Audrey Mardavich is a good sport. When we booked a Zoom back in December, I let her know that it would be recorded. At the time, I didn’t plan to use the video for this post. I always rip the audio to get a transcription, and then shelve the video without looking at it again.
But right away, I knew that I had a good one. You know that magic when both people are just on for an interview? Even when it seems like you’ve shoe-horned a meeting into a December schedule that has a million other social, business and family responsibilities.
When I watched the first couple minutes of the video, I could see that *it* was there. That feeling of when you listen (or in this case watch) and it makes you feel like you’re in the room. So I reached out to her. Was she ok with my quick pivot to video? I realized what I wanted to capture in this post just couldn’t be transcribed.
We are an audio crowd, which makes video a stretch for some; you have to ask.
Lucky for us, she was game.
When I share interview selects in writing, I edit out the stammers, the filler words, the sidetracked stories. They are often unnecessary and they take up space on the page. Unless you personally know the person, it’s hard to accurately transpose those layers into a whole being. Filler words and stammers often portray people as inarticulate, when they are not.
But these same words that look funny on a page are part of what makes us who we are. They hold some of our personality, our tone, and sometimes our focus. They also hold the chemistry, which is the magic to witness.
Evidently, I could do this as an audio post, rather than a video post…today is a test pattern. Let me know what you think! Either hit reply, or comment in the box below.
It’s a birthday year for Radiotopia!
The podcast collective that Roman Mars founded in 2014 with some Knight Foundation funds, one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns in history and a distribution partner in PRX turns 10 this year. In podcast terms, it practically makes them/it a grandparent.
Mars already had a successful podcast, the iconic 99 % Invisible; but he wanted to do more with it. He wanted to bust out of the NPR box. He also wanted to hear more shows like the one that he creates (still to this day, now with VOX Media). Mars wanted to hear from more than just white men (like him), which was resoundingly the case circa 2013.
A Wired Article from 2015 deftly summed up one initial difference from what erstwhile ‘radio’ was, to what the new ‘podcasts’ were becoming:
“Radiotopia shows tend to feature hosts speaking softly, so close to the mic that it’s like they’re in your head.”
Did Mars foretell the infinite dial of podcasts?
He recognized that public radio has a finite number of hourly spots; but a collection of like-minded rss feeds under the same umbrella allows for an incredible diversity of voices and subjects has fewer size limitations. Maybe it’s this wave of growth that we all rode until 2023.
So he brought together some of the other OG podcasts to form a collective. Love + Radio, Criminal, Strangers…soon to be…Song Exploder, The Heart, The Allusionist…all shows that specialize in narrative journalism and a unique type of highly personal, highly-produced audio storytelling.
These founding Radiotopia shows, along with a handful of other ones from NPR, the CBC, the BBC, ABC in Australia (IKYK), are really what laid the foundations of this industry. It’s hard not to overstate the importance of Radiotopia for what this industry would become. In many ways, we all owe a debt of gratitude for this audacious experiment that came true.
From the beginning, Radiotopia championed independents. It consummated the smartest (and longest-lasting) distribution marriage with PRX. It showed that truly independent shows could work inside a system that would soon explode into a full-blown industry, and be successful.
It continued along a smart growth pattern. Radiotopia’s first big hire came a year after it was founded with Julie Shapiro, someone who has endured as one of the steady hands of this industry. From her co-founding days at Third Coast, between her Commonwealth tour of indie-minded production houses, Shapiro would stay at Radiotopia/PRX form 2015 until 2022, which is sort of like standing on the event horizon of the big bang of podcasting.
Another piece of Shapiro’s lasting legacy is that she helped to train up Radiotopia’s newest Executive Producer, Audrey Mardavich, who began at PRX in 2011.
And last December, I sat down with Audrey to talk over her Year One, look back at some of the most memorable moments of the last decade of Radiotopia, and look ahead for what’s in store for Radiotopia’s 10th anniversary year.
Interview Takeaways:
Audrey explains what Radiotopia is, and also what PRX does [01:53]
Radiotopia is an independent Podcast Network.
