After four months and thousands of questions, the ABC’s Coronacast podcast today notches up its 100th episode.
ABC health expert and Coronacast co-presenter Dr Norman Swan says the daily podcast started to help fill an information vacuum.
“The feedback we get is that by giving the facts straight and unadorned, people actually feel reassured rather than panicked,” he says.
“Australians care for each other and have sacrificed for the common good. We shall continue to help them for as long as we’re needed.”
Launched on 3 March, Coronacast quickly became one of the ABC’s top-performing podcast programs and is also syndicated among commercial and community radio partners.
It has even achieved international fame, when the episode dealing with “corona-farts” was picked up by media around the world, including US talk show host Stephen Colbert.
The team receives hundreds of questions every month, including many from children. Younger listeners sending in their artworks to the program even inspired the Together in Art Kids initiative with the Art Gallery of NSW.
Most recently the trending topics have been on Melbourne’s spike in cases and wearing masks.
“It’s been an incredible privilege to help answer people’s questions each day – it’s a responsibility we take really seriously,” says Coronacast co-host Tegan Taylor, a health and science journalist in the ABC Science Unit.
“I so hope the podcast has been helpful, informative and anxiety-reducing for people.”
Behind the scenes of every episode is producer Will Ockenden, who says: “It’s been an absolute pleasure to help make this podcast for our dedicated audience who are following every twist and turn of the coronavirus pandemic.”
Coronacast is a podcast that helps to answer your questions about coronavirus or COVID19. We break down the latest news and research to help you understand how the world is living through an epidemic. Listen for free on the ABC Listen app, Apple Podcasts or Google Podcasts.
