Podcasts
Audio is intimate
You may have an audience of thousands, or even millions, but the secret of great audio is to talk to just one of them.
That one-to-one connection is what makes the link between podcaster and audience so powerful.
But in world with millions of podcasts, how do you make yours stand out? Who do you want to speak to? How do you want them to feel when they listen?
I’ve made hundreds of podcasts with people around the world - and know a thing or two about making compelling audio.
Here are a few of the podcasts I’ve been involved in. If you’ve a story to tell, get in touch.
“I had told so many lies, I was an expert in telling lies”
Dougie Morgan spent nearly four decades in the British Army, but for much of that time had to hide who he really was. The military’s ban on homosexuality wasn’t lifted until 2000, and in this episode of BFBS Creative’s series on leadership, The Culture Colonel, Dougie talks about the impact that policy had on his life, and how things changed when he was finally able to be honest about himself.
“The threat of state vs state conflict is firmly back on the agenda.”
For International SOS, the world’s leading health and security risk management company, podcasting was a new way of communicate vital messages to clients, as well as showcasing the huge expertise of their global teams.
I launched their podcast series in 2022, linking up with guests across the world — in this case reflecting on the challenges of the first year of the conflict in Ukraine.
“I have friends who are living in terror.. this is a shameful episode.”
As the west’s 20-year military operation in Afghanistan came to a sudden, chaotic end, I produced a special episode of BFBS’ Sitrep podcast, speaking to military and political leaders, and connecting with people who’d narrowly escaped the Taliban - and others trapped in the country.
“This is literally life and death.. a task we’re privileged to perform.”
With newsrooms on lockdown at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic in 2020, BFBS planned to shut down its weekly podcast. Instead, I led its transition to fully remote production, starting with this episode, on how Britain’s forces were helping respond to the danger at home.
“It’s the World Cup for nerds..”
For six years, I produced a podcast analysing, berating, and often ridiculing politics in the UK. It covered three General Elections, the Brexit referendum, its ensuing chaos, the arrival of Boris Johnson and a global pandemic. And yet was also, in the words of one reviewer, “funnier than you might imagine.”