Apple Podcasts names Wiser Than Me the 2023 Show of the Year

Apple Podcasts names Wiser Than Me the 2023 Show of the Year

Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Lemonada Media’s founders reflect on a standout first season

At the outset of Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus from Lemonada Media, Hollywood legend Jane Fonda recalled the sudden revelation she had on the eve of her 59th birthday: that she was entering her life’s third and final act.

“You know how important third acts are,” Fonda, now 85, told host Julia Louis-Dreyfus early on in the episode. “They can make sense out of the first two, right? They’re very important — it’s kind of a legacy that you’re going to leave behind.”

Right out of the gate, Wiser Than Me attracted a massive audience on Apple Podcasts, spending 29 days straight as the No. 1 show in the U.S. overall — a feat that has yet to be topped in 2023.

Apple is proud to celebrate Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus with the Apple Podcasts Award, a recognition given each year to honour a show that demonstrates quality and innovation in podcasting. The show’s popularity and accolades are a testament to its refreshingly authentic approach to amplifying the voices of older, wiser women — a demographic not often centred in mainstream culture — and encouraging intergenerational listening.

Over the course of the show’s 10-episode debut season, accomplished actor and comedian Louis-Dreyfus employs her signature wit to mine priceless nuggets of advice from women who have lived long enough and well enough to truly have perspective on it all.

Season 1 of Wiser Than Me is available now on Apple Podcasts, featuring Jane Fonda, Isabel Allende, and more.

Beginning a new chapter of her own at 62, the first-time podcast host brings personalities like singer Darlene Love, 82, and author Amy Tan, 71, to the microphone for far-ranging conversations that evoke laughter, tears, and just about every emotion in between.

“All of these women have demonstrated how to live a life,” Louis-Dreyfus says of her guests. “That doesn’t mean they didn’t make mistakes, but there’s something about being older where perhaps you feel not as protective in terms of sharing. And so I’ve taken advantage of the intimacy that offers. That availability to be real and to be open is a great gift.”

A big part of Wiser Than Me’s appeal is Louis-Dreyfus’s willingness to be playful and stretch the bounds of the typical interview-podcast format, explains Stephanie Wittels Wachs, cofounder and chief creative officer of Lemonada Media, the podcast’s home network. “Julia never wants to have a typical conversation,” she says. “She wants to play and weave and bob, and do all the fun things that you expect from something unexpected.”

Lemonada cofounder and CEO Jessica Cordova Kramer credits the accessibility of Apple Podcasts with helping the show reach new audiences. “Apple does a great job of showcasing diverse shows of different kinds, following whatever’s happening in the world and helping people discover new things — not just the most popular things,” explains Cordova Kramer. “We love our Lemonada Premium channel because we have a big slate of shows now, and for us, that has been a huge translator of audience overlap.”

After its wildly successful first season, Wiser Than Me is gearing up for more — Lemonada recently announced a second season set to premiere in spring 2024.

The show’s organic flow and off-the-cuff structure are best exemplified by a moment a mere 15 minutes into that very first episode where a bomb cyclone interrupts Louis-Dreyfus’s Zoom connection, forcing her to reschedule the rest of the interview with Fonda. Instead of editing the mishap out in post-production, the podcast leans into the moment, taking listeners behind the scenes as Louis-Dreyfus’s recorder continues to roll.

“That’s why the show is so real. You’re dealing with somebody like Julia, who’s so well known and beloved, but her internet goes out, and it offered this amazing peek behind the curtains,” Wittels Wachs says. “I think having that as episode one made it so accessible for listeners, and that energy just kept going throughout the series.”

No topic is off-limits for the show’s guests, who gamely approach the mic with an unguarded vulnerability as they discuss their highest highs and their lowest lows, along with weighty topics like sex, divorce, politics, sexism in the workplace, death, and the physical realities of aging.

“The magic of it is that Julia is open about her own journey in ways she never had been before, so you are getting this sort of reciprocity,” adds Cordova Kramer. (During the show’s first season, Louis-Dreyfus opened up with guests about her struggle after losing a pregnancy, as well as her experience being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2017.)

The Lemonada team explains that the medium of podcasting lent itself especially well to the kind of conversations Louis-Dreyfus was interested in having. “These women don’t need to worry about hair and makeup,” says Cordova Kramer. “They can log on from their bedrooms, their hotel rooms — wherever they are in their busy lives — and they can have this beautiful conversation with this incredible interviewer that is way less guarded and allows for much more authenticity.”

Season 2 of Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus is slated to air in spring 2024.

One especially memorable moment for Louis-Dreyfus was sitting down for a conversation with one of her lifelong comedy influences for the season’s final episode.

“Carol Burnett was a huge part of my life growing up in a way, without me even realising she was a huge part of my life,” Louis-Dreyfus explains. “She was a part of the fabric of our culture. And as a woman, she really modelled a female power that sort of got into my bones without my even realising it.”

With its unapologetic, raw discussions, Wiser Than Me is inspiring people in their 20s, 30s, and beyond to rethink their attitudes toward getting older.

“There’s a lot of fear around aging, and I think the podcast is making people excited about it. It’s making it less scary. It’s making it accessible,” says Wittels Wachs. “There’s tangible wisdom that we hope people will take away from it. And then there’s that inspirational wisdom people are getting that’s just like, ‘Oh, aging. Oh my god — that’s awesome. I want to do that. I want to be like these women.’”

Often, some of the show’s most heart-warming moments come courtesy of the post-interview epilogue where Louis-Dreyfus calls her mother Judith, 89, to debrief and continue the conversation.

“Judith is a gem — a priceless gem. She’s incredible, and she’s everyone’s favourite,” Wittels Wachs says. “Julia is just eating it up, and so is Judith. I think it really is encouraging a kind of intergenerational dialogue. And that’s really what we wanted — for women in their 20s to talk to their mothers and their grandmothers about their experiences.”

