Dispatches Presents... 80% podcast decline? That can't be right

This newsletter contains dispatches from the Podcasting Community on Discord. 

Welcome

Happy Friday! I get to celebrate Friday for once, which is exciting for me (I usually work weekends).

What's more exciting is that we welcomed a bunch of new friends into Discord this week. Thanks for being here and subscribing to this newsletter! We're so happy to have you. 

A few stats from us: 

• The Discord has ~1300 members! A bunch of newbies came from Arielle's recent Tweet. If that's you, hello!

  • (Explore the member directory)

• We have ~200 subscribers to this newsletter

• We've had six Discord events on various audio-related topics

• We've had 16 posts in #Self-Promo since our last issue of this newsletter

• #Pet-Pictures has only had five posts since mid-January, and they're pretty cat heavy, so let's get some ~other pets~ represented

Keep hanging out, sharing your news, and making podcasting 80% better just by being a part of our community...(We'll explain that stat below).

Top Stories from the Podcasting Community on Discord

Thank you to everyone who shared stories, recommendations, links, and resources with us throughout the week. 

• Patreon experiences some bumps: Mismanagement at the "Pandemic-Era Star"(paywall)

• Spotify News: Staff at Spotify is slashed by 6%

• Matt Basta wrote on the "Absolute Audacity" and has since issued some corrections regarding Apple Podcasts and RSS feeds.

• Are there really 80% fewer podcasts? James Cridland gives some healthy context to the doom-like headlines we've seen this week.

• Tal Minear shares the editors' response to Rusty Quill's statement.

• Stanford shares a breath of fresh air: It feels like everyone is cutting staff, but is it an economic pattern or copycat behavior?

Member News

The following news stories have been shared throughout the week with us in the #📢 | self-promo channel on Discord. To be included, make sure you're sharing with us!

• The Last of Us brought Discord co-moderator Matthew Bliss out of hiatus. Check out his video game podcast.

• Podfest attendees: Reminder that we have a thread in #events for everyone to connect.

• Crossed Wires talks Twitter: How is Twitter changing API for third-party apps?

• Feedback forums on Discord: We have a set of forums for feedback, including space to talk about podcast artwork and website functionality.

• Congrats to co-moderator Anna Grigoryan on the launch of Kradl, a podcast discovery platform.

• Beyond 6 Seconds' Carolyn Kiel has written on improving your podcast's accessibility.

Podcast of the Week

I (Keelin) select one podcast per week from the links submitted in #self-promo.

This week, Hot Buttons!

Hot Buttons is a show about the future of fashion and culture on a changing planet. Each week, Christina Binkley, Rachel Kibbe, and Shilla Kim-Parker unwind the breaking news, industry moves, cultural trends, and tech breakthroughs that are shaping sustainable fashion. The fashion industry is one of the world’s biggest polluters. Can we change it?

Dispatcher of the Week

Welcome to our member spotlight section! To be featured in a future issue of the newsletter, DM us on Discord or reply to this email!

Meet Carolyn Kiel

Carolyn Kiel is the host of Beyond 6 Seconds, where she interviews neurodivergent people whose stories shatter misconceptions, break stigma, and showcase the diversity of the neurodivergent community. As an autistic woman who was diagnosed in adulthood, she also shares her own story. Carolyn is a writer for the Women Who Podcast Magazine. Her most recent articles explore how to make podcasts more accessible to people with disabilities, and examine the bias against women's voices in podcasting.

Find Caroline: 

• Website

• Instagram

•  Twitter

•  LinkedIn

• Facebook

Events

These events are sourced from within Discord. Make sure to submit your events so we can feature them!

• NJ Web Fest: Ned Donovan has joined the Discord party. There are a lot of resources available through NJ Web Fest. Learn more here.

• PodConf - A new festival coming to Portland, Oregon on April 29th.

• PodAtxFest - Coming to Austin, Texas in August.

• Meet the Mods: A Fireside Chat in the Discord on February 5th at 5:00 pm ET.

• Arielle Nissenblatt hosts a Twitter Space: How to Pitch your Podcast to Newsletter Writers - on February 7th at 12:00 pm ET.

That's it for this week! Let us know what you think of this email. Just hit reply!