In today's fast-paced, tech-driven world, we all seem to have shortening attention spans, but a medium that is becoming more and more appealing to us between scrolls is the podcast. Since Dickens introduced The Pickwick Papers in easy-to-digest instalments in the 1830s, we’ve been hooked on episodic series, from Dickens through to modern TV soap operas, and now to podcasts.
Just take a look at Serial (five million downloads overall) or This American Life (750,000 downloads per episode), two podcasts which have captured the hearts – and ears – of a global audience. Short episodes on-demand on smartphones and iPads, they’re a great way of taking in information without feeling deluged.
How does this relate to shipping? Well, it didn’t, until July 2015, when Lena Gothberg decided to bring the two together. Shipping Podcast is a new initiative that showcases the people behind the shipping industry. Ultimately, it is a place for great stories about the shipping industry from the people who know it best.
“People are always saying that the shipping industry needs greater visibility, and that we need the industry to be more well-known,” says Gothberg, “so this is my way of doing just that. This is my contribution: I put shipping on iTunes for the world to know about it.”
Initially a marine insurance underwriter, Gothberg has experience of running the Institute of Shipping Analysis, and is a stalwart member and former President of WISTA (the Women’s International Shipping & Trading Association) in Sweden. “Lately I’ve realised the importance of getting shipping seen in the broader digital arena, and the podcast is the perfect way of getting our industry noticed,” Gothberg says. “We need to be heard by people outside shipping, but we have a tendency to speak just to each other.”
Previous guests on Shipping Podcast have included Carl Johan Hagman, CEO Stena Line, Thina Margrethe Saltvedt, Senior Macro Analyst, Nordea, Rolf Westerstrom, CEO of the Swedish Sea Rescue Society, Sanjam Gupta, Director, Sitara Shipping and President of WISTA India, and many more.
Upcoming guests include Per Bondemark, Chief Procurement Officer at SSAB, Karin Orsel, Vice Chairman of the ICS, President WISTA International and CEO MF Shipping Group and Markku Mylly, Executive Director of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).
To access the podcast and find out more, visit www.shippingpodcast.com or tweet @shippingpodcast or why not reach out to Lena Gothberg at @lenagothberg
