This is an archived page from 2022. Find out more
Vodacast sat down with Emily Thompson of The Morbidology Podcast to discuss strategies for building an audience, researching interesting show topics and creating supplemental digital content for her episodes.
Vodacast: Emily, you recently won Best International Podcast from the iHeart Podcast Awards. Congratulations! Could you tell us about your show, Morbidology? Emily: Thanks! It was super exciting winning the award. I started Morbidology in October of 2017 as a website and have gone on to write four books since then. In June of 2019, I launched the Morbidology podcast. It’s a weekly true crime podcast that takes a look at cases that aren’t as widely documented in the media, and cases that highlight certain systemic issues, whether that be in the justice system, child protection services, the mental health care system, or something else.
Vodacast: In the Vodacast app, all of your episodes are enhanced with bonus digital content that is curated by one of your fans. How did you find someone to help build out this content? Emily: I created a post in my private Patreon page asking if any fans would be interested in helping curate content for other fans. There was an awesome response from my community as many listeners wanted to participate with the show by building supplemental digital elements to go along with the episodes.
Vodacast: Do you have any tips on how to build your audience? Emily: I would say perseverance! Everybody takes holidays and days off, but try to stick to some kind of a schedule. Your listeners need to be able to rely on you. When I started, I reached out to some other podcasts that I’m a fan of and asked if they’d like to play a promo on one of their episodes. If it wasn’t for the generosity of those podcasters, I wouldn’t be where I am today, and I always make sure to do the same if any new podcasters reach out to me. Get up on social media and interact not only with your listeners, but your fellow podcasters. Also, make something that you’re proud of and something that YOU would want to listen to.
Vodacast: How do you research upcoming topics and episodes? Emily: Well first of all, I file a FOIA request to get access to as much information as possible, whether that be certain case files or audio and video. While I wait to receive those files, I begin my research with contemporary sources, such as newspaper archives. We’re lucky that nowadays, there are so many newspaper archives online, albeit behind a paywall mostly. I then begin my research, compiling as many sources as possible.
Be sure to check out Emily’s podcasts on the Vodacast app.