About us
About us
Siobhán McHugh conceived the Hub for Innovation in Podcasting (HIP) as a way of creating a community of academics, industry professionals and independent podcast lovers and practitioners. It aims to pool resources and expertise, develop a supportive network of podcast enthusiasts, makers and scholars, and boost the profile of podcast studies internationally. Through informed criticism and discussion, and by running courses and hosting talks, roundtables and social events, it hopes to foster new podcast collaborations and to encourage diverse, creative and audio-savvy podcast production approaches. Siobhán McHugh is also available as a consultant, to advise on podcast projects at any stage of production. Email <podcastpolly@gmail.com> for information.
HIP is an informal tactical coalition, affiliated to the Journalism discipline in the University of Wollongong. Academics from any discipline are welcome to join us, as are media, community and public service organisations, NGOs, and individuals keen to extend the potential of podcasting to be a tool of connection, inclusion, entertainment and knowledge transfer. We are based in Australia, and particularly welcome participants from the Asia-Pacific region, but are also in conversation with colleagues in Europe, North America, Latin America and elsewhere.
Associate Professor Siobhán McHugh
Siobhán McHugh is the HIP creative director. She is a podcast producer, consultant, critic, author and academic. Narrative podcasts that she has co-produced, including The Last Voyage of the Pong Su, Wrong Skin, Phoebe’s Fall, Heart of Artness and Gertie’s Law, have won six gold awards at New York Festivals. She is founding editor of RadioDoc Review, the first journal of critical analysis of audio storytelling, and author, The Power of Podcasting: Telling True Stories Through Sound (2022). Siobhán is currently consulting producer on The Greatest Menace, which investigates a ‘gay prison’ experiment in Australia, and Motherlode, which examines early hacktivism, including the back story to Julian Assange.
Lea Redfern
Lea Redfern is an audio producer for radio and podcasting, and teaches Masters and Undergraduate podcasting at the University of Sydney. She has over 20 years’ experience at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), and is the winner of an Australian Human Rights award for documentary radio and the 2016 inaugural Sarah Award for radio drama. She tweets @learedfern
Dr Mim Fox
Dr Mim Fox is Associate Professor in Social Work at the University of Wollongong. Mim has a practice background in health social work, specialising clinically in death and dying in acute and palliative settings, and researches in partnership with hospital social workers on developing research capacity and workforce sustainability. Mim researches and publishes in the articulation and translation of practice knowledge through digital technology and social work education, and hosts the Social Work Stories Podcast, a podcast that showcases, analyses and debriefs the everyday experiences of social work practitioners. This podcast is available on iTunes and Spotify and at www.socialworkstories.com.
