Some of the LSE iQ team on LSE's campus
The LSE iQ podcast, produced by a small team in the LSE Communications Division, has won best branded podcast at the Independent Podcast Awards.
The monthly podcast where LSE academics, and other experts, answer one pressing question per episode about economics, politics or society has rapidly gained a large following since it was launched in April 2017.
Alongside expert insight, the podcast also tells the stories of “ordinary” people – showing how academic research relates to the world beyond the “ivory towers”.
Each episode averages 8,000 to 10,000 downloads in the first month and the podcast has a global audience with listeners tuning in from the United States, India and Hong Kong.
Recent episodes explore ‘What’s it like to win a Nobel Prize?’, ‘How can we solve the gender pay gap?’ and ‘Are we on the verge of a weight-loss revolution?’
Awarding the prize at a ceremony in central London, the judges said: “This is a very solid show for raising the profile of LSE, and highlighting that it teaches more than economics. The great mix of explanation and narration along with interviews with experts and everyday people in an NPR documentary style is really impressively put together. It gives the audience valuable information in an engaging and trust-inducing format, all without directly selling their product. A textbook example of an effective branded show.”
Anna Bevan, one of the co-producers of the podcast, said: "This award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the team that goes on behind the scenes. From gender equality to health issues and democracy, we are constantly striving to make LSE’s research as accessible as possible and enable it to reach new audiences."
The podcast previously won two awards at the 2019 HEIST Awards for marketing innovation in further and higher education and the Guardian University Award in 2018 for ‘Best marketing and comms campaign’. It was nominated for 'Best branded podcast' at the British Podcast Awards 2022.
The podcast is available for download on LSE’s website: http://lse.ac.uk/iq as well as SoundCloud and all major podcast apps.