PodMov Daily: Wednesday, September 18

Episode 46: What's On This Wednesday

Guest Feature: A Conversation with Maggie McGuire, CEO of Pinna

This Wednesday we’re featuring our recent conversation with Maggie McGuire, CEO of Pinna. The company is the first audio-streaming service for kids that combines podcasts, audiobooks, and music.

Its completely ad-free model has garnered rave reviews from parents, caretakers, and educators. McGuire spoke about the business side of Pinna, including its advertising strategy and origins in the market. From its niche in the podcasting space to solving discoverability challenges, McGuire’s insights illuminate the path of a successful new project.

We’re in the midst of an “audio renaissance,” she says. “All of a sudden, all things audio are easily accessible and intriguing, entertaining. It’s a convergence, the perfect storm.”

Adweek Launches Inaugural Podcast of the Year Awards

Adweek has announced the publication’s first Podcast of the Year Awards, a new program to “celebrate the best in informative audio, regardless of audience size or budget.”

Creative and innovation editor David Griner writes that launching Adweek‘s first podcast gave him a “deep, enduring appreciation for the people behind great audio programming.” Submissions are to be judged by a “diverse jury of professionals with direct podcasting experience at all levels.”

Categories go beyond the basics, including “Best Podcast Hosted by a Publisher” and “Best Diversity and Inclusion Podcast.” Submissions are now open and encouraged.

Collaborative Podcast Speaks from With(in) Colorado's Prisons

Podcasting in and around prisons has become a social force in recent years. As reported by Colorado Public Radio, a group of inmates in the state have begun producing a podcast called With(In) through the University of Denver. The show is recorded, edited and hosted by people who are incarcerated.

With(In) features interviews with “people serving time in Colorado’s prisons, as well as those who staff them.” Although recording takes place in a windowless medical records vault, co-host Denise Presson notes participants’ vulnerability. “You can tell that the guard drops,” Presson remarks. “I don’t know if it’s the setting if it’s our energy, but it blows me away at how open people become.”

The show “incorporates as many voices as possible” by design. “It gives a voice,” says co-host Andrew Draper. “There’s an emotion and there’s an energy that translates that you don’t get through the written word.”

There's No Place Like Home

Happy Wednesday, readers. Combining two of today’s features, Today, Explained celebrates its return to host Sean Rameswaram’s hometown. Toronto’s Hot Docs Podcast Festival will feature more favorites like Still Processing, Mobituaries, and Yo, Is This Racist? live on stage.

Is there an upcoming podcast or creator event near you? Get out there and see what’s happening IRL. If that’s your thing.

Love,

Team PM

Here's what else is going on:

• Future days: Sean Rameswaram, host of Vox’s popular news podcast Today, Explained, knows how to stand out in an increasingly crowded field. He spoke to Washingtonian “about why news shouldn’t be relentlessly depressing” and his uplifting predictions for the future of podcasting.
• Fond farewell: The virtual currency app Podcoin will be shutting down on September 24, as reported by Podnews. Podcoin’s creators announced in a post that although the experiment “failed to sustain momentum,” they’ll apply all that they’ve learned to a future app.
• Oh Canada: The Hot Docs Podcast Festival returns to Toronto, November 6 – 11. Described as “an audiophile’s paradise” by Toronto Life, the event will feature live performances of internationally acclaimed shows, a Creators Forum, and celebration of “homegrown” podcasters.
• Deck shuffle: Spotify’s new VP of global sales strategy happens to be BuzzFeed’s current chief revenue officer. Lee Brown helped diversify BuzzFeed’s ad revenue thorough “direct-to-consumer sales and sponsored content.” Brown will take up his post at Spotify next month.