Defining the podcast sector shouldn’t just be about topping the charts. Francesca Turauskis shares a list of people who are rolling up their sleeves to change the podcast industry for the better…
I have seen several lists over the years that try to pinpoint the ‘most influential people’ in podcasting, and I often think that such articles give too much importance to topping the chart, too much space to dangerous individuals, and too little thought to podcasting outside of the USA. Such people do have power and influence, yet it doesn’t mean they are giving anything to the podcast industry as a whole.
Here at Content is Queen we know that there are so many people working to change the podcast industry and actively influence what it will become. Like nudging an asteroid millions of miles away, there are people whose work now might be going unnoticed by many – but I think what they are doing will change the direction of podcasting and help it avoid crashing and burning.
So I wanted to create an alternative list of some of the most influential people in podcasting that celebrates not just personal success, but changing the podcast landscape. This list mixes my personal opinions with suggestions from some attendees at the International Women’s Podcast Festival last month. It is by no means an exhaustive list, but it just goes to show how many podcast professionals are rolling up their sleeves to create change.
Here is the Content is Queen suggestion of influential people in podcasting that you should know!
Leanne Alie
Leanne Alie is no stranger to the Content is Queen community, and she is the person behind many initiatives that open up the UK audio industry. In previous roles, she has been responsible for bringing Spotify’s Sound Up Bootcamp to the UK and launching the BBC Sounds Audio Lab open pitch and now in her role as Head of Podcasts with The Artists Partnership, she has created a new Amplify Accelerator as part of The Partnership Group.
Away from her day jobs, she’s been behind the scenes on several influential UK podcast events, she is a trustee of the Multitrack Fellowship and was recently the Head of Judges for the British Podcast Awards. You can find out more about Leanne and her path into podcasting in our interview with her earlier this year.
One of the people who recommended Leanne Alie was Laura Blake (who is herself an incredibly influential person as the co-lead on the Equality in Audio Pact and Head of UKAN/UK Audio Network platform). Laura told me:
“I think Leanne’s work through her own podcast Coiled, but then working as a commissioner at BBC and now what she’s doing with Amplified is, I think, groundbreaking and I think she is a guiding light in the audio industry.”
Alice Levine
Many people will be familiar with Alice as one third of My Dad Wrote a Porno, which has been described as the “most successful podcast in British history” after it was the first show ever to be inducted into the British Podcast Awards hall of fame in 2023. This in itself would put the whole MDWAP team into the running for influential podcasters, but whilst her co-hosts have mostly worked in theatre since ending the show, Alice has continued to grow her podcast credentials.
Alice hosts several podcasts, often on Wondery shows such as British Scandal and this year’s hit The Price of Paradise. Taking her influence beyond the talent aspects of podcasting, Alice was also part of the team behind Crossed Wires, a new podcast event based in Sheffield that described itself as ‘The UK’s biggest podcasting party’. Launching such a big event in the industry is exciting to think about, and especially when they chose to do a regional event outside London (sometime I’ve previously encouraged.)
Alice was recommended by Naomi Mellor (Founder of Everybody Media and the International Women’s Podcast Awards) who said:
“As she herself said, when you have a podcast called My Dad Wrote a Porno, perhaps people don’t take you as seriously as they maybe should, but I think she has shown her true colours and is really emphasising herself as a true leader in the podcast sector”.
Thomas Curry (BBC Studios Audio)
A multi-award-winning producer, Thomas Curry has created podcasts for many of the leading companies in the podcast industry including Apple, Audible, BBC, CBC, Spotify, and Wondery amongst others. There is no doubt that Thomas is a talented producer, and this is why he was also part of a team that received a Content is Queen Micro-Grant 2023 (for Sissy, sharing in-depth interviews about queer life.)
Thomas is elevated to ‘influential’ due to his job roles, firstly as Head of Podcasts at Vespucci, and now as Head of Production at BBC Studios Audio (a commercial production element of the BBC). In this role he will deliver the business and commercial strategy for the Audio unit, which means that he will be a big influence on the direction and types of shows that get developed and pitched by the Studios.
It is important that such roles are held by people that understand the purpose of things like the Equality in Audio Pact (EAP), and given that Thomas was one of the signatures of the 2023 Open Letter to the Audio Industry about the lack of action after the EAP it seems like a good start.
Producer Meera Kumar recommended Thomas to me and she said:
“I know that for the next few years I’m going to see changes: I’m going to see more exciting things come out of BBC studios [sic], more creative things, different things, and it makes me feel hopeful and excited for the future of podcasting again… It makes a difference having that person in that particular position of power that they’re going to make creative choices that other people would be too afraid to or not understand. And I think that’s how we usher in the next era of audio.”
