Tag: Rowdie Walden

In ‘Search Engine Sex’ Podcast, Rowdie Walden Wants to Answer Your Questions

June 17, 2020

In 2018, Rowdie Walden signed up for Spotify’s Sound Up Australia workshop hoping to bring his idea—answering the internet’s most-searched-for questions about sex and relationships—to the platform. The weeklong mentoring session for Indigenous Australians resulted in Search Engine Sex, Australia’s first Spotify Original podcast, which does exactly that.

From the signs of a healthy relationship to preventing STIs, each week Rowdie wants to take the questions that are often considered taboo and bring them into an honest conversation with the help of a rotating cast of experts and, of course, search engine analytics.

For the Record caught up with Rowdie just ahead of the podcast launch.

What can listeners expect from your podcast?

I can tell you what not to expect. If you’re looking for an academic, education-focused sex, health, and well-being podcast, this is not it. Search Engine Sex addresses the questions that have been in the back of your mind. You can expect to have a laugh and hear some thought-provoking conversations with incredible people. We’ve got everyone from sexologists to ex-bachelor contestants, so hopefully you’ll be surprised by the people you’ll hear from.

I also think you can expect some good tactical tips on a range of things. When it comes to talking about sex, it’s key to find an accessible channel for people. If you are from a religious or cultural background that doesn’t allow you to talk about sex, we want you to both feel comfortable listening to this podcast and also find it beneficial. It’s not smutty, but it’s not boring. If I had to put it in a category, I’d say it’s “infotainment.”

Search Engine Sex comes to us in part by way of Spotify’s Sound Up Australia, which invited Indigenous Australians to join an intensive podcasting workshop. Why was this experience meaningful to you?

There aren’t a lot of mainstream Indigenous-focused media outlets in Australia, and I think Spotify’s Sound Up has helped fill that gap. It was kind of surreal to be in a room full of other Indigenous people who had completely different ideas and different takes on what a call for Indigenous podcasters represented. They all came with very important stories to tell. 

It is so unprecedented for the oldest storytelling culture in the world to have a massive platform, and now Spotify has helped create that. It’s such a refreshing moment in the history of Australia media, where the door is open for you, as an Indigenous Australian, to tell your story. I think this also speaks to the diversity of the Spotify user—it’s a platform that reaches everyone, with something for everyone, no matter your sex, culture, religion, or anything else you identify with.

Why is it important to bring Indigenous voices into audio experiences?

There’s the cliché idea of representation that comes to mind: If you can’t see yourself, you can’t be it. You could probably list on one hand the amount of mainstream Indigenous stories that have made it into pop culture. This experience is all about breaking down the barrier of where a stereotypical Indigenous voice belongs versus actually where Indigenous voices can be.

Why do you think Spotify is the right partner for Search Engine Sex?

For a podcaster, Spotify is aspirational. To have the chance to work with and be endorsed by such a powerhouse company is incredible. The audience that they have through music is exactly the demographic I see for this podcast, so it was kind of a no-brainer. They’re giving people like me the keys for success. I honestly don’t think this exists anywhere else. I am still very touched that such a mammoth company has taken interest in this little idea about internet analytics and sex.

Speaking of which, and to close—why do you think it’s important to have open conversations about relationships and sexual health?

I think it’s important to have conversations around sex that talk to the breadth of what sex is, so that it then becomes part of pop culture and something we openly talk about. Sex is great and bad. It’s embarrassing and humiliating and sticky and messy and also really lovely. So, that breadth of how we talk about sex is more important than just talking about sex as a topic. Sex and relationships take many forms, and we want to explore this. That’s what we’re aiming to do.

Take a listen to Search Engine Sex here.

Spotify’s Sound Up Australia—Amplifying First Nations Voices for a Second Year

February 27, 2020

Update as of May 10, 2021: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Sound Up AU program as described below did not occur in 2020. In 2021, we invited Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander podcasters to sign up for The Sound Up 2021 program, which will be facilitated by our new partners Travis De Vries and Brooke Scobie from Awesome Black. Learn more about the 2021 program here.

For Indigenous communities, stories have long been passed down by word of mouth. Podcasting, a much more recent invention, can take the words of storytellers even further. Through Spotify’s Sound Up Australia podcast accelerator program, we’re helping to empower First Nations individuals in Australia to tell their stories using podcasting—and amplifying them across the world. 

Returning for the second year, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, writers, creators, and podcasters are encouraged to apply to our Sound Up accelerator program, a five-day residential podcasting workshop to be held in Sydney from May 11 to 15. Applicants don’t need to have any previous podcasting experience to apply, just something to say, a passion for the medium, and an eagerness to bring a podcast idea to life. 

“First Australians have been passing down their knowledge, culture and history from generation-to-generation through storytelling for tens of thousands of years,” says Natalie Tulloch, Spotify Sound Up Lead. “Spotify wants to harness the power of storytelling and bring it to the next generation through podcasting.”

From the pool of applicants, 10 people will be selected to attend the residential workshop, which will be facilitated by Marlee Silva, podcaster and co-founder of Tiddas 4 Tiddas, and Rekha Murthy, podcast expert. Participants will learn about the art of podcasting, receive mentoring and practical experience, and meet with podcasting and radio greats who also identify as First Nations people. At the end of the week, three finalists will be awarded a cash grant and all participants will be given equipment and software to produce their podcasts.

Sound Up Australia in 2018 awarded four grants for podcast production. One recipient, Rowdie Walden, used it to create Search Engine Sex, the ultimate sex and relationship podcast, and Spotify Australia’s first Spotify Original investment. 

“Sound Up is an incredible opportunity because it’s so rare in the media industry that you get to sit with the platform, the commissioning editors, and the managing director and develop your idea from the ground up,” says Rowdie. “It gives space to minority groups who otherwise wouldn’t get a foot in the door. Podcasting is such a fast-growing industry that it’s important we keep the push for diversity and inclusion in this space as well.” 

Aspiring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander podcasters can apply for this year’s Sound Up program here from May 11 – 15 by March 15. Travel and accommodation will be covered for those living outside of Sydney.