Best David Riddell Podcasts (2026)

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2025 highlights from media leaders, and our outlook for 2026 25:21

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17d ago25:21

25:21

In our end-of-year episode, we talk through a busy year at MediaVoices, and outline what our favourite interviews from the year have been and why. Peter highlights chats with DC Thomson's Rebecca Miskin and Immediate Media's Sean Cornwell, who shared their strategies for managing disruption and transformation. "You control what you can control. You…

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Media Briefs: WoodWing’s Jeroen Goemans on using AI for measurable workflow upgrade 15:51

22d ago15:51

15:51

Most publishers know they should be doing more with AI, but the gap between strategy decks and the reality of nightly, weekly or even monthly publishing deadlines is huge. This is the latest in our Media Briefs series of short, sharp sponsored episodes with a senior executive from a vendor working with publishers to make their businesses better. In…

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DC Thomson's Rebecca Miskin on the secrets of successful business transformation 32:04

25d ago32:04

32:04

This week's guest is Rebecca Miskin, CEO of family-owned Scottish publisher DC Thomson. Peter caught up with Rebecca at FIPP Congress in October ahead of her presentation, titled The Gnarly Reality of Transformation. One of DC Thomson's iconic brands is The Beano, a children's comic-magazine that's been published since the 1930's. Gnarly is very mu…

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Mediahuis' Liesbeth Nizet on engaging and monetising younger audiences 21:10

1M ago21:10

21:10

Our guest on The Publisher Podcast this week is Liesbeth Nizet, Head of Future Audiences Monetization at Mediahuis, a media group with a presence in Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, Germany and Luxembourg. In her role, Liesbeth is focused on next-generation audiences, and helping build future-proof business models that bridge editorial purpose an…

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The Atlantic's Megha Garibaldi on growing subscribers in a challenging landscape 21:07

1M ago21:07

21:07

In this week's episode of The Publisher Podcast, we're joined by Megha Garibaldi, Chief Growth Officer at The Atlantic. Megha leads the consumer revenue vertical, including consumer marketing, and she helped lead The Atlantic to its milestone of 1 million paid subscribers and reaching profitability in 2024. She spoke to Esther at FIPP Congress abou…

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Kyiv Independent’s Zakhar Protsiuk on its campaign-led approach to audience growth 39:15

2M ago39:15

39:15

Launched on November 11th 2021, just three months before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Kyiv Independent (KI) is four years old. The award-winning English-language media outlet covers Ukraine and Eastern Europe for the rest of the world, and is celebrating its birthday with a campaign designed to boost its membership from 22,000 to 25,000 by the…

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Communiqué's David Adeleke on turning a newsletter into a sustainable media business 33:33

2M ago33:33

33:33

In this week's episode of The Publisher Podcast, we're joined by David Adeleke, founder and CEO of Communiqué, a media business that analyses African media and its creative economy. Communiqué started out as a newsletter, but now runs live events and publishes research about the scope of the creator economy across the continent. We last spoke with …

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Highlights from FIPP Congress 2025: "An existential moment" 53:34

2M ago53:34

53:34

Over 500 media and publishing professionals gathered in the beautiful Círculo de Bellas Artes in Madrid to hear leading speakers discuss their strategies for thriving in today’s landscape. ChatGPT, AI overviews and traffic challenges are certainly top of mind for many delegates, but the on-stage conversations haven’t been quite as dominated by AI a…

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Financial Times' Juliet Riddell on finding new ways to tell stories using video 24:44

2M ago24:44

24:44

This week's guest on The Publisher Podcast is Juliet Riddell, Head of New Formats at the Financial Times. Her focus is on telling stories using video, and she spoke to Peter following the September release of the 13-minute film, Recall Me, Maybe, written by comedian David Baddiel and starring Stephen Fry and Gemma Whelan. Juliet talks about why a n…

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Like the Wind magazine's Simon Freeman on 'niche-ification' and sustainable indie magazine publishing 32:00

3M ago32:00

32:00

This week's guest on The Publisher Podcast is Simon Freeman, Publisher at Like the Wind, a quarterly print magazine dedicated to exploring the culture, history and social issues in the world of running. They are also a blueprint for sustainable indie magazine publishing. Simon spoke to Peter as part of the research and writing for Inside the Print …

