Month: February 2021

ART19 and Positively Gam Announce Upcoming Slate of Guests

~ jen

ART19 announced the upcoming slate for Positively Gam, a podcast from its partnership with Westbrook, hosted by Adrienne Banfield-Norris.

Banfield-Norris, better known as Gammy on Red Table Talk, the show she hosts with her daughter, Jada Pinkett Smith, and granddaughter, Willow Smith, sits down with close friends and experts including Former Senior Advisor to Barack Obama, Valerie Jarrett, Actor Will Smith, actress and Social Media Influencer, Lala Milan & Tabitha Brown, among others. Each episode features raw, in-depth conversations between Gammy and her guests, on everything from aging, relationships, sex and wellness, to the current issues facing the Black community and the inspirational people pushing for progress. Gam shares her perspective on these everyday topics while also learning alongside listeners.

“Westbrook Audio has powerful stories to tell,” said ART19 Chief Revenue Officer Lex Friedman. “Gammy will reach an audience underserved by podcasting, and we’re excited to help them distribute and monetize this series.”

An important upcoming episode features Gam in conversation with her granddaughter Willow Smith discussing Black hair, and another features a dialogue with activist Tamika Mallory on being a single mom, and moving to Louisville, KY for months to work on the Breonna Taylor case.

Adrienne’s conversation with her son-in-law Will Smith dropped on December 16th. In that episode, called “Living Your Life With Compassion,” Will shares his perspective on trying to find common ground with people you may struggle to understand, a topic only more relevant in our increasingly-fractious country.

“Gammy has made her voice and world view known through her incredible work on Red Table Talk,” Friedman said. “We’re excited for listeners and advertisers to hear what happens when she takes over the microphone herself!”

“ART19 has deep experience across podcast sales, operations, technology and support,” said Westbrook’s Media Production Consultant Amanda Brown. “We know we’re in great hands as we continue this journey together.”

Positively Gam, is produced in partnership with Vaseline & Unilever Entertainment, is executive produced by Adrienne Banfield Norris, Jada Pinket Smith, Amanda Brown & Fallon Jethroe. Sim Hothi serves as a co-exec. ART19 is the show’s exclusive distribution and sales partner. The podcast is available on all audio platforms, including Apple and Spotify, with new episodes released every Wednesday.

Lava for Good Podcasts and Stitcher Announce Partnership

~ jen

After a landmark year in which social justice reform became more urgent and topical than ever, Lava for Good Podcasts – the company whose hit Wrongful Conviction series brings light to the wrongful incarceration of innocent people – has joined forces with the top content network and podcast listening service Stitcher. Under the new arrangement, the Wrongful Conviction series and Lava for Good Podcasts’ upcoming slate of new criminal justice-focused podcasts will be available through Stitcher on all major podcast platforms.

“We’re excited to work with Stitcher and our sponsors to bring even more exposure to these compelling stories and our powerful new series at a time when more and more people across the political spectrum are drawn to join the quest for equal justice,” said Jason Flom, founder and CEO of Lava Media and longtime criminal justice advocate.

Lava for Good Podcasts chart-topping Wrongful Conviction podcasts includes a lineup of hit shows. Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom has featured Brendan Dassey, Amanda Knox, and others who have spent years behind bars – and even on death row – for crimes they didn’t commit. Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions, hosted by famed attorneys Laura Nirider and Steve Drizin of the Netflix phenomenon Making a Murderer, brings the audience into back alleys and interrogation rooms to witness the psychological tactics that have been used by law enforcement to coerce false confessions from innocent people. Meanwhile, in Wrongful Conviction: Junk Science, revered defense attorney and Innocence Project Ambassador Josh Dubin explores how crime lab forensics like bite mark evidence, blood spatter, and ballistics can go horribly wrong, landing innocent people behind bars.

Lava for Good Podcasts’ mission is to entertain while also inspiring and creating profound social impact, and the Wrongful Conviction podcasts have become a valuable resource for lawyers, advocates, and the wrongfully imprisoned themselves. Its series’ hosts have been featured as leading champions of justice by The Joe Rogan Experience, NPR, Dr. Phil, and The Jordan Harbinger Show. Rolling Stone credited Rodney Reed’s appearance in the series with “helping to foment a media outcry that included Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Dr. Phil, and Beyoncé” in the week before he was scheduled to be put to death. Three million people signed a petition for Reed’s release, and his execution was stayed just five days before it was set to take place.

