Let’s start with the basics. What is the International Women’s Podcast Festival?
The Festival is a two-day event and this year we’re working alongside Spotify to bring together an international crowd of women who work in audio; podcasting, radio and broadcasting in general.
The key focus is to celebrate the women who have been doing this work for a long time and giving them space to be applauded and recognised for their work. We also want to create an environment for people to learn from some of the best in the industry who happen to be women. Every gender is welcome to attend and this year it’s taking place across two days - October 3rd and 4th.
What’s special about October 3rd, besides it being Mean Girls day? This year it’s the 10th anniversary of Serial and we are blessed to have Sarah Koenig coming to London. She’ll be talking about what the last 10 years have meant for Serial and herself as the host of the most famous podcast in the world.
Serial is often credited with being behind an enormous boom in the popularity of podcasts and them being taken seriously as a medium. What does it mean to have Sarah there?
Honestly it means everything, I’m not going to lie. It’s been two years in the making; we have been speaking to her team on and off since ‘22 and I knew that the anniversary was coming up.
It means everything because her voice was my first podcast voice. What’s so monumental is that podcasting has got a bit of a reputation of being two white guys on a microphone. It’s kind of cultivated that over the years. But the podcast that launched it into the stratosphere was Serial, hosted by a woman. So to have her here in London as part of the International Women’s Podcast Festival feels very significant and a huge honour. It feels like a lot of pressure to be in charge of something so special!
Sarah Koenig aside, what else should people be excited for?
I’m really looking forward to a panel called The Power of the Producer that’s going to be chaired by Bea Duncan who runs the Entry Level Audio Network. She’s got a wonderful panel of speakers joining her to talk about just what impact a producer has. I think often at events there is a focus on talent and on the voice you hear. But actually there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes of some of the most popular podcasts; often a hive mind is behind really successful shows. If you yourself have an idea, you could be a producer and so really understanding what that takes and what that means is something I’m really looking forward to.
We’ve got another panel on how to make stories and make money which I think is so key. Ruth and Helen from Chalk and Blade are part of that panel so I think that’s going to be a really good session.
Is the festival pitched to experienced podcasters or is there a space for people who are just interested in breaking into the industry as well?
We’re gearing towards an intermediate level, so someone who’s probably had a podcast and has maybe been plotting away at it on their own. That’s where a lot of the workshops and upskilling is really centred. However we have loads of people that come as a plus one or just have an idea and they always walk away with great connections. People have come with just an idea and met someone who connected them to a production company and then went on to get a BBC commission. That was their first ever podcast.
It’s a place for people with ideas and people at the early stages of their career. It’s an incredible networking opportunity because the people in the room have been working at it for a long time and the speakers literally represent some of the best in the industry. So for early stage knowledge you’ll be equipped with everything you need to know to be successful in podcasting and audio.
Now we know that the audio industry is well stocked with white men from wealthy backgrounds and people who don’t fit into those categories are underrepresented. How do you hope that the festival will address that?
Content is Queen exists to lift up and amplify underrepresented voices. I really hate the idea of “giving people a voice.” We don’t give anyone a voice; people have voices and they just need amplification and promotion. The International Women’s Podcast Festival is a place where we really do try to shine a light on the women that are already doing this work.
There’s been a few times where big awards in audio get called out for having very few women winning and I think it basically speaks to an industry that doesn’t necessarily recognise or understand the importance of women’s roles in the industry. Doing this festival is like saying “Hey, here are these really incredible people and they’re doing fantastic work. You should learn from them.”
We don’t need mentorship, we don’t need special treatment. We just want to be respected and acknowledged for the work that we’re doing. And so the festival is really as much about empowering and amplifying great work as much as it is about developing the next generation of audio creators.
And that ties into your work at Content is Queen?
Increasingly. This year’s been really big; we turned five in early August and it’s been part of my mission for the last ten years to increase underrepresented voices in audio. We’ve been doing that in a number of ways. We’ve studios that we make affordable so that people can access high quality recording spaces. We provide production support, we do the Micro-Grants for Podcasters programme that happens every year in partnership with Audible. Every opportunity we are trying to find ways to increase how many people can access audio and have sustainable careers in it.
This year is a big year because we’re about to launch our opportunities marketplace where we're hoping to work with advertisers, commissioners and production companies so that jobs and pitching opportunities can be more transparent and released to a wider network of people. Because we've got such a strong ethos around diversity and inclusion and we tend to have a really big network of people that are from different backgrounds, we're hoping that really we start to see more opportunities go beyond those kind of closed networks that we're seeing and that there's a little bit less gatekeeping with our work.
On a personal note you’re organising the festival, you run Content is Queen, you’re involved in social enterprises as well. You’re a very busy person; how do you find the time for all of this?
I don’t find the time! I’ve got two kids and I’m increasingly not finding the time!
I will say that I have a fantastic team. Amber Miller runs the studio and productions for us and just won Editor of the Year from the UKAN Awards. Then Kat Molesworth is our festival producer who has been phenomenal in getting the website live, getting the speakers organised, everything that is involved in a festival. Kat has been completely on it. So in terms of the pressure on me it’s not been too bad.
Finally, could you recommend us a podcast?
That is the hardest question, surely people don’t actually do this!
I will recommend the show that I’m listening to right now which is Legacy. Afua Hirsch is one of the hosts and it’s a wonderful podcast. I’m listening to the season about Bob Marley. The reason I recommend it is because my two year old is obsessed with Bob Marley, just obsessed.
I had seen that Legacy was doing a season on him and I was like “yeah I’ll listen to that” and learn about the life of this man who has actually been instrumental in my life as the daughter of a Rastafarian man. He brought Rastafarianism into the mainstream, of course I want to learn about him! It’s been a really good season, I’m on episode three so far. I’ve learned a lot and I do recommend it.
Tickets for the International Women’s Podcast Festival are available now from Eventbrite. Tickets to An Evening with Sarah Koenig are available from the Southbank Centre.
