Compiled by Tess Connery and Grace Gollasch
Unlocking the full potential of our cities with Broadsheet’s Around Town
In an exclusive co-creation deal, LiSTNR and Broadsheet Media have teamed up to create two new podcasts, Broadsheet Melbourne Around Town and Broadsheet Sydney Around Town.
The podcasts are published three times a week, and draw on Broadsheet’s knowledge of the culture of Sydney and Melbourne and their surrounding suburbs. Each episode will deliver Sydneysiders and Melburnians a ten-minute audio wrap-up of the hottest new venues in town.
Podcast Week’s Tess Connery spoke to Broadsheet’s editorial director Katya Wachtel about bringing the cities to life.
Katya Wachtel
Whilst this is Broadsheet’s first partnership with LiSTNR, it’s not their first time podcasting.
“Broadsheet produced its first podcast, FYI, last year,” says Wachtel. “A producer on that podcast was a woman called Karla Arnall, who ended up going to LiSTNR to work on some of their podcasts. LiSTNR had been talking about doing a culture podcast, they felt that there was a gap in the market for a short, sweet roundup of culture news around the city – and of course, that’s what Broadsheet does really, really well.
“We had also had envisioned doing a short podcast as well, which was a really nice, neat wrap-up of food, news, drink news, fashion, news, entertainment – all the pillars that we cover. By chance LiSTNR had wanted to do that as well. With Karla there as someone who knew us, she connected the two of us together.”
With the Around Town podcasts now out in the world, Wachtel says that there is room for them to eventually become daily.
“Initially, LiSTNR had talked about doing a daily podcast, which of course would be wonderful. I think we all thought we’d start with three a week and then we can talk about daily once we get all settled in.”
With so much happening in Sydney and Melbourne at any given time, Wachtel says the team have no shortage of content to cover on the podcast.
“It’s tricky, there’s so much going on in both Sydney and Melbourne. We can barely keep up ourselves! We’ve got a pretty small editorial team, but there are always incredible things happening in every part of the city every week, so it’s really about choosing the openings and venues or the creatives or people that we think listeners should know about. Maybe it’s a really interesting new opening and offering that the city hasn’t experienced before, or it’s important to the city’s dining landscape, or it might be something in a space like fashion or art.”
Building on Broadsheet’s website content, the Around Town podcasts offer listeners an extra peek into what’s going on in the city around them.
“There’s only so much information we can get in a story on the website, people don’t have the bandwidth or time to read a 1000-word story about every opening or exhibition or new fashion label in the city. The podcast gives us an opportunity to talk about those little gems or insights that may have been uncovered in the reporting or editing process that are really interesting, but don’t necessarily make it into the story.”
With Sydney and Melbourne now covered, Wachtel says that there is potential for the Around Town podcasts to expand.
“We’ve talked about what the next cities might be next – we cover Brisbane, Adelaide, and Perth, and we launched in New Zealand last year. We are very conscious of the fact that there would be a demand for it in those cities. The plan would be to look at that once we feel really settled in what we’re doing in Melbourne and Sydney.”
[Listen to Broadsheet Melbourne – Around Town here]
[Listen to Broadsheet Sydney – Around Town here]
SBS launches podcast exploring how diverse Australian Muslims experience Ramadan and Eid
Hosted by Sarah Malik and guests including television personality and academic Susan Carland and Masterchef contestant Amina El Shafei, My Ramadan will talk about navigating work while fasting, what it means to slow down and reject hustle culture during this time, and how Ramadan connects to spirituality and self.
My Ramadan explores Iftar food traditions and how Ramadan intersects with belonging and identity for Gen Z.
The series culminates in a special Eid episode, exploring how mixed-culture families adapt and celebrate Eid and Ramadan today.
My Ramadan launches on Wednesday March 22, with new episodes each Wednesday leading up to Eid.
Play School launches new podcast for four-year-olds
The cast of Play School have made their way to podcasting with the launch of Play School: Ears On.
The new podcast is a spin-off of the TV show, which has been running for 57 years. Each episode goes for six minutes and is hosted by Teo Gebert.
Much-loved characters, such as Emma, Humpty, Jemima and Little Ted make regular appearances on the podcast. In each episode, listeners are given a mysterious noise which then take children on an adventure to work out what it is, with the intention to model active listening, asking for help and connection with friends.
[Listen to Play School: Ears On here]
News Corp Australia’s Faith on Trial: Hillsong tops Apple Podcasts in Aus and NZ
True Crime Australia’s Faith on Trial: Hillsong has hit number one in Australia and NZ on Apple Podcasts weeks after release.
The podcast is expected to have an increase in traffic in its international audience when homepage promotions begin across the platform in the UK, Ireland, Canada, and South Africa.
