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Irish Independent
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Podcast reviews: Enjoy the great outdoors even while indoors with these three fascinating nature shows
Practical solutions are the key drivers for positive change – as opposed to doom-scrolling and doom-mongering – which is the crux of Book of Leaves (Acast, Apple, Spotify) an Irish podcast on how to live more sustainably. Host Ceara Carney won the Climate Podcast Award at the inaugural Irish Podcasts Awards in 2022 and she's still going strong as she queries business owners, activists and academics about the steps they've taken to better serve the Earth. The circular economy (Alice Bassie), eco burials (Colin McAteer), the art of protest (singer Sive), refurbished gadgets (Colin Baker) and ethical finance (Ciarán Hughes) have each been discussed; for jaw-dropping facts on the efficacy of oysters at cleaning water systems, tune into David Lawlor's episode, though be prepared to seethe at the one on Lough Neagh, the island of Ireland's largest freshwater lake that has been plagued with algal blooms due to chemical run-off from agricultural and industrial mismanagement, invasive species and climate change. Naturalist (and Strictly contestant) Steve Backshall is a familiar face on TV and he's here with fellow broadcaster and wildlife biologist Lizzie Daly and journalist Sarah Roberts for That's Just Wild (Acast, Apple, Spotify). It's a bit like the aural version of The Really Wild Show, but there's plenty for adults too, as readers of all – and unknown – ages submit their most burning questions, including Hudson, age seven, asking if sharks fart, to Frederick, age three, wondering why do tortoises go on land and turtles in the sea ('can we have a moment to contemplate that is a three-year-old asking that question,' quips Backshall). Suzy Buttress was one of an estimated 13,000 visitors to this year's Global BirdFair at Rutland Water in England's East Midlands, dubbed 'the Glastonbury of birdwatching'. She's the host of The Casual Birder (Apple, Spotify; a too-modest name for a person who started the podcast in 2017, to share her regular bird-spotting diaries, and has become quite the maven after interviewing ornithologists, zoologists, conservationists and wildlife photographers in the years since. A recent episode was recorded at the BirdFair, where she chatted with fellow punters and speakers, while her chat with naturalist and filmmaker Simon King is simply fascinating. In short, this series is just the ticket for anyone bereft between TV's Springwatch and Winterwatch.
Fast Company
05-08-2025
- Business
- Fast Company
What leaders can learn from podcasters about communication
BY It's undeniable: Digital platforms are powerful tools for influence and podcasting trends have emerged as a masterclass in building impactful leadership profiles. I've been producing podcasts for executives for more than 15 years; I've seen firsthand how they've helped increase trust, deepen engagement, and accomplish business objectives. Don't just take it from me: Global podcast listening continues to increase, while trust in traditional media has been decreasing. According to Deloitte's 2023 Digital Media Trends report, 75% of American listeners say they trust the hosts they listen to and research from Acast shows podcasters are the most trusted media personalities. There are three main components to building this kind of trust, which emerging leaders and established executives can implement. Call Her Daddy which garners millions of listens each episode. These shows feature minimal editing and hosts speaking casually, leaning on their genuine sense of curiosity rather than sticking to a carefully scripted list of questions. Podcasting best practices have even distanced themselves from the formalities of radio, where a big booming voice—faceless and nameless—would introduce the host of the show. Most podcast hosts now self-introduce for a more personable and authentic approach. In the workplace, authenticity is the new leadership currency. With the rise of AI agents, leaders have to embrace their humanity now more than ever. Gone are the days of having C-suite executives build trust with their employees and stakeholders through slickly produced videos featuring them reading from a script. Leaders need to feel comfortable speaking off the cuff, admitting to mistakes, and having their true selves be on display. BE CONSISTENT The most successful podcasts are ones that release episodes on a consistent basis, which allows them