Hi friends, Kattie here, one of Vocal Fry’s producers and resident big-feeling-haver! The wonderful Michal is still on a well-deserved vacation, so I’m your guest-host on the newsletter this week!

A few weeks ago, I returned home from vacation myself and while admittedly it took me a couple days to get back into the swing of things again, I ended up heading into May on a hot creative streak. Maybe it was because KJ gave me a space to spew all my thoughts on the state of Canadian podcasting space in the Vocal Fry blog around the same, but ever since then I guess I’ve had a kick of self-righteousness and the creative juices have been FLOWING.

Usually I’m so focused on my clients that I bench my own ideas for so long that I start to doubt them.
But I think it’s important that podcast producers get some time to feel their oats – especially women in this industry. Imposter syndrome is something I constantly hear about in women’s podcasting groups, and it can take a while to be confident enough in an idea or opinion – or yourself – before you actually put it out there. So I want to share some creative inspiration and guide you toward some main-character energy (at least while I’m still living in it).

Lately, I’ve been having a lot of discussions with friends about what our head sounds like. I realized that mine is a constant narrative buried under a stack of lists, and it sounds like me hosting a really messy podcast. I had a realization that my way of making sense of it all is through journaling and coming up with podcast concepts and imaginary scripts. After a chat with my therapist, I was inspired to run with it and stop thinking about creativity as a career, but also as a cathartic practice. Which sounds obvious, but it can get hard to separate when creativity becomes your bread and butter.

Last week, I managed to catch an episode of CBC’s q with Tom Power where he interviewed Don Was, a musician and producer who worked with legends like Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones. Was had some fascinating stories to tell about his creative process and how fan-boying over Bob Dylan might’ve stunted it. Diana Krall also made an appearance at the end, and I couldn’t help but laugh at how she literally used her piano to finish her sentences. Okay, it was a bit of an audio nightmare for my producer brain, but if that isn’t the sign of a “creative,” I don’t know what is.

There’s a lot more I could say but I’ve already taken up too much space on personal stuff, so I googled “guides to getting your creative juices flowing.” I really liked this one from Interaction Design Foundation.

And finally, some words from our lord and saviour, JVN:

What else we saw this week:

Looking for more podcasts by trans and non-binary people? PODPLANE is a monthly newsletter by Tal Minear that curates podcasts by trans and non-binary people. Subscribe to get lots of amazing recommendations, or submit your own podcast here.
Powerhouse podcasters Stacey Copeland and Hannah McGregor released “A Guide to Academic Podcasting.” It’s an open-source, practical guidebook introducing scholars to the multiverse of podcasting, in collaboration with Amplify Podcast Network. Catch them talking about it on the New Books Network podcast here.
This must-read thread from Mason Amadeus with free VST plugins for sound designers and podcasters. Did we mention they're free?
SXM Media released a new 2022 podcast trend report this week, and Arielle Nissenblatt did a great job of picking out the most interesting stats in it. We especially love the second point she shared: Indie podcasts are crushing it on Simplecast. "Even as publishers and major media companies enter the space, indie podcasters remain a critical component in expanding the medium and continue to top the charts."

Maclean's is looking for less experienced, talented writers and PITCHES! If you have a super cool concept and a voice that needs to be heard, check out the thread on Twitter for more info on how to apply. Pay is $300-500 per article.

In case you haven’t been paying attention to practically every Youtube ad, sports gambling has EXPLODED over the last year and now it’s found itself in the podcast space. The Sports Gambling Podcast Network is hiring for numerous positions, including a podcast producer. Los Angeles area preferred but open to remote work.

CityNews 1130 Vancouver is looking for a Part-Time Anchor. Get your face out there along with all the perks of working for a big media conglomerate, including benefits!

And these jobs from last week are still open:

DrawTogether Podcast seems to still be looking for a part-time producer to help with research, planning, partnerships, marketing and beyond - I couldn’t find a deadline for applications. This show is a very cool audio drawing class - if you love drawing or just cool interpretations of podcasting, get your resume prepped!

CBC Montreal is looking for a temporary director of Internal Digital Audio Development and Production - apply by May 16th!

CBC North has potential radio & journalism opportunities opening up for speakers of English and Inuktitut - reach out to their team for more details!

CBC Radio Toronto is looking for a host for a new daily program covering arts & entertainment. Start working on those vocal warm-ups - apply by May 18th!

Rabbit Grin Productions (home of Anna Faris is Unqualified and Mayim Bialik’s Breakdown) is looking for a double-threat audio and video producer. Apply by May 17th.

Spotify is also hiring a senior podcast manager for The Ringer - requiring seven years experience minimum in content development and production for podcasts, oop!

Chatelaine is offering an editorial fellowship for racialized journalists! The terms are a bit weirdly phrased as a “paid freelance full-time three-month position”, but the rate is $4,250 per month. Apply by May 24th.

Proximity Media’s Head of Audio, Paola Mardo, is looking to expand their roster of freelance podcast crew: specifically producers, mix engineers, sound designers and composers. BIPOC audio folks to the front! Email your stuff to Paola at radiomardo@gmail.com

Spotify is hosting a cool 6-month opportunity called EQUAL Residency in Toronto, and are looking for people who want to further their career in recorded music. During the residency you’ll work with an existing studio engineer to learn all the studio equipment systems and shadow them in engineering live sessions and more. Looks like this opportunity has led to some really cool jobs for graduates of the program.

ALSO, my own podcast, Alpaca My Bags, is on the hunt for a part-time Virtual Assistant who cares about responsible travel practices and knows a thing or two about using TikTok and Instagram reels to promote podcasts. Starting at $500 CAD per month. Email us your stuff at hello@alpacamybags.com.

The Film Cast has been a go-to post-movie podcast in my household for a long time. If you’re a film lover and catch up on reviews like me, you’ll likely resonate with the fact that a lot of the time film nerds can be a bit much. I don’t feel that way about this podcast.

Hosts David Chen, Devindra Hardawar, and Jeff Cannata review movies but also often discuss a film’s place in our present time and day and bring on great guests who can make those correlations. That’s why their recent episode about Everything Everywhere All At Once made a big impact on me.

First of all, if you haven’t seen this movie I 1,000% recommend seeing it in theaters if you feel comfortable enough. This movie brings up SO many feelings, but David, Jeff and their guest Walter Chaw have a really insightful discussion particularly on how this movie impacted them as first generation Asian-Americans and early parents. They reconcile with their own experiences growing up with parents that they saw reflected in the movie, and ultimately have an important discussion about representation in media that almost brought me to tears.

If you need a good laugh AND cry this weekend, watch this movie and then listen to this podcast!

The Vocal Fry Studios TikTok account has been getting a lot of love lately, and KJ has been out there embracing her inner influencer putting out fire content. Even more exciting, new Fry Val is now gracing us with her presence on the feeds too! Social media is exhausting work, and I mean, we’re all podcast people at the end of the day. So, go follow and like our stuff over at the Vocal Fry Studios TikTok and Instagram if you have some time today!

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 May 20! You’re going to hear from another amazing VFS producer. Until then, here’s an important update from Michal’s vacation.

This is a sign to feel your oats

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