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Hi Vocal Friends! I’m Jay, Vocal Fry’s token Brit. Michal is busy doing big things over at the Globe and Mail’s The Decibel this week so I’m filling her (very stylish) shoes.

Of course, I’ve been a little distracted this week, being a political news junkie…

@coldwarsteve

Boris Johnson announces pivot to podcasting
— Helen Zaltzman (@HelenZaltzman) July 7, 2022

… but what I’m really excited about is the second season of Playing with Marbles! I was one of the producers on this show and I learned so much about doing science journalism in the process, mainly from our host and Vocal Fry principal Katie Jensen. It was a really ambitious concept: we took a fictional woman, named her Kira Nerys (one for you, Star Trek fans), and followed her brain’s development from birth to death.

Sex and gender differences have been largely ignored in neuroscience pretty much from the beginning, so a lot of the science we were working with was really new, and balancing rigorous research with a fictional story was a really tough job. Our scripts had so many research paper citations that they started to feel like research papers in their own right. The show is properly packed with weird brain facts.

And obviously this newsletter is read by a bunch of audio enthusiasts (nerds) so I need to mention how good the sound design is. Katie and associate producer Max Collins made me laugh so much using only music and sound effects. Go listen!

Something else we’ve been talking about this week is this interesting find from The Big Story’s Jordan Heath Rawlings:

This is interesting. It appears TorStar has set up a data program to turn data from the Toronto Police directly into Toronto Star stories, without a reporter.

At a time when it's never been more important NOT to just report what cops say. Huh. https://t.co/VCufhcCNE5 pic.twitter.com/CCkcHHIJIO
— Jordan Heath-Rawlings (@TheGameSheet) July 5, 2022

It’s been a year since Toronto began encampment clearances, and less than a month since the report which showed systemic, violent discrimination against ethnic minorities by Toronto Police. It’s fair to say I don’t have a lot of faith that the police always tell the truth.

To me this seems like dangerous short termism. There’s a crisis of trust in the media, and outsourcing reporting to a police force not worthy of trust is only going to alienate the Star’s readers. I subscribe to the paper because they have a team of brilliant reporters, producers and editors that I trust. I am subscribing to those people, not to the Toronto Star logo at the top of the paper. I’m sure AI is cheaper than reporters, but in the long run this kind of thinking is terrible for the paper, and terrible for democracy.

😬 This is something that will make a lot of #podcast service providers mad. But, I have to do it: Don’t call it “podcast production” if you’re not actually producing the show. 🧵 Let me explain… #podcastproducer
— Maribel Quezada Smith 🇲🇽🇺🇸 (@Maribel_QS) July 6, 2022

Gimlet/Spotify are hiring a producer for the Wall Street Journal’s “The Journal”. This is a full-time role working remotely from anywhere but on Eastern time. No salary is listed but Gimlet’s union agreement stipulates a minimum salary of $87,000 USD for producers. They’re also hiring a supervising editor for the same show. Apply by August 1st.

Corus is hiring a producer in Ottawa for Global News. This looks to be a politics heavy role, so if you’re into that kind of drama then apply by Monday, July 11

Paradiso Media is hiring a freelance lead producer. Freelance is probably the wrong word for a one year contract at 40 hours a week, but that’s the word they used. It sounds like a pretty cool role though: “Oversee the development and production of a new weekly show. Episodes are 15 minutes long and are in the style of zeitgeist-y short docs and explainers”. $90,000-$100,000 annually, Remote with a US team.

If you’re in the east and know a lot about the music scene then CBC is hiring a producer for East Coast Music Hour.

More Nova Scotian CBC opportunities, this time in Sydney for an associate producer/technician.

There are also a few jobs for a new CBC documentary TV series: “It’s a topical ‘explainer’ format… on the hot + buzzy controversies… all over the news/social media.” They’re looking for an associate producer, producer, and senior producer.

Reddit is hiring a contract content curator.

Hey there sports fans! The Gist is a women-founded sports media startup. Their main product right now is a newsletter, but judging by all the hiring they’re doing that will change quite rapidly. They’re looking for a branded content producer, so if that sounds like your thing then you need to get your application in by midnight tonight. They’re also looking for a freelance TikTok producer, with no deadline listed. These are both US/CA remote positions.

If you’re a student, The Gist is also hiring a paid operations and partnership intern for four months. Remote and Canada only. Apply by July 22.

Speaking of internships…

Radiolab is hiring a part time, remote intern at WNYC for the coming school year. It is only paid $17.50 USD/hr, you have to be a student or recent graduate, and there’s a weirdly restrictive list of US states that you must be living in while you work, but this is a huge show and one of the most fun outlets for audio journalism out there, so if you’re able to meet those criteria then perhaps it’s worth an application! Apply by July 20.

If you’re really quick then Pineapple Street Studios internship and apprenticeship applications close at 6 p.m. ET today, July 8. These are remote, again US only, but paid a more respectable $23/hr for the six months they run.

JP Fozo at the Toronto Star is looking for freelance mixers to work on their podcasts. Our own Michal works on It’s Political with Althia Raj, so you might even end up working with her, you lucky thing. JP can be reached at jpfozo@thestar.ca

In the UK, Sony Music, who recently acquired one of Britain’s biggest audio producers Somethin’ Else, are looking for freelance producers with experience in entertainment podcasts.

I’ve been listening to some good old fashioned live broadcast radio this week. With the soap opera that is British politics moving at such a rapid pace, the only choice was to glue myself to BBC radio, so I’ve been switching between BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service, and BBC 5 Live.

Am I showing my age by saying radio? Probably, here’s a podcast as well: The Atlas Obscura Podcast. It’s a super short little narrative show about weird and wonderful places all over the world, produced by the Witness Docs team at Stitcher.

It’s not out yet, but if you’re a big reader or someone interested in the creative writing process then Susan Orlean is launching Book Exploder in August. Susan’s teamed up with Hrishikesh Hirway, the host of Song Exploder to make this. In that show, musicians take apart their songs and explain how they were made… so, I expect Book Exploder to be that but with books. Awesome.

A new episode of Think Beyond is out! Produced by Max Collins and Katie Jensen with Cossette. This episode is about using data to make better decisions.

P.S. Vocal Fry’s own Kattie Laur also produces Alpaca My Bags, a podcast about responsible travel, and they’ve just launched the trailer for season 5! If you’re someone who loves to travel but cares about the impact you make, this is the show for you.

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Thanks to Emily Latimer for editing this newsletter, and to Katie Jensen for designing it.

We’ll see you again on July 15. Until then, here’s an update from Katie’s new friend, the raccoon who sleeps outside her window.