The Washington Post’s Research, Experiment and Development (RED) team has released Rhapsochord. It is a software system that uses automation to monitor and dynamically insert ads into an entire category of podcasts, past and present.

The Rhapsochord technology ensures that a listener will hear the most updated ad no matter how they enter the podcast.

Rhapsochord separates the handling of advertising allowing journalists to focus on content, making production time faster. It manages a database of ads, and uses automation technology to find ads that best match the podcast by show, content, date, and ad type.

The ads are stitched into the podcast for pre-roll, mid-roll, or post roll placement. The Washington Post can then continue to distribute podcasts to listeners on whatever platform they prefer.

The very first podcast to be processed by Rhapsochord is The Daily 202’s Big Idea by The Washington Post. It is hosted by Washington Post correspondent James Hohmann, who provides an analysis of the biggest political stories of the day. Rhapsochord will eventually spread to other podcasts, after being tested out on The Daily 202’s Big Idea.

Ad Exchanger reported that advertisers who want to place their ads on podcast can still buy ads directly through salespeople. It also reported that the Rhapsochord’s technology complies with IAB standards for counting downloads of podcasts.

DAME has launched its very first podcast: Gaslit Nation. It is a bi-monthly news podcast that slows down and explains the chaotic news cycle. You can subscribe on the DAME website. Gaslit Nation is also available on Spotify, Stitcher, and Google Play.

With a focus on the intersection of foreign and domestic affairs, including foreign policy, election security, technology, economic development and innovation, education, sustainability and resiliency, public safety and justice, opportunity and equality, Gaslit Nation goes beyond the outrage headlines and hot takes, delving deeper into analysis, history, and context.

Gaslit Nation is hosted by Andrea Chalupa and Sarah Kendzior. Andrea Chalupa is a journalist and the author of: Orwell and The Refugees: The Untold Story of Animal Farm. She has written for TIME, The Atlantic, The Daily Beast, and Forbes.

Sarah Kendzior is best known for her reporting on St. Louis, her coverage of the 2016 election, and her academic research on authoritarian states. She is the author of The View from Flyover Country, a regular commentator on MSNBC, and an op-ed columnist for The Globe and Mail.

This season of Gaslit Nation will explore the domestic conditions that gave rise to Trump’s presidency. The hosts will discuss the crisis of income equality that has created distrust of public officials and the media, the decline of voting rights and election security, the epidemic of fake news and far-right propaganda coming out of Russia and the U.S., and much more.

The Podcast Awards is an international event open to all podcasts in all countries regardless of language. The 13th Annual Podcast Awards Listener Nominations period is now open.

The Listener Nominations period will remain open until July 31, 2018. You can sign up now to nominate your favorite podcasts by filling out a form on the Podcast Awards website. Email verification is required. There is a separate login for people who already have an existing account.

The nomination page will remain online until July 31, 2018. You can start filling it out, and then come back to it later and finish your favorite show nominations.

Show registration will also remain open until July 31, 2018. Podcasters must be registered in order to be nominated. There is a registration fee of $10 per show. The purpose of the registration fee is to make Podcast Awards self-sustaining.

The official timeline for 2018 is:

• Podcaster Registration Period: ends on July 31, 2018
• Listener Nomination Period: ends on July 31, 2018
• Slate Announcement: August 11, 2018
• Slate Voting: August 12 – September 15, 2018
• Awards Ceremony: September 30, 2018.

The Toronto Public Library has recently added recording studios to the resources available to library users. There are recording studios at the following Toronto Public Library locations: Toronto Reference Library, Fort York, Agincourt (part time recording studio space), and Albion (part time recording studio space). The hubs at Downsview and Scarborough Civic Center do not have recording studios.

The studio spaces provides users a quiet environment and equipment and software to work on audio and visual projects: a new movie; shoot a commercial; work on a video for school; record a song; or create a podcast.

The studio is available free of charge during regular library hours. You can book the studio at either the Toronto Reference Library, or the studio at Fort York by calling the library location. A valid Toronto Public Library card is required.

