Spotify divestment, Threads dabbles, Indiepod Survey results, Rewriting, funding in Wales, VAs wanted, Catskull, and more

Issue 324 of The Fiction Podcast Weekly is brought to you by catskull.

Ram knows he's living on borrowed time. The A-level exams that determine his future are fast approaching, and his prospects are bleak. His only refuge is Kass, his childhood friend and partner in crime. But when her troubled home life becomes unbearable, Ram decides to put on a mask and finally do something worthwhile. Produced by the team behind Temujin and DC High Volume: Batman, catskull is a neo-noir thriller about violence, identity, and the dark pursuit of finally mattering.

News, Roundups, and Announcements

• Important: Please Stop Using Spotify. In the latest episode of Madame Magenta: Sonos Mystica, Lindsay and Laurence explain why you should kick Spotify to the curb more succinctly and clearly than I can. And no, it’s not lost on me that Helsing, of which Daniel Ek is chairman, evokes the name of a guy who tracks and kills mysterious people. It’s like a video game.

• Spotify’s community isn’t too thrilled about the ICE recruitment ads, either.

• Inequality in Popular Podcasts? An Examination of Gender & Race/Ethnicity, published by USC Annenberg, examines nonfiction podcasts, with Comedy as the sole exception. If I had oddles of free time and focus, I’d write to the researchers and ask them to sit by us at the fiction podcast table for a bit.

• Why We’re Bringing Podcast Movement to SXSW (And Making It Free) by Bryan Barletta for Sounds Profitable. If only I could afford to go to Austin during SXSW.

• Fox Entertainment Acquires Meet Cute To Expand Creator-Driven Content Pipeline, By Amit Chowdhry for Pulse 2.0. Maybe we need to start sending our pre-production and crowdfunding press releases to VC news aggregators?

• Podnews reports that Facebook’s Twitter-like clone, Threads, has announced that it is testing support for linking to podcasts. If you remember the last time Meta dabbled in podcast promotion, you recall that Facebook accidentally jacked up everyone’s numbers slightly by downloading a teeny bit of everyone’s episodes to make them load more efficiently when tapped in the feed. Once again: fasten your seatbelt, Zuck saw a shiny object.

• Podcast duo Sons of Town Hall offer escape from woes of the world, by Trish Lee for Newbury Today. “The renowned musical duo and acclaimed podcasters are set to bring their podcast’s mythical fictional world to life on stages across the country this month via a brand new UK tour.”

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Creator Resources

• Scoring a Villain: The 'Shakespearean' Approach to 'Star Trek: Khan' by Jason Hellerman for No Film School

• Podcast Gifts for Podcast Lovers & Creators by me, Lindsay. You know what gift I’d truly love? I’d love it if people would send in more creator resources, because they’ve become the hardest thing to find. (Psst: come for the RØDEs of many colors, stay for the crocheted headphone ear pad cozies.)

• The 2025 Indiepod Survey by Matthew McLean and Katie Paterson reveals how 558 indie podcasters balance passion, growth struggles, and monetisation. Discover key trends in audience, goals, and the future of podcasting.

• Podcast Calls to Action that Actually Work, by me, Lindsay

• Shaking Up Your Format, Smarter Chapter Markers, & the Habit That Transforms Your Hosting. This Podcraft episode may seem more relevant to nonfiction podcasters, but the chapter markers section may pique your curiosity, as Matthew describes his experience with Apple’s new automatically generated chapter markers and audio drama.

• The Rewriting Cycle Sarah Rhea Werner shares her official new anti-rewriting system and how to battle the demons of perfectionism.

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Opportunities

• Casting Call: Ominous Thrill seeks a male-sounding VA and a pre-teen-sounding female VA. Listing expires November 18.

• INACT Festival Call Out is a call for projects from international artists of all disciplines and backgrounds for INACT Festival, a performance festival in Strasbourg taking place in May 2026. The 2026 theme is “Fugology,” or the cognitive dissonance surrounding climate change. Deadline: November 16.

• Jean Laney Harris Folk Heritage Award is for South Carolina-based artists and arts organisations who practice art forms that have been transmitted through their family and communities. These artists have demonstrated a commitment to sustaining their traditional art forms and have, in turn, used their art to benefit those around them. Deadline: 15th November.

• Creative Steps for Individuals provides funding for individual artists and creatives who are based in Wales and identify as being ethnically and culturally diverse, d/Deaf, disabled or neurodivergent. Deadline, 27th of November.

• VOICE ACTORS: Broken Arts Entertainment wants you.

Launches and Milestones

• Broken Arts Entertainment announces the launch of Choose the Bear, a 10-episode audio drama written by Aly Kantor, featuring full-cast audio and sound design. Episode 0 premiered November 7th, and an episode every Friday.

• Once Upon a Mystery. A special agent who investigates fairy tales currently in progress to report back to the people who make them into stories.

• Black Sheep Shipping. Warning, if you're reading this label, this was meant for you. Black Sheep Shipping brings you the strangest and most terrifying packages reality can offer.

• The Death Of The Bees And Other Things That Sting. Jordy Rivers wakes up in a house with no recollection of how she got there. The last thing she remembers is watching her sister fly off into space and seeing the spaceship disappear (or explode).

• The Hexings’ finale will be ready for you on November 17.

• Crowley Time celebrates its 40th episode with an appearance by special guest Paul F. Tompkins! That’s how you know it’s a podcast.

Keep sharing good stories.

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