The Rest Is Podcasting

This week, The Podcast Show took over the Business Design Centre in Islington, London, bringing together the global podcasting community for the largest international festival dedicated to the business of podcasting. With more than 350 speakers across four stages, the event explored everything from the current state of the industry to trending podcast topics and the growing role of AI. Major players including BBC Sounds, Apple, and iHeart Podcasts were among those in attendance.

To mark the occasion, we caught up with two friends of Mobius: freelance podcast producer Harriet Wells, who has created shows for BBC Sounds, and Michelle Flower from the Camden Fringe, who told us more about why they got into podcasting, their process and what they think is next for the industry…

Harriet Wells is a freelance Podcast Producer who has worked with some of the biggest names in broadcasting, including the BBC, Wondery, Netflix and Universal. After years of recording, editing and storytelling in the worlds of theatre and music, she decided to find a job where these worlds would collide, and has since produced award-winning shows that have taken her across the UK, abroad and onto the Red Carpet.

Michelle Flower is a semi-professional mad cat lady and co-founder, alongside Zena Barrie, of the Camden Fringe. Prior to starting the festival Michelle and Zena ran the Etcetera Theatre in Camden for 8 years and produced live comedy at the Edinburgh Fringe and beyond.

1. What inspired you to get into podcasts?

(Harriet) Theatre! Which seems fitting for this blog. While running a small musical theatre production company with friends, I found myself dedicating more and more time to the audio and sound elements of our productions. Exploring how sound could connect with people, immerse them and tell a story quickly became an obsession and after many years of trying, I managed to land a job in Radio - step 1 complete! Over the years, podcasts exploded in popularity and I embraced this wave as the freedom and creativity they allowed made sense to me. It might be a cliche, but audio really is theatre of the mind.

(Michelle) We started a podcast for quite practical reasons - we try to provide a lot of information for the acts that are taking part in the Camden Fringe which was traditionally in brief, written form. The podcast format allows us to go in much more detail and to get opinions and ideas from third parties about the details of putting on a performance and working in the arts.

2. What does your process look like from idea to published episode?

(H) Apologies for a classic answer here, “It’s different every time”. But, here are two examples of projects I produced last year that were polar opposite in process.

The first was with podcasting royalty Elizabeth Day (How to Fail) on one of her 8-part ‘podcast masterclass’ series. The crew consisted of the three of us: Elizabeth, our exec producer and myself. Together, we created the outline of the entire series, selected and booked the guests for each episode. I researched and scripted each episode alongside Elizabeth and during the recording days, I produced the conversation with her and co-host Mel Schilling before editing the episodes to the final version.

At the same time, I was one of the producers on BBC’s The Traitors: Uncloaked visualised companion podcast with Ed Gamble. This was one of the biggest productions I’ve worked on so far and the show went out on BBC Television. My role was much smaller in scope, involving scripting the episode and producing the recording. After a paper edit, my main task was to oversee the post-production house taking the episode to completion. When the show aired on the BBC, seeing my name flash up in the credits as the Producer was a pretty cool moment.

(M) We usually start by thinking of a subject we’d like to cover, usually an aspect of putting on a show, and then who might be a good person to invite on to talk about that and interview. A lot of our guests have been people we’ve worked with in the past, but we have had some brilliant chats with people we’ve contacted out of the blue who have been generous enough to share their time and knowledge with us.

We have a very informal chat with them over Zoom and then we shape that into a short episode. We usually prepare a few questions, but we’re happy to explore all sorts of conversational avenues. We edit using Audacity and publish our episodes via Acast which distributes them to all the usual podcast platforms.

3. What’s been the most surprising part of podcasting?

(H) For me, the most striking aspect has been the rapid evolution of the podcast industry. The pandemic years, roughly 2020 to early 2022, saw a massive surge in popularity, leading to a "gold rush." During this time, corporations acquired independent production houses, major tech and advertising companies made significant investments, and it seemed every celebrity and public figure launched a podcast.

However, this boom was followed by a period of volatility. Deals weren't renewed, long-standing shows were canceled, studios closed, and many talented colleagues faced layoffs. Podcasting is still a very young industry, and while I hope this turbulent phase is over, as a freelancer, I remain acutely aware of its impact. I try to always remember the advice from a brilliant mentor early in my career: "Keep your eyes on the craft and make the best thing you possibly can."

(M) The most surprising thing is been how much time it takes to edit, and how often I hear myself say “umm” and “errr” when I listen back. It’s interesting to learn about other people’s vocal tics, which you only notice when editing and never during the actual conversation.

4. How do you see podcasts evolving in the next year or two?

(H) One significant shift I've observed is the rise of video podcasts, a trend I don't see slowing down. With YouTube becoming a primary platform for consuming podcasts and Spotify integrating video, this seems to be the clear direction the industry is heading.

Another trend that seems to be part of every other conversation is - unsurprisingly - AI. Artificial intelligence has been transforming the podcasting landscape for a while. Transcription software, for instance, has become incredibly sophisticated and is now almost seamlessly integrated into editing programs, making workflows far more efficient. Audio enhancement tools are also shockingly easy to use. However, it's the 'AI host' space that makes me most curious and concerned. Knowing that I’m interacting with a real human remains important to me. Natural speech cadences and perfectly balanced harmonics are nice, but that’s not the reason we go to listen to our favourite podcast, is it?

(M) It feels like more and more podcasts are incorporating video. I don’t imagine we’d go in that direction because we have no interest in having our faces out there, but it's definitely a growth area.

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It’s clear podcast is evolving and growing quicker than ever and it’s an exciting time to be in the industry. If you have any thoughts or if you’re looking for guests for your podcast whether creatives or the Mobius team, we’d love to hear from you!

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