Abstract
The creation, consumption and commercialisation of podcasts have increased rapidly in recent years, yet there is limited research exploring the creators who are often the source of the products in this relatively new medium, as well as the workfows they utilise in making podcasts. Based on semi-structured interviews with sixteen professional podcast creators, and subsequent thematic analysis, this paper 1) codifes and quantifes the activities involved in podcast creation, 2) distils the archetypal podcast production workfow, 3) fnds that this workfow is remarkably consistent as a function of podcast genre and creator afliation (independent or part of a media organisation), and 4) sheds light on the "creator" role that has become a distinctive feature of the medium. This snapshot of the inner workings of the creation process, in the evolution of a highly engaging medium, could form the basis for identifying potential innovations that would increase the interactivity of podcasts in future.