Enjoy A Peek Behind the Scenes to hear Julia catch up with Judith about Wiser Than Me being recognised as the Show of the Year. Subscribe to Lemonada Premium for bonus episodes with each guest from season 1, and follow Wiser Than Me with Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Apple Podcasts to be notified when season 2 premieres in spring 2024.

greytHR Launches greytFM Podcast Series for the HR Fraternity

greytHR, a leading HR & Payroll cloud platform, launched greytFM, a podcast for the HR community. In this podcast series, greytFM highlights stimulating debates and discussions focused on current issues mostly in the human resources sector.

Listeners may tune in to hear industry leaders/speakers discussing various subjects ranging from workplace diversity and HR IT trends to people analytics and the Great Resignation, to name a few. Listen to the podcasts on www.greythr.com/greytfm-podcast/

The podcast is accessible on 49 platforms, including Audioboom, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Deezer, JioSaavn, Podchaser, Player FM, Stitcher, iHeart, Listen Notes, Cast Box, and more.

Various speakers who have been featured on greytFM include Sameer Mathur, Global HR Head (Enterprise Capabilities), AECOM, Colin Mendes (Head of HR), Voltas Beko, Megha Gupta (Director-HR), Fiserv, Renu Bohra (CHRO), DB Schenker, Samar Banerjee (ex-Group Head-HR), Berger Paints India, and Rajiv Naithani (CVP & CPO), Infogain.

Commenting on the new initiative, Girish Rowjee, Co-founder & CEO, greytHR, said, "With greytFM, we intend to create awareness amongst the HR fraternity on numerous themes and concerns. We look forward to reaching out to various industries through this channel by providing expert domain-specific information."

Adding to this, Sayeed Anjum, Co-founder & CTO, greytHR, said, “Through greytFM, we monitor global trends that could have an impact on society. Through these series, we will be spotlighting interesting dialogues and conversations around trending themes from the world of human resources.”

Asynchronous Voice-based Social Platform Swell Launches 3.0 Version Upgrade, Introduces Auto Text Snippets for "Conversation Browsing"

Swell 3.0 offers a redesigned interface for easy content discoverability and intuitive features for convenient usage in public spaces

Swell, the first asynchronous voice-based social platform that launched in India mid-last year, has rolled out its 3.0 version upgrade today. The upgrade witnesses a host of innovative feature changes that aims to make audio based social networking more immersive and appealing. It uses AI based automatic text snippets, inline image rendering, Swell tiles and more to create a "conversation browsing" experience, where users can explore an audio conversation in a non-linear fashion, quickly jumping to portions and speakers that are of interest to them.

The update also solves the problem of audio content discovery by creating Station home pages which showcase trending conversations and top speakers on various topics.

In addition, the new avatar of the Swell logo further emphasizes upon the brand's commitment to keeping audio and the human voice front and center.

Key Updates at a Glance

Conversation browsing Content discoverability enhancements Convenient tweaks for usage in public-spaces

Commenting on the Swell 3.0 launch, Sudha K Varadarajan, Co-founder & CEO, Swell, said, “Audio is no longer a second class citizen. It used to be something you listened to when you were actually doing something else; like listening to a podcast when commuting, listening to radio or music when doing chores at home and so on. But today, people are enjoying the human, healthy and authentic format that audio brings to social networking. With Swell 3.0, we have tried to elevate this experience. We have strategically crafted our interface in a manner that users can find engaging, even if they have a few moments. And we continue to reinforce the core value of the platform that lies in letting users ‘Be Themselves’; an agenda that ensures that users are always surrounded by friendly voices. A user can post their thoughts and opinions without fear because the replies that they get are also thoughtful and authentic."

Being one of the early entrants in the social audio market, Swell garnered ample traction and aims to boost its convenience operations by incorporating the insights it gained upon learning how its users interacted with audio content. The upgrade allows users to quickly discover hidden gems and myriad voices that otherwise get lost in a monolithic audio format. The app can also be enjoyed in public places where one cannot play audio, using snippets to quickly catch up on various conversations or bookmarking them for listening later. Users can also hit "play all" on any list of Swells and just sit back and relax and listen - whether it is an audio station on Mental Wellness, insightful interviews with leading politicians, or Swells about #LoveInTheTimeOfCovid.

Swell has recently been consistently in the news, for the meaningful conversations that are being nurtured on the platform. It reflects a new India where the youth care for the issues that actually matter and are voicing their opinions without inhibition. Some recent trending topics are the Russia-Ukraine crisis, cyber-bullying, school student suicide, the Hijab controversy, student mental wellness and so on.

About Swell

Started in San Francisco by Silicon Valley based entrepreneurs Sudha Varadarajan and Arish Ali, Swell launched at SXSW in 2021 and in India, shortly after that. It is the first asynchronous voice-based social platform in India. 

The asynchronous nature of the platform not only makes it easier for listeners to catch up whenever they want but also improves the quality of the conversation by allowing for prior prep. Conversations on Swell are nuanced, thoughtful, and imperfect to promote authenticity, safety, and relatability in social networking. Every post on Swell is up to 5 min of audio and can have links and photos. Swell follows a no ad-based business model to prioritize user experience and monetization will be driven by offering premium tools and Swellcasts.

Audio-based Learning Platform Mentza Raises $400K in Seed Round Led by Inflection Point Ventures

Mentza is a platform designed for people to learn something new every day through 20-minute live audio conversations.

Funds raised to be used to build a healthy base of experts and curious learners, build an efficient translation of conversations into content and to broad base the platform regionally and across interest-communities.

IPV announces Mentza as its 32nd deal for 2021; likely to invest Rs. 155 crore this year across 60 plus startups.

