Finally, Apple is featuring podcasts "Made in Canada"!
Vol. 64 - "Support local creators" says Apple Podcasts - how to make the most of that!
Hihi!! Happy Pod the North Tuesday!
In this issue:
Apple Podcasts is highlighting podcasts “Made in Canada”. How to take advantage.
Dispatches from the 2nd PROGRESSIVE PUBLICS Symposium in Montreal, QC
Canadian Indie: High & Low Movie Show
True North Podcast Feature: Indigenous Human Rights
9 new Canadian podcast releases!
BTW:
As of February 27th, 2024, there are currently 34 long-term drinking water advisories in effect in 32 First Nations communities across Canada.
Apple Podcasts is highlighting podcasts “Made in Canada”. Here’s now to take advantage.
Laura Palmer (Island Crime) and I have both noticed the new “Made in Canada” podcast playlist on Apple Podcasts!
The current playlist features around 44 different podcasts but it goes without saying that there is MUCH more incredible podcasting content from the up here in the North. Sure, we could totally start a long-overdue campaign to put “Made in Canada” in all Canadian podcasts’ show notes, but in the meantime, getting some love from Apple Podcasts might be more accessible than you think.
What you should know about getting your podcast featured on Apple.
Last year, my show Canardian was featured on the front page of Apple Podcasts, and to this day it’s been one of the stickiest ways I grew my podcast audience.
Landing a promotional feature is really as simple as submitting a pitch to the Apple Podcasts editorial team — yes, your pitch is seen by actual humans! There’s no cost to submit a pitch, and while there’s no guarentee that your podcast will be featured, there are a few things you can do to better your chances:
Articulate the timeliness of your feature. Your feature can be to promote your entire show, a new season, and even an individual episode, so take a look at the cultural zeitgeist and see what it is about your content that’s particularly relevant right now. This should help beef up the “why” behind your pitch.
Make sure your show looks good. From my (professional outsider) perspective, Apple is invested in making sure that when people use their app, that it’s a great experience. That it looks “cute”. This means that outside of your regular square cover art, you’ll need “Hero” artwork and “Full Page Show Art”. Apple gives you all the spec details you’ll need here, but it will either mean playing around on photoshop yourself, or tapping into a graphic design friend (like I did, thanks Brad!). In order to get featured on the homepage carousel, Apple typically wants to have both the Hero and Full Page assets, but to get featured in a playlist, you won’t need the Hero artwork. Outside of the promotional pitch, its a great idea to submit Full Page Show Artwork to Apple anyway, and even consider episodic artwork on an ongoing basis. That way your show is fully optimized on the platform and primed for playlist promotions.
Plan ahead. Writing a compelling pitch and getting your artwork together is a fair amount of work, so give yourself some time. Apple recommends submitting your pitch about 2 weeks prior to your desired promotion date, but recognizing that there are humans behind the scenes, they’re likely thinking about editorial at least a month ahead as well. Look ahead at your show and upcoming content, decide on your desired feature date, and start getting your pitch together early and well in advance.
Why not put “Made in Canada” in your podcast description? With the US placing tariffs on Canadian businesses, there’s been wide spread interest across the country to “support Canadian” — even if tariffs aren’t necessarily impacting the podcast ecosystem. This is a huge moment, and Canadians want to hear more from Canadians. This is a great time to be explicit about where your podcast is produced and the people behind it to not only make it easier for Apple to feature your show in any future Canadian podcast intitiatives, but also to help listeners find you.
Give Apple’s tips a read! You’ll see a lot of the same stuff echoed here and more!
Any other tips that I’m missing here? Drop them in the comments!
Thoughts from the ecosystem:
Harbinger Media Network Director, Andre Goulet, is sharing dispatches from the 2nd PROGRESSIVE PUBLICS Symposium in Montreal, QC.
“Last weekend saw the 2nd edition of PROGRESSIVE PUBLICS: A Symposium Connecting Academia and Independent Media at Concordia University in downtown Montreal.
The two day event included an independent journalism summit convened to bring together independent media organizers and journalists, researchers, and funders to share strategic proposals for independent media and included presentations from the Harbinger podcast community, the solidarity journalism co-op Pivot, the investigative journalists at The Rover and The Breach, the long-running leftist journal À bâbord!, Maisonneuve magazine, the BIPOC journalism space La Converse, the InSpirit Foundation, le Fondation du Grand Montreal, the Euphrosine Foundation and others on Friday afternoon followed by a live talk show hosted by Twitch personality Rob Rousseau and York University prof Dr. Shama Ranggwala with Bubble Pop host Rachel Gilmore and Tech Won't Save Us host Paris Marx at Reggie's Co-op Bar that evening.
