End-to-end production for universities, research institutes, think tanks and public-intellectual organisations.
I produce podcasts for institutions that take their audio seriously — from first recording through to finished episode, transcript, and platform metadata. The editorial judgement is informed by genuine familiarity with academic discourse; the technical execution is to broadcast standard.
I work with organisations whose editorial standards demand more than a general podcast editor can offer.
A complete production pipeline, from raw recording to published episode.
Technical guidance before the recording takes place: microphone placement, room acoustics, remote recording setup. Getting this right reduces editing time and improves the final result.
Hum, echo, room noise, digital compression artefacts from video calls — these are standard problems in academic recording and are dealt with routinely. The edit also tightens pacing without altering the argument.
Final loudness normalisation and EQ to broadcast standard, ensuring consistent playback across headphones, speakers, and all major streaming platforms.
Coordinated and quality-checked transcripts, formatted for publication on your website or submission to podcast directories. Delivered as formatted documents alongside the finished episode.
Episode notes written to platform specifications and accurate to the content — not padded. Metadata ready for your RSS feed or publishing platform, including title, description, tags, and chapter markers where applicable.
Academic conversations often take productive digressions. Where pacing or structure would benefit from adjustment, options are flagged and agreed. The intellectual content is never altered; nothing is removed without consent.
General podcast production is calibrated for entertainment formats: short episodes, music, effects, a tight commercial structure. Academic audio is different in almost every respect.
The conversations are long-form. The subject matter is dense. Speakers are often recorded remotely, from rooms with variable acoustics, on equipment ranging from professional microphones to laptop mics. The editorial challenge is to preserve the integrity of an argument while making the recording listenable — and that requires understanding what the argument is.
I have a postgraduate background in the humanities (MA Renaissance Studies, University of Sussex) and twenty years of professional audio experience. I understand the difference between a productive digression and a passage that should be cut. I know when a speaker is developing a point and when they have finished it. That editorial judgement is what separates competent audio processing from genuinely useful production for academic institutions.
The Institut für die Wissenschaften vom Menschen (IWM) in Vienna is one of Europe's leading institutes for advanced study in the humanities and social sciences. Over approximately five years, I produced around 50 episodes of their podcast series — a show covering politics, sociology, philosophy, and international relations. The full account of that work is in the IWM Vienna case study.
I worked with Simon Clayton for nearly five years across 50 episodes of our podcast. The partnership has been consistently fruitful and productive.
Simon provided the complete production package: sound editing and mixing, mastering, and well-written episode notes optimised for the major publishing platforms. Particularly valuable was his reliability — agreed timelines were respected, and he was always responsive.
Beyond the technical work, his strong grounding in politics, sociology and international relations — the array of topics the podcast series covered — allowed him to offer relevant conceptual suggestions or constructive critique of the content.
Above all, Simon was a pleasure to work with: calm, good-humoured and thoroughly decent.
A selection of work demonstrating technical fidelity and editorial flow across different formats.
A short introduction to the service and examples of finished academic podcast audio.
An international relations discussion from the IWM Vienna podcast series, with Ivan Vejvoda and Alida Vračić.
Episode 4 of a satirical audio series, demonstrating a different production register.
Clear rates, no hidden costs. Exact pricing for a specific series is discussed on enquiry.
Covers recording consultation, editing and restoration, mixing and mastering, and episode notes with metadata. The exact rate depends on episode length and production complexity.
A coordinated, quality-checked transcript formatted for publication or platform submission. Delivered alongside the finished episode.
Institutional purchase orders and phased payment for series commissions are accommodated. Rates for long-term series arrangements are discussed at enquiry.
You record the conversation — remotely or on location — and send me the raw files. I handle editing, restoration, mixing, mastering, transcript coordination if required, and episode notes. You receive a finished episode ready for your publishing platform, along with all associated files.
I work regularly with remote recordings that have room noise, variable microphone quality, and the compression artefacts typical of video call audio. Spectral restoration is part of the standard workflow. If you want advice on capture setup before you record, I can offer guidance — better source material always improves the result, but recording quality is rarely a barrier to producing something listenable.
Standard turnaround from receiving files to finished episode is five to seven working days, depending on length and complexity. For series with regular release schedules, I maintain rolling availability to ensure consistency.
Long academic conversations often include passages that slow the argument — false starts, extended digressions, repetition that works in real-time conversation but loses the listener in audio. Where cutting or restructuring would improve the listening experience without altering the argument, I flag the option and make the edit with approval. Nothing is removed without consent; the intellectual content is not changed.
Yes. Episode notes — accurate to the content, not padded, formatted for the major platforms — are included in the standard package. Metadata (title, description, tags, chapter markers where applicable) is delivered ready for your RSS feed or publishing platform.
Yes. Older recordings frequently benefit from restoration work. I have processed recordings going back well over a decade. The results depend on the original capture quality, but significant improvement is almost always achievable.
I can work with purchase orders and institutional payment schedules. Exact arrangements are agreed at the enquiry stage.
If you are commissioning a new series or looking for a producer for existing recordings, the best first step is a brief email. I will respond within one working day.
simonindelicate23@gmail.com