IPV has so far invested Rs. 258 Cr across 92 deals

Audio-based conversational learning startup Mentza has raised a seed round of $400k led by Inflection Point Ventures, one of India’s largest angel investment platforms. The funds raised will be utilised in building a healthy base of experts and curious learners, building an efficient translation of conversations into content and to broad base the platform regionally and across interest communities. The start-up has over 23000 registered users and already generated over 60K minutes of content.

Mentza is a one of its kind audio-based conversational learning platform that wants to engage users through high quality focused 20-minute conversations across diverse topics. Conversations are recorded with features like highlight, 40-second snippets and curated content recommendation.

Ankur Mittal, Co-founder, Inflection Point Ventures says, “Mentza’s model of delivering curated content in 20 minutes capsule is a powerful idea. Audio is a powerful tool that allows you to learn and participate while multi-tasking. Mentza is looking to build an audio focused conversational learning platform in a community setting, led by team of strong second-time founders with diverse backgrounds and strengths. Many funds we spoke with as part of our due diligence also showed keen interest in this space. While B2C is the immediate focus, Mentza is separately also working on a focused B2B strategy going after large untapped Enterprise Podcast space.”

Mentza’s team has a cumulative 80 years of work experience with deep expertise across tech, design, cognitive sciences, research and marketing. The team is using their background and knowledge in data science to influence user engagement and retention. They have built the most robust & democratised short-form live audio platform with unique features like live highlighter, audio portfolios and creators’ studio. Mentza has recently announced creator partnerships with Rolling Stones and Harper Collins and is in talks with MICA faculty & students to engage them on the platform

Mentza is building both B2B and B2C use cases. Users can build a portfolio of recorded conversations with highlights and snippets. Their app is free to use for all and initial focus is to attract users (creators and listeners) from LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter.

Anurag Vaish - Founder, Mentza

Anurag Vaish, Founder of Mentza says, “Our mission is to get every growth-minded person to engage in at least one Mentza conversation every day, thus making learning effortless, continuous and social. IPV’s investor community has CXOs who understand the need for continuous learning in today’s challenging growth environments. Thus, making them the ideal strategic partners in our vision.”

Mentza is the first organisation in the world to build audio portfolios, recordings, and live highlights. The start-up promotes active learning where any participant can request to speak vs monologues / passive listening in other audio formats. Mentza platform catalogues the content into an audio portfolio of eligible users and are testing AI generated profile of expertise and personality. The platform is also offered as an enterprise solution for internal use within organizations.

Audio content market in India is at an inflection point. As of Dec 2019, 40mn Indian internet users have listened to podcasts. The audio-based content has tremendous potential to catch up with video and text formats for the simple reason that one can listen while multitasking. EdTech is still going through its round of innovations and needs more effortless and safer formats and Live Audio addresses that gap the bridge. Mentza believes that learning is easier & richer in conversations than planned monologues.

Mentza is a platform designed for people to learn something new every day in 20-minute live audio conversations which was founded in Covid times, by a group of 6-professionals, each deeply interested in driving a fundamental innovation in EdTech to enable continuous & effortless learning. The founders are behaviour change experts with skills across AI, Tech, Design, Behavioural Sciences, and marketing.

Inflection Point Ventures is an angel investing platform with over 4800 CXOs, HNIs and Professionals to together invest in startups. The firm supports new-age entrepreneurs by providing them monetary & experiential capital and connecting them with a diverse group of investors. IPV started in 2018 believes that ‘Everyone can Grow with Startups’ as it plans to invest INR 155 Cr in 2021 across 60 startups.

Red FM Selects Triton Digital to Power Its Podcast Strategy

Triton Digital^®, the global technology and services leader to the digital audio and podcast industry, and Red FM, India’s largest and most awarded private radio network, announced today that Red FM has selected Triton’s powerful suite of podcast technology to power the delivery and monetization of its podcast content. 

Through this partnership, Red FM will utilize Triton’s enterprise podcast platform, Omny Studio, to create, distribute and promote their growing portfolio of podcast content to audiences across mobile phones, smart speakers, social networks, and more. Additionally, Red FM will leverage Triton’s ad server to dynamically insert targeted audio ads into their podcasts, and Triton’s programmatic advertising technology to make their inventory available for purchase to media buyers around the world.

“Triton is playing a leading role in furthering the digital audio and podcast industry in India and around the world through the provision of reliable, feature-rich technology,” said Isteyaq Ahmed, National Head- Digital, Red FM. “We are confident that Triton’s continuously-innovated technology will provide us with the support we need today and for years to come, as we continue to grow and expand our podcast strategy.” 

“We are pleased to provide Red FM with the tools they need to both grow and monetize their diverse portfolio of podcast content,” said Aditya Summanwar, Director of Monetization, APAC at Triton Digital. “We look forward to supporting Red FM as they remain a meaningful contributor to the growth of the podcast landscape in India.”

 

About Triton Digital 

Triton Digital^® is the global technology and services leader to the digital audio and podcast industry. Operating in more than 45 countries, Triton provides innovative technology that enables broadcasters, podcasters, and online music services to build their audience, maximize their revenue, and streamline their day-to-day operations. In addition, Triton powers the global online audio industry with Webcast Metrics®, the leading online audio measurement service and Podcast Metrics, one of the first IAB certified podcast measurement services in the industry. With unparalleled integrity, excellence, teamwork, and accountability, Triton remains committed to connecting audio, audience, and advertisers to continuously fuel the growth of the global online industry. Triton Digital is a wholly owned subsidiary of The E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP). For more information, visit www.TritonDigital.com.

 

About Red FM 

About 93.5 RED FM:

We are Irreverent; we are young, cool and trendy. We are the voice of today’s Millennial. We are one of the largest radio networks in the country. We are RED FM. Based on the internationally successful CHR (Contemporary Hit Radio) format we play only Super Hit music. With the brand philosophy and attitude that is ‘Bajaate Raho!’ at RED FM we always speak up for the right, for the people. Our listeners are at the heart of everything we do and so we are called the ‘station for expression’ by establishing an emotional connect with them. We do things differently; we don’t follow the herd and its testament to the fact that RED FM boasts of over 433 award winning campaigns including BEST BRAND, BEST FM STATION & BEST RJs.

