Don’t roll your eyes at me! What’s good about this podcast is what the description and critics say is spot on. It’s not just traditional true crime murder, but they will venture into historical true crime like this episode. I did not know Liberia’s capital, Monrovia, was named after former President Monroe. I could’ve looked it up, obviously, but it’s a nice side of education in a podcast. I would say if you like a retelling from two hosts like Crime Junkie or My Favorite Murder but with an international flair, this is your jam.
Lauren Geall - Stylist - Jul 7, 2021
“RedHanded is a grisly crash course in all things horrifying – and we can’t get enough.”
Best Arts & Culture Podcast
Podcast: Real Dictators
Genre: History
Publisher: Noiser
The logo gives you some of the usual subjects. However, the podcast dives into multiple episodes of other dictators that can be overlooked.
About: …explores the hidden lives of history’s tyrants.
I listened to the episodes on Francisco Franco. Having visited Spain before the pandemic that was my pick. Like U.S. history, international history is quite a trip. Mass graves and atrocities all the way 1975, when he died. Come on Francisco. Oof.
Kev - Tea In The Sahara - Tea In The Sahara - Jul 4, 2021
“My personal takeaway from this podcast is the truly breathtaking scale, and cruelty of some of the atrocities created by each dictator.”
Best Sports Podcast
Podcast: Giant
Genre: Sports - Football (Soccer)
Publisher: Spotify (Exclusive)
I had to put football first since this was the British podcast award winner.
About: This is an audio documentary series that takes you deep into the stories you might know, you think you know, or you definitely should know.
I just listened to the episode on the story of French legend, Zinedine Zidane's debut on the national team. While listening to stories of his counterparts, I did wish Zidane would’ve been interviewed on his recollection of his debut as well. Regardless, it was still a fun listen.
Miranda Sawyer - The Guardian - Sep 5, 2020
“Perhaps these shows don’t sound interesting if you’re not that into football, but the stories are told so well, you always find yourself swept along.”
Not a Brit nominee, but on the subject of Brits…
Podcast: Films To Be Buried With with Brett Goldstein
Genre: TV & Film
Publisher: Brett Goldstein | Distraction Pieces Network
I was adding a critic review for Giant and saw an additional review with a recent familiar face. Captain Roy Kent from Ted Lasso! I love Ted Lasso. I went in search of episodes that had Ted Lasso guests on. Score. Hannah Waddingham, who plays the team’s owner Rebecca Welton, joined in a session. If you’re a fan of the show, the first 15 minutes they talk about Lasso, her 2-4 hour screen test, and the karaoke scene, before they talk about films they would be buried with.
Benjamin Cannon - Vulture - Nov 25, 2020
“…a lively podcast built around a stock set of seemingly simple questions that, in application, reveal a deceptive brilliance.”
Honorable Mention:
Podcast: Art of the Cut
Genre: Film & TV
Publisher: Frame.io Insider
There is no critic review for this podcast and that’s why it’s an honorable mention. I picked it because a USC friend of mine, Nona Khodai, ACE (American Cinema Editors), received two nominations for an Emmy with her colleagues for the Marvel | Disney+ show, Wandavision!
Nona and her editor colleagues are here talking all things behind the scenes of Wandavision in this episode including cool tidbits of Marvel trivia we normally wouldn’t get. There are technical video editing conversations thrown in there too, but it’s kind of cool even if it goes over your head.
Stay safe! Be well! Wear a mask again!
XOXO
Captain Ron
Great Pods is a podcast discovery/decision-making ecosystem that uses Critic reviews and ratings to help you find your first or next podcast listen. The Rotten Tomatoes for podcasts.
The founding team at Great Pods has over 10 years of experience in the audio-podcast app space from TuneIn Radio & Himalaya apps.