Other things to know:

• Reservations are limited to a maximum of two hours a day
• Reservations can be made up to three business days in advance at Toronto Reference Library and a week in advance at Fort York Branch. No bookings on Sunday
• Only 1 member of a group is allowed to book for the group
• Reservations are held for 10 minutes, so make sure you arrive on time
• Drop-in use is possible if the Studio is available
• An adult must accompany children under 10 years at all times
• The purpose of the Studio is for audio and video production. If you need to edit your project afterwards, please book one of the workstations available in the Digital Innovation Hub.
• Be mindful of sound levels, the space is not soundproof

The library asks for your corporation in maintaining a welcome environment conducive to study and enjoyable use of the library. Staff make every effort to apply these rules in a fair, dignified and positive manner for the benefit for all.

Visit the Toronto Public Library website for information about the equipment available at the start of your booking and to find out what additional equipment can be signed out to your library card.

Spotify hosted its first-ever Sound Up Bootcamp. It was a weeklong June intensive for aspiring female podcasters of color. The goal of the program was to bring more diverse voices into the podcast world – specifically voices belonging to women of color. Spotify has announced the winners who were awarded funding for their podcasts.

Sound Up Bootcamp featured daily sessions for 10 women of color who had been selected from over 18,000 applicants. Rekha Murthy, a podcast and radio veteran with over 20 years of experience co-taught the workshop with Graham Griffith. They led conversations on topics ranging from identifying an audience to honing a breakthrough message.

The attendees also learned from experts in the field about the art of podcast creation, from initial ideation to editing, producing, and marketing.

The women in attendance included: Titi Shodiya, Kristina Ogilive, Janina Jeff, Shonté Daniels, Amanda B, Tiara Darnell, Ivy Le, Doreen Wang, Gabriela Quintana, and Sun H.

At the end of the Sound Up Bootcamp, three women were awarded up to $10,000 each to fund their proposed podcasts. The winners are:

Titi Shodiya – Co-host of Dope Labs. (The other co-host is Zakiya Whatley). Dope Labs looks at the intersection between science and pop culture.

Kristina Ogilvie – Host of Your Job Seems Easy, an interview show which explores the working lives of women of color.

Janina Jeff – Co-host of In Those Genes. (The other co-host is Ashley Huderson). In Those Genes focuses on genetics and the black community.

Tess s a free and easy podcast creation, hosting, distribution, and listening service. The app is now available to download on the App Store and on Google Play. The Tess team includes three people: Tony Faieta, Nick Ruspantini and Taylor Shrum. Tess is located in Gainesville, Florida.

How is it that we can upload 8k videos onto YouTube for free but creators are still charged for podcast hosting and distribution?

Weird, right? We thought so too. The dream is simple, we feel that in order to help move podcasts forward we must break the cost barrier and provide easy and free creation, hosting, and distribution to all creators.

Tess explains how they will make money: “We make money by having strong creators who align with our mission come onboard our products. We need attention, buzz, hype, love of our product, once that happens, not only do will we make money but so will our creators.”

The phrase “once that happens” implies that Tess is not, at this moment, in the position to pay the podcast creators who put their podcast on Tess.

There are four podcasts listed on Tess as “Active Shows”. The Best Ideas Podcast is hosted by Taylor Shrum, who uses the tool of conversation with guests to analyze ideas that influence us today and have been valued across time. There is a link on the Tess website that brings you to Apple Podcasts.

IDK Podcast is described as: “There is something about a podcast studio that can make four friends feel the need to record a conversation about the things we want to talk about with each other. IDK is just that, a podcast where four friends dive deep into their favorite thoughts and opinions about their favorite and least favorite topics.” There is a link on the Tess website that brings you to Apple Podcasts.

Green Light Sports is described as: “Green Light Sports talk offers inside looks at all things sports, offers different perspectives on the hottest currents events and sports and aims to entertain whilst focusing on all of your favorite facets of the game.” Best of Gainesville Weekly has a “placeholder description.” Both of these podcasts appear to have a link that will take you to Apple Podcasts, but when you click on it, nothing happens.

Tess is clearly a new product, and is in the process of building itself up. I haven’t been able to find any clear information about what advertisers they are working with. Perhaps Tess can add that important information to its website in the future.

Skype is rolling out an updated version of Skype (version 8.0) for desktop that will replace Skype version 7.0 (which is also known as Skype classic). Skype is encouraging everyone to upgrade now to avoid any inconvenience. Only Skype version 8.0 will work after September 1, 2018.