Zara McDonald and Michelle Andrews (Shameless Media)
Like many podcasts, Zara McDonald and Michelle Andrews’ Shameless has a simple concept (a chat show about pop culture that is ‘for smart people who love dumb stuff’). So when Zara and Michelle’s workplace (the Australian-based women’s media company Mamamia) rejected the idea, they decided to start making the show themselves. They had 70 Australian dollars and recorded in a bedroom and six years later, Shameless Media is Australia’s biggest independent media company for young women.
The aspirational aspect of bootstrapping a podcast company is something we see quite often, particularly from people who have stepped sideways from other creative industries. However I think that Zara and Michelle have offered some content that was missing from Australia’s media landscape. In an interview with Forbes Australia, Michelle pointed out that the pair had noticed “a huge gap for pop culture through a smart lens. We felt a lot of people were talking about pop culture, but not with an analytical lens”. What’s more, there is an ethos in how they have refused corporate buyout, and it sets a precedent for the Australian podcasting landscape.
Leona Fensome (Founder of Inkslingers Media) was the person who recommend Zara and Michelle, and she had this to say:
“They’ve had lots of Australian companies and international companies try and buy in, but they’ve said ‘no. We know exactly editorially and from a vision perspective where we want to go with this’. And I think they’re definitely two girls to really put on that list of influential podcasters because they’ve set up an independent media company within the last six years. They’ve got 15 employees. They did it.”
Nicole Logan (Goalhanger)
In 2023, PodPod announced Nicole Logan as a ‘Face to Watch’ – at the time she was Head of Development at Reduced Listening, where she developed and produced works including The Sleeping Forecast for BBC Sounds and the video podcast Nailing It for Spotify. Her focus on content that appeals to Gen-Z is something that many media companies crave.
Nicole has very recently been hired as their first ever Executive Producer of Development at Goalhanger. Whilst influential shouldn’t just be about topping the charts, Goalhanger has so many shows regularly at the top of the charts that it is arguably one of the most influential and powerful podcast companies in the UK currently. In her job role, Nicole will be working across the company’s slate of shows and looking to develop and release new ones as well. It puts her in potentially a very powerful position based on previous Goalhanger shows, as new ones are likely to find a large and welcoming listenership.
She has also been a Member Board Of Trustees at Multitrack for more than five years, so you can see her dedication to creating something for the future of the podcast industry.
Chloe Straw recommended Nicole, as did Lisa Hack (Senior Technical Tutor for audio, radio and podcasts at Goldsmiths, University of London) who said:
“Watching how Nicole is navigating the industry and bringing her skills and talent through to different places has been great. Her energy is amazing. She always brings good vibes into a room. Again, privileged to work with her at Multitrack and always helpful and always looking at how to solve issues creatively, bringing people together, knowing who might be a good person for different things. So really a big talent, I think, and Goalhanger must be really excited to have her.”
Nina Robinson (Soundtruism)
The CEO and Founder of Soundtrusim, Nina Robinson is dedicated to telling diverse and authentic stories in audio. Based in Birmingham, she is another example of how the influence in podcasting can sit very comfortably outside of London, and the Birmingham Uni Pod Fest created by Soundtrusim is doing lots of work to prepare the next generation of audio professionals.
Her focus isn’t just on the future though, and Nina often does work with the Lenny Henry Centre for Media Diversity, which works across media types to achieve accurate representation. She is a Board Member for AudioUK, and she was instrumental in bringing the Podcasting Seriously Audio Fund to the UK, which aims to make audio awards and competitions more accessible to underrepresented communities, independent producers and early-career aspirants.
Another person who was recommended by more than one person, Lisa Hack was particularly praising of her work around events:
“A big shout out for doing stuff outside of London as well in the Midlands, and what she’s been achieving with [Uni Pod Fest] so far has been really good… she also does really good wrap-ups of events that she goes to. If I haven’t been to something, I guarantee I’ll go to Nina’s Instagram and there’ll be a brilliant post of what’s been going on and who’s who, what’s been happening.”
Imriel Morgan (Content is Queen)
Imriel Morgan is CEO and Founder of Content is Queen, the home of the International Women’s Podcast Festival. In the past five years Content is Queen has been amplifying minority voices, and through initiatives such as the Festival and Micro-Grants. What’s more, Imriel has worked closely with the big players in podcasting such as Spotify, Audible and Acast to make these things happen –
In 2023, Content is Queen became the co-lead for the Equality in Audio Pact, and the dedication of the team behind the scenes to follow the ethos of equality and encourage other companies to do the same is incredible.
