Podcasting reached mainstream popularity in 2014, with the success of the investigative show Serial. But podcasters have been around for ten years, producing audio shows on any imaginable topic (including podcasting itself!) in settings that range from professional radio studios to bedrooms. Now conventional media want to jump in and make their own online-only audio shows.

In this panel we want to explore podcasting as a distinct medium: what are the styles, techniques and challenges? How do podcast networks and platforms work? Is it possible to be a professional podcaster? How do podcasters reach their audience? News, entertainment, investigative journalism, fiction: are they different on a podcast?

In this international talk we will also try to understand what the non-anglophone podcast world can learn from the success of podcasting in the US.