This Week in Podcasts is a weekly roundup of the goings-on in podcasting, from highlights to pitfalls to updates and more. Have updates or crowdfunding campaigns you want listed? Check here for directions on how to get in touch.
Highlights
Join the Party closes its first campaign
Join the Party
“56. House Party VII”
Runtime: 1 hour, 48 minutes
Transcript
Actual play Dungeons & Dragons podcast Join the Party has completed its first campaign, closing the story’s run in an almost two-hour episode filled with callbacks, hijinks, and a fittingly goofy-meets-dramatic tone. Story threads are tied, questions get answered, and there are enough in-jokes to feel like a love letter to the campaign so far while not mucking up the moments that need to hit hard.
Updates
Spotify unveils their 2020 slate with new podcast by Jordan Peele
Spotify has announced their 2020 slate of new podcasts, including an original fiction podcast by Jordan Peele and Monkeypaw Studios (Get Out, Us). Here’s the full, expansive list of new shows:
Jordan Peele (Get Out; Us) and Monkeypaw Productions will be bringing a currently untitled fictional podcast, with additional details to come
Kissing Booth – Elle’s Diary: A scripted prequel which will be written by the feature film writers and performed by the principal cast, including Joel Courtney (Super 8), Jacob Elordi (Euphoria on HBO) and Joey King (The Act on Hulu), produced by Komixx Productions
The Case of Adirondack Rose: A scripted true crime comedy from executive producer Paul Feig’s Powederkeg and writer Amy Reed, Adirondack Rose tells the story of a famed artist and socialite who fled the country after being accused of murdering her 6th husband a decade ago. After discovering new evidence, her estranged daughter Stacy Williams engulfs herself in the case in an attempt to learn about her mother’s audacious past, clear her name, all while avoiding the fallout of her own 2nd failed marriage
Mark Wahlberg/Unrealistic Ideas: The highly acclaimed actor is bringing multiple series to Spotify, ranging from incredible true stories to impossible tales of soldiers of fortune
Lele Pons (Creator, Singer & Entrepreneur): As one of today’s most widely recognized personalities with over 14 million subscribers, Lele rallies her crew together for a wildfire of brash pop culture commentary, deep social issue discussions, intimate personal stories, and advice from a humorous (and sometimes savage) perspective. Produced in partnership with Shots Studios.
Ryland Adams (YouTuber, Internet Personality, Writer, Producer, and Actor): Each week, the wildly popular internet personality and his friends will dish on the latest newsworthy pop culture, featuring special segments about food, beauty, conspiracies, and everything in between
Last Podcast on the Left: Commonly hailed as one of the first true crime comedy shows, the 2011 born podcast series is coming exclusively to Spotify. The series features host Ben Kissel, producer and researcher Marcus Parks, and comedian and actor Henry Zebrowski (Wolf of Wall Street), who explore the deep dark horrors of the world, both real and imaginary. The long time friends investigate slashers and cult leaders to serial killers and more
RadioPublic ends the Paid Listens program
As of November 30th, 2019, podcatcher RadioPublic is no longer supporting their Paid Listens program, which paid out podcast creators small sums based on listens, akin to a royalty program. RadioPublic aims to redistribute the funds and energy from the Paid Listens program to features on their pro platform, like their podsites and marketing pages. You can read the full release, including what to do if you’re a creator looking to receive your payout, on the RadioPublic blog.
CBC/Radio-Canada announces Acast as its international sales partner
CBC (think Canada’s BBC, creators of podcasts like Uncover and Missing and Murdered) has announced that it will partner with sales company Acast for international ad and sponsorship sales. Essentially, this partnership will allow CBC to monetize in other countries, including the United States and countries in Europe.
Stormfire Productions announces consultations and partnerships
Lisette Alvarez’s Stormfire Productions (Kalila Stormfire’s Economical Magick Services, Black Friday) has opened submissions for consultations and partnerships. Consultation rates can be seen on the collective’s website, and the press release explained their partnership program as such:
As of December 1st, 2019, the Spring/Summer 2020 partnership production submission window is open. Qualified stories can be any script, novella, or short story under 50,000 words. Stormfire Productions will work with accepted submissions in adapting their work to the medium under a profit-sharing structure. We are looking for stories that make you look at the world, people, and yourself in a different way. We aren’t looking for technical genius; we are looking for storytelling magic. More requirements and information can be found on the submissions portal on the Stormfire Productions website.
New Releases
Spoke and Intel launch privacy-focused tech mini-series, “No Place to Hide”
On November 25th, 2019, Spoke released the first episode in a three-part mini-series called “No Place to Hide” their nonfiction podcast So, Bob in partnership with Intel.
Privacy isn’t a luxury, a first world problem, an annoyance. For some people a threat to privacy means they literally have no place to hide, and that can be a matter of life or death. In NO PLACE TO HIDE we ask: What does privacy really mean? What have we done right? What have we done wrong? And what can we do moving forward?
Farewelling launches Farewelling: The Podcast
Digital platform Farewelling discusses death, and so too does it new companion podcast.
The highlight of the platform is Farewelling: The Podcast featuring interviews with notables – such as humorist Mo Rocca [. . .], who just released his book “Mobituaries” based on his podcast of the same name– and unique content such as interviewees preferred playlists and “final fashion” selections for their own funerals featured in an episode titled “You’re Dead: What Are You Wearing?” Content is sometimes funny and upbeat and other times deep and philosophical, depending on the guest and topic.
The duo breathing new life into the industry of death are women who don’t appear to fit the mold: renowned entertaining expert Karen Bussen and acclaimed funeral director and author of Good Mourning, Elizabeth Meyer Karansky. Looking more fashionista than funeral industry figurehead, both fell into the business of death by happenstance: Karansky after planning her father’s unconventional funeral which inspired her to start working at an elite Manhattan funeral home and Bussen after her sister received a cancer diagnosis, forcing her to confront the possibility of death. Together, they set out to create a more modern and streamlined experience to counter the usual doom and gloom, obligatory usage of dark colors and sadness surrounding typical funerals.
Whale Bus announces release date for Childish: The Podcast Musical
Highly-anticipated fiction podcast Childish: The Podcast Musical, inspired by the music of Childish Gambino, will begin release of its five-part limited run on December 12th, 2019. The podcast will be released weekly, with a break for the holidays in the middle.
Dante, a college student in NYC, becomes an RA in order to follow in the footsteps of his hero, Childish Gambino. While he hopes this will be the next step toward becoming a famous rapper, his delusions of grandeur are shattered when he realizes his dweebish co-workers are hellbent on making his life miserable.
Stormfire Productions launches new fiction podcast, Black Friday
Just in time for Black Friday, Stormfire Productions has launched a new fiction podcast by Tycho Newman about a very different black Friday:
Content Warning: Depiction of police violence, racial commentary, and sound of gunshots.
BLACK FRIDAY is a limited series about a mysterious phenomenon that turns white people into black people.
Campaigns
Let’s Not Fallout crowdfunding its series
Upcoming fiction podcast Let’s Not Fallout is crowdfunding its series via Kickstarter. The campaign has an all-or-nothing goal of $10,339 USD and will be running until December 12th, 2019:
Let’s Not Fallout is a 13-episode audio comedy series set in a post-apocalyptic 1960s. The series follows five survivors of a Nuclear Armageddon sailing around the world in a Navy Submarine. Across the season they encounter vampires, cannibals, sharks & fish-people, among other things, while also dealing with their own cabin fever of their indefinite enclosure.
This campaign is currently about 20% funded at time of publication.
Wil Williams Writes 