Imriel is the person I wanted to recommend myself for this – and it is not because of any employee obligation (this is when I can point out being a freelancer gives me a slight outsider view and a lot of freedom!). Instead, I just want to say that it is incredible to see the work and passion that goes on behind the scenes to bring important audio into the world. Imriel is a facilitator of the podcasting process for so many.
The Guests
One person (or group of people) that I thought was nice to mention was recommended by Karen Arthur from the Menopause Whilst Black podcast. When asked who the most influential people in podcasting were, she reminded me that there is a power in the ripples that come from listening to guests on podcasts that you don’t hear from elsewhere. As Karen said:
“I like to hear from people you don’t normally hear from, so I want to hear from women. I want to hear from black women. I love an intergenerational conversation, so I want to hear from older people talking to younger people. I want to hear ordinary, extraordinary stories because I think we’re all extraordinary and I think that a 1%, a small percentage of people get the most amplification.”
Honourable mentions:
As I said at the start, this list barely scratches the surface of those that deserve to be mentioned as ‘most influential in podcasting’. I have focused in this article on people who are actively working for change as we speak and those working within podcasting rather than audio as a whole.
However, there are several people mentioned by those I asked that are doing fantastic work across the whole of the audio sector, and others I wanted to point out have influenced the industry historically:
- Renay Richardson: Renay was the instigator of the Equality in Audio Pact, and her company Broccoli Production brought a range of innovative shows to the podcast scene. Since Broccoli closed down earlier in 2024, Renay has taken a step back from audio, but her previous influence still resonates.
- Lily Ames: As Head of Production & Culture at Chalk & Blade Lily still holds, but her mention here is for starting the UK Audio Network (UKAN). The Google Group has been a key place for posting and finding work in audio, and also provides a space for discussions about the industry.
- Laura Blake (UKAN): As the current Head of UKAN, Laura has been leading on the UKAN Pay Survey in 2023 and 2024 as a way to offer some transparency on the rates of pay in the audio industry as a whole.
- Bea Duncan & Tess Davidson (ELAN): As the Co-Founders of the Entry Level Audio Network (ELAN) Bea and Tess have created a community that welcomes new professionals into the audio industry. It is not too much to say that their work with ELAN is helping to shape the future of the industry, and from a place of inclusion and diversity.
- Aradhna Tayal Leach (The Radio Academy): As the Managing Director of The Radio Academy, the only audio and radio industry charity, Aradhna Tayal Leach’s work spreads into the podcasting side of audio and she is keen to welcome and share the resources and support that The Radio Academy can offer to all audio creators, with a passion for encouraging diverse practices across industries. Find out more about her work in our previous interview.
- Chloe Straw (AudioUK): In a similar role as the Managing Director of AudioUK, Chloe Straw’s work covers aspects of the audio industry that affect audio professionals at all levels, not just podcasting. She is a voice for audio in meetings from government departments to Spotify. Find out more about Chloe in our previous interview.
- Hannah Brankin (Rusty Quill): Now the Chief operating Officer of Rusty Quill, Hannah has been working with the company for seven years. Rusty Quill is the home of some of the most successful audio drama podcasts around, and Chloe Straw pointed to the business aspect of Rusty Quill being a big influence on the genre: “They take traditionally quite a tricky audio medium to monetise and they do brilliantly and live shows. They’ve got a board game merch, they’re an incredible, incredible business. She runs them really well.”
- Ella Watts: A true champion for podcast and audio dramas, Ella Watts works across big franchise audio and independent, micro-budget podcasts that share stories not heard in other media. She is well-known in the genre and wider podcast industry, and you can find out more about her in our previous interview.
- Leona Fensome: Another great recommendation by Chloe Straw, Leona is the Founder of Inkslingers Media and of particular mention I think is her mixing of media between oral history, audio art, journalism and podcasting, which highlights the importance of audio in the social and historical context (something she is exploring more in her PhD on the history of student-led, community radio stations).
- Megan Bradshaw (Amazon Music): Recommended by Chloe Straw, who pointed out the need for collaboration and support from such individuals in larger companies: “We need to rely on partnerships with places like Amazon to do a lot of the work that we do and she’s always just incredibly supportive as well as very, very involved.”
Thank you to everyone who spoke to me and suggested people for this list. If you think we’ve missed someone obvious, you can let us know on social media.
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