5 queer creators share lessons for LGBTQ people looking to start their own podcast

By Becky Celestina and Ryan Hatoum

Last month our team hosted Aclass: Queer Voices ⁠ — part of our “Aclass” series of free events and workshops for underrepresented voices in podcasting.

The event welcomed new and aspiring LGBTQ podcasters, and we were inspired to see so many people tune in to share their stories, talk about the creative projects they’re working on, and express their interest in launching and developing their own shows.

We were also really fortunate to have a panel of wonderful podcasters who identify as queer join us to share their individual experiences in the podcasting world — and their advice for queer creators looking to break into the space. Dino-Ray Ramos, associate editor at Deadline and co-host of Deadline’s New Hollywood podcast, hosted a conversation with special guests Aida Osman of Keep It!, Jake Anthony and Matt Marr of 90 Day Gays, and Tuck Woodstock of Gender Reveal.

If you weren’t able to make the session, don’t worry — we recorded the whole thing:

Here are three things we learned from the speakers — and, below that, a variety of resources for anybody in the queer community interested in podcasting.

1. Pick a focus for your podcast (and don’t feel the need to make it speak to everyone)

In creating Gender Reveal, Tuck talked about their intention of speaking to a specific audience and filling a niche in a space with a lot of noise.

Even though there are more than one million podcasts out there, Tuck said, “it doesn’t mean that there aren’t still podcasts that need to exist that don’t exist already. It doesn’t mean there [is] a podcast talking to trans people by trans people about gender.”

If your podcast idea doesn’t apply to everyone, that’s OK. It doesn’t have to. Certain conversations are intended for a specific audience.

2. If you’re thinking about making a podcast, just do it

When it comes to creating a podcast, don’t stand in your own way.

“As queer people, we’ve been taught to self monitor and to self question,” said Aida. “Undo that programming that makes us doubt ourselves. Work to un-program that so we can be as creatively free as possible.”

They said that, for every moment you wait and don’t make your podcast, another podcast comes out — and it just might cover the topic you wanted to talk about.

“A white man’s doing it,” she explained, “and he’s not questioning himself.”

3. Being a queer creator is activism in itself

Your podcast doesn’t have to be expressly queer for it to be significant. By being queer and making a podcast about any topic, you’re making your voice heard — and you’re offering a perspective that’s often underrepresented.

“The act of you being queer and doing a podcast is an act of activism,” said Matt. “Whether you don’t talk about your sexuality at all and you are talking just about baking⁠ — but you are a queer person talking about baking⁠ — that is historical. That is important.”

Resources for queer creators

We recognize that, when you start a podcast, it can be really isolating to do so alone. How do you make a show? Who can you turn to with questions?

Below are some resources — split into three categories — we hope you’ll find helpful. They include places you can turn to for community, for production help, and for distribution. We hope they help you get started and provide informative spaces you can turn to throughout your podcasting journey.

Find a podcasting community

Growing your podcast isn’t something you have to do in isolation — community is key. Below are some podcasting-specific groups — some related to queerness and some more general — you may find useful. They’ll help you to meet people working in podcasting, find job opportunities across the industry, and hone your craft.

If you’d like to be added to any of the listservs — which are email communities that allow you to receive information and updates to your inbox, and help you get to know other group members — please feel free to contact becky@acast.com.

• The Gaydio Listserv is a group for LGBTQ radio producers and audio creatives to use to support each other’s work and get to know one another.
• The LADIO Listserv is a community of women who work in radio and audio in NYC.
• The NY Public Radio Listserv is a community of people who work in public radio in New York, and the group also runs a monthly meetup called “Radio Club” where other audio professionals offer feedback on work-in-progress projects.
• The She Podcasts Facebook Group is a public group that provides a safe place where women and non-binary people can ask questions, share resources, and advocate for each other.
• The Podcasts Editors Club Facebook Group is a place for indie and professional podcast editors to share tips, ideas, and find help with editing podcasts.
• Podcasts In Color is a resource, website, and directory created to elevate PoC podcasts. (On social media, you can also search the hashtag #PodsInColor to find PoC podcasts and news.)
• Women in Sound is a print and online magazine dedicated to women and non-binary people in all areas of live and recorded sound.
• UK Audio Network is a UK-based community of audio producers, commissioners and creators, distributing work opportunities via a shared email list.
• Podcast Brunch Club is like a book club, but for podcasts. They have 78 chapters in cities around the world that each meet monthly (in person or online) to discuss that month’s podcast list.

Produce your show

Once you have an idea for a podcast, it’s time to learn how to record and produce it. Knowing what resources can help you hone your craft are key. Here are a few resources that are helpful for learning the ins and outs of making a podcast sound really, really good:

• Transom.org: An organization and resource hub for audio craft. They also host workshops where you can learn from others.
• NPR Training: Everyone knows NPR podcasts. But did you know they tell all their secrets on this training section of their website? There’s a 101 on almost everything you’d need to get yourself moving in the right direction.
• Radio Boot Camp: UnionDocs is an organization that holds radio workshops, and its most well-known workshop in the podcast space is “Radio Boot Camp,” led by renowned audio journalist Sally Herships.
• NY Media Center Podcast Certificate Program: A free (yes, FREE) certificate program that teaches you the basics of podcasting. Submit an application through the website to be considered.

Distribute your show and get it out to the world

You have an idea. You’ve made a show. What now? Well, you have to “host” it somewhere. Below are a few instruction articles from the Acast team on how you can get your show all the way from that mp3 file sitting on your computer to all the podcast players, or “podcatchers”, out there:

• Step 1: Sign up for a podcast hosting platform, which is a website that allows you to upload your podcast and publish it to all the places where people might listen to it. Our hosting platform is called Acast Open and has a free ‘Starter’ tier, as well as paid tiers with more features (for those, you can use the code ACLASS for a discount). If you choose to host with Acast Open, you can find more on how to get started with it here.
• Step 2: Set up your show! There’s some information on how to do that here.
• Step 3: Upload an episode to your RSS feed — you’ll need to do this before you submit your podcast to Apple, Spotify, and so on. For more on RSS feeds, check out the info here, plus some information on show and episode notes here, and more on file formats here.
• Step 3: Now you’ve got an episode uploaded to your feed. But you need to submit those feeds so they’re accessible by listeners. And we’ve got a support article for that too, right here.
• Step 4: Give yourself a pat on the back — you’ve got a podcast, and it’s on podcatchers. Now it’s time to grow your show. Consistency is key, so we recommend you drop your episodes on a regular schedule and promote them in places where people can learn about your show — including on social media.

We hope you found this post helpful. Is there a resource that helped you when you were starting out? Send an email to ryan.hatoum@acast.com to let us know.

We look forward to hearing your show.