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What makes video work for magazine publishers? 22:40

3M ago22:40

22:40

From conceptualization to execution, Crowdfindervideo's Simon Elliott shares his expertise on what makes video work for magazine publishers, providing valuable insights and practical tips for industry professionals. In this video podcast, recorded live at the Publisher Podcast Summit, Peter Houston and Simon Elliott discuss the significant benefits…

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Immediate Media's Sean Cornwell on investing in AI experimentation, innovation and upskilling 27:43

3M ago27:43

27:43

This week's guest on The Publisher Podcast is Sean Cornwell, CEO of Immediate Media. Sean will be speaking to Colin Morrison at our November AI Forum in London, discussing what AI means to Immediate. There are still tickets left but we're anticipating selling out, so head here to book and for more info on speakers and Masterclasses. Immediate is so…

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The PPA's Mel McVeigh on the evolution of publisher products in a fragmented ecosystem 35:38

3M ago35:38

35:38

This week's guest on The Publisher Podcast is Mel McVeigh, Head of Digital at the Professional Publisher's Association (PPA). Mel has been at the PPA for the last 18 months, and her role is to support digital thinking within the organisation and its members. Mel recently worked with Enders Analysis on a report - Consumers, creators, and brands: Rew…

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People Inc.'s Neil Vogel on positioning for success in a complicated AI era 35:55

3M ago35:55

35:55

In this episode of The Publisher Podcast, People Inc. CEO Neil Vogel talks about the power of print - as long as you're not sentimental about scale - how advertising is very much alive, and why Google is 'the worst guy' when it comes to publishers and AI. He also discusses the rebranding from Dotdash Meredith and why it's important to have a name w…

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Flow Magazine's Irene Smit on her 'paper, not print' philosophy 31:59

4M ago31:59

31:59

In this episode, Peter Houston interviews Irene Smit, the co-founder of Flow Magazine. As you’ll see from this episode’s title Irene’s founding philosophy for the mag was that of paper over print. What’s the distinction? Well, for Irene print is effectively a vector for information – it’s commodity news, or glossy lifestyle features, or whathaveyou…

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The Publisher Summits: Why Reach turned to Substack for newsletter expansion and experimentation 21:20

4M ago21:20

21:20

This is the latest in a series of sessions from The Publisher Summits, which were held in June. The Summits covered four product areas across 2 days in London, from newsletters and print to apps and podcasts, featuring speakers from The Economist and the FT to Reach, National World, Grazia and more. Thanks to the sponsors of the Publisher Newslette…

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The Publisher Summits: How The Economist and Financial Times manage personality-driven newsletters 39:12

4M ago39:12

39:12

This is the latest in a series of sessions from The Publisher Summits, which were held in June. The Summits covered four product areas across 2 days in London, from newsletters and print to apps and podcasts, featuring speakers from The Economist and the FT to Reach, National World, Grazia and more. Thanks to the sponsors of the Publisher Newslette…

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The Publisher Summits: How Hearst UK and Stylist use app extra features to enhance reader relationships 32:39

4M ago32:39

32:39

This is the latest in a series of sessions from The Publisher Summits, which were held in June. The Summits covered four product areas across 2 days in London, from newsletters and print to apps and podcasts, featuring speakers from The Economist and the FT to Reach, National World, Grazia and more. Thanks to the sponsors of the Publisher App Summi…

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The Publisher Summits: Pop-up and limited-run newsletter strategies from The Times and National World 44:00

5M ago44:00

44:00

This is the latest in a series of sessions from The Publisher Summits, which were held in June. The Summits covered four product areas across 2 days in London, from newsletters and print to apps and podcasts, featuring speakers from The Economist and the FT to Reach, National World, Grazia and more. Thanks to the sponsors of the Publisher Newslette…

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The Publisher Summits: Why the FT’s app is its most powerful retention tool 24:43

5M ago24:43

24:43

This is the latest in a series of sessions from The Publisher Summits, which were held in June. The Summits covered four product areas across 2 days in London, from newsletters and print to apps and podcasts, featuring speakers from The Economist and the FT to Reach, National World, Grazia and more. Thanks to the sponsors of the Publisher App Summi…

