"This is the conclusion of a successful semester, where concept, creation, and distribution plans came together. Professor Diana welcomes the class for a final reflection and listening party, handing hosting duties over to Shana and Alex. This episode is a celebration of the creative energy poured into the course, covering everything from the development of a central concept to planning final distribution strategies. The discussion explores the powerful concept of "class citi

"On this episode of Lights Microphone Podcast, we sit down with Winnie Liao, a multilingual creator navigating the world of podcasting outside the default English-speaking bubble. Winnie brings us inside the reality of building content in a different language, carving out space for cultural identity, and pushing back against the idea that creativity only counts when it fits the dominant market. She shares the story of starting her show in Mandarin in Taiwan, the unexpected de

“If you want to grow your podcast, you need to stop thinking like a social media star and start thinking like a librarian. This week, we are honoured to have Jordan Blair, Podcast Producer for Buzzsprout and host of the Buzzcast, joining us to talk about the core mechanics of making your show grow. Jordan brings us inside the world of podcast distribution, breaking down why platforms are search engines, not recommendation feeds. You will learn the single most useful metric fo

"If you're stuck in the planning phase, you're losing the game. The secret to success in any venture, especially podcasting, is fast feedback and radical adaptation. This is 100 Ways to Make 100K, and this week, host Javon Martin is going behind the scenes of his own show. For over 70 episodes, Javon has been on a relentless hunt to find 100 different paths to generating $100,000 per month. In this special session, Javon reveals the brutal, yet necessary, truth about what it

Quick Summary - Show Notes Nick Thorburn (the musician behind The Unicorns and Islands ) talks with host Shana about creating one of the most recognizable pieces of podcast music ever: the theme song for Serial. The whole thing happened almost by accident. A friend made a connection, and Nick treated it like any other freelance gig. He listened to the pilot episode, got inspired by the dark, true-crime vibe, and cranked out a library of music in one weekend. He had zero clue

“ Welcome to Ctrl+Alt+Narrate , the show that explores the diverse journeys behind digital media creation. But what happens when the creators become the story? In this episode, host Alex flips the camera around to interview the brilliant team that brings the show to life: Sneesha, Alisha, and Victoria. Together, they dive deep into the production process of " Ctrl+Alt+Narrate ," covering everything from managing a massive post-production backlog to the learning curve of hosti

Hello Everybody! The next 6 weeks of this podcast, we’re doing something a little different. I can’t wait for you to hear what’s to come. In the Fall 2025 semester, I had the great fortune of teaching my first for-credit course in podcasting. Since I started Talk Paper Scissors  in 2019, I’ve informally helped and consulted on a number of projects in the space, but I had never (until now!) planned a full curriculum, thinking through what I would’ve loved to know when I was fi

This episode has been three conversations in the making. It started in episode #273, when I spoke with Amanda Breeze of TRIPPER Magazine, who mentioned being inspired by George Wylesol’s grown-up choose-your-own-adventure book, 2120 . In episode #276, George joined me to talk about the book and how Internet culture and GeoCities websites shape his work. Then, in episode #280, I spoke with Jill Blackmore Evans, creator of GeoCities Memory , a personal and scholarly project arc

Weeeeeeeee! In today’s episode we’re heading further down the rabbit hole—where one episode leads to the next, and new ideas lie around every corner.  In the two previous episodes in this series, I spoke with Amanda Breeze of TRIPPER Magazine ( #273 ) where she mentioned George Wylesol’s incredible grown-up choose-your-own-adventure book, taking inspiration for her own magazine’s navigational features.  So I reached out to George to learn more about his publishing and illust

Today is the day! Brave Creative Human: Embrace Failure, Reframe Imposter Syndrome, and Be Unapologetically You is now available in...

Welcome to the final episode of Talk Paper Scissors before taking a break until September and we have one of the best with us today,...

Happy Friday and welcome to a thought-provoking and potentially paradigm-shifting conversation with James McCrae , author, poet, and...

Welcome to the sixth of six episodes in this year’s magazine miniseries! If you want to learn more about the magazine industry through...

Let's continue our journey, speaking with movers and shakers in the printing, typography and design spaces who make space for others...

Welcome back to the third episode in this magazine series. Here you’ll meet Audrey Vandenbroeck, Vice President of Customer Success at...

Welcome back to the second episode in this 6-part magazine series. Here you’ll meet James Hewes, CEO of FIPP, a global magazine industry...

Technology is an incredibly powerful force that shapes virtually every aspect of our lives, from transportation, to healthcare, to...

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the start of the digital publishing revolution. From the very first entry into Project...

A few months ago I released a mini series of podcast episodes all about digital publishing. In a Charles Dickens-esque fashion we...

While I love podcasting and exploring storytelling in an audio format, my day job is as a lecturer at a university in Toronto, Canada....