Meet the winners: Part 1

It’s been a weekend bathed in glory for the winners of our 2024 Radio Today Australia/NZ Podcast Awards, following the big announcements on Friday.

In the coming weeks, we’ll feature some of those winners, with links to their podcast and information about their entry.

Readers last year found it helpful to look at winning entries to get ideas and learn new techniques.

Secrets We Keep is produced by a major company in SCA. Its LiSTNR brand publishes dozens of podcast series every year and falls into our Major category.

This podcast was a winner in the Best Factual Podcast category.

The Chapters is an independently produced podcast, commissioned by the State Library of Victoria and produced by Wavelength Creative. The State Library produces fewer than 5 podcast series per year and falls into our Indie category. This podcast was a winner in the Best Branded Podcast category.

Here’s what they’re about and what they sound like:

The Chapters

This podcast is all about shining a light on some of Victoria’s unsung trailblazers.

It aims to preserve the state’s cultural heritage, ensuring incredible stories are not forgotten.

Jack Traynor, who submitted this entry, explains that the goal was to transform a series of successful blogs on little-known Victorians from history into a podcast series.

“We achieved this by creating a narrative audio soundscape illustrating a vignette of the person’s life and then transitioning into an interview with documentary-style asides where the host speaks directly to the audience.”

He says the pre-production and production aspects were relatively straightforward.

“We conducted a series of interviews at The Library’s podcast studios. We also ran several recording sessions with the host to record the VO.”

Making this podcast involved the creation of period-appropriate music and sound design.

It had to feel entertaining to listen to, says Jack – not like a creative writing exercise.

Of its creative format, Jack says “The cold open narrative pieces breathe life into what could be a boring show. These cold opens and the narrative asides from the host make it unique.”

The podcast preserves Victoria’s cultural heritage, ensuring incredible stories are not forgotten.

Secrets We Keep: Shame, Lies & Family

This podcast shines a light on the family story of journalist Amelia Oberhardt

Amelia thought she knew her mum. Until she died.

At her mum’s wake, Oberhardt discovered a photo of her mother as a teenager, wearing a wedding ring, standing beside her apparent husband and cuddling an unknown baby.

Determined to find out more, Oberhardt embarked on a journey that led to the hidden secrets of 1950-1970s Australia.

Once Amelia’s story wraps up, the spotlight then turns to other women’s stories and the broader issues of contraception, abortion and forced adoption in Australia.

Ellen Leabeater, who submitted the entry, says an estimated that 250,000 women were affected by forced adoption, and the impacts ripple out from that – adoptees, fathers, and grandparents.

“We knew this would be our primary target audience, but we also knew the series was an opportunity to educate a new generation of younger Australians who have never heard of this period of Australian history.”

The podcast weaves rigorous journalism with compelling personal testimonies which make for gripping listening.