Saturday saw academic panels exploring themes like Data Justice and student debt, Canadian media and Palestine, representation in Canadian journalism and a live recording of The Breach Show podcast confronting police power and the surveillance state with Research for the Front Lines, The Debt Collective, The Data Justice Hub, Pivot, The Rover, Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, La Converse, Black Rose Books, l' Institut de recherche et d’informations socioéconomiques and The Yellowhead Institute.
Watch for a 3rd edition of the PROGRESSIVE PUBLICS: A Symposium Connecting Academia and Independent Media happening in Calgary this summer!”
— Andre
Think about supporting Pod the North!
It’s $8 a month or $80 a year, plus you get bonus content like full audio interviews and early releases!
Don’t want to commit long term? Buy me a latte ($5) or the exclusive ad spot ($150) at the top of this newsletter!
Check out this Canadian Indie: High & Low Movie Show
A movie podcast with a western Canadian perspective!
Join Luke, Mitchell, and Vonn as they compares two movies connected by a theme, one of them a “high” and the other a “low”, whatever that means. Only one comes out on top to reign supreme, from blockbusters, classics, offbrand knockoffs, inexplicable curios, and more.
True North Podcast Feature: Indigenous Human Rights
Law students shining a light on the experiences of Indigenous people at human rights tribunals across Canada
Learn what it's really like to fight for your rights in the colonial legal system.
What’s going on in Canada’s podcast ecosystem:
New Releases:
Feb 4, 2025 — The FxCK YOU 50s is the new podcast serving the underserved: women over 50! From Demi to Pamela and Nicole, women over 50 are having a moment. And commercialism is cashing in. Host, Andrea Claire, has spent the last 30+ years in the fashion, beauty and entertainment world as a hair and makeup artist, and shares her experience, stories and opinions as she encourages us all to put our foot down — but not in a rosé way.
Feb 13, 2025 — Eat Your Heart Out is the new podcast rewriting the rules of connection, from freelance journalist, Meaghan Wray and writer, Sadaf Ahsan! From debunking myths about traditional romance to redefining friendship and intimacy, the show cuts through societal expectations and makes room for what really matters.
Feb 14, 2025 — Bubble Pop is much awaited podcast from your least favourite person's least favourite journalist, Rachel Gilmore! Each week, catch the main headlines you need to know, and deep dives and notable guests keeping you informed ~without~ having to doomscroll. So far early guests have included tech journalist Paris Marx and NDP MP Charlie Angus.
Feb 18, 2025 — Happy Enough is the new show from The Globe and Mail, hosted by Garvia Bailey! The show explores what it truly means to be happy – and why it matters, and speaks with both experts and real people to demystify our pursuit of happiness.
Feb 19, 2025 — You can now find Amber Mac with her own one-hour programming on SiriusXM Canada, which you can also find as a podcast! The AmberMac Show joins Amber and cohost Jeff MacArthur interviewing guests across tech, media and business.
Feb 24, 2025 — Canadian True Crime has launched a new season! Aussie-Canadian host Kristi Lee, is back carefully unraveling Canadian cases using court documents, news archives, inquiry reports and more to explore the underlying causes of crime — and the pitfalls of the criminal justice system.
Feb 24, 2025 — Digital Disruption is the new show from Toronto-based Info-Tech Research Group discussing the next industrial revolution. It joins host Geoff Nielson, industry leaders, and experts as they share their insights on leveraging technology to build the organizations of the future.
Feb 26, 2025 — Reframeables is in the midst of their “Reframing Resilience” mini season! Each episode focues on reframing resilience with strong women, including Gill Deacon (CBC), Cheekbone Beauty CEO Jenn Harper, Canadian parolympian allison E Lang and many more! Catch up on the series now!
Feb 27, 2025 — QUEERIAL is the new, twisted, noir-soaked podcast that’s on the hunt for the origins of Queerness! “Part-Time Detective” Trevor Campbell is handed the biggest case of his career: Who is Patient Queero? Queerial is a comedic-surrealist radio noir that tackles our era’s greatest mystery: what on earth is making everybody queer?
You oughta know…
Updates since the last issue RE: Politicians on Canadian podcasts, we’ve seen some new traction in the space! Chrystia Freeland has joined Canada is Boring, Talking Fast, Jagmeet Singh recently joined The Backbench.
