🇨🇭Swiss Podcasting: Radio Davos, SONOHR's open call and more European news
Eurowaves #42
Hi podcasters,
This week, Jullian Androkae and I have been melting in a new place - Madrid, Spain. Ana Ribera García-Rubio's Cosas que (me)pasan / Podcasts Encadenados and Eurowaves threw a meet-up on Wednesday at Espacio Late.
Stay tuned for the debrief on our LinkedIn and Instagram.
Before we get into it…
Podcast Review | Reviews, Interviews, & Lists
Podcast Review is an online magazine publishing in-depth podcast reviews, interviews with prominent radiomakers, and best-in-category podcast lists. They move beyond the charts to connect current and future podcast listeners with their next favorite show, serving a broad audience with human curated recommendations, great writing, and thoughtful analysis. Find your next favorite listen.
Now, let’s get into it!
🇪🇺 Podcasting & Community News 🇪🇺
🌎Mercury celebrated Independent Podcasters Day on July 4.
🎙️Eurowaves was included in Frank Racioppi’s Forbes article on where to go to read about podcasting, alongside other publications like Captain Ron - Great Pods and Kattie Laur’s Pod The North. Thank you Frank!
🇵🇹Podcasting in Europe: what’s happening and why it’s relevant to Portugal. Thank you for the interview, Popcast!
🇬🇧Morley College London is seeking a skilled and enthusiastic Radio Broadcast, Studios and Systems Technician to join the Morley Radio team.
🇫🇷Louie Media is hiring a full-time audio/video producer for a temporary position between September 2026 - March 2027.
🇫🇷Acast France is hiring a Key Account Manager.
🇦🇷The Escucha Podcast newsletter has published its final issue. (source: Podnews)
🇬🇧The British Podcast Awards 2026 released its longlist. (source: Podnews)
🇬🇧The Crossed Wires podcast festival has been taking place in Sheffield, England. (source: Podnews)
Eurowaves Update ☘️
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The World Economic Forum’s Podcasting Strategy🎙️, with Robin Pomeroy
Robin Pomeroy is head of podcasts at the World Economic Forum and hosts its flagship weekly show Radio Davos. He recommends one podcast each weekly on his Substack/LinkedIn newsletter Pick of the Pods, and has launched a monthly Pick of the Pods podcast, talking to people who make great podcasts. He also made a five-part narrative documentary A Book - A Place: Geneva, part book club, part travel guide, part history podcast. Before that he was a reporter and senior editor at the global news agency Reuters, reporting from Brussels, Rome, Tehran, London and elsewhere.
Eurowaves is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
You can connect with Robin on LinkedIn here.
What’s your podcast origin story?
I had never made a podcast before launching one at the World Economic Forum where I was commissioning, writing and editing text stories. I have spent a career as a news journalist and had always wanted to do radio, but things had not worked out that way. Podcasts have made that possible.
How has your international journalism experience influenced your approach to podcasting?
I spent 20 years at Reuters, as a correspondent in Brussels, Rome and Tehran, and editor in London. That taught me that you have to engage an audience very quickly - people won’t read past a headline if they don’t see a reason to.
On the “international” side, I am always aware that not everyone in your audience speaks English as a first language or has the same cultural references as you, so I try to keep my language as simple as possible and spell out culturally specific things that might not easily cross borders.
Tell us about the World Economic Forum’s entry into podcasting, where it’s at now and how it’s changed. What is the team targeting for the future and how is it keeping up with all the industry changes?
In 2019, I joined the World Economic Forum on a team that was already making brilliant social media content. It was a team that was constantly innovating but had not yet cracked podcasting. We were discussing how we could make a regular podcast when COVID hit and we were all working in isolation. A colleague suggested I make a podcast about the pandemic so what is now called Radio Davos was launched as World Versus Virus.
The format is deliberately broad to allow us to cover pretty much any big issue. Like most podcasts, we are making lots of episodes video-podcasts. I’d like to publish in other languages, either through AI translation/voice cloning and/or original content in e.g. Spanish, Chinese…
What is your strategy in translating technical concepts for a general audience, in an entertaining tone?
We have three weekly podcasts: Radio Davos (looking at how humanity can address some of the biggest challenges), Meet the Leader (one-on-one interviews with leaders on leadership) and Agenda Dialogues (the full audio from the best sessions at World Economic Forum events).
The tone of our podcasts is meant to address a global audience of intelligent, curious people who might not be specialists in whatever the subject is that we are discussing, so I try to ensure our conversations are not full of arcane acronyms or jargon, and also that they explain the main concepts which the experts involved might (wrongly) assume people already understand.
It’s my job as podcast host to play the role of the audience member, asking the questions that they would want to put themselves.
Share a bit about your journey with your podcast, Pick of the Pods, and the adjacent newsletter. What gaps are you looking to fill?
Pick of the Pods is a weekly recommendation of just one show. The newsletter has been going for a year and a half now and has around a thousand subscribers. It started because when I told people I was a podcaster, they would often ask me to recommend a podcast I like. POP is a way of sharing that with everyone - and it forces me out of my comfort zone to find new shows.
I deliberately make it eclectic - one week it might be some heavy, political show, another a silly comedy. The only common point is that I personally found something to recommend in there.
I launched Pick of the Pods, the podcast, a couple of months ago. It is a simple interview with a podcast maker talking about their show. I love talking about the craft of podcasting and the show is aimed at people who want a peak behind the scenes. It is currently monthly, but I hope to increase the frequency once I have built the capacity to do this (entirely in my spare time).
What do you predict the future of European podcasting will look like?
