Rural Podcasting Co.

On the stage as a finalist in the 3 Minute Thesis competition for Deakin University.

You have 3 minutes to explain your PhD. One second over and you’re disqualified.

10 of us in the grand final. And I was feeling the nerves!

I’m on the home stretch of my PhD, examining how podcasting can be used to support rural and regional local news.

I got up ont the stage at Fed Square in Melbourne, I did my bit…. I forgot a line about the impact of my research (but no one would have known). Overall, I think it went pretty well.

I didn’t win.

An innovation in lithium ion batteries won, followed by brain cancer research. And rightly so.

But an absolute privilege to be on the stage with these amazing innovators all the same! What an experience.

We often hear about migrant workers through the lens of labour shortages.

This episode of Silver Ball Social Innovations Warrnambool invites you to see something more.

Meet the people behind the jobs: the musicians, parents, singers and community leaders who are enriching Warrnambool through culture, friendship and generosity.’’



🎙️ Listen now (link in bio)


Silver Ball Social Innovations: Warrnambool is proudly supported by the Fletcher Jones Family Foundations. Produced by Rural Podcasting Co and hosted by Kirsten Diprose.

More Than Workers: How Music is Connecting Warrnambool and Timor-Leste

Most Aussies remember the role Australia played in Timor Leste’s fight for independence from Indonesia, more than two decades ago. Yet many wouldn’t realise the significant role Timorese migrants play in our modern economy. And if you’re in Warrnambool, you may not even know that 400 Timorese are living here too.

That’s where Lian Husi Timor, or “Voices of Timor” comes in. It’s a choir and cultural group bringing together workers from Timor-Leste through music, dance, faith and storytelling.

Many members arrived in south-west Victoria through the PALM Scheme, working at the abattoir at Midfield, while supporting families back home in one of Asia’s youngest nations. Their stories are inseparable from Timor-Leste’s history; from Portuguese colonisation and Indonesian occupation to the country’s long fight for independence, strongly supported by many Australians.

At a Timor-Leste Independence Day celebration in Warrnambool and Festa Timor in Port Fairy, this episode captures how culture becomes a bridge between old and new homes. Through Tetum songs, traditional dancing, Catholic mass and community gatherings, Lian Husi Timor is helping preserve identity while building belonging in regional Australia.

Billy Barker - Musician and Secretary and Growth and Development Officer for Lian Husi Timor, Warrnambool
David Darba - Musician and Lian Husi Timor choir member, Warrnambool
Siva - Lian Husi Timor choir member, Warrnambool
Ade - Lian Husi Timor choir member, Warrnmabool
Nunes - Timorese singer, Launceston, Tasmania
Carla Chung - Migrant Worker Support Person, Australian Catholic Religious Against the Trafficking of Human,
Paulie Stewart - Singer, Dilli Allstars, Melbourne

From the legacy of solidarity movements to performances at the Port Fairy Folk Festival, this is a story about resilience, migration, homesickness and the power of music to create connection across cultures.

Silver Ball Social Innovations: Warrnambool is proudly supported by the Fletcher Jones Family Foundations. Produced by Rural Podcasting Co and hosted by Kirsten Diprose

If one or more of these excuses are holding you back from making a podcast… we need to talk!

I have heard them all before. And guess what? I have worked through them all with many, now successful podcasters!

So don’t listen to that silly voice in your head. Book a free 15 min call with me instead - and let’s make your podcast happen!

I prefer streams/downloads, because it's basically the closest thing podcasting has to a standardised metric. Platforms define what counts as a valid download (e.g. filtering bots, partial downloads, repeat requests).

That makes this number far more credible for:
- sponsors and advertisers
- benchmarking across shows
- tracking growth over time

Whereas, a "play" might be:
- someone who listened for 5 seconds
- someone who listened to the whole episode
- the same listener hitting play multiple times

So if you want a more accurate measurement and one that the industry will pay attention to, go with downloads every time!

Rural Women Lead is a fantastic initiative, I am so proud to be involved in. Check out the curated program for women across south west Vic, focusing on personal and professional development.

I’ll be running a session on pitching to the media and being an ideal guest! Registrations are open now.

Thank you to Leadership Great South Coast for spearheading this initiative.

Podcasting is increasingly being taken seriously in educational fields as a skill to teach. Universities , TAFEs and private institutions are teaching podcasting as part of media, journalism and marketing courses.

Why? Because it’s not going anywhere soon. Actually it’s only growing in popularity as we unlock those “never listened to a podcast” folk and convert them to rusted on listeners of their favourite shows.

But what about AI?! Podcasts are popular because of the human connection. Use AI for efficiencies absolutely… but you can’t replace the human interaction.

Image: The BEA conference in Las Vegas, USA

When something is about rural women, or for rural women… we don’t always get taken seriously. It’s not ‘hard news’… or it’s not “real business’.

But I have been blown away to discover an academic article I co-wrote with Dr Maria Rae, about rural women podcasters has been awarded article of the year for the Journal of Radio and Audio Media.

So, here we are in Las Vegas of all places, at the .web conference to receive the award. Unbelievable. When I received the email, I first thought it was a scam!

What matters most to me is that the phenomenon we describe in our article of the “bushpodpreneur” is being recorded in academia. We found Australian rural women who are creating their own podcasts are motivated largely by storytelling, community and capital (social, cultural and economic).

For me it’s really the intersection of technology and the change in social recognition, that has propelled this entrepreneurial force in rural women. Podcasting is of course, just one medium that it’s being expressed in, but a rather logical one, given its accessibility and community building elements.

This is my first published academic article, so thank you to Maria Rae and Deakin University and of course to JRAM for publishing it!

And thank you to all the women who participated in the research, a fantastic bunch who have all achieved amazing things (podcasting wise and beyond):

Steph Trethewey, Jane Cuddihy, Sam Meurant, Caro , Stephanie Coombes, Skye Manson,

A new season begins! Doctor What? Doctor Where? Is a podcast for medical students and rural junior doctors.

It’s a privilege to interview rural and regionally based doctors, surgeons and medical researchers. They are so generous in sharing their stories ( the good and the bad!) as well as career pathway advice.

The new episode begins on Thursday April 30. Weekly drops for the next 10 weeks!

This podcast is brought to you by Monash University Regional Training Hubs and produced by

Podcasting from Vegas, baby! A few more lights than on the farm… but we are here because of an academic article about rural women podcasters. It has been awarded Article of the Year for the Journal of Radio and Audio Media at the Broadcast Education Association’s annual conference in Las Vegas. I’m very excited and grateful.

Dr Maria Rae (a senior lecturer at Deakin University) and I, co-wrote an article, coining the term “bushpodpreneur” after interviewing several female rural women podcasters.

We found they were motivated by 3 key themes:
- Storytelling
- Forging Community
- Capital - (social, cultural and yes, even $$)

The article is free to read online if you’re keen (a quick Google search will get you there).