Storytelling for Impact – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Technical and general information from the podcast's RSS feed.

Storytelling for Impact

Susannah Birkwood

Government

Frequency: 1 episode/26d. Total Eps: 10

What’s it really like to report from a war zone? Work on an undercover investigation? Be a humanitarian photographer capturing images in the far corners of the earth to influence our hearts and minds? Here, you'll find out through captivating conversations delving into the personal stories of people who dedicate themselves to telling stories to drive impact, while at the same time exploring the ethical challenges they face. Hosted by Susannah Birkwood, international journalist and NGO storyteller.

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Apple

Data updated on 04/07/2026

Recent rankings

Latest chart positions across Apple Podcasts and Spotify rankings.

Apple Podcasts

🇬🇧 Great Britain - Government
15/05/2026
#96
🇬🇧 Great Britain - Government
14/05/2026
#75
🇬🇧 Great Britain - Government
13/05/2026
#54
🇬🇧 Great Britain - Government
06/03/2026
#98
🇬🇧 Great Britain - Government
05/03/2026
#65
🇫🇷 France - Government
26/08/2025
#80
🇫🇷 France - Government
25/08/2025
#65
🇫🇷 France - Government
24/08/2025
#55
🇫🇷 France - Government
23/08/2025
#50
🇫🇷 France - Government
22/08/2025
#35

Spotify

No recent rankings available

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

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https://emdavey.com/
1 share
https://www.worldofbooks.com/en-gb/books/author/e-m-davey
1 share
https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/corruption-and-money-laundering/friends-low-places/
1 share

https://www.instagram.com/storytellingforimpact
4 shares

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p04smw2y
1 share
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-34575170
1 share
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-25880354
1 share

RSS feed quality and score

Technical evaluation of the podcast's RSS feed quality and structure.

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RSS feed quality

To improve

Score global : 33%

Publication history

Monthly episode publishing history over the past years.

Year

Latest published episodes

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8: Not enough NGOs consider paying story contributors - Laura Elizabeth Pohl, humanitarian photographer

Sunday, September 12, 2021 • Duration 39:12

“A lot of us get into this work with NGOs because we want to make a difference but there are times when NGOs are actually doing more harm and they’re not living up to their standard of being humanitarian.”

This episode features Laura Elizabeth Pohl, a humanitarian photographer, filmmaker, writer and editor from the US living in Cape Town, South Africa. Laura prides herself on producing stories about issues like immigration, agriculture, healthcare access and economic and social justice in an ethical way with care and respect for the dignity of the people featured. Her work for international NGOs has taken her to more than 20 countries. Laura was previously an entertainment journalist and interviewed celebrities including Britney Spears, and Mary J. Blige, and also worked as a Dow Jones business reporter in Korea, before she transitioned into photojournalism. The founder and co-editor of NGO Storytelling, a website to inform and inspire humanitarian storytellers, Laura also hosts her own podcast, Creative + Moneywise, where she interviews other photographers about their real-life money stories and career paths.

In this episode, we consider this question: should the people featured in NGO stories be paid? We discuss the pros and cons of offering individuals compensation for sharing stories which are used by organisations to raise funds or advance their advocacy goals. We also hear Laura’s reflections on some of the unethical behaviour she’s witnessed when gathering stories in countries across the world, such as when she was sent to interview a struggling family in the DRC – who were receiving no support from the international nonprofit that selected them. This episode contains useful tips as to how NGOs and their storytellers can help the people featured in their communications to feel more valued.

Useful links:

Check out Laura’s website

Check out Laura’s podcast, Creative + Moneywise
Check out the NGO Storytelling blog

Check out Laura’s Medium post, A call for ethical standards in nonprofit humanitarian photography

Check out Oxfam's Ethical Content Guidelines

Check out WaterAid's Ethical Image Policy
Connect with Storytelling for Impact:

Visit the website: www.storytellingforimpact.net

Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/storytellingforimpact/

Follow Susannah Birkwood on Twitter: @Susannahbirkwoo

Email: storytellingforimpactpodcast@gmail.com

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7: Going undercover always carries a risk – Ed Davey, environmental investigative journalist

Sunday, August 1, 2021 • Duration 48:06

This episode features Ed Davey, the head of rainforest investigations at the international NGO Global Witness, where he leads a team dedicated to exposing the destruction of the world’s most important rainforests. In 2018 he helped reveal how the world’s top three commodity traders were embroiled in one of the biggest corruption cases of all time. Previously he spent eight years specialising in undercover journalism at the BBC where his work was featured on programmes such as Panorama, Newsnight, and the national News at Six, as well as writing for publications including the New Statesman and the Mail on Sunday. At 38, he’s also the author of three novels – Foretold by Thunder, The Napoleon Complex and The Killing Gene – published under the name EM Davey. He has visited more than 60 countries and African countries feature in all his novels.

