As you may already know, this newsletter is written by me, then checked by Michaela – Director of Content and Head of Loud Nose Blows – for spelling, grammar, narrative consistency, any jokes that go above PG13, any content that might inadvertently upset someone or lose us work, and any use of banned icky words such as ‘moist’.
Well, the good news is that Michaela went on holiday to Thailand yesterday and will be away for three newsletters, so all bets are off. In this edition, see if you can spot the typos she would have corercted or things she would have vetoed. Dribble.
As Harold Wilson once said, a week is a long time in podcasting, and this is one of those weeks. We’ve been releasing new shows and episodes like they’re going out of fashion*.
*To be clear, they are not going out of fashion.
Technology Now
2025 started beautifully with Fresh Air being chosen to take over production of ‘Technology Now’ for HPE – Hewlett Packard Enterprise. Producing a podcast about technology for a brand who have incredible innovations and world-changing projects coming out of their ears is obviously a joy, and HPE have a simple but often overlooked approach. It can be broadly described as ‘release weekly, tell great stories, and be passionate about what your company does’.
Our dedicated production team* of Izzie – Fresh Air’s Head of Going To Weddings – and Harry – Head of Cakes – are bringing the creative flair and the commercial nous to make sure this well-established show goes to the next level in terms of ambition, promotion and creativity. Fresh Air’s first episode kicked off this week with our presenter – HPE’s Michael Bird – recording fully clothed while sitting in a hot tub in the middle of a German conference. Because why not, eh?
*Izzie and Harry are also highly experienced and knowledgeable science and technology communicators. It’s not all about cakes and weddings.
The Ambies Winners
Thought awards season was over? Well it wasn’t. The Ambies happened this week – the Oscars of the podcast world rewarding the very best in the business*.
The big winner was Hysterical, which was named Podcast of the Year. The show from Wondery (as great shows so often are), investigates an outbreak of a mysterious illness among a group of high school girls in New York. You could happily go through the whole year listening only to shows that are shortlisted for Ambies. Some, like 99% Invisible, are long running podcasts that have managed to maintain an astonishing level of quality and set the bar for superbly produced work for the last decade. But there are also tonnes of new shows from talented storytellers and plenty of evidence of incredible creativity in podcasting, including news, business and comedy. Only this newsletter rivals the Ambies for a guarantee of recommendation quality.
*Well, the best from North America and the BBC.
Call of the Wild
Have you seen the cast of the new Sam Mendes Beatles movies? You know the guy playing John Lennon? Harris Dickinson? Well, he’s on our podcast for WWF this week.
Call of the Wild is one of our longest running shows, and has returned for 2025 with a bang. Dickinson met up with our presenter Cel Spellman (and Izzie HoGtW) to explain how nature is ‘a remedy for his overactive mind’. Growing up near Epping Forest, he extols the virtues of escaping the city and spending time in the proper outdoors. ‘It humbles you. It reminds you that you’re a small thing’, he says, which is probably easy to forget when you’ve just been cast in a massive series of Hollywood movies.
Would you like to read more about this while looking at a picture of Harris’s nipples? Sure – here you go.
Would you like to listen to the podcast? Sure – here you go.
Side Hustles with Legal & General
I’m too busy running Fresh Air to have side hustles, although I have recently considered selling pictures of my feet on OnlyFans. If Lily Allen can do it, what’s stopping me – a 49 year old man – from making my fortune? I mean, for starters, my second toes are longer than my big toes. Hello ladies. That’s got to be worth a few quid?
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, this week’s new episode of ‘A Little Bit Richer’ for Legal & General features tips on side hustles. Our brilliant host Iona Bain and financial advisor Emmanuel Asuquo explore the highs and lows, the myths and realities, and strategies to balance it with your full-time job. The show is a great example of how to create engaging and accessible content on sometimes complex topics without it ever being dry. It’s all available on YouTube too.