Many podcasters use Skype to record shows that include more than one host, or that include guests. The most exciting thing in Skype 8.0 is that it will include call recording. Podcasters will no longer have to use third-party software in order to record their show through Skype.

Everything about this new version, from the underlying performance improvements to the usability enhancements, is designed to keep you connected to the people who matter most. We built Skype version 8.0 based on feedback from our community – adding exciting new features while ensuring it’s simple to use with the same familiar interface of Skype version 7.0.

New features include:

Free HD video and screensharing calls: Get together with 1 or 24 of your friends, families, or colleagues no matter what device they use Skype on. See everyone in high definition, view 1080px video, and share things together.

More productive messaging: Express how you’re feeling by reacting to messages in conversations. Use @mentions to easily grab someone’s attention in a group chat. Simply type the @ symbol followed by their name to trigger a notification for them. You can easily find all your @mentions and get back to people in the notification center.

Share photos, videos, and other files: Share up to 300 MB at a time over Skype just by dragging and dropping files into your conversation window.

Skype version 8.0 rolling out on iPad: Features such as quoted messages, personalized themes, chat list, @mentions, and more are now available on the Skype for iPad experience.

Call recording: Take call snapshots to the next level with call recording. Capture a special Skype calls with loved ones or record important meetings with colleagues. Call recording is completely cloud-based, and as soon as you start recording, everyone in the call is notified that the call is being recorder – so there are no surprises. Call recordings combine everyone’s video as well as any screens shared during the call.

Private Conversations: Have end-to-end encrypted Skype audio calls and send text messages or files – such as images, audio, or videos – with the industry standard Signal Protocol. Messages and notifications in these conversations will be hidden in the chat list to keep the information you share private.

S-Town is a very popular podcast. The show has won three Webby Awards (Best Series, Best Writing, and People’s Choice). It also won a Peabody award. Participant Media has acquired the rights to turn S-Town into a movie.

The latest news about S-Town involves a lawsuit.

S-Town is a podcast from Serial Productions and This American Life. It is hosted by Brian Reed. The S-Town podcast focuses on a man from Alabama named John who “despises his Alabama town and decides to do something about it.” John asked a reporter to investigate the son of a wealthy family who’s allegedly been bragging that he got away with murder.

The lawsuit against S-Town was filed by Craig Cargile, the executor of John B. McLemore’s estate. The suit was filed in Bibb County, Alabama. The lawsuit contends that McLemore didn’t give permission to broadcast the intimate details of his sexual orientation, mental state or other aspects of his life.

Forbes reported that Alabama passed a right-of-publicity statute.

It says that it is fair use (and not a violation of the law) if the use of a person’s identity “is in connection with a news, public affairs, or public interest account, political speech or a political campaign, live or prerecorded broadcast or streaming of a sporting event or photos, clips, or highlights included in broadcasts or streaming of sports news or talk shows, or documentaries, or any advertising or promotion of the same (public interest work), or is part of an artistic or expressive work, such as a live performance, work of art, literary work, theatrical work, musical work, audiovisual work, motion picture, film, television program, radio program, or the like (artistic work), or any advertising or promotion of the same, unless the claimant proves…that the use in an artistic work is such a replica as to constitute a copy of the person’s indicia of identity for the purposes of trade.”

The statute also says: “It is not a fair use and is a violation… if a person’s indicia of identity is used, without such person’s permission, in a manner stating or implying that such a person has endorsed or supports a candidate for public office.”

The Associated Press received an emailed response about this lawsuit from Julie Snyder (S-Town’s executive producer). She said that she could not comment on the litigation other than to say it “lacks merit”. She also said, “S-Town is produced consistent with the highest journalistic standards and we intend to defend against this lawsuit aggressively.”

The Associated Press also reported that the lawsuit asks for compensatory and punitive damages.

Con Before the Storm is a Blizzcon event by fans, and for fans. It takes place the night before Blizzcon, and includes guest “personalities”, podcasters, streamers, pro teams, artists, and fans across all Blizzard Games. Con Before the Storm has announced that this year’s event will include World of Podcasts.