Nate Pike’s show, The Breakdown, has been in the midst of an a lawsuit that resulted in episodes being removed following a court order from Alberta-based medical supply company, MHCare Medical and President and CEO Sam Mraiche. From The Tyee, “Mraiche sued The Breakdown and Pike for $6 million in December, alleging a campaign of defamation and harassment in a series of commentaries […] The multimillionaire businessman is at the centre of what the Alberta NDP has dubbed the CorruptCare scandal. It has roiled the province’s politics and generated headlines since the Globe and Mail broke the first story in July 2024 about the relationship between Mraiche and United Conservative Party ministers, including Premier Danielle Smith.” Since shutting down his content channels on February 14, Nate Pike has returned as TODAY, with an brand new episode and an update of where things are at. In the episode, Nate explains that he’ll be moving away from being associated with practicing journalism, but will continue to make “complex issues accessible. What you choose to call it and us is entirely up to you”. This story is definitely worth keeping an eye on.
The Globe and Mail’s Lately, the show digging into navigating life in the new economy with host Vass Bednar, has sadly released its last episode… for now! The show has included guests like Cory Doctorow, Taylor Lorenz, Cadence Weapon, and way more. If you never got a chance to listen, now is your chance to binge the whole thing and tell the Globe that you like it!
Alan Black (previous: Canadaland COO, Hot Docs Podcasts Festival) as announced a new mystery project: Left of Dial Media. According to Instagram, it’s “Not a podcast. It’s left of dial”. Keeping on eye on more to come!
CBC Podcasts has earned seven Ambie award nominations for their shows Tested, Broomgate, Hollywood Exhiles, Spilt Screen: Kid Nation, Who Killed Avril Lavigne, and World Report.
Big in Canada has launched an official playlist! Listen along with Mackenzie and Laura to all of the songs and artists that were only Big in Canada. Check it out over on Apple Music and Spotify.
Max Tremblay has launched Podworks, a philanthropic organization that advocates for human rights through podcasting, digital campaigns, and global collaboration. Partnering with activists, talent, and organizations, they’re crafting impactful stories that amplify marginalized voices and drive action. “The potency of storytelling through podcasts resonates as a powerful global force for change,” said Max on LinkedIn. “At Podworks we believe in creative activism and philanthropy.”
TrueMediaSolutions has launched “The Canadian Podcaster” online magazine, with the March issue out now! The magazine is aimed at sharing the microphone with Podcasters from across Canada, sharing voices, encouragement and tools to build the Canadian Podcast Community.
How are things going at The Hatchet? Jordan and Arshy recently shared a look at the finances, paywalls and new offerings.
WhitMedia Studios is open! The brand new Oshawa-based studio is built for all things content production, from podcasting to live streaming, to personal or business videos.
Events:
Mar 5, 2025 — [VANCOUVER, BC] Don’t Call Me Resilient is doing a live show TOMORROW at the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre at 5PM! The show will join education professors, Annette Henry and Michelle Stack, in a conversation with journalist and host Vinita Srivastava on the role of public universities at a time when academic freedom and dissent is unders attack around the world.
Mar 8, 2025 — [WHITBY, ON] Perspective Studio Productions Inc. is celebrating its 1st anniversary with a networking party! From 1-5PM head to the studio for learning and a live show!
Mar 20, 2025 — [TORONTO, ON] Sleepless Studios is hosting a community workshop on “Stop Sucking at Social Media”. Join Remy Lethbridge for a fun, no-BS workshop to level up your content game.
April 13, 2025 — [VIRTUAL] Don’t miss the Hot and Bothered virtual live show! Join Vanessa, Hannah and Ariana as they cover the coming of age rom com, 13 Going On 30 and ask '“what does this movie believe about love?”. Get your tickets now!
Good Reads:
The Creativity Business | Is Your Podcast Video Unwatchable? Try These Fixes.
Justin Jackson |. What the podcast industry gets wrong about YouTube
Just Joe (on a lazy Sunday afternoon)…
Thanks for supporting Pod the North, I’ll be back in your inbox in two weeks!
Kattie
BSKY: @podthenorth.bsky.social | IN: @podthenorth
This is gold, Kattie! Apple’s "Made in Canada" playlist is a huge opportunity, and the fact that actual humans review pitches? Even better. I can’t emphasize enough the importance of owning your Canadian identity—so perhaps adding "Made in Canada" to your description and letting people know could help you make this list. And I’m with you, now more than ever, in this current political climate, if you’re podcasting in Canada, this is your moment. Time to get that Apple love. 🍁🎙️
Thanks for this lovely shoutout - going to discover more Canadian podcasts ASAP!