This & That: Podcast news, ideas, events, and MERCH

FIRST OF ALL, welcome!

🛎️Newsletter changes + 'should you start a newsletter?' event

I'm using a new newsletter platform. It's called beehiiv and I love it. It's SO easy to use. Very customizable.

I'm chatting with the CEO, Tyler Denk, next month for a workshop on podcasts and newsletters and whether or not you need to create a companion newsletter. Register here to attend for free on January 10th at 3:00 pm ET (a replay will be available).

🗞️What is this newsletter?

Great question. This & That shares smatterings from around the podcast and audio world. Think: recommendations, ideas, events, opportunities, and merch (more on that below).

It comes out irregularly (AKA when I feel like it). It's my experiment with inconsistency in content creation.

🔊Holiday gift idea announcement

If you're looking for a gift for a podcast person in your life (maybe even you), I've been working on something that I hope you'll check out. Hint: Ummm....

YES! I made Ummm...merch!

That's my waveform saying "ummm..." Really! There are sweatshirts, hats, shirts, and even a necklace. I'd be so honored if you purchased my Ummm...for your loved ones this holiday season. There's even a special Christmas tree version of the Ummm...turned on its side!

P.s. if you're reading this and want a free product from the Ummm...line, Screenshot the image merch above, post it on social media, and tag me (or EarBuds Podcast Collective). I'm giving away two free items, so do it quickly!

🫂Podcasting Community Discord

ICYMI: I started a Discord server for the podcast community. You can join here. There are over 1000 people in it already!

If Discord is overwhelming for you and you'd rather not join but still want to be involved in some way, good news! There'll be a weekly recap newsletter. You can get that here.

🍲Audio Delicacies

Tink Media shared a list of 50+ podcast episode recommendations, curated by listeners from around the world. It's not your typical end-of-year best-of list. Check it out and find a new favorite.

👩‍🏫Podcast marketing 101

I'm hosting a Podcast Marketing 101 session with the SquadCast community on December 19th at 5:00 pm ET. If you're a SquadCaster and want to join, let me know by replying to this email. I'll share the invite!

🧮Indypod census

Independent podcasters are invited to fill out the IndyPod Census! Be part of the first international research exercise focusing exclusively on Independent Podcasters and their needs.

🫶Shoutout to...

• Saadia Khan and Asad Butt on the launch of Invisible Hate.

• Brandon Loureiro for inviting me to speak to his NYU class on how podcasting fits into Hollywood.

• Sonoro Podcasts for sending me this fun hat!

  • P.s. YES, I will show off your merch if you send it to me.

• BIPOC Podcast Creators for inviting me to present to your community about podcast growth through collaborations last week. Join their community here.

• Emily Wong for saying something SO nice about SquadCast.fm's community.

• All of the amazing podcasts nominated for The Signal Awards. VOTE by December 22nd.

• The Podcast Academy for allowing me to give away a few FREE memberships. Reply to this email if you're interested (and you're not currently a member).

• Focusrite's Vocaster and Mark Steadman's The Big Minute newsletter for sponsoring this week's EarBuds Podcast Collective newsletter and podcast.

• Devon DiComo, EarBuds' newsletter and podcast coordinator, for reporting this episode of the Atlas Obscura podcast. It's so good!

I COULD GO ON ALL DAY

There's so much great stuff going on in audio land. But I'll end it here. I'll be back...soon!

What'd you think of this issue of This & That? Let me know if there's something I should know about, what you're listening to and loving lately, and if you have any merch requests.

Arielle

📊Transparency statistics

If you're new to the newsletter, lemme tell you about this section. I share subscriber numbers, as well as open and click rates. Why? It's fun to track growth.

• Number of subscribers: 433

  • Up from 399 when the last email was sent

• Open rate: since this is the first email I'm sending on Beehiiv, no stats yet

• Click rate: same as above