As Mamamia’s premium interview podcast, No Filter episodes are attracting 110,000+ downloads the week they’re dropped, and tens of thousands more over their lifetime.
Mamamia co-founder and No Filter host, Mia Freedman, has carved out a signature space when it comes to in-depth interviews, and explains the longform nature of the podcast makes it unlike any other form of commercial interview.
“I grew up poring over interviews with celebrities and ordinary people with extraordinary stories, and I was an eager student of Andrew Denton’s brilliant form on Enough Rope. I’ve interviewed many people in my years as a print journalist but, since starting No Filter, I’ve learned that podcasting provides a breadth, depth and intimacy that can’t be replicated in print or TV. The space and nuance we provide for people to just talk, makes them relax enough to be candid in ways they aren’t in any other interview.”
Producer Elissa Ratliff notes that when No Filter began, it was a slog to get celebrities to agree to the format. “Some of them didn’t know what a podcast was and many baulked at the amount of time we required – at least an hour – because they were used to the short, superficial media cycle of interviews. But now we have international celebrities approaching us because we have earned a reputation as being non-sensational, intelligent and a really premium environment to have candid conversations.”
Designer and fashion icon, Alannah Hill, was a guest in June 2018 and described the experience as “incredible”. “We spoke about things I perhaps should not have spoken about, felt things I ought not to have felt, but when I was nattering in a dimly lit podcast room with Mia, I spoke from the shadows in my heart, words and feelings hidden for years shone forth.”
Each week, people tell their stories with an authenticity and intimacy rarely heard in Australian media. Serena Williams, Nigella Lawson, Turia Pitt, Samuel Johnson, Malcolm Turnbull, Germaine Greer, Olivia Newton-John and Moana Hope are among the guests.
No Filter with Serena Williams was released on Sunday:
"For three years now, guests have come into the studio for conversations they wouldn't have with any other outlet," says Freedman. "Guests come to us because they know it's a safe space to tell their stories, no filter. Listeners come to us because they know it's something deeper.”
No Filter is one of 20 podcasts that have made Mamamia the #1 women's podcast network in the world, with 51 million total downloads and counting.
The line-up includes: Mamamia Out Loud, the twice-weekly topical show covering everything from politics to pelvic floors; Lady Startup tells stories of women who’ve started their own businesses; You Beauty is 'the podcast for your face', recognising it's okay to love beauty and be a feminist at the same time; This Glorious Mess is about the mess and magic of parenting; The Recap is pop culture with a raised eyebrow, and perhaps a glass of wine; and branded content, such as Westpac's Hello Bump series, which was named Best Branded Podcast at the Australian Podcast Awards 2018.
Driven by Rachel Corbett, Director of Podcasts, and newly appointed Head of Audio Sales, Bel Cook, Mamamia is at the forefront of podcasting at a time of hugely exciting growth for the medium.
To explore how the super channel for women can help you, visit here.
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