to build momentum and integrate into people's routines. Listeners are known for associating weekly commitments with listening—like on their Wednesday drive into the office, or during their Sunday night meal prep. In turn, it means listeners can feel comforted in knowing when and where to access the show. As a leader, showing up consistently is key to building trust. Whether it's with internal audiences at a standing meeting or externally on social media. If you have trouble making it to a weekly huddle with the rest of your team, instead of regularly delegating a stand-in, decrease the frequency so you can show up more often. Leverage internal chat platforms for written or voice-recorded updates in-between. Give them the confidence to know how to access you. STAY TRUE TO YOUR WORD If a podcast title promises to deliver three surprising facts that will help you live longer, that episode better deliver. Chart-topping shows like The Diary of a CEO and The Mel Robbins Podcast often use these kinds of titles but more importantly, they live up to them. Riling up an audience with a clickbait title and then disappointing them with a lackluster episode is short-sighted: it leads to quick analytical wins, but erodes longterm trust. It's not surprising that integrity is considered one of the essential factors of transformational leadership. Oftentimes leaders are forced to prioritize asks and tasks, which means others get tabled and sometimes forgotten. Make an effort to follow up on items that you say will be addressed the next week or the next quarter. If you're not serious about following up, don't commit to doing so. You need to be able to deliver on what you promise. The early-rate deadline for Fast Company's Most Innovative Companies Awards is Friday, September 5, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Apply today. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Amanda Cupido is an award-winning author, TEDx speaker and entrepreneur. She works with executives looking to build their thought leadership profile. More
Irish Independent
28-07-2025
- Business
- Irish Independent
Radio ad revenue up 2pc this year
This was 2pc up on the same period last year, and driven by a strong performance by digital audio, which was up 4.1pc to €3.6m. This does not include income from global audio platforms such as Acast and Spotify. The calculations were done by Radiocentre Ireland based on information supplied by RTE and all 34 independent radio stations. The €79.4m earned between January and June included €61.3m in 'spot revenue', from radio commercials. This was up 3pc year on year. Branded content revenue – including sponsorships and partnerships – totalled €14.5m, and was down almost 3pc. The second quarter – April to June – was particularly strong, with revenues up 3.4pc. Industry sources say, however, that July and August are proving more challenging, and likely to show a decline from 2024 when the equivalent months featured the Olympics in France and the European Championships in Germany. 'The main drivers of sector revenue in the first half of 2025 were retail, utilities, motor and finance,' said Ciarán Cunningham, the chief executive of Radiocentre Ireland. 'There was also strong growth in the IT, gardening and agriculture, and pharmaceutical sectors.' He said that while full figures for total advertising are not available yet, the initial indications are that the radio sector is outperforming the broader media market. 'Despite challenging economic conditions, it is great to see continued growth in radio revenue, with advertisers large and small recognising its power and leveraging its incredible strengths: highly cost-effective, unmatched reach, trust-building capacity, and creative effectiveness,' Mr Cunningham added. 'Radio content continues to attract very strong audiences, with people tuning in whenever they want and wherever they are, through a range of devices including smart speakers, mobile phones, and FM at home or in the car.' Media analysts generally are reporting that the month of June was one of recovery, following a steep decline in consumer sentiment in April and May, which was fuelled by the uncertainty caused by US President Donald Trump's announcement of swingeing tariffs on imports to America. 'Concerns over the cost-of-living have eased slightly, returning to levels seen prior to April 2025 when worries about Trump's tariffs first emerged,' according to a report on consumer sentiment in June by Core. 'However, half of the population still expresses concern over the cost-of-living in Ireland.'