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The Publisher Summits: How the Observer marries its audio and app strategies for audience retention 26:59

5M ago26:59

26:59

This is the latest in a series of sessions from The Publisher Summits, which were held in June. The Summits covered four product areas across 2 days in London, from newsletters and print to apps and podcasts, featuring speakers from The Economist and the FT to Reach, National World, Grazia and more. Thanks to the sponsors of the Publisher Podcast a…

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Inside the print revival: Publishers find success with premium magazines 17:29

6M ago17:29

17:29

This special episode of The Publisher Podcast is an audio teaser for our Inside the Print Revival report, published by Media Voices. If you haven't already got the report, you can download it from voices.media/printrevival. We at Media Voices had been wondering for some time about what is really going on in the print magazine market as we watched t…

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The Publisher Summits: Newsletter marketing strategies from Metro.co.uk and The Spectator 37:32

6M ago37:32

37:32

This is the first of a series of sessions from The Publisher Summits, which were held in June. The Summits covered four product areas across 2 days in London, from newsletters and print to apps and podcasts, featuring speakers from The Economist and the FT to Reach, National World, Grazia and more. Thanks to the sponsors of the Publisher Newsletter…

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Highlights from Flashes & Flames' Monetising B2B Information & Events conference 40:56

6M ago40:56

40:56

It was standing room only at the inaugural Monetising B2B conference, organised by Flashes & Flames, at London's historic Stationers' Hall on 20th May. Peter and Esther went along to fly the flag for Media Voices. The conference was focused not on the difference between pureplay events and information companies, but on the data-fuelled intersection…

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Media Briefs: Bridged Media's Maanas Mediratta on why ROI is increasingly important in AI 20:19

8M ago20:19

20:19

For publishers, the conversation around AI has moved on from how to incorporate it into the business. Now, 'Fear of missing out' has been replaced by 'Fear of not being able to measure'. This is the latest in our Media Briefs series of short, sharp sponsored episodes with a senior executive from a vendor working with publishers to make their busine…

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Building recurring revenue and audience connections: in conversation with Memberful's Jen Matichuk 37:10

9M ago37:10

37:10

In this bonus episode of The Publisher Podcast, sponsored by Memberful, we hear from Jen Matichuk, Strategic Partnerships Manager at Memberful. Jen spoke about how membership is a powerful way to diversify revenue, whether you need to introduce membership tiers (spoiler: you don't), and how to deliver value that converts. She also explores the valu…

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Immediate Media’s Alex White on giving staff the space to innovate 40:26

9M ago40:26

40:26

On this week’s episode of The Publisher podcast we hear from Alex White, Group Managing Director for Immediate Media’s Knowledge portfolio which includes BBC Gardeners' World, BBC History and Immediate’s parenting business, MadeForMums. We spoke about the benefits that come from the company’s focus on publishing verticals, how the magazine publishe…

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Deutsche Welle's Sam Baker on solving the problem of podcast promotion 41:59

9M ago41:59

41:59

In this episode of The Publisher Podcast we hear from Sam Baker, Senior Producer of Deutsche Welle's award-winning podcast Don't Drink The Milk. She takes us through the appeal of documentary and narrative podcasts, how the team is experimenting with video and AI, and how overlapping interests allows DW to find new audiences for its audio. And, of …

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Bloomberg's Marissa Zanetti-Crume on strategy for audience-first news products 36:40

10M ago36:40

36:40

On this week’s episode of The Publisher Podcast we hear from Marissa Zanetti-Crume, Bloomberg Media’s Global Head of Product. Marissa talks about how her product team are collaborators, integrating content, technology, and commercial considerations. We also spoke about Bloomberg Media’s newsletter strategy and how its 70-strong newsletter portfolio…

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Zetland's Tav Klitgaard on designing news products that younger people will pay for 43:09

10M ago43:09

43:09

This week on The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, we're joined by Tav Klitgaard, Group CEO of Zetland Media. As well as news publication Zetland, the Danish company also has a book publishing business, an AI transcription startup, and has recently launched a Finnish publication called Uusi Juttu, which has attracted 15,000 paying members within t…

