September Update
Well, that’s that! It’s final curtains on Summer 2022, folks!
From in-person events to new podcasts, projects, and everything in between, we’ve had a hell of a sunny season here at Bear Radio. Let’s check in with Jill and Julia to see what they have going on and lined up in their podcatcher.
The Bear Radio team is back in Berlin and ready to kick things off this Autumn!
On Sunday, August 28th, we hosted a live double feature podcast evening with The LOLA podcast and Mike Williams, an audio documentary producer from Australia.
In the first live recording of the evening, Jonny Tiernan of LOLA Magazine interviewed the iconic Berlin DJ Mark Reeder. They discussed Mark’s experience in the upbringing of Berlin’s famous club scene, the music industry, his record label, and much more.
Mike Williams performed his original live podcast, “Who Gives a Fork?” and shared three fantastic stories about a fork heist, an outing with his family in which they spent (too many) hours waiting for a steam train, and an investigation into the author of a book he had stumbled upon five years earlier.
Before Mike arrived in Berlin, he and Jill shared a great conversation about the German podcasting landscape, Bear Radio’s mission, and what we’ve learned through teaching on his podcast ‘100 in 24.’ Check out the episode, or you can read Mike’s blog post about the interview on his website.
We also published a brand new episode of URSA at the beginning of the month, which featured original pieces by European podcasts The Bittersweet Life and Another Berlin. We have officially launched the URSA Patreon! You can support our team and contributors by becoming a Patron – and you’ll get a shout-out on the next episode!
What’s The Mate’s 4th season is in full swing, and in August we published two brand new episodes! The first was recorded live at The Lakeside Film Festival and featured stories about the Berlin Police and their latest investment for patrolling the Spree, Julia’s nightmare dog-sitting experience, and much more. The second episode featured WTM veterans Kevin Napier, Tina Joaquim, and Blake Farha and featured stories about Julia’s experience with the cute vintage hat that tried to kill her, the 23,000 (!!) charming gas lamps still burning in Berlin, and Tina’s cat’s reputation at the vet.
Lastly, our client, Earlybird Venture Capital, published the latest episode of The Earlybird Podcast, produced by yours truly! In this episode, host Loise Beaumont is joined by founders Philip Stevens, Kai Eberhardt, and Susan Trent to discuss how startups can stay true to their mission during the critical Series B stage. Take a listen if you’d like to learn more about the MedTech industry and the excellent founders leading industry-changing startups.
Jill’s Podcast Recommendation
Loosely Adapted by Sowt Podcasts in Amman, Jordan
Sowt is one of the leading independent podcasting production studios in the Arabic-speaking world. Their new series, Loosely Adapted, brings listeners episodes from their Arabic podcasts translated into English. There are currently four episodes out, which were all released in July. They discuss the history of rock music in the Arab world, the drag queens of Lebanon, and more. I love this series because it’s an excellent example of podcast translation and localization – the voice components are all translated flawlessly and the amazing production quality, ambi, and music remain the same. The storytelling itself is also compelling and inspiring. I really hope that Sowt continues to translate more of their content…or I could just brush up on my college Arabic skills!
Julia’s Podcast Recommendation
Lem ’N’ Ginge: The Princess of Kakos by Ell Potter and Mary Higgins, co-produced by Ellie Keel Productions and 45North
Warning: Utter chaos, bawdy language, and knight-in-shining-armor-trope-bashing ahead!
Before the Hotter project duo released one of my favourite podcasts, Life of Bi, there was Lem ’N’ Ginge. Lem ’N’ Ginge tells the fictional story of two out-of-work actors in the mystical land of Kakos where a princess has her voice stolen, and our unlikely heroes go on a magical quest to find said voice. Not without the promise of a hefty reward, of course! Lem ’N’ Ginge turns the trope of the desirable woman (usually mute or asleep) on its head and queers up the traditional fairytale narrative. It’s stupid and it’s funny and it’s full of crazy characters and voices (almost all performed by Potter and Higgins) and it’s self-aware as anything. Take this quote from a Guardian article on the creators and their podcast: “You’re sitting in a box by yourself, often screaming,” Ell Potter explains over Zoom. “Then you leave and everyone’s like, are you OK?” She shakes her head. “I was just pretending to fall from a great height.” Just four episodes of feel-good fiction – enjoy!