In the last scene of the new Sex in the City series called And Just Like That, main character Carrie Bradshaw gets a podcast and appears to introduce live talkback.
Throughout the series Carrie is a regular guest on Che Diaz’s podcast, but by the end she gets a show of her own.
It’s fiction of course, but fiction may influence reality.
In the last show Carrie is dealing with life issues, in the same way as she did in the earlier series in her newspaper column, but now she has moved into the audio medium. She is shown taking what appears to be live talkback in the podcast, discussing loss with a caller.
The podcast studio is very different from a traditional radio studio, but has an audio producer behind the glass who does the button pushing.
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Is studio design changing as more podcasts are being produced by radio businesses?
And is live talkback on the way for podcasts, in a slightly different way than it is done for live radio? The technology is available to stream live audio via Youtube, Facebook, and recently Twitter, plus a range of other live audio platforms. It’s not being done much, but it is possible.
Tanya Hennessy is one of the new breed who is trying out talkback in podcasts.
She told the Radio Today podcast that she intends to push the boundaries of the medium to see what happens. Currently the talkback is not live, but maybe it will be as the podcast grows.
Hennessy told hosts Megan and Bray about the wild calls she is getting and the difference between radio and podcast content. She says podcasting gives her more freedom with phone topics. “They can be darker, dirtier, more inappropriate and not ok for breakfast radio.”
“We put the questions up on socials then when we record we replay the voicemails. The majority of callers are men, its surprising to have all these guys calling.
“My intention is to make it so interesting and engaging that you are late for work from listening.
“It’s a place for people to put their craziest stories… it’s escapist, isn’t it nice to just check out for 20 minutes and listen to some idiots talking,” said Hennessey.