QuoteUnQuote with KK (Kapil Khandelwal) Podcast Announces Plans for Season 2 (2021) during Season Finale (2020)

India’s leading business podcast QuoteUnQuote With KK (https://kapilkhandelwal.com/podcasts/) produced by healthcare and investment industry veteran Kapil Khandelwal of Toro Finserve LLP, made several announcements during its 2020 season finale on 17 December 2020 speaking with Mark Mobius of Mobius Capital Partners on the podcast titled, The Inflation Myth and Emerging Markets Outlook 2021.

Kapil Khandelwal quoted during his podcast, “we have been listening to our listeners and next year season, we're going to run QuoteUnquote with KK on 2 tracks – Healthy and Wealthy. Healthy because of what we have gone through in this year and realized and the because, without healthy world we cannot become wealthy world. So these are two very intermingled issues. We have lined up star speakers from different areas in healthcare and investments and current events and developments. We would be with popular demand, going to run this podcast show on a fortnightly basis. Our team is very excited to give more to the audience demands and feedback.

Talking to the press, Kapil Khandelwal added, “When we started QuoteUnQuote With KK in May 2020, the format was a virtual live event for 750 CXOs by invite, with world thought leaders giving their perspective on the pandemic and recovery. With the pandemic fading and economic recovery underway and the feedback of our wider virtual listeners of over 175 million globally, its time to switch gears and discuss the vaccine and health playbook along with the future of the world in the new normal as it pans out next year. Our line up of guests on the podcast are world thought leaders who are on top of their game providing their views. Currently, around 60% of our listeners are Indian and the balance of them are abroad. We are planning to cater a global view on issues by though-leaders for the emerging thought leaders. Our strategy is to expand our listener base in 2021 both in India and overseas. We are working out deals with distributors which we will announce shortly. Our value proposition is a free radio talk show without the disturbance of ads, no repetitive music, and full of well-researched, well-thought out content with global thought leaders.”

Podcasting originated in India in 2015 when the Indian market came to the notice of Audioboom, a UK-headquartered company that hosts, distributes and helps monetise podcasts. Presently, many players in India are also developing platforms and content to create and distribute podcasts to the wider masses in India. The trend of podcasting is catching up in India very rapidly. Podcasts score over the radio channels, where the focus is on solid, interesting content and less on commercialisation.

Podcast listening has also increased markedly in India in the past years, with monthly listeners (defined as people who listened to at least one podcast in the last month), totalling four crore in 2018. While this has already made India the world's third-largest podcast-listening market after China and the US, PwC estimates that Indian listenership could go beyond 17 crore by 2023.

Observes Kapil Khandelwal, “There are hardly any podcast shows from India which are attracting global audience on a very focused content and subject. QuoteUnquote with KK is addressing the Outside-In view of India for a global audience. The last 10 episodes of our podcast have provided the listeners with unbiased perspective on various issues right from the pandemic, economic recovery, employment, capital markets, digital healthcare, geo-politics and policy and reforms”
About QuoteUnQuote With KK

QuoteUnquote with KK QuoteUnQuote with KK – Kapil Khandelwal (KK) is a podcast show that organises a virtual fireside chat with the thought leaders around the world on various current issues and topics in business, economic, investing and socio-politics. The podcast is available on several platforms including, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, iHeart Radio, Aawaz, Zee5, Amazon Music Podcast, iTunes Radio, TuneIn Radio reaching over 175 million listeners globally.

Follow Quoteunquote with KK on
https://twitter.com/QuoteUnquoteKK

Official Social Media Platforms:
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/quoteunquote-with-kk


About Kapil Khandelwal (KK)

Popularly known as Father of ‘Quant Offshore Hedge Fund Investing’ in India amongst the Hedge Fund Managers in India and abroad, Kapil Khandelwal (KK) has earned recognition to be amongst the few handful Indians approved by the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approved board members’ list to serve the boards of funds, banks and financial institutions. He is a successful angel investor, venture capitalist and expert in health sciences, education, agri, clean tech and information communications and technology (ICT). His expertise positions him as one of the thought leaders in India, Asia Pacific and Emerging Markets. A business leader with standout success in positioning funds globally and driving investments for growth and profitability. He is driving business results through mentoring leaders and his passion is connecting people and making an impact on the lives of people in this region. During his career, he has carried out over 45 transactions including cross-border. He manages India’s first Healthcare Infra Fund, Toro Finserve LLP (www.el-toro.in) which is a closed-ended USD 500 million fund. www.kapilkhandelwal.com

New International Podcast 'betterthanPeter' Launched

• Reham Khan featured as the First Podcast Guest
• Titled better talks with betterthanPeter the first episode releases on December 3rd 
• Available on all major platforms like Spotify, JioSaavn, Gaana and others 

A new International podcast has been launched known as 'betterthanPeter' which endeavours to bring guests from different genres, cultures with interesting stories to share. Titled better talks with betterthanPeter the first episode airs on December 3rd on all major platforms like Spotify, JioSaavn, Gaana and others. The first podcast guest is celebrated personality Reham Khan, British-Pakistani journalist, author, and filmmaker and the teaser of the upcoming epsiode can be viewed on the Betterthanpeterpodcast Instagram page.