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Metro's Newsletter Editor Sophie Laughton on the future of publishers' newsletters 35:07

10M ago35:07

35:07

In this week’s episode of The Publisher Podcast, Metro.co.uk’s Newsletter Editor Sophie Laughton takes us through… everything newsletter. From how the Metro’s redesign allowed the newsletter team to break silos, through how they’re solving discovery issues, to what newsletters offer that no other medium can, Laughton provides an A-Z on newsletters …

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Women’s Running’s Esther Newman on serving a range of audience needs 37:29

10M ago37:29

37:29

On this week’s episode of The Publisher Podcast we hear from Esther Newman, Senior Editor and Podcast Host at Women’s Running. Esther explains that a recent exercise to create a persona for the typical Women's Running reader led to the realisation that there were a range of audiences accessing the brand in a variety of ways. While running is the ba…

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Reach Plc's Dan Russell on achieving 4 million referrals from WhatsApp 40:28

11M ago40:28

40:28

On this week's episode of The Publisher Podcast we hear from Dan Russell, Reach Plc's Engagement Director (for short). Reach Plc achieved its best ever month for traffic in January, based in no small part on a social strategy that is tailored to each platform - and doesn't rely on chasing huge hits. The teams across Reach's titles have also seen su…

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Press Gazette's Richard Jamieson on monetising a 60-year-old B2B brand 29:20

11M ago29:20

29:20

This week on The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, we're joined by Press Gazette's Chief Commercial Officer Richard Jamieson. He takes us for a behind-the-scenes look at how the industry publication makes money, and the huge changes he's overseen in its commercial strategy over the past few years. Richard outlines the opportunities he saw coming o…

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Media Briefs: Norkon's Eirik Næsje and Birger Søiland on the power of live 21:01

11M ago21:01

21:01

Live content is a crucial tool for publishers for attracting and retaining readers, especially younger audiences used to finding real-time information from social media. Publishers have an opportunity to add vital context and expertise compared to alternative sources. This is the latest in our Media Briefs series of short, sharp sponsored episodes …

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Hearst's Katie Vanneck Smith on making magazine memberships successful 34:39

11M ago34:39

34:39

This week on The Publisher Podcast we speak to Katie Vanneck Smith, CEO at Hearst UK. Katie's career spans The Times, The Wall Street Journal and the Telegraph, as well as co-founding Tortoise. In the two years since joining Hearst, the company has launched and revamped membership programmes for Elle, Good Housekeeping, Men's Health and Women's Hea…

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January 2025 wrap-up 44:52

11M ago44:52

44:52

In this bonus episode of The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, Chris Sutcliffe, Esther Thorpe and Peter Houston take a look at what’s happened in the world of media in January. A bonus monthly wrap-up of key news is something new we’re trialling following feedback which said you missed the three of us together and our take on what’s going on. Here…

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Which?'s Hannah Ballantyne on the importance of social media for building trust and relevance 33:47

11M ago33:47

33:47

In this week's episode of The Publisher Podcast, we speak to Hannah Ballantyne, Senior Social Media Manager at Which?, a not-for-profit consumer-focused publication. Hannah contributed to a fascinating article in InPublishing late last year about steering the brand's debut on TikTok; a strategy which has won the team awards. With the ongoing saga b…

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1440's Tim Huelskamp on finding white space for a newsletter-based media business 39:29

12M ago39:29

39:29

This week on The Publisher Podcast we hear from Tim Huelskamp, CEO and co-founder of 1440, a daily curated newsletter that now reaches over 4 million daily readers. He tells us about finding white space in the newsletter market, the forecast for newsletter advertising, whether the claim to be ‘unbiased’ is a selling point for audiences, and what it…

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Wessenden Marketing’s Jim Bilton on publisher product priorities for 2025 and beyond 45:20

12M ago45:20

45:20

We’re kicking off 2025’s first season of The Publisher Podcast by talking to Jim Bilton, Managing Director at Wessenden Marketing and Brandlab Research. Jim produces bimonthly research and updates on the business of content distribution through WessendenBriefing, and has decades of experience consulting for media businesses. In this episode, we exp…