The podcast, which shines a light on the multi-million dollar Christian phenomenon that grew from humble beginnings in a Sydney warehouse, has sparked widespread investigations probing the Church’s activities.
The eight-part podcast explores how Hillsong’s founder, Brian Houston, became a religious rockstar and how he now faces court over allegations he concealed his father’s child sex crimes.
Throughout the podcast, reporter Stephen Drill tries to answer, how did the church get here?
[Listen to Faith on Trial: Hillsong here]
Paris Hilton discusses new memoir on Hot Nights with Abbie Chatfield
Paris Hilton joined Abbie Chatfield on her national radio show Hot Nights with Abbie Chatfield in an Australian radio exclusive to discuss her new memoir, Paris: The Memoir.
Among a number of topics, Hilton and Chatfield discussed their shared experience with having ADHD. Hilton said in her memoir, “If I’m going to love my life, I’m going to love my ADHD.”
In the interview, she said, “It’s a superpower in ways where I think outside of the box. My whole career, I’ve been about forward thinking and taking risks.”
The interview was rounded out with Paris Hilton talking about her husband Carter Reum and son Phoenix.
[Listen to Hot Nights with Abbie Chatfiled here]
2 Guys 1 Cup returns to LiSTNR for 2023 AFL season
LiSTNR has announced comedian Wil Anderson and actor and writer Charlie Clausen are returning with a seventh season of their comedy podcast 2 Guys 1 Cup, to coincide with the start of the 2023 AFL season.
2 Guys 1 Cup, available exclusively on LiSTNR, is a comedy show that discusses the week’s AFL news with more laughs than actual footy talk.
In a world of footy experts, this is the non-expert opinion of the game from the point of view of two footy tragics.
The first episode of 2023 includes a hilarious encounter that Wil had with the Brisbane Lions and their coach Chris Fagan, a deep dive into some commentary from Brian Taylor during which he made the bold statement “it’s so good, you just want to kiss it” and a hardcore analysis of Bulldogs’ coach Luke Beveridge and his ‘new look’ for the 2023 season.
LiSTNR’s Just the Gist podcast hits 10 million downloads
LiSTNR original podcast, Just the Gist, has reached a major milestone, recording 10 million downloads.
Over the last three and a half years, hosts Rosie Waterland and Jacob Stanley have told more than 145 stories about famous scandals, true crimes, celeb drama, conspiracy theories, politics, and amazing people throughout history. With listeners now able to tune in twice a week, the podcast’s content has become a hit with audiences Australia wide.
In February Just the Gist climbed to 15th spot in the All Australian Podcast Ranker with more than 206,000 monthly listeners – a jump of 55% from 133,000 monthly listeners in February 2022.
Waterland and Stanley break down the details of their stories without getting bogged down in any of the boring bits. Listeners get ‘just the gist’ of what they need to know – the juiciest, most entertaining details.
[Listen to Just the Gist here]
Titus O’Reily and Mick Molloy bring Sports Bizarre podcast to LiSTNR
Titus O’Reily and Triple M’s Mick Molloy are bringing their sports podcast, Sports Bizarre, to LiSTNR.
From the cricket pitch to the track, the footy field over to the courts and even into the pool, O’Reily and Molloy will dive into the deep history of every kind of sport, where listeners will hear stories from around the globe.
Recent episodes have explored the introduction of ‘whiff waff’ aka table tennis, the 13-year-old snooker player who skipped school to pursue the game, former Philadelphia Eagles player Tim Rossovich who famously set up pranks such as setting himself on fire, a two-part feature on golf’s most unconventional character John Daly and even ‘The Monkey Testicle Doping Scandal’.
The first LiSTNR episode continues the ping pong conversation as O’Reily and Molloy examine the rise of table tennis in China and how the US Table Tennis Championships were once kicked out of a venue by El Mongol, a not-so-famous wrestler.
[Listen to Sports Bizarre here]
LiSTNR and The Beanies team up to launch bedtime routine podcast for kids
LiSTNR and ABC Kids entertainers, The Beanies, have teamed up to provide families with bedtime routine answers thanks to the Beanies Dreamies podcast, coinciding with World Sleep Day on Friday, 17 March.
According to a survey by the Better Sleep Council, 85% of parents say their children do not have a consistent bedtime routine, which can lead to poor sleep, poor moods, and poor overall health for the entire family.
The LiSTNR podcasters and ABC Kids stars, The Beanies, have produced seven brand new bedtime routines to help young listeners transition from playtime to sleepy time.
Each episode of Beanies Dreamies is around 10 minutes long and includes a variety of soothing sounds, calming stories, and gentle music. The episodes are perfect for children aged three to eight years old and are available on The Beanies podcast on LiSTNR, the Kinderling app or wherever you get your podcasts.
[Listen to Beanies Dreamies here]