In this episode, we chat about what it’s like to work in investigative journalism for an NGO, getting the low-down on how Global Witness carries out its campaigns focused on complex international corruption and environmental crime, and how the job differs to working for a media outlet. We also hear eye-opening stories from Ed’s career as a journalist going undercover to expose everything from unscrupulous building firms to unethical fertility clinics, and learn about his astonishing trip to Benin, West Africa, to make a BBC documentary about voodoo sorcery after a friend told him he’d seen a voodoo priest cut off his wife’s head and then reattach it…

1:32 becoming a published author

6:41 sharing a name with a famous politician

8:37 transitioning from the BBC to campaigning journalism

12:50 calling on companies to take action on deforestation

15:33 getting decision-makers to take action on findings

17:30 the inside track on Global Witness investigations

21:00 justifying long-haul flights as an environmental campaigner

24:18 going undercover

28:12 Ed’s most impactful investigation

30:07 evaluating the impact of investigations

35:47 risks in undercover operations

39:24 voodoo in Benin 44:44 tips for getting into campaigning journalism Check out Check out Check out Ed worked on Check out on voodoo sorcery in Benin Check out into building test centres Ed worked on Check out into immigrant working conditions Visit the website: Follow us on Instagram: Follow Susannah Birkwood on Twitter: @Susannahbirkwoo Email:

6: So much NGO language reinforces stereotypes – Sarika Bansal, ethical language expert

Wednesday, June 23, 2021 • Duration 41:32

This episode features Sarika Bansal, a journalist and author based in Nairobi, Kenya who was the was the founder and editor in chief of BRIGHT magazine. Together, we discuss Sarika’s biggest bugbears when it comes to language use in the international NGO sector, scrutinising words and phrases such as "giving voice to the voiceless," “capacity building," “third world,” and “beneficiaries”. We also get her top tips on how to language that empowers contributors and upholds their dignity, as well as delving into the moral quandary that is voluntourism and asking: Is there an ethical way for a young, privileged person to spend time in a poorer community?

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5: Do no harm also applies to journalism – Thin Lei Win, humanitarian correspondent

Friday, May 21, 2021 • Duration 55:24

This episode features Thin Lei Win, an award-winning Burmese climate change, food security and humanitarian correspondent living in Italy. We discuss whether the foreign correspondent model is due a reckoning following a recent reporting trip by CNN International to Myanmar to cover the country’s recent military coup. The media outlet was widely criticised for the trip, with many accusing it of downplaying the role played by local journalists and for causing harm as 11 local sources were arrested after speaking to CNN’s reporter.

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BONUS: How to get into human rights reporting, with Iain Overton

Friday, May 7, 2021 • Duration 07:02

In this bitesize bonus episode of Storytelling for Impact, multi-award-winning UK-based journalist Iain Overton offers his top tips on becoming an investigative journalist and foreign correspondent.

4: There is a price you pay as a foreign correspondent - Iain Overton, writer and campaigner

Wednesday, April 21, 2021 • Duration 51:34

This episode features Iain Overton, a multi-award-winning investigative journalist based in the UK who has worked in over 80 countries around the world unearthing hard truths about human rights and gun violence. We talk with Iain about the merits of journalism for someone who wants to use their career to do as much good as they can in the world; the emotional sacrifices Iain made through his work reporting human rights abuses; and what it was like to be detained by terrorist group Hezbollah during a reporting trip to Lebanon.

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3: I did things I wouldn’t do now - Rachel Erskine, ethical storytelling expert

Sunday, March 21, 2021 • Duration 37:39

Rachel Erskine, an ethical storytelling expert who works for Amref Health Africa in the UK, shares her thoughts on how aid agencies and NGOs can make amends for the harm past approaches to storytelling may have caused to communities.

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2: We mustn't exploit communities – Jason Houston, conservation photographer

Sunday, February 21, 2021 • Duration 46:42

Jason Houston, a social and environmental photographer who works with clients including the New York Times, shares his insights on participatory photography and respecting the needs of the communities he photographs.

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1: I fear for my safety – Carlos Conde, Human Rights Watch Philippines

Sunday, February 21, 2021 • Duration 42:21

Carlos Conde, an investigative journalist specialising in human rights in the Philippines, shares what it takes to do this work in one of the world’s deadliest countries for journalists.

Trailer: Storytelling for Impact

Thursday, January 21, 2021 • Duration 01:17

Captivating conversations delving into the personal stories of people who dedicate themselves to telling stories to drive impact and an exploration of the ethical challenges they face.

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Storytelling for Impact – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Storytelling for Impact – Details, episodes & analysis

Podcast details

Recent rankings

Apple Podcasts

Spotify

Shared links between episodes and podcasts

Other9

Instagram1

BBC3

RSS feed quality and score

Publication history

Latest published episodes

Similar podcasts and content

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Related Shows Based on Content Similarities

Other9

Instagram1

BBC3

Apple Podcasts

Spotify