Rohan Bhardwaj, Director - betterthanPeter Podcast

According to Rohan Bhardwaj, Director - betterthanPeter Podcast, "With an estimated 40 million podcast listeners in India, the sector is witnessing a 60% growth as new firms and new shows swamp the market. Moreover, the pandemic has increased the reach of people and more people are tuning to the different content." He further added that with our unique podcast, we aim to reach out to millennials and create a niche audience making listening to podcast as a habit. There has been long hours of continuous work before releasing the podcast with ample research, reaching out to potential guests, editing and promoting across social media channels. 

betterthanPeter podcast focuses on conversations with Rohan Bhardwaj as the talk show host. The guest will be the hero of the show and the audience will definitely hear something that they have not heard before. For Instance, Reham Khan cannot live without Spotify or one of his upcoming high profile guests wakes up at 3:45 am every day. 

About Rohan Bhardwaj

Rohan Bhardwaj is the director of new international podcast betterthanPeter. At the start of 2020, Rohan was planning to launch a dating App by the same name and received pre-seed funding. But with the pandemic, he had to abort the idea as it was a time of uncertainty. After taking a month completely off and listening to an insane number of podcasts, Bhardwaj woke up with the idea of pivoting and launching his own podcast keeping the same brand name. A huge admirer of Gary Vee and making lemonade from lemon, he committed fully in research and understanding the podcast market and with persistence the idea of betterthanPeter Podcast became a reality.

With a diverse 15 years of experience, Rohan has been an entrepreneur and marketer for International Brands like Burger King, Applebees and worked in six different International markets. With such vast experience, Rohan has travelled extensively across India, US, Dubai understanding the consumer behaviour, needs of each market from brand perspective. It was this understanding which has led to his new venture.

Zee5 Hosts ‘QuoteUnQuote with Kk’ Podcast As Exclusive Content On Their News 2.0 Section

Responding to the increasing demand for non-linear audio content, ZEE5, India’s Entertainment Super-app today announced hosting the Podcast ‘QuoteUnQuote with KK (Kapil Khandelwal)’, a monthly talk show for industry and business executives. The show hosts thought leaders around the world in discussions on business, economic, investing and socio-political, covering issues ranging from Indian economic recovery, future of capital markets, future of work, future of healthcare, Indo-Chinese strategy on Belt-n-Road initiatives post the border attacks, employment and leadership crisis.

The ‘QuoteUnQuote with KK’ podcasts feature Kapil Khandelwal, the father of ‘Quant Offshore Hedge Fund Investing’ in India speaking to stalwarts such as Mark Mobius, the ‘Indiana Jones of Emerging Market Investing’, Dr. Jagdish Sheth, Charles H. Kellstadt Professor of Business at Emory University, Mohammed Younis, Editor in Chief, Gallup, the first millennial to lead America’s oldest legacy polling firm, Dr. Parag Khanna Founder & Managing Partner of FutureMap, Rajeev Peshawaria, Founder and President of the Leadership Energy Consulting (LEC), and Manu Nair, Vice Chair, Mayo Clinic. These remarkable podcasts will now be available on ZEE5, India’s most preferred OTT platform.

A ZEE5 India spokesperson said, “We envisage podcasts as personalised radio for the new generation. It also has potency with mobile first audiences both in India and Bharat. We are delighted to host QuoteUnquote with KK (Kapil Khandelwal) and allow consumers to access a list of interesting podcast episodes ranging from topics including current affairs, financial markets, start-up culture to name a few on ZEE5, India’s Entertainment Super-app.”

Kapil Khandelwal (KK), Managing Partner, Toro Finserve LLP said, “QuoteUnQuote With KK which started off as an idea for one-off chat event during a board call with Dr. Jagdish Sheth in early May 2020 to address the issues never faced by industry executives in India. It has come a long way since then with a tremendous response to our first episode with Mark Mobius. The audience motivated me to keep continuing the show from Day 1 with their positive feedback. Going forward, I plan to host thought leaders in various subjects. My endeavor is to highlight the out-in view of India, which has been missing so far in regular business content for business and industry executives. I also plan to begin podcasts in Hindi for the wider masses as well in the future. I am glad to partner with India's largest OTT platform, ZEE5 and take the virtual fireside chat to their over 100 million viewers.”


India has over 500 million internet users out of which less than 10% listen to podcasts. This number is growing rapidly with the global podcasting market expected to increase by 30 percent to reach US$1.1 billion in 2020, surpassing the US$1 billion mark for the first time. India, the third-largest podcast listening market, has shown a marked increase in listeners in recent years and is expected to continue to grow at around 34% CAGR to 17.61 crore listener numbers by 2023.

‘QuoteUnQuote with KK’ will be available in the business news section of ZEE5 on web, mobile and app.

About ZEE5

ZEE5 is the digital entertainment destination launched by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited (ZEEL), a global Media and Entertainment powerhouse. With content across 12 languages like English, Hindi, Bengali, Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Oriya, Bhojpuri, Gujarati & Punjabi, ZEE5 is home to 1.25 lakh hours of On Demand Content and 100+ live TV channels. The platform brings together the best of Originals, Indian and International Movies and TV Shows, Music, Kids content, Cineplays, Live TV and Health and Lifestyle content all in one single destination. ZEE5 offers ground breaking features like 11 navigational languages, content download option, seamless video playback and Voice Search.

About QuoteUnQuote With KK

QuoteUnquote with KK is a podcast show that organises a virtual fireside chat with the thought leaders around the world on various current issues and topics in business, economic, investing and socio-politics. The podcast is available on 10 platforms including, Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Podcast, iHeart Radio, Aawaz, Amazon Music Podcast, iTunes Radio, TuneIn Radio reaching over 175 million listeners globally.

About Kapil Khandelwal (KK)

Popularly known as Father of ‘Quant Offshore Hedge Fund Investing’ in India amongst the Hedge Fund Managers in India and abroad, Kapil Khandelwal (KK) has earned recognition to be amongst the few handful Indians approved by the United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) approved board members’ list to serve the boards of funds, banks and financial institutions. He is a successful angel investor, venture capitalist and expert in health sciences, education, agri, clean tech and information communications and technology (ICT). 