There’s no one future of podcasting - it is a pretty much limitless landscape with room for all kind of content and formats. What I am fairly sure will not happen though is that humans will be replaced by AI. Even once AI-generated content sounds indistinguishable from human, most audiences will still want to know they are engaging with a real person.
Share 2-3 recommendations of your top European podcasts.
You can find lots in the back catalogue of Pick of the Pods:
The shows I have been following the longest and still love are:
The Bugle (weekly news satire)
RHLSTP (interviews, mostly with comedians, by Richard Herring)
Kermode and Mayo’s Take (formerly from BBC Radio - Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo’s film show)
Thank you, Robin!
🎙️🌍 Podcast Recommendations 🌍🎙️
This exciting new podcast project mentored by renowned podcaster Siobhán McHugh engages Tipperary writers to interview those who have loved and left Clonmel to make new lives around the world. It was created by Artistic Director Rebecca Lenehan with podcast consultant Siobhan McHugh and Tipperary Museum Curator Marie McMahon.
With Vivir desde el cáncer (Living with Cancer), we aim to explore the wide range of emotions experienced during the cancer journey: fear, uncertainty, hope, humor, anger, fatigue, and—at times—transformation. This audio series grew out of a cultural mediation process involving healthcare professionals and patients.
Stories of men and women, stories of failures and successes, stories of dreams... stories of brands! Written and performed by Max Corona. — This podcast is part of the VOIS universe.
Want to see your podcast recommended?
🇮🇹 Podcasts from Italy 🇮🇹
Rossella Pivanti is a multi-award winning independent podcast producer with a solid background in radio, music and recording. She started full time podcasting in 2017 and founded her own company. Currently exploring audio creativity through narrative podcast and trues stories, while waiting to be the next lighthouse guardian. Follow her on the website rossellapivanti.it.
Veleno: Italy, late 1990s. A small community is disrupted by a number of cases of pedophilia and Satanism, and sixteen children are removed from their families. Twenty years later, an investigation sheds doubt on the entire case, sparking massive national debate and paving the way for the modern Italian true-crime podcasting boom.
Italia, fine anni ’90. Le piccole comunità di Mirandola e Massa Finalese n Emilia Romagna sono state scosse da una serie di casi di pedofilia e satanismo in cui 16 bambini sono stati strappati alle loro famiglie. Venti anni dopo, questa inchiesta apre dei dubbi sull’intera vicenda aprendo un dibattito su scala nazionale e aprendo la strada al boom del podcasting italiano, in particolare quello del true crime.
Ho conosciuto Kurt Cobain: It is a 7 episode narrative audio documentary about Nirvana in Italy. Rather than a standard biography, it documents the band’s Italian tours and their cultural impact through the eyes, memories, and anecdotes of those who were there. The series weaves together a sonic road trip of the band’s van across the country, highlighting first-hand accounts from venue managers, concert organizers, and locals who crossed paths with Cobain and the band.
E’ un audio documentario narrativo in 7 puntate sull’arrivo dei Nirvana in Litala. Rispetto ad una biografia classica, la serie documenta i tour italiani della band e il loro impatto culturale attraverso gli occhi, i ricordi e gli aneddoti di chi era presente. La serie si propone come un road trip seguendo il van della band in giro per l’Italia, con contributi in prima persona di gestori, organizzatori di concerti e appassionati che hanno intrecciato il proprio cammino con Cobain e la band.
Illumina Show: It is a popular, rapidly growing Italian podcast and live stage tour created by Luca Dodaro. Known for its spontaneous, self-deprecating, and unfiltered comedic style, it features surreal conversations, audience interactions, and a unique blend of nonsense and reality. The show originated as a popular internet podcast before making a massive, sold-out leap into live theater tours across Italy. It routinely features unique themes, such as candid interviews with funeral directors, voice actors, and chaotic game show episodes.
E’ un comedy podcast italiano di Lica Dodaro in grande ascesa e conta anche una serie di tour nei teatri che registrano il tutto esaurito in poche ore. Conosciuto e apprezzato per il suo stile comico autoironico e senza filtri, con conversazioni al limite del surreale, l’interazione del pubblico e un misto di nonsense e realtà. Alcuni dei temi e degli ospiti più apprezzati sono stati: i preti, gli organizzatori di funerali, i doppiatori, le neomamme e i neopapà e le puntate in stile game show.
Thank you, Rossella!
You can connect with her here.
🚀Events and Opportunities🚀
PodBXL (Belgium)
PodBXL a podcast festival for, by, and with podcasters. The festival brings together podcasters, audiences and independent creators through live recordings, discussions and human-centered encounters beyond algorithms and competition. Organized by The Podcast Factory Org
When? July 4. Were you there? Leave a comment and tell us how it was!
SONOHR (Switzerland, international submissions)
For the 17th SONOHR Radio & Podcast Festival from 26 to 28 February 2027, we are looking for audio-based artistic works, live performances, and audio walks. We are seeking projects that address current topics, independently rethink classic audio formats, or open up new creative approaches to audio, radio, and podcasting. You may submit audio works in German, French, or English without a transcript. Existing transcripts—even approximate ones—are nevertheless welcome. Works in other languages require an English or German translation or transcription.
When? August 3.
APAs (The UK)
Recognising and celebrating outstanding achievement in the podcast and audio industry. Established in 2010, the APAs from AudioUK are where the podcast, radio and audiobook communities come together to celebrate the incredible people behind the work we all love. It’s a night to champion brilliant ideas, recognise outstanding craft and celebrate another year of exceptional audio. Judged by leading industry experts and attended by the people shaping the future of the medium, the APAs are a celebration of the creativity, talent and passion that make our industry so special.
When? September 16.
That’s it for now!
Andreea
As a swiss gal myself, LOVE THIS