This pride month is a tough one for a lot of queer folks in Southern and Appalachian states, with more draconian laws and attacks on our existence by the day. I’d like to ask readers to remember that we exist in those places, we cannot “just leave,” and frankly, we don’t want to. We shouldn’t need to.

“I learned that people in the podcast industry are rooting for each other and want to help each other in any way that they can. It’s not about competing to be the best, it's about growing together as an industry.”

For many, the world of “pitching” in the entertainment industry remains an enigma, with its key insights only available to some. This inspired podcasters and filmmaking creatives Angel Murphy and Leah Saint Marie to co-create and co-host their podcast, Pitch!

The next generation of business leaders in our industry are beginning to get their footing. I’m so inspired by the folks behind companies like Domino Sound, Edit Audio, Molten Heart, Tink Media, Dustlight Productions, Sounds Profitable, Recordical, Stillroom, and more. And I’m excited to join them to help our industry evolve into its next iteration — one that is more inclusive, bold, and forward-thinking. Good Tape is a vehicle to advance this work and I think it will be the perfect platform for me to support our industry.

There are some shows and production companies who are making brand-supported episodes that sit in the main podcast feed and are akin to advertorials — including at my own Tremula Network. We’ve enjoyed working on them so much, we’ve even started calling them 'podvertorials' and made them a core offer. We still get editorial control of the episodes we create, but we work closely with our paying partner to fund the production.