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Monday, September 30 is International Podcast Day. As of June 2024, there are over four million registered podcasts, pouring out information, opinions and more on a number of popular platforms, and attracting over 546 million listeners worldwide.
Podcasting was developed twenty years ago by the “podfather” Adam Curry and software developer/engineer Dave Winer, both of whom are still broadcasting. At the time, various names were considered for the new phenomenon, according to podcast pioneer and journalist Christopher Lydon, until Guardian journalist Ben Hammersley came up with the word “podcast”: “Everything is inexpensive. The tools are available. Everyone has been saying anyone can be a publisher, anyone can be a broadcaster…Let’s see if that works.”
That same year (2004), blogger Justin Searls suggested that podcasting was the next logical step. “The key virtue of traditional radio is its immediacy,” he explained, “the fact that it’s live. The key virtue of this new breed of radio is that it’s Net-native. That is, it’s archived in a way that can be listened to at the convenience of the listener, and — this is key — that it can be linked to by others.”
He went on to predict that podcasting would “shift much of our time away from an old medium where we wait for what we might want to hear, to a new medium where we choose what we want to hear, when we want to hear it, and how we want to give everybody else the option to listen to it as well.”
After a somewhat slow start — and, as Internet usage in the region increased — Caribbean influencers have begun to embrace the format over the past decade or so, and many have established regular audiences for their offerings. Video podcasts are also popular and there is a plethora of Caribbean commentators on YouTube, where it’s a bit of a mixed bag — many of them are focused on local politics, while some express extreme views and even spread disinformation.
Nevertheless, there are many Caribbean podcasts that are well worth listening to, covering every conceivable topic, including culture, business and finance, climate change, and more.
From the light-hearted to the serious, here are some active Caribbean-based podcasts you might enjoy exploring, many of them hosted by young people. There are also many others hosted or co-hosted within the Caribbean diaspora in the United States, Canada and Europe.
The Climate Conscious Podcast, hosted by Trinidadian environment professional Derval Barzey, explores issues of sustainability affecting the region, addressing such topics as deep sea mining and renewable energy.
CESaRE Voices brings updates on sustainability issues from the Journal of Caribbean Environmental Sciences and Renewable Energy (CESaRE).
Another sustainability-focused offering is Ecovybz Podcast, hosted by Trinidadian climate activist Khadija Stewart, the Caribbean representative for the youth-focused Sustainable Ocean Alliance. She has attended meetings at the International Seabed Authority to lead SOA Caribbean’s call to stop deep-sea mining.
A motivational podcast for women over 40, This Woman Can is hosted by Antiguan Janice Sutherland, who is a career and life coach.
Veteran Jamaican journalist Franklin McKnight’s provocative Frankly Speaking podcast airs live every Sunday afternoon on YouTube, where you will find recordings of his discussions on political and social issues, as well as the latest local and Caribbean news. The content is always up to date and hard-hitting.
Based in the Bahamas, Broughtupsy tells stories “about Bahamians for Bahamians.”
Aimed at a youth audience, The Fix weekly podcast on YouTube, co-hosted by three Jamaicans, features “unfiltered and uncut conversations” on music, dancehall, relationships and more.
Belizean journalist Kalilah Reynolds has established herself as an authoritative business news personality in the region with her Money Moves JA and Taking Stock podcasts, supported by her strong presence on social media.
Jamaican climate activist and communicator Dainalyn Swaby’s long-running Global Yaadie podcast, which she started up while on a scholarship in London, covers a range of climate justice topics with a youth and cultural focus in the Caribbean and beyond.
Trinidadian digital marketing expert Chike Farrell has an excellent podcast entitled Sustainability and the Global South, which focuses on actions and opportunities in the Global South that strengthen sustainable living.
Stronger Caribbean Together, a collaborative network of community-based organisations, legal experts, and academic partners across the greater Caribbean region, hosts occasional podcasts that address gender equity, climate justice, disaster capitalism and other topics that are critical for the region.
Finally, the vibrant Caribbean Climate Calabash, hosted by young journalists from across the region, covers a wide range of topics related to climate change and the environment, on both audio and YouTube channels.
Whatever your interests, you may find some interesting perspectives in these and many more Caribbean podcasts that are out there. Give them a try – or perhaps start one yourself!
