The third and final winner of the Acast Amplifier UK competition, Call Me Disabled, has officially been launched by creator and host Poppy Greenfield.
Acast Amplifier is a podcast incubator programme in the UK, and now in Ireland, which awards three winners a grant that can financially support the creation of their podcast, as well as equipment, mentorship, studio time, and artwork from the Acast team.
As a recipient of the award, Greenfield’s podcast has been distributed by Acast across all podcast platforms and will gain access to Acast’s monetisation tools, including advertising, sponsorship, and integrated branded content available for purchase through Acast either programmatically or directly.
“Our three winners of Acast Amplifier in the UK have been deserving, and brilliant to work with as we develop their podcasts,” said Acast UK & Ireland managing director Josh Woodhouse. “None more so than Poppy, whose Call Me Disabled podcast will highlight some incredible disabled people across the UK. As Poppy says herself, we chose her as a winner because she wants to celebrate disabled lives, and there’s no better place to recognise these stories than via a podcast. We can’t wait to help her grow her show and welcome her to the Acast Creator Network family.”
The Call Me Disabled podcast features Greenfield in conversation with a number of disabled activists, authors, artists, and other people she admires, exploring a number of areas that affect their lives from identity to accessibility, showing that people are more than their disabilities and can lead joyful lives.
“Disabled people get told both how and how not to identify a lot,” said Greenfield. “You’re not disabled; you’re specially-abled. Stuff like that caters more to non-disabled people and the stigma around disability than anything. If you see my disability, my access needs can be met. We can work from there. Build something better.”
The other recipients of the Acast Amplifier UK programme, which launched in January last year are Damian Kerlin, creator of LGBTQ+ nightlife history podcast Memories of The Dancefloor podcast, and Amanda Kingsley and Ziporah Banda, creators of the Stacked podcast exploring literature and how it intertwines with politics and pop culture.
At the end of last month, Acast announced that it was launching the Amplifier programme in Ireland for the first time in order to support the next generation of podcasters in that region. Applications are currently open and the three winners will have the chance to receive a prize package up to €100,000 (£87,797) to help fund and create their podcast ideas.
