Bespoke podcasts for researchers

Podcasting is an increasingly important tool for researchers both in the academic world and beyond to communicate their findings.

A well-made podcast is accessible, engaging and informative, allowing you to easily share your research both with your colleagues and with a wider public audience. But as researchers, we don’t always have the right skills—or, more importantly, the time—to produce our own podcasts.

Drawing on over 10 years of experience in academia, and half a decade in podcasting and journalism, I work with researchers to develop a bespoke audio strategy that suits their needs and their budgets.

For some, that may be a one-off episode that gives you the opportunity to summarise a recent project. Others may be looking for a longer, more complex project that pulls together multiple different voices, weaving the story of your research over multiple episodes.

Whether you’re thinking of including a podcast in your next project, you have some exciting findings you’re keen to get out there, or you’re looking to get the best value just have some leftover funds from your last grant you’re looking to use before the end of the project, get in touch. I’d love to work with you to share your important research with the rest of the world.

What I can offer

I offer a wide range of services to support you to communicate your research.

If you need help with developing a proposal, or you’d like someone to turn what you’ve found into a podcast, look no further.

The services listed here are indicative, not exhaustive. If you have an idea you don’t see represented here, let’s talk and see what we can create together!

  • My bread and butter is helping researchers turn their research outputs into podcasts. Some examples of formats I can offer are:

    • One-off podcast episodes in interview or ‘lecture’ format. This is a simple format that gives you the opportunity to explain your findings in your own words

    • Podcast series about the research (2+ episodes) drawing on existing recordings recorded during your research and/or new interviews conducted specifically for the podcast

    • Departmental or other institutional showcases. Many groups of researchers–whether this be academic consortia, research groups, institutes, departments, schools and universities are realising the potential of a longer-term podcast series to showcase their collective research, interests, ideas and activities. I can work with you and your collective to devise and produce a series that works best for your needs.

  • I can also offer a wide range of support at the planning and other stages of your research project, including:

    • Funding applications. Funders are increasingly looking for detailed communication and dissemination plans, and many are also opening specific calls to fund communication. I can support you to include audio in your dissemination plan.

    • Recording advice. I can advise you on how to maximise the quality of interviews and other field recordings so that these are suitable for audio dissemination later.

    • Support with developing an audio plan for your research. Whether you want to use audio as part of your methodology, to record your research process, or as a means of communicating your findings, I can work with you to develop a plan that meets your needs.

    • Recording other research activities, such as workshops and meetings, to be shared.

    • I work in English, en español (and, soon, på norsk)

    • I am based in Norway, but work with researchers all over the world

    • While my background is in the social sciences, I work with researchers across all disciplines to communicate their research in ways that are accessible and engaging. 

Get in touch

  • "Olivia was able to take an academic project and turn it into something with much wider and deeper impact for a more general audience. Working with her has helped me to push the boundaries of my own research."

    —Christopher Gerrard, Professor of Archaeology at Durham University and leader of project ‘Hefted! Upland Farming Heritage in the Cheviots’

  • "Olivia has been fantastic to work with and used her knowledge of farming and agriculture to draw down a narrative from a large amount of recorded audio. In doing so, Olivia gave the project shape and direction, which helped inform my own work area within the project. The podcast has been well received in the local community and is being used to inspire positive discussion around the future of farming in the region."

    —Anthea Wood, partner on Durham University-led project ‘Hefted! Upland Farming Heritage in the Cheviots’

Get in touch

Interested in working together? Tell me a bit about your project and I’ll be in touch shortly.