Spotify Ad Exchange
AdWeek Europe played host to a load of podcasters this week, with Gary Lineker, owner of the all-conquering Goalhanger, being one of the star turns. I so wanted to be Gary Lineker at school that I was actually quite pleased when I broke my wrist and looked a bit like he did in Mexico 86. Now, 39 years later, I’m in an industry where, yet again, everyone wants to be Gary Lineker.
Anyway, Spotify used AdWeek Europe to launch Spotify Ad Exchange – a new programmatic tool for brands to place ads on Spotify using a real-time auction. They’ve also continued to improve the self-serve platform Spotify Ads Manager with new outcome-based objectives to help advertisers of all sizes create, optimise, and measure their Spotify campaigns.
The great thing is, you don’t need to worry about the details of all that, because that’s what Fresh Air Media is for. Richard – Director of Pressing Send on the Email – and Nik – Head of Darts – know these tools inside out and will plan the perfect campaign with their eyes on the detail and their noses on the results.
Eva Higginbotham may have seen Avril Lavigne…
I saw Avril Lavigne perform at Glastonbury last year. Well, I say saw… I was several thousand drunk people away from the stage which meant that, even with squinting my very best, I couldn’t exactly make out any details. With that in mind, how do I know I really saw Avril, and not someone else pretending to be her? In case you’re unfamiliar, there’s a popular conspiracy theory that Avril Lavigne died many years ago and was replaced by a body double. And in this podcast, very serious documentary maker (*cough* comedian) Joanne McNally sets out to try and reveal the truth. It’s properly hilarious, I hadn’t heard of McNally before but am now a huge fan. It’s both very silly and an examination of celebrity deaths, doppelgangers, and conspiracies. Enjoy.
Clara Kavanagh would love to have a bev with Lady Gaga…
The timeless, ever-evolving Lady Gaga sat down with SNL’s Bowen Yang and comedian Matt Rogers on their podcast Las Culturistas, to chat about her highly acclaimed new album Mayhem. Whether you’re a fan of her meat dresses or not, it’s an interesting conversation about how an artist’s mind works, how they cultivate their creativity and grow with their fans.
I’m seeing a lot online about the importance of being “a good hang”, especially with American politicians on podcasts. While this phrase makes me cringe a bit, Lady Gaga definitely shows herself as a great gal to grab a beer with. For an artist as avant-garde as she is, she comes across very grounded, self-aware and endearing.
If you want a behind the scenes look at a day in the life of Mother Monster or an album in the life of Lady Gaga, this is a great listen.
What we’ve been listening to this week
Garden tools.
As an audio nerd who’s worked in marketing for so long, I love it when a major agency leads an ad idea with sound. Jason Fletcher at Dentsu is one of the best creatives I’ve ever worked with, and he’s set about creating this ad for Makita to encourage battery-powered gardening. There’s a bit of Groove Armada in there too, thanks to Andy Cato who’s remixed the classic Superstylin’ using, obviously, the sounds of garden tools.
More audio-led ad campaigns please. We love ‘em.
What we’ve been doing this week
Shhhh.
More work on our top secret podcast project, to be released in June. Fresh Air’s biggest ever original show is in development and it’s going to be an absolute cracker. Fascinating, funny, entertaining and enlightening, you’ll want to listen, then tell your friends about it in the pub, then encourage your kids to listen, then send in questions and download the next one as soon as it’s out. You’ll probably get yourself tickets to the live show in the end too. All presented by someone described by my 20 year old son as ‘so insanely cool’, despite being older than me.
Developing and launching an original properly takes an enormous amount of time, thought, practice and refinement. A simple idea can only sound brilliant if you put tonnes of effort into it. All our expertise is being poured in, and on Wednesday we recorded two pilots, did the photoshoot for the artwork and planned the launch. Topics included ***** and *****, with our brilliant hosts *****, ****** and *****.
So, look out for the release of ****’* **** ****. We’ll tell you more in May.