We are a network from PRX, which is a public media company here in the US.
We support independent producers to do their best work.
We sort of provide all of the distribution support for producers so that they can really focus on the editorial and on the making of their show.
We were founded in 2014, as a partnership between Roman Mars and PRX.
Our mission has remained the same: to help our shows find audience and find revenue.
Radiotopia lets producers keep their IP
Audrey dives into that [03:40]
Q: Let’s discuss exactly what PRX is, for those who are still working to understand it
Audrey gets into this…PRX is a public media company, and we support independent audio makers [07:20]
Audrey talks about her first year at Radiotopia in her current role as Executive Producer [10:57]
Samantha asked Audrey about Highs and Lows of 2023;
HIGHS: Attending OnAir Fest when Radiotopia announced the new partnership with Normal Gossip [13:18]
LOW: Having too many conversations with folks who are questioning whether audio is the right path for them [14:34]
AUDREY:
We're a nonprofit public media company. We are not the most moneyed organization out there right now, by far. And so we're not for everyone.
When I'm having conversations with people, I'm very upfront about it. I'm upfront about what we're good at, I'm upfront about what our challenges are…because I want people to be successful, whether they're with us,
or they're going somewhere else.
I think that it will we will continue to see a mix in Radiotopia.
We will have the narrative shows again. Some of the newest shows this year, the reality dating show Hang Up, is incredibly produced,
and really beautifully made and hosted.
And then we have Weight For It, which is a
beautiful narrative, a personal intimate series.
And then we have Normal Gossip, which is a conversational show and interview show, with brilliant writing. Alex Sujong Laughlin
is also an incredible sound designer.
All of us really aligned in our values in this industry. And so I think we'll see a range of the kind of conversational shows, but we'll also
continue onward with our narrative shows as well.
Q: Does Radiotopia do acquisitions now? Thinking of Normal Gossip and Weight For It [26:50]
Audrey: I wouldn’t call any of them acquisitions [27:27]
This year has brought about a number of notable births and deaths, and then rebirths at Radiotopia.
Rebirths:
Everything is Alive [29:20]
You Get A Podcast! [32:00]
Articles of Interest [34:00]
Deaths:
The Truth [38:50]
Audrey feels confident this could be a pause, not an RIP
And, going back into the vaults with Criminal & 99 PI [42:15]
Births:
Normal Gossip [45:30]
Q: “I know it’s a natural fit, but has it given a big bump to your audience?”
Answer: We both benefit.
Weight For It [50:23]
Q: Was this an acquisition?
Audrey: Radiotopia says no. It’s a partnership.
More eps coming out this month. New season out next summer.
“I knew we could help him do even more…to lift up his work and make it even more visible. It felt like a no-brainer.”
Hang Up: A Reality Dating Show [52:20]
Q: Tell me about the success of this one, new concept (reminds me of Shameless Acquisition Target)
“It corrects some of the more heteronormative parts of many dating shows.”
And then revisiting some of the tried and true chapters of Radiotopia:
Radio Diaries: The Unmarked Graveyard: [55:10]
Radio Diaries is also its own non-profit (same as Kitchen Sisters). Also have deep partnerships with NPR. And also the donations they receive from listeners.
They hooked in and worked hard on this show.
This was new work, and a very significant series….it appears this has paid off
Creatively reinvigorating!
Mechanics of it didn’t look very different than their regular partnership
Radiotopia Presents: [58:06]
Magazine show that showcases shorter limited run series.
NEW SEASON ALERT!
Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative drops in January!
I can’t wait to feature an interview with one of the Radiotopia’s hottest new shows from Radiotopia Presents :
Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative
I knew when I heard Jess’ brilliant piece for Lights Out, which I wrote about HERE, that she wasn’t done with this subject. She confirmed this in our interview…so read the backstory, and listen to the original piece that inspired this show.
I’ve been lucky enough to have a sneak peak at this series, and it’s going to blow you away. Hold on to your seats…and subscribe!
Share this post