Tannoys, Tragic Pitches, and Business Traction

The Final Destination, Tales from the Tannoy (32mins, 2020-04-21)

We probably hear the work of voice-over artists every day, but don't even notice them. Tales from the Tannoy is presented by Elinor Hamilton, the voice of the London Underground. The show interviews people whose voices we probably know but whose lives we know nothing about. This episode features Jon Briggs, the original voice of Apple's Siri and the voice inside many sat navs. He's charming and (obviously) has a fantastic voice, and his story takes a rather unexpected turn. Find it here.

How not to pitch a billionaire, Startup (25mins, 2014-04-05)

Host Alex Blumberg had a vision for what a podcast company could be, and documented his journey to get there. The first episode, above all others, is podcasting at its best. The part where Alex messes up a pitch to infamous VC Chris Sacca is a must-listen. Even if you're not into tech or business stories, this is an episode I think you should listen to: IMO this marked the point at which podcasting started to really take itself seriously. Find it here.

A publishing platform built for independent writers, The Business of Content (43mins, 2020-04-13)

I've heard John O'Nolan tell the story of how he founded his publishing platform before. How he started Ghost is an object lesson in how to capitalise on a flash of viral popularity (step 1: be an expert in a field and come up with an idea for something everybody wants). In addition to the fantastic origin story, this interview addresses the problems many news organisations are having (still!) getting readers to pay for content online. Find it here.

Not a podcast, but...

I didn't even know people out there were adding salt to their coffee, but apparently it is "a thing". James Hoffmann has done some testing in his video on The Magic of Salt in Coffee. Things get really entertaining when the Nescafé makes an appearance... James' YouTube channel is full of coffee-related nerdery, and is definitely worth exploring. Find it here.

Happy listening!

Tom.