Meet the 2026 Podcast Academy participants!
21 January 2026The Podcast Academy is an initiative designed to explore, enjoy and master a valuable tool for dance and performance promotion. It will consist of online sessions in February-April 2026 and in-person practice at Aerowaves’ Spring Forward festival, 6 – 9 May 2026, in Guimarães (PT).
Five people have now been selected after an exceptional response (101 applications received) to the open call.
Picture: Jean-Baptiste Baele and Rosie Reith at Spring Forward 2025. © Anna Kushnirenko
- Matilda Bjärum Bengtsson (based in Sweden)
- Laura Sarah Dowdall based in Ireland)
- Elena Grappi (based in Italy)
- Clara Grosjean (based in France)
- Emmanuel Ndefo (based in France)
The Aerowaves Podcast Academy is offering them the chance to be mentored in the fundamentals of podcasting in the action-packed environment of the annual Spring Forward festival.
The Podcast Academy mentor Dany Mitzman is a broadcast journalist with over 25 years of experience making features for the BBC and Deutsche Welle Radio. She is the producer and presenter of Spring Forecast (the Spring Forward Festival podcast) and of the audio section of Aerowaves’ On Record multimedia archive project.
Under her guidance, participants will share ideas about how to create and present podcast content; discuss interviewing, production, and presentation techniques; and gain practical experience both individually and as part of a team. They will also receive extra technical and technological guidance from BBC sound engineer Rohan Madison.