What does a typical day look like for you as the Host of The Drop in addition to your role as Culture Editor of The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald?
The best thing about hosting The Drop is that, as Culture Editor, I am (supposed to be!) across every major culture story in the country and around the world. Because we break news, publish major interviews with celebrities, and review more TV, film, music, and books than anywhere else in the country, I have a headstart on thinking about what to cover on the podcast. I'm always keeping an ear out for what story, topic, or talent might work in that format.
 
Who makes up the current team at The Drop?
Recently my colleagues Thomas Mitchell, a culture writer at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, and Mel Kembrey, our culture Features Editor, have joined as co-hosts. They originally jumped on board during our Succession recaps, but there was enormous audience demand for them to stick around and I'm very glad they did. The show is produced by Chee Wong, and overseen by the best audio producer in the country, Ruby Schwartz.
 
How do you decide which topics are best to cover in the podcast? What kind of research goes into each episode?
The biggest challenge is picking the right topic. We publish dozens of stories every week, so we can cover everything from big TV releases to radio ratings, book reviews, and the Barbie premiere.

With a weekly, hour-long podcast the trick is finding a topic that cuts through - what will excite and interest listeners, what's the one thing they want to go deep on? It's a fine balance between choosing a topic that listeners will care about, but also something they aren't over hearing about.

There's a fair amount of preparation behind every episode. We plan and structure our conversations, try to watch / read / listen to as much as possible about the show, and think about what kind of interviews we want to weave in. It involves being as deeply connected to and across the culture as possible.

Rank your top three episodes of The Drop.
This is a hard question! I'm going to cheat and pick our entire Succession recap series. It was super fun to do and I think we had the best coverage of one of the best shows in the country.

Other than that, I loved chatting to Oscar-winner Steven Soderbergh about Magic Mike and the state of Hollywood, and speaking to Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, the journalists who exposed Harvey Weinstein, about the film based on their work, She Said.
 
What do you think have been the biggest moments in pop culture so far this year?
I think we're living through one right now with the upcoming release of Barbie. The marketing and hype for this film is massive. Taylor Swift's Australian ticket sale was also incredible - we've never seen anything like that before. 

Any tips for PRs hoping to reach out to the podcast?
The most important thing is time - our listeners value a conversation that goes a bit deeper and is a bit more revealing. If you're keen to pitch talent, they need to be available for at least 30 minutes. Listeners want something unique, which is what the podcast offers.