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Pod in a Pub: Publishing's pivotal moments this year, and predictions for 2025 41:10

1y ago41:10

41:10

This episode of The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices – our last for this season – was recorded at the White Swan in Aldgate, London on November 27th in front of a live audience. In the absence of our usual annual Media Moments report*, we took a fun look back at some of the pivotal publishing moments of the year, and what 2025 might have in store.…

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Dow Jones' Emma O'Brian on the backroom magic behind a specialised portfolio 38:42

1y ago38:42

38:42

In this week's episode of The Publisher Podcast, we hear from Emma O’Brian, SVP Strategy for Dow Jones. Everyone knows Dow Jones – or at least a few parts of its portfolio, even if they don’t know it as part of the greater organisation. But as the company moves from a portfolio-based business to a vertical-oriented publishing and information one, h…

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Will Hayward on relaunching a successful solo newsletter 28:47

1y ago28:47

28:47

This week on The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, we're joined by Will Hayward, journalist, author and columnist specialising in Welsh politics. He also writes The Will Hayward Newsletter, which he relaunched in September after running it for nearly a year as one of Reach plc's Substack experiments, where it won Best Politics Newsletter at this y…

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Media Briefs: BlueConic’s Patrick Crane on managing data strategies in times of constant transformation 21:09

1y ago21:09

21:09

Third-party cookies aren’t going away any time soon, but many publishers have already reduced dependency on them as a revenue stream. As the landscape continues to shift, what should publishers looking towards the longer term be thinking of when it comes to their own data strategies, and how can various types of first-party data play a part? This i…

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Total Politics' Ludovica D'Angelo on the primacy of product in a shifting media landscape 42:38

1y ago42:38

42:38

This week on The Publisher Podcast, as part of the product-oriented remit we’ve set ourselves for the series, we hear from Ludovica D’Angelo, Director of Publishing Operations for the Total Politics Group. As we discuss in the episode, that’s a very specialised publishing business – and a commensurately specialised role. But for Ludovica, who has p…

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Saveur’s Kat Craddock on rebuilding a premium print presence on digital foundations 28:29

1y ago28:29

28:29

On this week’s episode of The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, we hear from Kat Craddock Editor-in-Chief, CEO and owner of Saveur magazine, a 30-year old publishing brand that returned to print this year after a 4 year hiatus. Kat’s announcement that Saveur would be returning to print, is one of the best, most honest explanations I’ve seen of how…

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Farmers Weekly’s Daniel Smith on creating and monetising a podcast for farmers 33:00

1y ago33:00

33:00

On this week’s episode of The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, we hear from Daniel Smith, Managing Director of the Mark Allen Group’s Agriculture division, which includes brands like Farmers Weekly, Pig World and Poultry Business. His team are behind the Farmers Weekly podcast, which was shortlisted in the Best B2B Podcast category at the Publish…

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Torstar Corporation's Brandon Grosvenor on early micropayment experiments 26:42

1y ago26:42

26:42

On this week's episode of The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, we speak to Brandon Grosvenor, Chief Revenue Officer at Torstar Corporation, home of The Toronto Star. Over the summer, The Toronto Star became one of the first large publishers in North America to announce they were rolling out micropayments. It's a feature audiences frequently reque…

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The Knowledge's Jon Connell on why newsletters are aimed at mindsets, not demographics 32:03

1y ago32:03

32:03

On this week’s episode of Media Voices, we hear from The Knowledge’s founder Jon Connell. The Knowledge is a free-to-read newsletter aimed not at a particular demographic, but at a ‘mindset’. Connell and team’s aim is to provide an antidote to the outrage engine, instant gratification-baiting nature of social publishing. At the same time they seek …

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The Economist's John Shields on growing subscriber-only podcasts 27:34

1y ago27:34

27:34

On this week's episode of The Publisher Podcast by Media Voices, we speak to John Shields, Director of Podcasts at The Economist. They made the bold move last year to put almost all their podcasts behind a paywall, creating a separate Economist Podcasts+ subscription option. A year on from the launch of Economist Podcasts+, John discusses what drov…