2018 is the sixth year of Con Before the Storm. They held a successful kickstarter in order to raise funding for the event. One of their stretch goals was a $24,500 tier which, if raised, would enable Con Before the Storm to include World of Podcasts in the 2018 event.

We are excited to announce, that we are partnering with @MedievalTimesCA to bring you @WorldOfPodcasts 2018! They are just as excited about World of Podcasts as we are, and are committed to helping us make this important feature of our event a reality for 2018! pic.twitter.com/z50peny0nx

— Con Before the Storm (@ConBeforeStorm) July 16, 2018

World of Podcasts will include live panels with your favorite podcasters from across the Blizzard Universe talking about Blizzard games. They also have virtual panels as well, and the audio is always posted for consumption on your favorite podcast listening device.

At the time I am writing this blog post, Con before the Storm is in the planning stages of the World of Podcasts event. They are seeking people who produce a podcast that covers a Blizzard game who are interested in participating on a World of Podcasts panel.

TalkShoe is relaunching this summer at Podcast Movement 2018. Those who are attending Podcast Movement can visit TalkShoe there. TalkShoe may sound familiar to you – they have been around for a very long time.

Introducing the new and improved TalkShoe. We kept the good stuff, and added more – still 100% free: free storage, free live streaming, state-of-the-art administrative tools, and a new partner from which to stream: YouTube. TalkShoe is easier than ever to use, allowing you to connect seamlessly with others. Whether phoning or tuning in, use TalkShoe, from podcast to broadcast.

TalkShoe keeps all your data in the same place, so you can grow your following, brand, and business from a centralized platform, which conveniently offers 100% free cloud storage. TalkShoe says you don’t have to worry about losing valuable content. They will take care of moving all your existing files to the new TalkShoe with a seamless switch over.

The new TalkShoe gives you the option to chat with guests from around the world by combining virtual conferencing solutions and live dial-in phone lines, at no cost whatsoever.

With TalkShoe, you can:

• Connect: Build a profile, build a following, build a brand, build your community, at no cost to you.
• Record: Record online with the touch of a button and share your podcast via RSS feed, post it on your website, or save it for later.
• Stream: Connect with your audience by streaming your podcast live and encouraging listeners to call in.
• Store: Manage and save your podcasts with TalkShoe’s unbeatable cloud storage, for free.
• Know your Listener Activity: Check your profile for reviews, comments, and connections from fellow casters.

Entale believes that podcast standards are out of date. They feel that podcasts are difficult to share to your social graph, and they lack any form of contextual data or intelligence to share with you. Entale is here to change that.

We are combining the best of audio storytelling with the richness of the web, to create a platform that builds the next-generation podcast experience.

Our publishing stack allows creators to build rich and enhanced listening experiences, while our web and mobile user apps allow listeners to dive deeper into their favorite audio experiences.

Entale: The Visual Podcast app is available on the App Store. It is free, and is for iOS devices. At the time I am writing this blog post, it does not appear that there is an Android version of the Entale app.

For Podcast Creators:

• Easy-to-use hosting and distribution tools
• Multi-platform players and social sharing
• Unique monetisation opportunities

The Entale website does not have any specific information about the unique monetisiation it provides to podcast creators. It does provide a form for podcasters to fill out if they want to see their content enhanced with Entale.

For Podcast Listeners:

• Enhanced Audio: See the full story with rich contextual content that accompanies your listening for a deeper, more engaging experience. Put faces to voices, watch the trailer, see the murder weapon – no more pausing to search for what’s being mentioned.
• Chapters: Episodes are split into chapters, allowing you to share compelling moments from shows you listen to, and to explore and discover new favorites. Share the bit that matters directly with our enhanced embed, which plays directly in your social feed.
• All your favorite shows: Listen to your favorite podcasts enhanced with Entale, as well as our library of exciting new Entale Exclusive shows.

You can keep up with what’s new at Entale by reading their blog posts on Medium.

There is something about podcasting that influences people to reveal extremely personal things about themselves, their life, and their relationships. SpermCast is a podcast about one woman’s quest to find a sperm donor. The subject is one that very few people would openly share with total strangers.

