The Journey from Radio to Podcasting: A Conversation with Arielle Nissenblatt - Part 1

“Yeah, for me personally, I love anything that tells me... I find myself drawn to shows that are like, ‘We’re gonna make something interesting that’s not interesting at all.’ And then they’re like, ‘Let’s talk about broccoli.’ And then they’re like, ‘Let’s talk about cement.’ And then the next episode is, ‘Let’s talk about neon.’ And I just love that. Maybe they do the history of it. Maybe they weave in the person who discovered neon. Can you discover neon? I think you can, because it’s on the periodic table of elements. Might need to be manipulated. Either way. These are the kind of things, these are shows that I find myself going back to time and time again.” – Arielle Nissenblatt

 

This episode’s guest is a Big Fan of Podcasts™ and the podcast industry. She’s the founder of EarBuds Podcast Collective, a podcast recommendation newsletter, the host of several podcasts about the podcast industry, including a show about podcast recommendations and a show about podcast trailers, and regularly appears on podcasts about podcasts to talk about – you guessed it – podcasts. She’s on the Board of Governors of The Podcast Academy and speaks at conferences around the world on podcast marketing and community building. When it comes to podcasts, she knows her stuff.

Her name is Arielle Nissenblatt, and you’ll want to hear her perspective as a long-time advocate for the podcasting industry – both on what’s happening now, and where we’re heading in the future. If you’ve ever thought about starting a podcast of your own, or you want to find out how to get the most from your current podcast, then keep listening. This is one conversation you don’t want to miss!

 

As always, if you have questions for my guest, you’re welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes. If you have questions for me, visit audiobrandingpodcast.com where you’ll find a lot of ways to get in touch. Plus, subscribing to the newsletter will let you know when the new podcasts are available and what the newest audio chats will be about. If you’re getting some value from listening, the best ways to show your support are to share this podcast with a friend and leave an honest review. Both those things really help – and I’d love to feature your review on future podcasts.

 

(0:00:01) - Exploring the Power of Podcasting

We start things off with Arielle’s early experiences with sound, and particularly the impression that radio made on her compared to streaming platforms like Spotify. “I think the excitement for me about radio is the serendipity,” she explains. “A song that I would skip if it came up on my Spotify, I would not skip. I would be more excited about it, even if it were, like, a mainstream song.” She recalls how she first discovered podcasting in 2014, and how she quickly learned that the key to a compelling podcast is a hook, whether it’s an engaging topic or an engrossing story. “He eulogizes Neanderthals,” she says about a favorite episode of Mo Rocca’s podcast Mobituaries, “When did we learn about them? How did we first discover them? How do they contribute to how we view humans today? So what I like about this is, yes, there’s storytelling involved. He brings us in with a story.”

(0:09:44) - The Impact of Podcasting Evolution

Our discussion turns to the topic of podcasting during the pandemic, and the mark COVID-19 left on the industry. “A lot of great shows came out of that and still exist to this day,” she says, “and a lot of shows came out of that and are done and they’re pandemic-era shows.” We talk about the challenges of building an audience today compared to those early days of podcasting, and how much a good podcast can