An education programme dedicated to audio storytelling, aimed at highlighting talents, territories and new narrative paths across Southern Italy. “Podcast Academy – South Edition” is a project promoted by Fondazione Matera Basilicata 2019 with the support of Chora Media, in collaboration with Fondazione Banco di Napoli and Fondazione Carical.

The initiative is designed for 40 participants from Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Puglia, Molise, Abruzzo, Sicily and Sardinia, selected through a public call, with the aim of developing skills in podcast production and audio storytelling.

Through face to face meetings and online classes led by professionals from Chora Media, the programme explored every stage of podcast production: from writing and story development to editorial planning and sound design, culminating in the creation of a pitch to present each participant’s project.

The Academy brought together authors, journalists, storytellers, videomakers, researchers, cultural designers, social media managers, educators, and communication professionals, encouraging the creation of collaborative groups and ideas dedicated to narrating Southern Italian territories through new audio languages. Topics covered throughout the programme included the power of storytelling, the fundamentals of podcasting, editorial and branded storytelling, the pillars of audio narration, and the art of sound design. The training activities were led by professionals and lecturers from Chora Media, including Mario Calabresi, Giovanni Sanicola, Sabrina Tinelli, Sara Poma, Luca Micheli, Andrea de Cesco, and Paolo Bovio.

The project is part of the broader path developed by the Fondazione Matera Basilicata 2019 dedicated to training and the development of creative and digital skills, with a particular focus on new tools for cultural production and on the ability to tell the story of territories through accessible, inclusive, and contemporary languages.

The Podcast Academy – South Edition also represented an important opportunity for professionals from different creative fields to connect, contributing to the development of new networks and shared projects centred on the storytelling of Southern Italy and its communities.