His expertise positions him as one of the thought leaders in India, Asia Pacific and Emerging Markets. A business leader with standout success in positioning funds globally and driving investments for growth and profitability. He is driving business results through mentoring leaders and his passion is connecting people and making an impact on the lives of people in this region. During his career, he has carried out over 45 transactions including cross-border. He manages India’s first Healthcare Infra Fund, Toro Finserve LLP (www.el-toro.in) which is a closed-ended USD 500 million fund.

Podcast Platform 'Suno India' Raises Angel Funding from Baahubali Producer

Suno India, a multilingual- multi-generational podcast platform, has announced that it has raised an angel funding from Shobu Yarlagadda, co-founder and CEO of Arka Media Works, a film production company known for its works exclusively in Telugu cinema, which includes popular fantasy-action film franchise 'Baahubali'.

This fresh funding will enable 2-year-old Suno India to further capitalize on its position as a leader in the podcast industry in India by rapidly expanding its vernacular content. The startup bring their commitment to reach the next 500 million listeners with relevant and informative content to communities across tier 1,2 and 3 cities in India.

Prior to this, in 2019, the podcast-only media startup received funding from the Independent and Public Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF) to expand its programming offer.

https://twitter.com/SunoIndia_in/status/1294177633014439937

At a time when most mainstream media is sensationalising news for sake of TRPs many news stories that deserve our real attention are left out. Suno India, through their podcasts is focusing and bringing to light social and current issues that really need to be discussed and debated! I am happy to be associated with this young team in a small way and wish them all the success.

said Mr. Yarlagadda

Started in September 2018, by DVL Padma Priya, Rakesh Kamal and Tarun Nirwan, Suno India has become a renowned name in the Indian podcast industry with over half a million listeners. With a small team of 6 including Ayesha Minhaz, Kunika Balhotra and Vaishali Pandiyen, Suno India currently has 13 podcast shows in multiple languages.

Suno India’s Board of Advisors is comprised of Abhay Adhikari (PhD) founder of Digital Identities and Giulia Rancati, an expert financial strategist who have been pivotal in the growth of the company.

Suno India recently crossed an important milestone of half a million listeners with their combination of news reporting ( The Suno India Show), vernacular storytelling shows (Katha Chepava Ammamma) and deep-dive thematic shows such as Raah, a career guidance podcast.

“My team and I are delighted. Suno India exists to shine a spotlight on under reported issues that are fundamental to our rights as citizens of India. His support and trust brings us one step closer to being an industry leader nationally and globally,” said DVL Padma Priya, co-founder and editor of Suno India.

Chennai's Music Therapy School to Create Online Content for Using Music for Better Health

Chennai School of Music Therapy (CSMT), the Chennai-based music therapy training, consulting, and clinical services institute, is launching "Dhvani", a series of podcasts and videos on music and health, to help create awareness about the science behind the application of music for health and self-care.

Two posters were released to create awareness about the use of Music as a tool for Self-care by Chennai School of Music Therapy

These online resources also aim to equip the general public as well as music therapy professionals to use music in the prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of diseases, especially the lifestyle diseases that are caused by stress.

Talking about Dhvani, Dr. Sumathy Sundar, Director, CSMT, said, "We relate music mostly with entertainment. However, it has the potential to heal. The objective of Dhvani is to explain the scientific basis to understand the relationship between music and health. As opposed to what we think, health is not just the absence of diseases. It is also about mental health and good relationships and leading a stress-free life. And music is not just for entertainment but it can be used to create multi-sensory stimulation, and brain activation for better health outcomes."

Dhvani podcasts and videos will present the science, and also demonstrate various activities around music, other than listening to it, to achieve the targeted body, mind, soul responses - and flowering of relationships. The recommended practices can be done with minimal resources like music players, mobile phones with audio players, and radio.

Dhvani resources will be available in English. A team of trained and certified music therapy professionals and researchers, headed by Dr. Sumathy Sundar, will create content at regular periodicity.

On the recently passed World Music Day, observed every year on June 21, CSMT has released exclusive posters for adults and children, explaining the potential, types of, and activities around music to relax body, mind, and soul; and improve relationships. The organisation has also conducted a webinar titled, Music for Health and Self-Care, on the same day that attracted global participation. The webinar was chaired by Dr. Sumathy Sundar, Director, CSMT, who delivered an address on "Music and the Soul".

The webinar had Dr. B Sivaprakash, Professor and Head, Department of Psychiatry, Mahatma Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute (MGMCRI), Puducherry, as the keynote speaker. Dr. Baishali Mukherjee, Faculty, and Research Associate, CSMT, spoke on Music and the Mind. An experiential session on Singing for Healing was conducted by Mr. Vikram Kannan, Music Therapist, TTK Addiction Centre. Dr. Anasuya Ravikanti, Director, Swarajeevani Centre for Music Therapy, Hyderabad, spoke about Music for Relaxation.

Two posters from CSMT were also released by Prof. Sivaprakash during the event, to create awareness and sensitize the public about the use of Music as a tool for Self-care.

~ Newsvoir

From Biz Secrets to Future Tech Trends, World Leaders to Share Expertise at egomonk Podcast Series Business Beyond 2030

egomonk, a global intelligence platform, today launched Business Beyond 2030, a new podcast series featuring founders and thought leaders of global organisations. The weekly line up consists of business leaders sharing their opinions ranging from topics such as the impact of fourth industrial revolution technologies, innovation mapping, building organizational resilience, leading purpose-led businesses to providing meaningful work to digital natives.

egomonk, a global intelligence platform, today launched Business Beyond 2030, a new podcast series featuring founders and thought leaders of global organisations. The weekly line up consists of business leaders sharing their opinions ranging from topics such as the impact of fourth industrial revolution technologies, innovation mapping, building organizational resilience, leading purpose-led businesses to providing meaningful work to digital natives.

