Celebrating the bedrock of podcasting.

Claire chats with Liam Heffernan, the founder of the Mercury Network and the creator of Independent Podcasters Day. They discuss the challenges faced by independent creators who must juggle roles as marketers, accountants, and publicists, and how publisher networks can help level the playing field by providing enterprise-level tools and sales representation.

Liam also introduces Independent Podcasters day, a new initiative to celebrate the hard-working 'grafters' of the podcasting world.

Sam and Claire explore the Podcasting 2.0 Publisher Tag and how this feature allows creators to aggregate their shows into a single discoverable feed on TrueFans, fostering collective discoverability.

We also discuss the future of hyperlocal advertising and how a shift from 'downloads' to 'verified plays' could unlock new revenue streams for indie shows with smaller, highly engaged audiences.

Independent Podcasters Day

Pledge your allegiance to Independent Podcasters Day

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Music: How It Is from Ketsa Music

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Celebrating the intersection of independent filmmaking and podcasting.

Claire chats with Phoebe Cawley from the Aesthetica Short Film Festival, which for the second year includes The Podcasting Lounge, a showcase for independent audio productions.

The Festival

Phoebe explains how a 20-year-old arts magazine evolved into a world-class film festival in York that now celebrates all forms of independent media.

Submit your podcast if it displays originality and strong perspectives across fiction, documentary, investigative, or experimental genres. Selected podcasters get access to the festival, networking opportunities, and masterclasses from industry giants.

Deadline: Submissions close on June 30th

The festival runs from November 4th–8th

TrueFans Platform: Awards and Playlists

Award-winning and shortlisted podcasts (including those from Aesthetica 2025) have a dedicated space to be discovered on TrueFans. Winners are also highlighted with a trophy icon on their cover art, and users can listen to a curated playlist of all winning podcasts.

Securing the Future: Premium RSS

Sam introduces Premium RSS (formerly Secure RSS), a solution to the security flaws found in traditional private feeds like those on Patreon or Substack, which are easily shared, allowing non-paying listeners to access premium content. TrueFans is beta testing a standard that verifies user credentials upon login, ensuring only paying fans can access the feed.

Independent Podcasters Day

We touch on Liam Heffernan’s campaign to establish July 4th as Independent Podcasters Day (or 'Independents Day') to celebrate the unique voices in the industry.

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Listen to From My Yard to Your Yard

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Originally conceived as an accountability tool to force them to write, The Failing Writers Podcast has evolved into a unique creative outlet where hosts Tom and Jon 'scratch a creative itch' through sketches, songs, and 'weird stuff', alongside interviews with successful authors. In this episode the duo discuss the independent creator's journey, from the difficulty of marketing a multi-genre show to the paradox of a podcast that both inspires their writing while simultaneously eating up the very time they meant to spend writing.

The episode also delves into the technical evolution of video podcasting, the impact of Apple's proprietary APIs, and how TrueFans helps creators manage hosting costs and filter bot data for accurate human analytics.

Plus, we ask you:

Should the home screen feature show art, episode art, or allow the listener to choose their preference? Leave a comment to have your say.

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Community, feedback, grants and support for indie podcasters.

Remi Roy, creator of The Driven Introvert Podcast and founder of PodGround, shares her journey from a self-taught podcaster recording in a library to building a supportive community for independent creators. The discussion explores the common 'shouting into the void' feeling and how PodGround’s micro-grants and structured resources aim to lower the dropout rate for new shows.

Plus, Sam explains how the new TrueFans co-listen and chat feature helps break the isolation of the 'independent silo'.

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More about PodGround

More about the PodGround Creators Micro-Grant

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Claire chats with Shá Sparks, host of The Shá Sparks Show, to discuss building a community, exploring trauma and resilience, and navigating the podcasting landscape.

Shá discusses her transition from hairstylist to podcaster and 'connector' for military and business leaders, exploring how their past struggles – the 'muck and yuck' – become their greatest strengths. The conversation highlights the concept of a 'respect economy' versus traditional entertainment models, and how indie creators build deeper connections with their listeners.

Sam explores how TrueFans provides superior metrics like listen time and consumption data, moving beyond the "auto-download" era to show real listener engagement, and we look at how creators will soon be able to use TrueFans to offer exclusive bonus content without forcing fans to use external platforms like Patreon.

Claire is officially announced as the Head of Community at TrueFans and entries are open for the Independent Podcast Awards 2026.

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Listen to The Shá Sparks Show here

Enter the Independent Podcast Awards here

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Ever felt deeply connected to a story, even if it's vastly different from your own?

Jennica Sadhwani shares the compelling origins of her show, Multispective, which aims to amplify diverse voices sharing stories of overcoming adversity, fostering connection through shared human experience. She details how her personal journey of being a good listener evolved into a podcast idea after a stranger's suggestion, highlighting the universal desire for people to be heard.

Jennica delves into the practicalities of indie podcasting, from finding unique guests through her network and directories like Podmatch, to efficiently managing her workload as a full-time teacher by outsourcing tasks, leveraging AI, and maintaining a structured schedule. The conversation also explores the challenges of standing out in a saturated social media landscape and the inspiring, supportive community within podcasting.

Sam and Claire expand on the future of podcasting, discussing the transformative potential of Podcasting 2.0 features like automated transcripts, chapters, and innovative monetization methods such as value-for-value payments and micropayments, emphasizing TrueFans' commitment to supporting independent creators in their discovery and financial sustainability.

Listen to Multispective here

Ear Worthy's top 10 new indie podcasts for 2025

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Friendship files and the future of podcasting.

In this week's episode of Creators from TrueFans, Claire chats with Jayne Morgan, the creative mind behind The Friendship File podcast. Jayne shares the unique premise of her show, where two friends independently answer 17 questions about their relationship and then react to each other’s responses. She explains how the podcast delves into the unsung yet incredibly vital role of friendship in our lives, from the heartwarming to the hilariously surprising.

Jayne opens up about the personal journey of bringing The Friendship File to life, starting it during lockdown as a true ‘labour of love’. She discusses the self-selecting nature of guests who are eager to explore their friendships in this intimate format, emphasizing how recording alone fosters candid and often transformative conversations.

A professional podcast producer herself, Jayne also shares her industry insights, including her passion for audio-first storytelling amidst the growing push for video content and the challenges of sustaining a passion project.

Sam and Claire then delve into exciting developments at TrueFans, including a sneak peek at the new Listen Time dashboard, offering unparalleled analytics for creators.

They also cover major upcoming events in the podcasting world, such as PodFest, The Podcast Show London, and The Rest is Fest, and celebrate TrueFans’ recent recognition by the Podcast Tech Stack blog for its innovative monetization approach. Claire also takes a moment to champion a crowdfunding campaign for On Spec podcast, an independent show doing crucial investigative work.

Listen to The Friendship File here

Read the Podcast Tech Stack article here

Financially support On Spec here

Creators from TrueFans on Substack

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Music: How It Is from Ketsa Music

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