Local Sweden
19-06-2025
- Business
- Local Sweden
Podcast pioneer to drone destroyer: Swedish founder's defence start-up
Karl Rosander is best known as co-founder of the world's largest independent podcast hosting company, Acast. But in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he has entirely reinvented himself, co-founding the drone interceptor start-up Nordic Air Defence. Advertisement Karl Rosander takes a break from his lunch to show off the Kreuger 100 interceptor on the conference table in front of him. "It's actually here," he declares, picking up a model a little larger than a Toblerone bar or a cardboard tube for kitchen roll. "This is a prototype. It's not larger than this. This is the actual size." The interceptor is "unjammable", he says, "because today, drones can be autonomous, which means they don't have any range of signal between the drone and the operator." The company, he says, has developed "a special technology we're pretty secret about", with two patents pending. "What we do is that we take away expensive hardware and replace it with software and clever aerodynamics. That means we bring down the costs a lot and we can mass produce it." Advertisement The Kreuger 100 uses an innovative method to control and propel itself. Photo: Nordic Air Defence When I ask, however, if Nordic Air Defence, the company of which he is CEO, has produced a working prototype capable of flying at the speeds required to take down an Iranian Shahed drone, he avoids the question. "I always start a company by building hype around it. Nice design. You build hype, you have a couple of angles for the press. And what that means you will be attractive to capital but also to talented people that want to work with you." "What we're doing now it's we are getting production ready, and we're not there yet, but we are moving really fast, much faster than the old legacy industry that builds a very expensive, huge systems that take ten years to develop." Advertisement Karl Rosander is the co-founder of Acast. Photo: Malin Hoelstad/SvD/TT Rosander is one of Sweden's most prolific tech entrepreneurs. He co-founded the podcast platform Acast in 2013, leaving the board five years later. He then co-founded the media micropayments platform Sesamy. The idea for Nordic Air Defence was brought to him in late 2023 in his role as an angel investor. Three people, one of whom was "a very technically skilled person", presented to him with a plan to use "software and clever aerodynamics" to make a cheap drone interceptor. "I said 'okay, is this going to work for real? Because if it does, it's going to be huge success, and we need it fast to meet the threat'." Advertisement They hired a physicist involved in defence research, who used "advanced simulation software" to check that the idea would work, and when they concluded that it would, he decided to go all in. "In the third meeting with investors, it suddenly came to me. 'I've spent the last 27 years learning how to be an entrepreneur just to do this project'. So I told them in the meeting, 'I'm going to be the CEO'. Since then I've been working day and night." For him, there is no essential difference between launching a media software platform like Acast or Sesamy, and developing military hardware. "An industry that's about to change. That's my sweet spot," he says. "It doesn't matter what area it actually is - it's fun to work with defense and also with tech, because you can scale a lot. When I started with the company 15 to 16 months ago, you could see that this is an industry that has to change rapidly." Rosander is not the only tech investor looking at defence. Daniel Ek, the Spotify founder, has become a major investor in the German drone company Helsing. He argues that Russia's invasion of Ukraine has transformed the perception of the defence industry. "Before that happened, as an entrepreneur in tech, or any kind of entrepreneur, it was not nice, it was ugly. It was sort of better to work with gambling," he says. "Now I get a hug when I tell people I'm working in defense. So it's an industry about to change. That's why I'm here." The fundamental idea behind Nordic Air Defence is simple. A single Patriot missile costs $4 million, and even the cheapest air defence missiles cost $200,000, Rosander explains. This makes stopping drone attacks prohibitively expensive. In Ukraine, Russia now brings drones to their targets at very high altitudes so that they cannot be shot down by machine guns, which are much cheaper, and then makes them dive. If someone can develop a drone interceptor that can take out a swarm of drones at a low cost, it would be a game changer, particularly if it could be easily manufactured in Europe. Whether Nordic Air Defence can achieve this feat is another question. On their website, the company displays an image of a box containing nine interceptors. Rosander is vague, however, when asked exactly what hardware his company is able to replace with software, or on how the revolutionary electrically driven "pulsed air" propulsion system will work. "We are taking away a lot of controlling mechanisms, like servos, things that are expensive. On an aeroplane, you have a lot of flaps and systems. You have to do tests, tests, tests. And we take away that. We have this innovation in our way to control this little vehicle. No one has done this before." Perhaps this is because he is the CEO and frontman rather than the technical leader. But he is still confident that his company can execute its vision faster than established defence giants like Saab, Lockheed-Martin, or BAE Systems. "Those big companies have great innovation, but they are slower than we are. Until a year ago, the procurement agencies were buying systems on a ten-year scheme. So they've already bought what's going to be delivered. "But now everything has changed, because we need new stuff. And those large companies, they want to partner up with the companies like us. Sometimes they buy companies like us." Advertisement Rosander's colleague, Jens Holzapfel, who previously worked on security for the Swedish public sector, chips in to add that the Swedish Armed Forces are belatedly realising the strategic significance of drones. "We're in the middle of that reform at the moment. Before the second Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Swedish army and many other European armies considered drones to be something very exclusive. You had low numbers. They were reusable. You used them for reconnaissance rather than for strikes. You basically thought of drones as unmanned aircraft. You didn't look at drones as ammunition, which we're seeing in Ukraine today." Even so, his says, it will still take several years before the Swedish Armed Forces start to approach the drone capability of the Ukrainians. "They have innovated out of necessity, fighting for their lives. We have the luxury of not having to do that yet." So, back to the question of what current prototypes of the Kreuger 100 can actually do. Nordic Air Defence is not yet allowing journalists to visit its research and prototyping unit. "But do you have something that can actually fly?" I ask. "We can fly," he responds. "Yes. We can say that."