Business Beyond 2030 is curated with an aim to explore the socio-economic and technological revolutions shaping the world and the role of businesses in realizing the future. The launch season consists of 12 1:1 audio interviews published weekly. The maiden season of Business Beyond 2030 will feature veterans such as Sanket Atal, Managing Director at Intuit, Guru Bhat, VP Engineering and GM Technology at PayPal and Ravi Machani, Managing Director at Machani Group among others.

Speaking at the launch, Sartaj Anand – Founder of egomonk and host of Business Beyond 2030, said, “In today’s world, technologies and businesses are transforming lives at a rapid pace. Many organisations are currently helping us move towards a better tomorrow by enabling our lives in meaningful ways. Business Beyond 2030 is an initiative that will help the audience tackle complex issues by instantaneously accessing thoughts of decision makers who are delivering on their promise of abundance. This is a platform to share knowledge with those who are working towards changing the world.”

Adding to this Guru Bhat, VP of Engineering and GM, PayPal India says, “As we gear up for the next decade, technological advancements in AI and ML will play a significant role in redefining the digital payments ecosystem. In addition to a renewed focus on driving innovation, organisations will also need to ensure enhanced security, personalisation and convenience to provide an enriched consumer experience.”

“Technology is disrupting our lives at an exponential rate. Businesses are serving as enablers that power prosperity around the world. Starting from chips that augment the brain to sensors that track a drug traveling inside our body, one can be certain that the time to establish presence is now ripe for both start-ups and MNCs. Technologies such as AI, ML and cloud are building blocks that can be leveraged by organisations to make meaningful impacts on our society. Business Beyond 2030 is a great platform for innovators to engage with disruptors and we are delighted to be a part of it,” said Sanket Atal, Managing Director, Intuit.

The podcasts can be accessed at Apple Podcasts, Breaker, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher, YouTube, Facebook and SoundCloud.
About egomonk

egomonk is a global intelligence platform delivering asymmetric outcomes by bringing organizations closer to the communities they want to serve and the leaders they wish to influence.

Gaana enters Shows & Podcast Originals segment; Aim to Host India’s Largest Podcast Library by FY21-end

India's largest music streaming app, Gaana has announced its first batch of platform-exclusive line-up of podcasts and shows, including ‘Ummeed’ with Zakir Khan, ‘Confessions’ with Sunny Leone and ‘Life ki Ranneeti’ with Rannvijay Singha that will go live on Gaana in Nov-Dec’19. These are a part of the brand’s overarching vision to host the country’s widest and most diverse range of original audio content by the end of FY 2021.

Commissioned by Gaana, produced by the hosts & syndicated from networks, the shows & podcasts in multiple languages span categories like Comedy, Bollywood, Devotional, News, Kids, Motivational, Astrology, Business, Lifestyle &. Culture and Self Help among others. Gaana currently hosts over 3000 diverse shows & podcasts in multiple languages including ‘Cyrus Says’, ‘The Bhagavad Gita’, ‘Stories of Akbar Birabal’, KadhaiPodcast's PonniyinSelvan and ‘Paisa Vaisa’ among others.

Speaking at the launch, Gaana CEO Prashan Agarwal said, “Shows & Podcasts have the potential to be among the most popular mainstream non-music genres in our country owing to the diversity of our audience. At Gaana, we have been investing steadily in this space, and have now taken it up a notch with our Original Shows & Podcasts that would engage our users with interesting content that will inform, entertain and enthral them in more ways than one."



Gaana Podcast Originals ‘Confessions’ Host & Bollywood Diva Sunny Leone said, "I have always been judged by people for who they assume me to be. Judging someone is easy, even if you may not have walked in their shoes, or don't know the whole story. This fear of judgement leads most of us to brush our dark secrets under the carpet, and suffer in isolation. My upcoming Gaana Podcast Original ‘Confessions’ is about sharing this emotional burden that often seems too ugly to embrace. During the course of the show, I'll help fans embrace themselves by helping them reconcile even though they may have wronged or have been wronged. There's no judgement and no questions asked, just a friend in need."

Gaana Podcast Original 'Life Ki Rann Neeti' host, Rannvijay Singha said, "In my first ever podcast, 'Life Ki Rann Neeti', I wanted to unravel the journey, sacrifices & struggles that individuals go through before they achieve success and stardom. The idea behind the podcast was to share deeply personal stories from the lives of my family & friends who have inspired me and been an influence in my journey. I want to share the same lessons through fun and insightful conversations, while. offering today's millennial's life-lessons that will help them garner success in their personal and professional lives."

India is the world’s third-largest podcast market, second only to the US and China, and is one of the fastest-growing podcast markets globally. This presents a massive opportunity of growth for original podcasts & shows in the Indian market.

Gaana is India’s No. 1 music streaming app with more than 125 million monthly active users. Featuring more than 45 million songs across Bollywood, International and 30 Indic languages including Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Kannada, Punjabi, Malayalam, English, Bhojpuri, Rajasthani, Bengali, Assamese & Oriya. Launched in April 2010 by Times Internet, it is India’s go-to music app across genres and languages, offering unlimited, free and legal access to music. Gaana is owned by Times Internet and Tencent.

Vernacular Podcasting Platform Kuku FM Raises Funding from Shunwei Capital, others

Mumbai-based podcasting and audiobooks platform Kuku FM has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from China's Shunwei Capital and Indian venture capital firms India Quotient and 3One4 Capital, reported LiveMint.

Founded in 2018, by Lal Chand Bisu, Vinod Meena and Vikas Goyal, Kuku FM is a podcast platform that is re-inventing the traditional radio by allowing listeners to easily discover new, emerging and diverse audio content, and engage with their favorite creators.

Kuku FM gives a platform to some of the best content creators in India to launch and expand their very own podcasts.

