What does a day in your life as Executive Producer (Audio Documentaries) look like?
At the moment it’s very busy. We’ve got three seasons in the pipeline for Secrets We Keep, which is at various stages of production, so I’m working closely with the teams on those shows. Each day is very different, I can go from one meeting talking about next steps for research, to a line-by-line scripting session, to listening to a first pass sound design episode for feedback.
 
SCA recently released a new podcast, Secrets We Keep. What steps are involved in creating an audio documentary like this?
Our first season of Secrets We Keep: Shame, Lies and Family came from an internal pitch from Brisbane-based newsreader, Amelia Oberhardt. Amelia had done some work before I came on board (I joined LiSTNR in March 2023) and working together and with the wider team we did a lot of research, banked many interviews, and of course, found the man in the photo - which is where the podcast starts.

Once we had most of our tape we spent time building out the structure of the whole series, and started scripting and recording episodes. We’ve also spent a lot of time fact-checking and thinking about the language and framing of the series. Because we have been trusted with personal stories of people affected by forced adoption, we want to make sure that we honour those stories.
 
What's in your producer toolkit? Which tools do you work with on a daily basis?
I’m a big fan of the website Transom.org - their article on trauma-informed reporting was invaluable to this series. There was also a podcast called "Human vs Robot" by Third Coast that has so many great ideas for how to get people to record good narration that came in handy when recording script with Amelia. Day to day, Trello is my second brain to keep track of everything that needs doing.
 
How do you and your team come up with series ideas? Who makes up your immediate team or does it vary project-to-project?
We are constantly talking about series ideas - being in news, we are always looking at what’s going on and wondering what would be under the surface if we were to dig deeper. Season two and three of Secrets We Keep are from journalists who have already done some digging to prove an idea is worthy of a series. The journalist / host we work with will vary from series to series, but the LiSTNR team of producers behind it remains more or less the same.

To date, do you have a favourite audio project you’ve worked on?
That’s a tough question! I enjoy and learn so much from each audio project I work on, although I am heartened by the feedback Secrets We Keep: Shame, Lies and Family has had so far. I think the series has struck a chord with many people.

How can media professionals work with SCA on future projects? Are you open to pitches or leads?
We are open to pitches and leads. My tip is to have done some of the work, have the contacts, and know your point of difference.