Hi podcasters,
We are nearing the 50th issue of Eurowaves! In case you missed it, to celebrate International Podcast Day, we have TWO gifts for you…
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A list of the Best European Podcasts of 2026 (so far), a list from 25+ contributors from across the podcasting industry in Europe and beyond.
Now, before we get into it…
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Now, let’s get into it!
🇪🇺 Podcasting & Community News 🇪🇺
🇪🇸In the latest Ear Worthy articles, Frank Racioppi shares about Molinos Spanish podcasting club.
🏆The 31st Webby Awards are open for entries until October 30. The Lovie Awards finalists have been announced. Vote for your favorites here.
🏆The International Women Podcast Awards revealed its short list.
🏆Signal Awards finalists were announced. Vote for your favorites.
🌎Arielle Nissenblatt🎧 ‘s Owned: The Newsletter Course for Podcasters is kicking off October 13 with the first cohort-based learning group.
🎙️Vintage Politics, where journalists, politicians and politicos share their stories over great wines, returned for Season 2
🎙️Be Hope podcast takeover returned for its second year, encouraging podcasters to share stories of progress and optimism.
🎙️🇳🇬Friends of the newsletter, The Nigerian Podcast Index (NPI) released its 2026 Industry Report, documenting 604 Nigerian and Nigerian-diaspora podcasts: an 83% increase from the 329 shows recorded in 2025.
🇵🇱The European Correspondent is hiring a Polish editor.
🇨🇾Cyprus-based team Daily Media Group is hiring a video podcast host. (source: Podnews)
🇮🇹CONNESSIONI Quando le parole uniscono turns ten years old later this year. (source: Podnews)
🎙️Podcast hosting company Podigee released what it calls a “fundamentally redesigned platform” to celebrate International Podcast Day, with audio and video recording, full video distribution, and advanced analytics. The company is wholly based in the EU, and follows European privacy rules. (source: Podnews)
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The International Podcast Alliance Turns ONE, with Norsk Podkastforening’s Guttorm Andreasen 🌎🇳🇴
In October 2025, The PIA (Syndicat des Producteurs Professionnels et Indépendants de l’Audio, France) and AudioUK (the industry body for the podcast and audio industry) announced the launch of the International Podcast Alliance (IPA), a collaborative transnational platform uniting professional organisations representing podcast and audio producers, businesses and publishers globally.
The International Podcast Alliance (IPA) aims to strengthen dialogue, share market data, promote best practices, support market development, and carry joint advocacy actions at both international and European levels. The initiative responds to common challenges faced by independent producers and publishers, including legal recognition, fair platform practices, access to public funding, and a fragmented ecosystem.
Guttorm Andreasen has worked as a host, presenter, producer and editor in norwegian media since 1985, with 20 years on the air in the NRK, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation. He runs a studio and production company, STUDIO 99, and has been the chair of Norsk Podkastforening, the Norwegian broadcasting union, since 2024.
You can connect with Guttorm on LinkedIn here.
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What’s your podcasting origin story?
I have worked for more than 40 years in radio, TV and podcasting, as a host, producer and editor. After close to 20 years in the NRK, the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, I started STUDIO 99, my own studio and production company, in 2008. In 2010 I started one of the first podcasts in Norway, a show on Norwegian music, in English, for the Foreign Office. I’ve been at it ever since.
It’s the first anniversary of the International Podcast Alliance! For those not familiar with it, share a bit about why it was created and what the group has achieved so far.
The IPA is am international network for national podcast unions like the Norwegian Podcast Union, where I am the current chair. We meet and talk about shared challenges and industry matters, and it is fascinating to see how close and similar we are, although the industry systems and nuts and bolts are very different from country to country. I learn a lot from and think it is a great way to share knowledge.
What motivated you personally to join the IPA?
After so many years in the business I firmly believe that the most important thing we all can do on a personal and corporate level is to meet and share and talk. If we want to have a sustainable industry going forward, we need to share, share, share, regardless of where we work.
How has the group expanded throughout this year, in terms of geographical reach, and what is the vision for the future?
We have gotten way beyond the first countries, that were mainly in central Europe and Scandinavia, and we keep seeing and meeting new potential members from other parts. The aim must be to become a truly international network for every professional in the industry.
What are some of the main priorities going into the second year of the IPA?
Getting more members and perhaps become an official entity of sorts.
How can readers get involved with the IPA? Whether they’re from a country that already has a representative in the IPA or from a country that doesn’t.
Do get in touch! We are very happy to hear from you, regardless of country or affiliation.
Share a bit about the local market in Norway - where is it currently and where do you think it’s headed? How is it connecting with the wider European podcasting scene?