Lava for Good Podcasts’ slate will expand with several new series in 2021, including a deep dive into the unique challenges faced by incarcerated minors and an investigative series focused on tracking down the actual perpetrators who escape justice when innocent people are convicted.

“Lava for Good Podcasts and the Wrongful Conviction series tell stories that aren’t just good, but that change lives in the process,” says Dan Osit, Stitcher’s Chief Operating Officer. ”It’s our pleasure to support that kind of impact and help bring Lava’s gripping podcasts to a larger audience.”

Hindenburg Offers February Webinars and Workshops

~ jen

Hindenburg is offering February Webinars and Workshops as live trainings. To attend, you must sign up for the webinar or workshop that interests you.

Radio gives people from all walks of life an unprecedented opportunity to tell their stories to a global audience. What could be more relevant today than staying connected by sharing stories while we self-isolate and social distance?

Come connect with senior Hindenburg Trainers and storytellers worldwide virtually on our next free hands-on audio record, editing, and publishing live training.

Webinar: An Introduction To Audio Editing
Dates: 12th February 2021 and 13th February 2021

The Promise: Leave this Hindenburg live training equipped with a basic technical understanding of how to record, edit, and publish your audio segment.

This 1-hour Webinar will cover: recording with a single host, roundtable recording, phone interviews, news segments, features & drama

Workshop 1: Record, Edit and Publish
Date: 13th February 2021 and 25th February 2021

The Promise: Leave this hands-on 2.5-hour workshop ready and able to record, edit, and publish your audio segment. The process of creating, recording, editing, and publishing an audio narrative can seem daunting… but it doesn’t have to be!

The Format: Hindenburg senior trainers will perform and demonstrate skills. Afterward, the “class” will adjourn to virtual group tables to practice each skill.

  • Hindenburg Journalist PRO 30-day Trial
  • Student Materials
  • Hindenburg 7-day Workshop Training Trial

Workshop 2: Advanced Audio Editing
Date: 13th February 2021 and 23rd February 2021

The Promise: Leave this hands-on deep-dive workshop ready and armed with audio techniques to take your audio and production process to the next level (all puns intended).

High audio quality is key to keeping listeners engaged! Workshop 2 addresses the challenge of how to create immersive compelling audio productions through the use of “non-verbal” audio techniques.

You can find out the each Webinar or Workshop will start by looking at the start time for Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, London, or Berlin on the Hindenburg website. There are also three short webinars and workshops that you may also be interested in attending.

Podcast Day 24 – A Global Podcast Conference

~ jen

The British Podcast Awards has teamed up with Radiodays Europe to work together on the biggest European podcasting conference – Podcast Day. The event, newly rebranded Podcast Day 24, will be the first 24-hour online conference with speakers from Australia, Europe and North America. Delegates will be able to watch the event in real-time and catch-up on sessions afterwards.

The event builds on the success of Radiodays Europe’s Podcast Day, which started in Copenhagen in 2017, before moving to London in 2019. In 2020, due to the Coronavirus outbreak, the event evolved into Podcast Day Online, and reached its largest number of delegates so far.

Matt Deegan from the British Podcast Awards says: “Podcasting is an international medium and we know podcasters are inspired by great content from all around the world. We’ll have parts of the day anchored in Sydney, London, and North America, allowing us to reflect the three local scenes as well as share knowledge from further afield.”

Peter Neigel CEO of Radiodays Europe says: “We’re excited to work with the Podcast Awards team to super-size Podcast Day and bring it to a larger audience, in different podcast markets around the world. Podcast Day always features the best speakers from the most interesting shows, platforms, and companies, and we’re looking forward to hosting even more great stories at Podcast Day 24 event.”

Online tickets for Podcast Day 24 are priced at £99 + VAT, but are available at the reduced price of £75 + VAT until the end of February on their website. Join us for 24 hours of podcasting from around the world.