ABOUT

Tell us who you are!

I'm an Assistant Commissioner for podcasts at Radio 4.

So what do you actually do?

In the simplest terms audio producers send their ideas to the team i’m a part of and my boss, the commissioner, gives money to the people with the most interesting ideas. I help those ideas go from pen to headphones.

Then the idea is turned into podcast episodes that you and I can listen to. It's called commissioning, and it happens across all creative sectors: in art, TV, music and publishing - just under different names.

The job is essentially a lot of project management: you have to make sure budgets are followed, terms are agreed and contracts are signed, artwork if polished and you have to ensure that the actual editorial content of the podcast is good too, whilst making sure everyone involved, producers, podcast hosts, your boss, listeners and so on are happy. 

What has your career path been?

After I graduated from university I worked in publishing (Josie Dobrin and the team at Creative Access have been a lifeline for BAME creatives in the UK), comms, advertising and journalism before I landed on audio. 

I respect people who've known what they've wanted to do since day dot but that hasn't ever really been me. I also think in today's world the idea that someone will only ever work in one industry or for one company during their 50 year long career is pretty archaic. That's fine for some people, but it doesn't work for everyone! I think if you're able to, try experimenting with different roles. I don't believe in the dream job at all, but finding the closest thing to that can only be a good thing.

What is the best part of your job?

Meeting people who can teach you a thing or two about the world we live in.

There are really talented audio producers / journalists / creatives (inside and outside the BBC) who look at the world through a different lens to me. They teach me a lot about race, class, history, geo-politics, geography, sport - it's really, and incredibly humbling.

At the end of the day though our job is to make successful and popular programmes, so having people say they liked something I commissioned and having said podcast reach a large audience is a great feeling too.

Why do you do your job?

I do my job because I really love stories - same as everyone else.

I love TV and music and books - of course I do - but there's something about just listening to people's voices which I find really captivating.

One piece of advice for someone starting in your role?

Remember that everyone, and I mean absolutely everyone, is making it up as they go along.

No-one who gets to decide what TV show gets made, or what book gets published, or what podcast gets commissioned knows with absolute certainty what is going to be the next big hit. We're all guessing. I could give countless examples of industry gate-keepers who got it wrong: the 12 publishers who turned down Harry Potter, the podcast production team who passed on About Race with Reni Eddo-Lodge, the TV commissioners who rejected Breaking Bad.

Yes, said gatekeepers have also commissioned critically acclaimed and adored programmes, but for every good commission there are a dozen bad ones. So try not to doubt your abilities too much - you'll definitely get it wrong, but if you're lucky and work hard you'll also get it right.

I'd also say do your research - if someone is making a big splash in the field of aerodynamics, or on TikTok or in the gardening world, wherever - remember their name and tell your boss about them.

Any parting words?

No-one has the power to make you feel inferior.

Check out Em’s Twitter below!

DAY IN THE LIFE

7am: hit snooze on my alarm.

7.05am: partner's alarm goes off.

7.10am: partner's alarm goes off again. He has an alarm system set to go off every 5 mins (I cry). 

7.15am: drag myself out of bed and do a 20 min HIIT workout. I try and do this 4 times a week. It wakes me up and I feel a sense of achievement before 9am which is pretty good - it means that if the rest of the day is a complete flop, at least I did something productive in the morning.

8.30am: either tune in to Radio 4 or the real OG BBC World Service whilst I have breakfast. Normally ovenight oats. Then I shower and brush my teeth.

9am - 1pm: I’m usually reading pitches from podcast producers and giving feedback, meeting new audio creatives with ideas, publishing episodes to go out, updating other departments on what we’re doing at Radio 4 and how we can collaborate, etc etc. I comply episodes for publishing, which means I listen to episodes to make sure they uphold the BBC's editorial guidelines and standards - for example, if there's any accusations of wrongdoing by a public figure, I need to make sure we have evidence to back that up before we broadcast a programme.

1pm - 2pm: For lunch I'll just have last night's leftovers or if I'm feeling flush off of payday I'll walk to my local high-street and go to the nearest Turkish / Caribbean / pizza place. I’ll draft up my newsletter about money and the audio industry: https://realsoundmoney.substack.com/.

2pm - 5pm: More of the same. At 5pm I'll close my laptop for the day.

5pm - 8pm: Depending on the day I’m either doing some volunteering for this refugee group that I help run, editing some audio or slumped in front of the TV. I don’t make audio in my day job anymore which is tragic, but I like to keep my skills fresh so I volunteer for a number of programmes or will edit a personal podcast project of mine. I usually use this time to catch-up with my sister / parents, who I speak to everyday. I'll try and do some cardio, either a run around my nearby park or an evening walk with my partner but the allure of the sofa can be v strong. Since lockdown restrictions have eased I've started going out in the evenings more with friends which has been so fun but a little overwhelming, my social skills are rusty af right now.

8pm: Have dinner. We get an Oddbox every week which is a good way to encourage me and my partner to cook new things. I got some rhubarb the other week and made a crumble but in my wisdom tried to get the crumble to rise by putting in bicarbonate of soda and almost all of it ended up in the bin. It was a mess. Anyway my partner and I usually cycle through a few of our classic faves during the week - risotto, jerk chicken and rice, salmon noodles, plantain and stew.

8.30pm - 11pm: watch TV, do some journaling, read a book and go to bed.