The podcast market and industry is strong and growing in Norway. We are (still) the only media still in growth, as we have been for 5-6 years now. The number of podcasts is exploding and the NPF see our membership growing as well. Money is a bit slower, so we still see small and medium size production companies giving up, but Big Media is expanding its podcast efforts. We have a long history of public support for media in Scandinavia so we need to allocate more of those funds for podcast production. In practice, all podcasts will be in (one of the many varieties of) Norwegian, that is a strong reason why we are still growing, so there is not much cooperation with the rest of Europe, although it seems cooperations in Scandinavia is on the rise.
Share some underrated European podcast recommendations with us, preferably from countries represented in the IPA.
I listen to so much stuff, I am especially trying to keep up with both norwegian and Scandinavian ones, some Spanish and German podcasts, but find myself often returning to The Rest is Science and other British podcasts. And, of course, the brilliant French music series, Afropop Worldwide in English!
Thank you, Guttorm!
🎙️🌍 Podcast Recommendations 🌍🎙️
The podcast helps women see past the stories they’ve inherited about who they’re supposed to be, and reconnect with who they actually are. Hosted by reparenting coach Melissa Maouris, she guides listeners through the work of unlearning what no longer serves them, attuning to what they feel and need, and rediscovering their capacity for play. Alongside solo teaching episodes and guest conversations, you’re invited inside real coaching sessions, hearing the inner work unfold in real time. Series 3 has new episodes every Sunday.
For two decades the international mail system fostered a network of underground artists, exchanging cassette tapes of music and homemade artwork – all under the radar of mainstream media. Taking the DIY message of Punk as a jumping off point, the podcast travels through the network to find the creators of the fanzines, the music, the labels and events.
From the BBC, five remarkable true stories in which love rises above prejudice, waits decades, crosses oceans and survives war. From India to Italy, Syria to the Bahamas, and the UK to the US, these are unforgettable stories that reveal how love can survive against the odds, heal old wounds and transform lives forever.
🇱🇹 Podcasts from Lithuania 🇱🇹
Vaida Pilibaitytė is a radio journalist, documentary producer and mentor working with the Lithuanian national public broadcaster, LRT. For the past 20 years her professional focus has been mainly on environmental issues, but also history, culture, and human rights.
Vaida’s co-production with Deutsche Welle received a Silver medal in the Environment category at the New York Festivals in 2004. Her audio documentary work has won multiple national awards, was featured on the BBC Radio 4’s Short Cuts, Third Coast International Audio Festival, EBU Audio Storytelling Festival (formerly IFC), and was nominated for the Prix Europa in 2018, 2022, and 2026.
She is also the head of Radio Documentary Group at the LRT, a member of the EBU Audio Storytelling Group, and the executive producer of 51st EBU Audio Storytelling Festival held in Vilnius, in 2025. Since 2024, Vaida coordinates LRT RADIO ACADEMY, a new training and mentorship program for aspiring audio storytellers.
The Shop/ Parduotuvė: This audio feature by Viktoras Jakovlevas produced in 2008 for LRT is now widely regarded as a Lithuanian radio documentary classic. Set in the only shop of a small village of Varputėnai it paints a picture that may seem small and mundane at first, but of course it is so much more than ‘a place where men drink and women dream’ as it says in the subtitle. As we linger by the counter as the locals drop by for a beer and a chat, we find ourselves drawn into a world that is strangely familiar regardless of where you are.
Šis Viktoro Jakovlevo garso pasakojimas, sukurtas 2008 m. LRT, šiandien jau laikoma tikra Lietuvos radijo dokumentikos klasika. Jo veiksmas vyksta Varputėnų kaimo parduotuvėje Šiaulių rajone. Iš pirmo žvilgsnio jame piešiamas paveikslas atrodo įprastas ir kasdieniškas, bet greitai tampa akivaizdu, kad ši parduotuvė yra kur kas daugiau nei „vieta, kur vyrai geria, o moterys svajoja“, kaip teigiama paantraštėje. Stovėdami prie prekystalio ir stebėdami, kaip vietiniai užsuka alaus bei pokalbio, pamažu įsitraukiame į pasaulį, kuris keistai pažįstamas, nesvarbu, iš kur patys bebūtume.
Coming out/ Atsivėrimas: The Guardian’s Miranda Sawyer once called it ‘A Lithuanian gay romance that will move you to tears’. Back in 2024, when it aired on LRT’s weekly broadcast Radijo dokumentika, this minimalist, but very powerful documentary had shaken up Lithuanian audiences so much that its online version quickly became the most shared and streamed episode in the show’s history. It has also won the European Audio Documentary of the Year award at the Prix Europa 2024. But most importantly, it reopened a public debate on human rights and led to activists organising a symbolic humanist wedding ceremony for Vitalius and Albinas. In August 2025, following a Constitutional Court ruling, the Vilnius City District Court for the first time recognised a same-sex partnership in Lithuania.
