What makes a podcast great? Legendary producer Julie Shapiro shows us.

About this episode

Julie Shapiro discusses her experiences in audio production and the evolving podcast landscape.

Today we go on a listening tour with audio legend Julie Shapiro, who has helped define what radio and podcasts could be over the past 25-plus years. Shapiro co-founded the Third Coast International Audio Festival, one of the most prestigious and influential awards in audio. She was a longtime executive at PRX Radiotopia, home of shows like Song Exploder, Kitchen Sisters Present and Everything is Alive. She helped launch and executive produced narrative podcasts such as Ear Hustle, first recorded inside San Quentin State Prison. Her shows have won Webby awards and Signal awards and been nominated for the Pulitzer Prize. In this episode, host Mack Hagood plays stellar moments from Julie’s long history in audio and asks her to elaborate on how they were made and what made them great. They also discuss the current industry retrenchment, where budgets are shrinking and low-ambition video chat shows are redefining the very meaning of the word podcast. It’s an illuminating conversation that will appeal to fans and have audio producers taking notes. Finally, Julie discusses her new project with partner John DeLore, Audio Flux—a platform and podcast for short audio pieces that is…

People in this episode

Host: Mack Hagood

Guest: Julie Shapiro

Topics covered

• podcast production
• audio storytelling
• industry trends
• creative projects
• interview with Julie Shapiro

Keywords

• podcast
• audio production
• Julie Shapiro
• Third Coast Festival
• Ear Hustle
• Audio Flux
• narrative podcasts
• industry retrenchment

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Third Coast International Audio Festival, PRX Radiotopia, The New Yorker

Books & works: Ear Hustle, Song Exploder, Kitchen Sisters Present, Everything is Alive, Audio Flux, The Audio Flux Podcast, The Dead Can't Do You N

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