Alert 🚨 Bob Ross is making a podcast 🎨
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It seems my time with the ol’ Madame Rona has finally come to a close. Thank you all for your patience as I attempted to write this newsletter with one eye open for the last two weeks.
I was absolutely thrilled — THRILLED — to see that Sentimental in the City, a Sex and the City spinoff of Caroline O’Donoghue’s very charming podcast, Sentimental Garbage, was back in my feed this week. I recommended the series, co-hosted by Dolly Alderton, way back in July, but now, three months after the finale of And Just Like That…, they are finally back to give their take. A warning that the runtime clocks in well over two hours, but I give them a pass because I enjoy their analysis so much. If Sex and the City is not your thing, this podcast is not for you.
But the Sex and the City of it all isn’t what I want to talk about — not exactly.
They also talked about And Just Like That… The Writer’s Room, the accompanying podcast from HBO Max and Pineapple Street.
Companion podcasts are becoming more and more common — like the rewatch podcasts for New Girl (I tried listening to it this week; it is in fact as bad as the trailer) and The O.C.
Caroline and Dolly brought up a really interesting argument. The Writer’s Room podcast (which I haven’t listened to, so I can’t speak to myself) goes into detail about how and why certain decisions were made about storylines and characters. The result? An episode of the TV show that they may have had issues with upon first watch became rosier in the rearview mirror after having listened to the process.
Which perhaps makes for kinder viewing of television. But also, as Dolly points out, it’s kind of cheating. It allows for the creators to get ahead of anticipated backlash and bad faith viewing — which there was a lot of! This does beg the question — shouldn’t the art be able to speak for itself?
I’ve spent many a newsletter going on about my qualms with celebrity podcasts, but I think companion podcasts deserve some scrutiny, too. Part of this is an intellectual property thing — I can totally see a company looking at a product (in this case, And Just Like That... ) and trying to maximize the reach. While this may be a good business strategy, I don’t think it particularly lends itself to valuable content.
There is obviously a big market for companion podcasts, and as I’ve said before, I would never want to yuck someone else’s yum in terms of what they listen to.
But I do think that by having the companion podcast made by the same team that makes the show, we miss out on interesting criticism and outside perspectives on the work. I’m much more interested in having a critic interview the creator and actually engage with the work, rather than the creators/writers/actors sit around and talk about how great their show is.
We love this! Tink Media has created a database for podcasts who want to do promotional swaps. One of the best ways to get your podcasts in front of new ears is by tapping into another podcast’s audience.
A quick admin note: we will be taking a break next Friday, so we’ll be back in two weeks. Enjoy the long weekend! So many holidays! Ramadan Mubarak! Chag Pesach Sameach! Happy Easter!
Here it is. Perhaps the best job posting we’ve ever seen. Bob Ross Inc — yes, that Bob Ross — is hiring a freelance producer/host for a new podcast. It’s fully remote and the number one requirement is “Bob Ross fan.” Good luck competing against everyone who reads this newsletter including all the Vocal Fry producers for this one.
TVO is hiring a podcast producer for a one-year contract. The salary ranges from $69,000 to $72,000 (we love a posted salary!) and applications are due by 5 p.m. on April 22.
Antica Productions is hiring an associate producer for a one-year contract. The posted salary is $53,000 to $57,000 and applications are due by April 15.
CBC Music is hiring a full-time associate producer for classical music for a one-year contract position. Apply by EOD April 11.
CBC Radio is hiring a permanent, full-time executive producer for As It Happens. Apply by EOD April 12.
CBC Edmonton is hiring a permanent, full-time afternoon assignment producer. Apply by EOD April 14.
CBC Ottawa News at 6 is hiring a full-time, contract host for their supper hour program. Apply by EOD April 14.
Have you got what it takes to host As It Happens? Can you fill the very large shoes of the one and only Carol Off? CBC Radio is hiring a new host for their flagship evening current affairs program, and you have until EOD April 19 to apply.
CBC Windsor is hiring a permanent, full-time multi-platform producer. Apply by EOD April 21.
All you TikTok aficionados out there — and I know there are surely many of you — CBC Gem is hiring a permanent, full-time social media producer with a special emphasis on TikTok! Apply by EOD April 22.
CBC Edmonton is hiring a permanent, full-time producer for investigative and enterprise work! Apply by EOD April 26.
CBC Edmonton is hiring a permanent, full-time host for Radio Active! Apply by EOD May 5.
CBC Winnipeg is hiring a full-time weekend morning show host for a one-year contract. Apply by EOD May 10.
The Google Podcasts Creator Program is accepting applications until April 24! This is for people who have at least 3 years of experience. You can register for a free informational webinar next Friday, April 15 at 1 p.m. EDT.
Are you a current Concordia student or alum? Our very own Katie Jensen is running a workshop with Concordia/CJLO on the ABCs of Podcasting at 7 p.m. on May 11. Registration is free, but restricted to Concordia students and alumni.
In Katie's never-ending quest to understand TikTok (which we talked about in last week's newsletter), she's been reading, watching, and listening for advice on how to crack the algorithm & promote podcasts on the platform. Her favourite resource so far has been this very cool episode of Online Business Launch Lab with literal genius Andrea Mora (aka @Latinapreneur). Last year, Katie took a course in social media management from host Latasha James and it was really smart & well-taught - Latasha's got a fantastic wealth of free resources on YouTube. Plus, watching Latasha's vlogs makes Katie feel less alone as a small business owner, and she's loved many of the tools Latasha has introduced her to.
Did you know that the Herman Miller Leaf Lamp, Snoo Bassinet, Tile Bluetooth Tracker, and Samsung Frame TV were all dreamt up by legendary Swiss designer & fuseproject founder Yves Béhar? He's this week's guest on Think Beyond from Cossette.
And Friend of Fries Sabina Wex wrote all about how to maximize your podcast's website!
We want to hear from you! What are you looking for in your podcast news? Let us know on Twitter, Instagram, or by email at info@vocalfrystudios.com.
Thanks to Emily Latimer for editing this newsletter, and to Katie Jensen for designing it.
We’ll see you again on April 22. Until then, here’s an update from all of the cats staying with producer Jay Cockburn.