„The Guardian“ žurnalistė Miranda Sawyer šį kūrinį pavadino „Lietuviška gėjų meilės istorija, kuri sugraudins iki ašarų“. 2024 m. šis minimalistinis, tačiau itin paveikus kūrinys, nuskambėjęs LRT laidoje „Radijo dokumentika“ (https://www.lrt.lt/radioteka/laida/radijo-dokumentika) taip palietė auditoriją, kad jo internetinė versija greitai tapo populiariausiu epizodu laidos istorijoje. Jis taip pat pelnė geriausios Europos garso dokumentikos apdovanojimą festivalyje „Prix Europa“. Bet svarbiausia tai, kad ši dokumentika atnaujino viešas diskusijas apie žmogaus teises, o aktyvistai surengė simbolinę humanistinę Vitalijaus ir Albino santuokos ceremoniją. 2025 m. rugpjūtį, po Konstitucinio Teismo sprendimo, Vilniaus miesto apylinkės teismas pirmą kartą Lietuvoje pripažino tos pačios lyties asmenų partnerystę.
What Rytė Doesn’t Remember/ Tai, ko Rytė neatsimena: As Rytė’s memory fades after her first epileptic seizure at 18, she turns to field recordings to make sense of her past. Through conversations with friends and family who have witnessed her seizures, she attempts to reconstruct lost moments and uncovers how epilepsy shapes not just her life, but the lives of those who care for her. This is an audio documentary from young sound artist and audio producer Adomas Zubė produced for the Lithuanian media collective NARA in 2025. It blends a casual storytelling tone, moving personal audio diary-like tape, well researched scientific information and creative sound design to tell a story which is both emotional and educational, and told from a personal experience.
Po pirmojo epilepsijos priepuolio, ištikusio kai jai buvo aštuoniolika metų, Rytės atmintis pradeda blėsti. Siekdama suprasti savo praeitį, ji imasi viską įrašinėti. Kalbėdamasi su draugais ir artimaisiais, mačiusiais jos priepuolius, Rytė bando atkurti prarastas gyvenimo akimirkas ir parodo, kaip epilepsija veikia ne tik jos pačios, bet ir ja besirūpinančių žmonių gyvenimus. Tai jauno garso menininko ir garso dokumentikos kūrėjo Adomo Zubės 2025 m. Lietuvos žiniasklaidos kolektyvui NARA (https://nara.lt) sukurtas garso dokumentikos darbas. Kūrinyje derinamas lengvas pasakojimo tonas, jautrus asmeninis garso dienoraštis, kruopščiai surinkta mokslinė informacija ir kūrybiškas garso dizainas. Taip gimsta asmeniška istorija, kuri vienu metu yra ir emociškai paveiki ir informatyvi.
Thank you, Vaida!
You can connect with her here.
🚀Events and Opportunities🚀
Festival Bruits Roses (Marseille, France)
Bruits Roses is driven by the Sonorama association. Comprising podcast and radio professionals as well as experts in cultural project management, Sonorama aims to raise awareness about new listening experiences and shared sonic heritage. The association curates and distributes audio works, supports creators, and fosters opportunities for connection among audio practitioners in Marseille and across the Mediterranean. It seeks to champion new narratives and their circulation among young people in the Euro-Mediterranean region.
When? October 9-11.
Eurowaves is a media partner of Bruits Roses.
Lancieux Podcast Festival (Lancieux, France)
The Lancieux Podcast Festival brings together audio creators and their audience in Lancieux for collective listening sessions. Organized by the town hall since 2024, the event is dedicated to podcasts and audio storytelling, designed for both children and adults, with a unique thematic focus each year.
When? October 17-18.
SOUND.WAVES (Limerick, Ireland)
Ireland has often been described as a nation of storytellers and as audience behaviours have evolved creators, presenters and musicians are now brands, and the stories they tell are the currency. Over two days, SOUND. WAVES. brings together the innovators and pioneers from the world of content creation to Adare, Co. Limerick, to explore the business of content through the prism of podcasting, sport and music and how they intersect through content, creativity, and commerce. SOUND. WAVES. explores how user content can be better created, monetised, and shared across platforms and audiences. placing it at the centre of the conversation, whether it’s a viral podcast, a sync placement, or a fan-first release strategy.
When? November 12-13.
That’s it for now!
Andreea
Thanks for including us. Great to have a European overview on the pod world.
Thankyou for the recommendation!