Welcome to SpermCast, with actor, writer and comedian, Molly Harkey. She wants a baby. The only problem is she’s 39, single, and not exactly ready for motherhood. So she’s on a quest – a quest for a sperm donor, and a quest for some personal growth. Each week you’ll hear interviews with potential donors, but she’ll also seek guidance from the pros: doctors, financial advisors, tarot card readers…whatever it takes. By the end of this series, if all goes according to plan, she’ll find her donor and inseminate herself.

The trailer for SpermCast was released on April 30, 2018. It was followed by the first full episode, which is titled: “Sperm Contestant #1 – Brandon Barrick” and is described as “It Takes a Village”. The description is a reference to the phrase “It takes a village to raise a child”.

At the time I am writing this blog post, Molly Harkey has interviewed 7 Sperm Contestants, spoke with a single mother by choice, and talked with her girlfriends about money, stability, and her housing situation.

Women who are visibly pregnant might receive a lot of praise and well-wishes – from loved ones and strangers alike. But, women who are struggling to get pregnant may find that there are very few people they can share that experience with. SpermCast is going to reach women who are quietly going through the same thing that Molly Harkey is.

The 2018 Third Coast Conference will take place on October 4-6, 2018, in Chicago. They can accommodate only 800 people, and recommend that you do not wait to register.

Join us in Chicago for three chock-full days of learning about the art & craft of audio storytelling from the field’s top makers, making connections with other producers/podcasters/reporters from all over the world, and discovering impactful radio & podcasting opportunities. And celebrate with us on the final night (October 6) with an Awards Ceremony honoring the winners of the 2018 Third Coast / Richard H. Driehaus Foundation Competition.

They have room for 800 people, and that includes presenters, volunteers, and special guests. They expect to sell out quickly. Once all the spots are gone, the only way to get a registration is from someone who needs to transfer theirs. The Third Coast Conference does not have a waiting list.

Your registration fee is non-refundable, but is transferrable up through Friday, September 28, 2018, at midnight.

The Conference begins on Thursday, October 4, at 1pm with an afternoon of meet-ups. The 2018 Conference officially starts at 5pm. It goes “pretty much non-stop” until Saturday night on October 6, with the Third Coast Awards Ceremony and after-party.

Participants are also encouraged to come to Chicago early and stay late to take part in Third Coasts’ lineup of live podcasts: The Fest. Join them for a live show as part of The Fest on Wednesday, October 3 (Conference eve!). Plus, there will be more Fest events on Friday Night and Sunday.

You can keep up with the latest Third Coast Conference news and announcements by signing up for their newsletter and selecting “producer news”. A more detailed schedule will eventually be released.

PodCon2 will take place at the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle, Washington, on January 19-20, 2019. Tickets are on sale now. It appears the way to purchase a ticket is do it through the PodCon IndieGogo campaign.

Once you’ve purchased your ticket for PodCon, you can book a discounted hotel room at the Sheraton Seattle, located across the street from the Washington State Convention Center. PodCon recommends you make sure to book your room before December 17, 2018, to get the group discount.

Featured Guests include:

• Adal Rifai – Hello from the Magic Tavern
• Arnie Nickapm – Hello from the Magic Tavern
• Bianca Zelda – The Broadswords
• Carrie Poppy – Oh No Ross and Carrie
• Cecil Baldwin – Narrator of Welcome to Night Vale
• Dylan Marron – Conversations With People Who Hate Me; Welcome to Night Vale
• Griffin McElroy – My Brother, My Brother, and Me; The Adventure Zone; Wonderful!
• Hana Baba – The Stoop
• Hank Green – Dear Hank and John; Delete This
• Jeffrey Cranor – Welcome to Night Vale; Night Vale Presents
• John Green – Dear Hank and John; The Anthropocene Reviewed
• Jon Bernstein – Welcome to Night Vale; Alice Isn’t Dead
• Joseph Fink – Welcome to Night Vale; Night Vale Presents
• Justin McElroy – My Brother, My Brother, and Me; The Adventure Zone; Sawbones
• Katherine Green – Delete This
• Kristin Felmons – The Broadswords
• Lauren Shippen – The Bright Sessions
• Lelia Day – The Stoop
• Matt Young – Hello from the Magic Tavern
• Meg Bashwiner – Welcome to Night Vale; Good Morning Night Vale
• Paul Bae – The Big Loop; The Black Tapes
• Roman Mars – 99% Invisible; Radiotopia
• Ross Blocher – Oh No Ross and Carrie
• Symphony Sanders – Welcome to Night Vale; Good Morning Night Vale
• Tracy Gibbons – The Broadswords
• Travis McElroy – My Brother, My Brother, and Me; The Adventure Zone, Shmanners; and more
• Victoria Rogers – The Broadswords

Last Seen is a podcast from WBUR and The Boston Globe. It is a true crime podcast about the most valuable – and confounding – art heist in history: the theft of 13 irreplaceable artworks from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston.

