Making Podnews: How James Cridland Publishes a Daily Podcast & Newsletter

Making Podnews: How James Cridland Publishes a Daily Podcast & Newsletter

Author: Alitu via The Podcast Host June 12, 2025 Duration: 47:34

Since 2017, Podnews has been an essential daily briefing for podcasters and industry folks who want to keep their finger on the medium’s pulse.

But this newsletter and its companion podcast aren’t just brilliant sources of news, data, and analysis – they also make for a fantastic case study of creating content consistently over a long period of time.

In this episode of Podcraft, I caught up with James Cridland, the one-man operation behind Podnews, to pull back the curtain on how he's built what might be the most consistent content machine in podcasting.

We covered a lot of ground, from why James started Podnews in the first place, to why he chose to publish a daily briefing in both newsletter AND podcast form.

We also talked about tools and workflows. You'll find everything James uses in this Podnews piece, but some notable picks for me are:

We got into some of the more "human" aspects of putting Podnews together, too. How does James manage to take holidays while still publishing every day without fail? How does he handle negative feedback when writing about something not everyone will respond well to? And how does he maintain journalistic freedom when sponsors help pay the bills?

Then there was the growth and reach stuff. How did he market Podnews in the early days? How did it grow, and was that growth slow and steady or 'spikey'?

James also chooses to run Podnews largely by himself, where others in his position might look to build a team of employees. I asked him about his thought process there, and that led to a conversation about how he's thinking about eventual semi-retirement.

All in all, this was a deeply enjoyable case study and a look under the hood of one of the industry's most prominent and prolific voices. So much so that I even manually wrote the shownotes(!!), and who even does that in 2025?

Also mentioned: If you want free podcast coaching on a future episode of Podcraft, fill out this application form as soon as you can!


If you've ever felt overwhelmed by the technical side of starting a show or wondered how to turn your passion into a sustainable project, PodCraft by Alitu: Honing the Craft of Podcasting is made for you. Hosts Colin and Matthew, with their three decades of shared experience, act as practical guides through the entire process. They move beyond theory, offering actionable advice you can use immediately. You'll hear detailed discussions on specific skills, from something as fundamental as selecting your first microphone to more advanced strategies like leveraging live events for community growth. The conversation also tackles the business and marketing realities, exploring how to effectively expand your audience and create revenue from your work. What sets this podcast apart is its balance of deep-dive tutorials on single topics and illuminating interviews with creators who share their own real-world successes and lessons learned. It’s a resource that recognises podcasting as both a creative outlet and a serious venture, providing the grounded, no-fluff guidance needed to refine your sound and build something that lasts. Tune in weekly for a dose of clarity and direction for your own audio journey.
Author: Language: en-gb Episodes: 100

PodCraft by Alitu: Honing the Craft of Podcasting
Podcast Episodes
9 Common Podcasting Mistakes (& How to Avoid Them) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 47:40
It isn't hard to make a podcast. Making a good podcast, however, is not easy. Here are nine common podcasting mistakes: think of this as a map to the traps that many podcasters tend to fall into, so you can avoid them.Al…
Turning Non-Listeners Into Podcast Lovers, & Best Podcast Gifts [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:54
To grow audiences of people as passionate about your show’s topic as you are, podcasters need to do the work to engage non-listeners. Not only does this grow your show, but it helps the podcast medium as a whole. It’s ra…
Preventing Podfade: 8 Tips For Your First 8 Episodes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:33
If you’ve published your first handful of episodes and already feel your momentum, motivation, and inspiration slipping away, then here are eight pieces of advice to help you turn things around.Preventing PodfadeWhatever…
Is There a "Best" Success Metric for Your Podcast? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:14
Many podcasters are looking beyond download stats to get success metrics for their shows. But the nature of podcasting doesn't make it easy. On this episode, we discuss data from a study that suggests indie creators want…
Is There a Future for Long-Form Content in a Short-Form World? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 38:24
There’s no doubt that we’re living in a world of micro-content overload. With the rise of short-form platforms like TikTok and Instagram, creators and brands are in a continuous fight for a piece of our attention spans (…
How to Create 24 Pieces of Content From One Video Podcast [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:52
One of our IndiePod Legends on Season 20 was Daren Lake of the One Percent Better Runner podcast. Throughout the season, Daren talked passionately and enthusiastically about his content-stacking approach and how he produ…
Lessons Indie Podcasters Wish They Knew Before Launching [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 43:42
Our indiepod legends have given us many insights, tips, and words of advice this season. They're speaking from positions of authority and experience, but they didn't get there overnight. On the final episode of Season 20…
Income Stream Lessons From 10 Top Indie Podcasters [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 48:10
There is no shortage of potential income streams for your podcast. But rather than telling you all the things you could try, how about some real-world case studies from ten successful independent podcasters?Our recent su…
What Gear, Software & Setups Do (500+) Podcasters Use in 2024? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:54
We haven’t run a podcast gear survey since 2019, and that was starting to feel like an awful long time ago. In fact, I wasn’t even born then. Captivated by the old black-and-white photos of Colin on his Penny Farthing, d…