Narratives Beyond Borders

Celebrating the intersection of independent filmmaking and podcasting.Claire chats with Phoebe Cawley from the Aesthetica Short Film Festival, which for the second year includes The Podcasting Lounge, a showcase for independent audio productions.The FestivalPhoebe explains how a 20-year-old arts magazine evolved into a world-class film festival in York that now celebrates all forms of independent media.Submit your podcast if it displays originality and strong perspectives across fiction, documentary, investigative, or experimental genres. Selected podcasters get access to the festival, networking opportunities, and masterclasses from industry giants.Deadline: Submissions close on June 30thThe festival runs from November 4th–8thTrueFans Platform: Awards and PlaylistsAward-winning and shortlisted podcasts (including those from Aesthetica 2025) have a dedicated space to be discovered on TrueFans. Winners are also highlighted with a trophy icon on their cover art, and users can listen to a curated playlist of all winning podcasts.Securing the Future: Premium RSSSam introduces Premium RSS (formerly Secure RSS), a solution to the security flaws found in traditional private feeds like those on Patreon or Substack, which are easily shared, allowing non-paying listeners to access premium content. TrueFans is beta testing a standard that verifies user credentials upon login, ensuring only paying fans can access the feed.Independent Podcasters DayWe touch on Liam Heffernan’s campaign to establish July 4th as Independent Podcasters Day (or 'Independents Day') to celebrate the unique voices in the industry.Follow @TrueFans.fm on Instagram and/or Threads.You can support the show by streaming payments from your TrueFans wallet while you listen.Leave a super comment via the speech bubble icon in the TrueFans app.Learn more about TrueFans features by listening to our sister show, Fanzone.Listen to From My Yard to Your YardFind TrueFans in the App Store or Play Store, or hereMusic: How It Is from Ketsa MusicFeedback: TrueFans SupportRead: Creators BlogRecommendations: Creators Podroll