WBUR and The Boston Globe have joined forces to ask why, 28 years later, this still unsolved crime exerts its irresistible pull. With a $10 million reward on offer, how is it that not even a single piece in a haul estimated to be worth half a billion dollars has surfaced? Gone in 81 minutes, the Gardner loot – and the thieves who made off with it – remain at large.

Last Seen has first-ever interviews, unprecedented access, and over a year of investigative reporting. This podcast takes you inside the ongoing efforts to bring back the jewels of the Gardner collection.

There have been several true-crime podcasts, some of which have become extremely popular. Last Seen is the first I have heard of that focuses on an art heist. I think this podcast will attract the attention of those who enjoy true-crime podcasts and also those who are interested in art history.

Isabella Stewart Gardner was born in New York City on April 14, 1840. In 1860, at the age of twenty, she married Jack Gardner. They moved to Boston and settled into a house that was a wedding gift from Isabella’s father. Isabella and Jack visited Venice, and this inspired Isabella to create an art museum in Boston.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum has some information about the theft of the paintings. It took place on March 18, 1990. The thieves took 13 pieces of art including works by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Manet, and Degas. It only took them 81 minutes. You can view images of the stolen works of art on the museum website.

Anchor has introduced the Anchor Podcast Lab. Soon, any podcaster will be able to request a time in Anchor’s new quiet recording space in the heart of Manhattan. Anchor says it is 100% free.

Recently, some members of the Anchor team started piecing together a small, quiet recording area at Anchor HQ in New York City for recording podcasts. After recording a few episodes and hearing the results, we realized that this space might be useful for others, too. So we decided to open the space up to members of the local podcasting community too, and the Anchor Podcast Lab was born.

Here are some things to know about Anchor Podcast Lab:

• It will be open for podcasters later this summer. You can sign up now to request a time. Someone from the Anchor team will get back to you to schedule your exact time (subject to availability) and share details about how to get started.
• The Anchor Podcast Lab is completely free to use.
• The Anchor Podcast Lab can get you set up with up to three high quality microphones, a quiet space to record, and an iPad running the latest version of Anchor.
• If you prefer, you can bring your own computer and plug it directly into Anchor’s mixer. Once you are done recording, your files will be uploaded directly to your Anchor account to be edited or published from your home or office, or you can take them with you on you own SD card or hard drive.

Stitcher is beginning a Breakthrough Fellowship program for Fall 2018. Those who participate will be based in either Stitcher’s New York or Los Angeles offices. The fellowship will run for four months beginning in fall 2018. It is a full-time position and will pay $25 per hour pre-tax.

Stitcher is a pioneering podcasting network behind hit shows including Stranglers, Levar Burton Reads, Dear Franklin Jones, Unladylike, and The Sporkful.

We believe the podcast industry’s workforce should reflect society at large, in all its diversity. The Stitcher Breakthrough Fellowship is designed to help recruit diverse talent and promote inclusivity in podcasting. It will provide valuable industry experience and connections, close mentorship, published work for your CV, and the possibility of joining the team at Stitcher full time in the future.

During the fellowship, you will gain broad exposure to various stages of podcast production. Depending on your skills and interests, you could be matched with an existing show or new production, or you may be paired with the show development team to work on finding talent, piloting and launching new shows.

Stitcher is seeking applicants who identify as one or more underrepresented groups in podcasting. Areas of underrepresentation could include, but are not limited to, race, ethnicity, gender identity, religion, economic background, sexual orientation, age, and/or ability.

Interestingly, the Fellowship is not specifically aimed at college graduates. It is open to producers from any media, as well as journalists or writers who want to move into podcast, and other people specializing in audio or media. You should have at least 3 years of work experience.