Scoop
17-06-2025
- Business
- Scoop
The New Zealand Podcast Awards Return For 2025 - Acast Named Headline Partner
The New Zealand Podcast Awards, supported by Acast, are back for 2025, celebrating the country's thriving podcasting community and recognising the creators and voices shaping the audio landscape in Aotearoa. Going into our 5th edition and building on the success of 2024, which reached over 1.2 million Kiwis, this year's awards promise to be bigger, better and offer more exposure, prizes and engagement than ever before. We are proud to announce Acast – the world's largest independent podcast company – as the Headline Partner for the 2025 awards. With a marketplace spanning more than 140,000 podcasts globally, Acast creates the technology that connects podcast creators, advertisers and listeners. Acast will also sponsor three cornerstone categories: Podcast of the Year, Listener's Choice and Best Māori and Pasifika Podcast or Host, reaffirming their commitment to spotlighting diverse and exceptional talent across Aotearoa. 'We're excited to be supporting the New Zealand Podcast Awards in 2025,' said Ryan Lamont, Senior Content Manager at Acast ANZ. 'There's so much talent in Aotearoa's ever-growing podcasting scene and we're keen to continue championing the creators, stories and great mahi of Kiwis all across the motu.' Gold winners of each Acast category will be awarded 500,000 advertising impressions to promote their show across Acast's podcast network in New Zealand Also joining the awards as Supporting Partner is Podlab Studio, Auckland's premier podcast production studio and content creation house. As proud supporters of New Zealand's vibrant podcasting community, PodLab have sponsored three key categories at this year's NZ Podcast Awards: Best New Podcast, Best Business Podcast, and Best Branded Podcast. Each PodLab category winner will receive a complimentary recording session at PodLab, with every other category winner receiving 50% off a recording session 'Podcasting in New Zealand is going from strength to strength, and what we see each week in our PodLab studios makes us feel very excited and confident about the future of the industry,' said a PodLab spokesperson. 'Getting behind the NZ Podcast Awards was a no-brainer for us at PodLab. We're stoked to be part of something that shines a light on the magic Kiwi podcasters are making.' - Jay-Jay Feeney, Co - Owner & Founder of PodLab Key Dates for NZ Podcast Awards 2025: 18 June – Register Your Interest on our website 3 September – Entries Officially Open for Submission 15 October – Entries Officially Close 16 October – Listener's Choice Voting Opens 14 November – Listener's Choice Voting Closes 20 November – Winners Announced Want to get involved? We're looking for category sponsors, partners, judges, collaborators and champions. Drop us a line at team@ to join the NZPA movement. About the NZ Podcast Awards The NZ Podcast Awards honour excellence in podcasting from across Aotearoa, celebrating creative talent, originality, and the power of audio to inform, inspire, and entertain. For more information, visit or follow us @NZPodcastAwards on social media. About Acast Since 2014, Acast has been building the world's most valuable podcast marketplace, creating the technology that connects podcast creators, advertisers and listeners. Its marketplace spans more than 140,000 podcasts, 3,300 advertisers and one billion quarterly listens. Crucially, those listens are monetised wherever they happen – across any podcast app or listening platform. The company operates worldwide, with headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden. Acast is listed on the Nasdaq First North Premier Growth Market (
