Siobhan McHugh

Background

About Siobhan McHugh

I make acclaimed narrative/documentary podcasts and am considered a leading global podcast studies academic and critic. I also enjoy teaching podcast production/advising podcast teams/speaking at podcast events.Author,'The Power of Podcasting: Telling Stories Through Sound'(Columbia UP 2022):"the most in-depth guide to the best audio storytelling around the world." – Marc Fennell, Stuff The British Stole. Mentioned on OPRAH WINFREY network, 2024. In Harvard Nieman Storyboard's selected books on storytelling 2025: https://niemanstoryboard.org/2025/04/17/nieman-storyboard-guide-to-books-on-storytelling/Chapters in podcast anthologies Oxford (2024), Routledge (2023). WILL CONSIDER VISITING PROFESSOR OF PODCASTING APPOINTMENTS in 2026/'27.Award-winning podcast producer/story consultant: 7 gold, 4 bronze awards New York Radio Festivals (The Greatest Menace, Phoebe's Fall, Wrong Skin; The Last Voyage of the Pong Su; Heart of Artness, Gertie's Law) and documentary-maker (ABC Radio National). The Greatest Menace won 17 awards including a Walkley (like US Peabody)Podcast CRITIC (The Conversation, RadioDoc Review, Sydney Morning Herald)PODCASTING/STORY CONSULTANT: Narrative structure, script, storytelling through sound. Podcasting workshops, masterclasses, tailored courses: CONSULTANT to cultural & media institutions, NGOs, universities, on making a podcast.INFO: https://siobhanmchugh.org/podcast-polly-consultancy/International SPEAKER at academic & industry forums: Sydney Writers Festival 2022 (sold-out masterclass), keynotes, MECSSA UK 2026, Podcast Studies Conference 2023, Australian Educational Podcasting Conference 2021; World Journalism Education Conference, IAMCR, ICA, International Oral History Conference, Irish Writers Centre. FOUNDING EDITOR (2014), RADIODOC REVIEW, pioneering journal of podcast/audio criticism JUDGE: New York Festivals Grand Jury, Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism, Australian Audio Awards, Asian Audio Awards.WRITER: Award-winning nonfiction/history author - 6 books inc The Snowy: A History, UNSW Press 2019, Winner, NSW State Literary Award for non-fiction; Minefields and Miniskirts, about Australian women's role in Vietnam war, adapted for theatre and radio. ORAL HISTORY consultant/practitioner, collections in National Library of Australia and State Library NSW. Doctoral thesis,'oral history and the radio documentary/feature: intersections and synergies'​, commendation from Prof Alessandro Portelli, RomeRESEARCHING: PODCAST/AUDIO MEDIUM, AESTHETICS of narrative podcasts