For more information about the Stitcher Breakthrough Fellowship, including how to apply for it, you should visit the Scripps website where the position is posted.

The Dog Days of Podcasting Challenge is a challenge where podcasters do a podcast every day for 30 days in a row. It will begin on August 1, 2018. The concept reminds me of NaPodPoMo which takes place in November.

In 2012, Kreg Steppe was looking to give himself a little push in regards to recording his own personal podcast since he wasn’t recording it very often. That turned into a challenge for himself to record a show everyday for 30 days believing that after 30 days it would turn into a habit.

This year, the Dog Days of Podcasting Challenge is inviting more podcasters to get in on the action. It is intended to be a fun challenge. The information about the challenge says “you will not be shamed (too much) if you don’t record every 30 day.” The point is to have fun recording and listening to each other’s podcasts.

The start date is August 1, 2018. The end date is August 31, 2018. Participants are to post once a day for 30 days. The show length is up to each individual participant. The Dog Days of Podcasting Challenge website says most podcast episodes done as part of this challenge will vary from 3 to 5 minutes.

At the time I am writing this blog, the Sign Up form for the 2018 Dog Days of Podcasting Challenge is still accessible. It asks for some information about you, your podcast, and your social media where people can find you.

Cast Rewinder is a service that is currently in beta. It makes it easy for you to subscribe to a podcast from its beginning. This can be extremely helpful for podcast listeners who want to start listening to a podcast that has been producing episodes for several years.

A website called rewind.website runs Cast Rewinder, which was created by Joachim Robert. The idea originates from Brendan Hutchins in the podcast Bitrate, in the June 29, 2018, episode.

Every so often I discover a podcast that sound really great, but it has been publishing episodes for so long that it’s a chore to go back at the beginning.

Now with Cast Rewinder on rewind.website you can subscribe to that podcast and get updates, starting from the beginning. You can set the frequency (monthly, weekly, daily… and even on specified days of the week) and other options, like the feed format or at which episode in the feed to start your discovery.

To use Cast Rewinder, go to the form on the rewind.website. Enter the URL for a feed, or an iTunes or SoundCloud address, and start receiving episodes from that podcast from the beginning.

The data (the podcast feeds) that is collected, mirrored and transmitted by rewind.website belong to its original owners. No RSS feed or any feed content are claimed by the creators and maintainers of rewind.website.

Personally, I think Cast Rewinder is an excellent idea. I am someone who has a tendency to fall behind on listening to podcasts.

There have been times when I considered subscribing to a new one, but didn’t because I felt like I would be missing out on significant information if I didn’t start at the beginning. It is not always possible to go back and get older episodes of a podcast. Cast Rewinder sounds like a good solution for this problem.

Bodies is a podcast from KCRW. It is hosted by Allison Behringer, who also hosted The Intern podcast. Bodies is a documentary series that begins as a medical mystery.

Bodies is hosted, and produced by, Allison Behringer. She is an independent storyteller and podcast producer based in Brooklyn, New York. Bodies is her latest podcast. The About section of that podcast’s website includes the following description:

A few years ago, something happened to my body. All of a sudden, sex became painful. I tried ignoring it, I tried researching it online. My gynecologist said “Lots of women have pain with sex,” and I felt dismissed.

For a long time, I kept this story to myself. But once I started talking about it, I found that this was not an uncommon experience. Many people – especially women – shared health mysteries that set them on long and winding journeys to get an answer.

Each episode of this intimate, highly-produced documentary program follows one person’s journey to solve a mystery about their body.

Bodies explores the forces of history, society and identity that shape women’s health and affect the way the medical community treats people. The Bodies website says: “For so long, women’s health has been under-researched and overlooked. So often, our stories have gone untold and our questions have gone unanswered. Bodies is part of a movement to change that.”

At the time I am writing this blog post, Bodies has released a Trailer and the first episode of the podcast. That episode is called “Sex Hurts”.

There is a Bodies Facebook Group that listeners can join if they want to be part of the conversation. It is a place to ask questions about your body and to share an experience that others should know about. Topics can include painful sex, endometriosis, chronic migraines, mental health, and more.