Behind The Pod

Welcome back to Behind the Pod, a platform for podfic meta discussions!

Behind the Pod is a podcast about the backstage processes of podfic, with audio essays, interviews, and other meta discussions. You can find all previous episodes on our AO3 page.

This will be our sixth year (!) and we've decided to run BtP as a fest this year, which is quite different to how we've done things previously. Take a look at the schedule and rules to see how things have changed.

Schedule

Sun 12th July 2026 - Submission deadline
Mon 13th July 2026 - Reveals

Rules

Submit a new audio recording of podfic meta of any length to the AO3 collection before the submission deadline. The topic should be related to podfic or podfic fandom. Post your work to the AO3 collection here.

( FAQ )

Some FAQs, but also your questions - please feel free to ask any questions you have about this challenge here, and we mods will do our best to answer! (If you think you have the answer to a question you see in the replies, then please do jump in and respond!)

( What is podfic meta? )

( Hasn’t it already been said? )

( Who does what? )

( What if I can’t make a deadline? )

Important links: intro & rules post - sign-up & submission post - content moderation post - party favour rules - contact post

This post is for setting out the rules for Series 2 in more detail, but also for your questions! Please feel free to ask any questions you have about this challenge here, and we mods will do our best to answer! (If you think you have the answer to a question you see in the replies, then please do jump in and respond!)

Important links: Intro post - sign-up & submission post - party favour rules - contact post

1) What is the timeline of this project?

Sun 26 Jan: Sign-ups open
Sun 23 Feb: Sign-ups close

Sun 22 Mar: Discussion post 1

Sun 19 Apr - Sat 25 Apr: Mandatory check-in 1 (& discussion post 2)

Sun 24 May: Discussion post 3

Sun 21 Jun - Sat 27 Jun: Mandatory check-in 2 (& discussion post 3)

Sun 19 Jul: Episode submission deadline

Sun 02 Aug: Weekly episode posting begins

Sun 13 Sep: Party Favour submission deadline

(Party Favours will be posted the week after all episodes have been published.)

There are two mandatory check-ins, and there will be discussion posts on this dreamwidth every month, which will double as non-mandatory, informal check-ins. Both of the mandatory check-ins, and the discussion posts will come with reminder emails.

If you sign up as a group, everybody will get an email at the mandatory check-ins, but as long as at least one person responds, we will consider your group checked-in. The person who answered will be responsible for making sure the whole group is on track.

Party favours do not have any check-ins, just the one submission deadline. However, the discussion posts are for everyone!

Important links: Intro post - sign-up & submission post - party favour rules - contact post