Kuku FM provides production, distribution and marketing support for creators, and claims to have over a million listeners spending over 50 minutes a day on the platform. This includes famous feeds like Quora and Quorans from Quora, Dainik Bhaskar and dozens more.

Kuku FM has a library of 2 Lakh+ audios with most of them in Hindi language. The platform, with its app, also provide bestselling English books translated in Hindi as well as the famous Hindi books. The Audiobooks has range of categories like motivation audiobooks, self help audiobooks, spiritual audiobooks, business audiobooks along with a diverse library of fiction audiobooks from genres like Love, Crime, Horror, Comedy & Kids.

Kuku FM is aiming to be the biggest vernacular platform in that space, enabling the regional superstars to get their voices heard. We currently have content in Hindi and are actively onboarding creators from the 23 major languages of the country.

Season 2 of Apple’s ‘Best Business Podcast of 2018’ - Building It Up with Bertelsmann launched

• Bertelsmann India Investments launches the second season of the podcast ‘Building It Up with Bertelsmann' with the first episode featuring Anand Jain, Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer of CleverTap


• After a highly successful first season, Ankur Warikoo, Co-founder & CEO of Nearbuy.com continues to host the second season of ‘Building It Up with Bertelsmann’


• The second season has also been launched in video format for all episodes and will be available on BII website, YouTube, Facebook and other video platforms

New Delhi, October 22 2019: Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), the strategic investment arm of the Germany based Bertelsmann SE & Co KGaA, launched the second season of its acclaimed Podcast - ‘Building It Up with Bertelsmann’ – India’s first growth focused podcast. Ankur Warikoo (Co-founder & CEO at nearbuy.com) hosts industry leaders and stalwarts of the startup ecosystem in candid and honest conversations about their experiences, learnings, failures and feats through the journey of their startup.

The podcast offers a microscopic view of how the businesses are scaled, how some mistakes are an inherent part of the journey, what frameworks are applicable and lots more. It is a must listen for anyone associated with the startup ecosystem or pursuing critical decision-making roles in an organization. BoringBrands, a new-age communications agency, is the exclusive outreach partner for ‘Building It Up with Bertelsmann’ Podcast.

Apple recognized the first season of Building It Up with Bertelsmann as the ‘India’s Best Business Podcast of 2018’, with a reach of more than 2.5 million. The second season continues to project the company’s vision of investing in innovative new-age companies with a winning potential. This season’s first episode features Anand Jain (Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of CleverTap), who talks about ‘Building a successful global SAAS business and pricing it right’. Anand delves deep into the strategies of building a global SaaS platform from India, monetising the product and unit economics, need to expand globally and the importance of collaboration, among others.

Commenting on the launch, Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director at Bertelsmann Investments India said “We are deeply humbled by the overwhelming response to Season 1 of the Podcast. In this second season, we will feature many more national and international icons of the startup community and share insights on building scalable high-growth businesses. In an effort to make this season even bigger, we have also launched a video version of the Podcast episodes.”

About Bertelsmann India Investments

Bertelsmann India Investments (BII) is a venture capital fund of Bertelsmann, a media, services and education company that operates in about 50 countries around the world. BII focuses on series B and C stage investments in pioneering companies in the digital, education, media and services sectors. Since its official launch in 2012, BII has invested in 10+ companies including Saavn (music streaming service), Pepperfry (online furniture marketplace), iNurture (higher education services), Lendingkart (digital lending platform for SMEs) and Eruditus and Emeritus (IVY league programs for working professionals) among others. BII is part of Bertelsmann Investments, which houses the group’s other corporate funds such as BAI (China), BDMI (US and Europe) and BBI (Brazil) and cumulatively has almost 200 investments.

B2C Vernacular Podcast Aggregator Platform Funcastic Gets Seed Funding from HT Media

Delhi-based B2C vernacular podcast aggregator platform - Funcastic has raised seed funding from a startup accelerator launched by HT Media Ltd and US-based investment firm North Base Media. The startup's founding team includes - Vivekraj Shah, a wall street banker and Surpreet Singh, a serial entrepreneur are both management graduates from Universal Business School, Cardiff Metropolitan University.

Before joining Universal Business School, Shah co-founded digital social media agency Webitude while Singh co-founded gaming events platform Gamers Association and Imaginations.

According to Surpreet Singh, Co-Founder, Funcastic, "I already owned a company and been an Entrepreneur before joining Universal Business School but it was only at Universal Business School I got practical Learning. My professors Mr. Gurudip Anand & Mr. Tarun Anand have been the influential figure. I have been speaking with them personally and have spent quality time with them and have gained vast knowledge form them."

According to Tarun Anand, Co-Founder and Executive Director at Universal Business School, "Vivekraj & Surpreet were determined from Day 1 that they don’t want the run of the mill job and want to pursue their dream to become successful entrepreneurs. They commenced their business plan in college and then ensured they bounced it against the experienced faculty members for inputs. They were extremely focused and hence I am so happy that they have clinched venture funding for their ideas."

Universal Business School (UBS) has taken a leap forward, by creating India’s first Green Business School ensuring eco-smart integrated thinking and a sustainable campus. It has created Asia’s first on campus trading room that has 30 cross-asset trading terminals worth 2 crores. The campus serves 58 luxurious four-bedroom campus-homes each 1,100 sq ft. It offers a three-year QAA certified BBA and AICTE approved 15-month and 24 month MBA programs with an option of obtaining both degrees from Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK.

Funcastic claims to be India’s first branded mobile podcast aggregator and allows users to listen to the content of their choice via the app.

It offers users multiple options to choose in the app, from news analysis to health and lifestyle, entertainment and spiritual content among others. It also has an offline model where users can download the podcast and listen to it later. Podcasts can also be streamed over a 2G network. The app has recorded about 7,000 downloads on the Google Play store.