Podcasts
Melburnians love a good podcast. With hundreds to choose from, Melbourne’s podcasts are great to listen to while travelling on our trains, trams or buses; sitting by the Yarra on a summer day; or trapped indoors as the four seasons go by outside. And as a City of Literature, naturally, many of these podcasts are about books, writing and the arts.
The topics and formats of Melbourne’s podcasts vary.
- There’s a whole trove of podcasts full of great advice for writers and creatives including Starving Artist, The First Time, and Jacky Winter Gives You The Business.
- For busy folks and lovers of book clubs, there’s a bunch of book-club style podcasts featuring author interviews, such as Literary Canon Ball, The Garret and Kill Your Darlings. Terry Pratchett fans even have a chance to geek out together on Pratchat.
- Panel shows with regular special writerly guests include Sisteria, Unladylike, and Better Words.
- Even our libraries podcast with Desert Island Books and Dear Reader being but two of the examples.
This wealth of fantastic listening doesn’t come from nowhere – it’s supported by programming and networks. Melbourne’s literary programming includes a number of podcasting events. The Wheeler Centre’s ‘Invasion of the Pod People’ events welcomes local and international podcasters as part of the literary calendar, and the major literary festivals often include a podcasting component, too. Most Wheeler Centre events are also shared as podcasts for those who can’t make it along in person. The ‘So You Think You Can Pod?’ competition gives a leg up to emerging podcasters.
Melbourne has also played host to the ABC’s OzPod conference, attracting producers from all over the country and the world
The Australian Podcast Awards (hosted in Melbourne in 2018) celebrates outstanding podcasts, and podcasts from Melbourne often make the cut. In fact, podcasts from Melbourne have picked up awards from a number of prizes. These include:
- The Messenger (International Radio Program Awards, Walkley, UN Day Media Awards).
- Across the Aisle (Australian Podcast Awards).
- Trace (Australian Podcast Awards).
- Two Words with Taku (Frankie’s Good Stuff Awards, 2018).
- Phoebe’s Fall (New York Radio Festival).
Melbourne is also home to great community radio stations, whose broadcasts are often podcasted for later listening, or are available to stream online. These stations provide local content, with shows aimed at different communities. These stations play an important part in the Melbourne community, as well as acting as a great training ground for the next generation of audio creators. Our community stations include:
FBi radio, in association with SYN and RRR, present All The Best – a storytelling podcast.
If you’d like to start listening to podcasts but you’re not sure where to begin, the Australian Audio Guide brings all the best ones together in one place. Broadwave is also a great resource both for those listening to and creating podcasts and audio.
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