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(From left) Lauren Spohrer and Phoebe Judge (Photos by Liz Clayman and Juli Leonard)
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A moment from a past "Criminal" live show (Photo by Gevar Bonham)
Podcast producers Phoebe Judge and Lauren Spohrer popularized the true crime genre in podcasts with “Criminal.” Then they warmed listeners’ hearts with “This Is Love,” and now they’re producing “Phoebe Reads a Mystery,” in which Judge reads one chapter of a mystery novel every episode.
Soon Richmonders will be able to put faces to the voices behind these critically acclaimed podcasts. Judge and Spohrer will perform their favorite podcast episodes at the Institute for Contemporary Art at VCU for a virtual audience on April 21 at 6 p.m. (Register for free here.) The performance will include behind-the-scenes pictures and other visual aspects of some of the podcasts’ stories, accompanied by Judge’s soothing voice. After their recent tour was canceled, Dr. Chioke I’Anson, the VPM + ICA Community Media Center‘s director of community media, invited the North Carolina-based duo to come to Richmond.
Ahead of their visit, Judge and Spohrer share their thoughts about the future of podcasts and how they’ve managed production during the pandemic.
Richmond magazine: Have you ever visited Richmond?
Lauren Spohrer: We have done a live show in Richmond before with Nick van der Kolk from “Love & Radio.” And then, we’ve just visited Richmond socially many, many times. I think it’s so fun, and we’re excited to come back.
Phoebe Judge: I can’t think of another show that we’ve done where we can drive there and be there in two hours, two and a half hours. So, I think that’s exciting. I like the food in Richmond, there’s a bakery I like very much there. So, I’m excited for a chance to visit Richmond, so I can do a show and eat something good.
RM: What has been the biggest challenge of producing three podcasts during a pandemic?
Spohrer: We typically would either go and meet with someone in person and record them, or we would ask them to go to a radio station in the city where they live, and that has been impossible. So we’ve been recording people. We’ve been asking them to download smartphone apps, and we’ve been sending recorders and sending microphones all over the country, and figuring out how to sort of troubleshoot a tech issue that someone else is having in their house across the country, and that’s been really new for us, learning how to coach someone through pushing the mic further back from their mouth. I mean, there have been a lot of puzzles that we’ve had to solve sort of episode by episode.
“It’s so hard to think about what’s going to happen next year in podcasting, but I think one thing that is true is that this forum isn’t going away.” —Phoebe Judge
RM: Richmond has a growing podcast scene — what advice do you give to people getting started?
Judge: One, find an idea that you’re really interested in. Don’t make a show about something just because you think it’s going to be popular. Because that will get boring, and the audience will start to see that you’re just trying to do something you think they’ll like. Find a topic that you’re really interested in. The second thing is, don’t ever think you’re going to make a lot of money in podcasting, or don’t get into the business for that reason, because it takes a pretty long time to make any money. So don’t quit your day job, and also the stress of thinking you have to monetize your podcast can just make the whole thing so unpleasant that you don’t even really want to do it. The third thing is have an editor, and that doesn’t have to be a professional editor. That can be your husband, that can be your mother, that can be your best friend. Find someone who’s going to be really honest with you — critically honest.
RM: What is the future of podcasts?
Spohrer: It’s exciting. I feel like the more the better. Phoebe and I both worked in public radio before we got to podcasting, but it’s really exciting to see the field move away from that model. I’m really excited about fiction podcasts and sort of more experimental approaches and thinking about what kind of experiences can we create for people using only sound. It’s super exciting to be here in these early days of the field, which I feel like is just getting bigger and more interesting all the time.
Judge: It’s so hard to think about what’s going to happen next year in podcasting, but I think one thing that is true is that this forum isn’t going away. I’m really happy that the types of things that I get to listen to are becoming more and more diverse in the quantity, the creators, the types of shows. That feels like a really good step forward.
