Samantha Armytage launches Something To Talk About podcast via News Corp

Sunrise co-host Samantha Armytage has partnered with News Corp’s Stellar to launch a new podcast series, Something To Talk About. 

Armytage has been a regular columnist with the Sunday newspaper liftout since 2017, so cross-promotional opportunities abound. The podcast’s launch will be supported by a Stellar cover story on Armytage this weekend.

News Corp said the podcast would be full of humour and fun, and will feature guests who will “share their wisdom, opinions and beliefs in a raw and unapologetic forum”.

The first episode will feature actor Hugh Sheridan.

The podcast comes out of News Corp Australia’s audio arm, NewsCast. General manager of commercial networks, Ainslee O’Brien, who featured in the recent Podcast Power Players list, said Something To Talk About was a great addition to the network.

“We are heavily invested in building out a portfolio of content that becomes a fixture in a listener’s week, podcasts that drive habitual consumption and build a deep and genuine connection with its audience,” she said. “Pair that with a heavy demand for high quality, premium lifestyle programming, Something To Talk About with Samantha Armytage will meet the needs of consumers and customers alike.”

Armytage said she was excited about her first foray into podcasting.

“We’re going to cover lots of different themes, very much in keeping with my monthly column,” she added.

“We’re going to explore everyday issues, but in a funny, light-hearted way, For instance, why is everyone so angry in society these days? We’ll take an issue of the day and explore it a bit.”

Stellar’s editor-in-chief Sarah Le Marquand said the magazine isn’t interested in lecturing people or being judgemental. Instead, she posited, it’s about exploring subjects with a sense of humour and unpredictability – something she said Armytage’s sensibility would bring to the podcast.

“It’s not always easy to canvass a wide range of issues as a columnist – I’m talking everything from frivolous topics such as hit TV shows and Christmas decorations through to serious road rage and grappling with mortality – but that’s what Sam manages to do,” she added. “Like all of our regular columnists, she understands Sunday is a special day of the week that requires a certain light touch, but she also appreciates that can be done with substance and intelligence.”

Armytage was equally full of praise for the Stellar brand.

“I really like what Stellar does as a magazine,” she said. “It’s fabulous, fresh and well put together – and that’s why I chose to contribute to it. I think it’s really interesting that in the media landscape, the most popular and interesting magazine of the time is actually a free magazine in the Sunday paper.”