The Radio Academy

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The Radio Academy The Audio Academy is a registered charity dedicated to the encouragement and recognition of excellence in UK radio broadcasting and audio production.

01/10/2026

Perminder Khatkar is named the newest Fellow of the Audio Academy at the Audio Academy Festival 2026 at the Royal College of Physicians, London.

From Pebble Mill in her home city of Birmingham to three decades of journalism and documentary making across BBC WM, the Asian Network, 5 Live and Radio 4, Perminder has built a career on genuine curiosity about people and their stories. Her work includes the Radio 4 documentary What Happened to Ricky Reel, which revisited his death and his family’s decades-long search for answers.

Beyond her own programmes, she has lectured at Birmingham City University and De Montfort University, judged the British Podcast Awards and the ARIAS, opened doors for hundreds of aspiring broadcasters through Foot in the Door, and served as an Audio Academy trustee, Festival co-chair and stage producer.

In her acceptance, Perminder remembers the cheeky letter to BBC WM that started it all, and why, 30 years on, she’s still just nosy about people’s stories.

Audio Academy Fellowship recognises outstanding contributions to UK radio and audio.

01/10/2026

Out of Context - Audio Academy Festival Fun! 😂🎤

01/10/2026

Congratulations to Dino Sofos (CEO at Persephonica), the newest Fellow of the Audio Academy.

Announced by Laura Kuenssberg (BBC), the Fellowship recognises a career that has changed how the UK talks about news. From BBC Radio Sheffield to Pienaar’s Politics, Dino turned the buzz of the newsroom into a new kind of podcast: Electioncast, Brexitcast, Americast and Newscast, which brought in 85 million downloads and made the move from podcast to BBC One.

In 2021 he left the BBC to found Persephonica, introducing The News Agents to the world. He has since made his hometown of Sheffield a centre for audio, founding the Crossed Wires Festival there.

Throughout it all, he has worked to open doors for people without connections in the industry.

“I’m just hugely passionate about opening access to this industry, which I think is still too much of a closed shop to people from lower income backgrounds, especially people who don’t live within the South East.”

We’re proud to welcome Dino as a Fellow.

01/10/2026

This morning, we made Tony Phillips a Fellow of the Audio Academy, honouring a career spent finding stories and making sure the people behind them are heard ❤️

Tony was born in Leeds to Caribbean parents and trained as an actor before joining the BBC as a producer and reporter. He was series producer of the Reith Lectures and made Hidden Voices, a series about Muslim lives in European cities. He went on to commission for BBC World Service and Radio 4. As Radio 4’s arts commissioner he launched The Listening Project, a partnership with the British Library that captures the nation in conversation and is building a permanent archive of ordinary voices.

In New York he was vice president at WNYC Studios. There he created A Piece of Work with Abbi Jacobson in partnership with MoMA, and was an executive on Freakonomics Radio with Stephen Dubner. He came back to the UK as COO of Broccoli Content. In 2022 he completed a PhD at the University of East Anglia on audio storytelling and the African diaspora. He now runs his own production company, Sea Salt & Mango, and sits on the board of Artangel.

01/10/2026

What does audio mean in 2026 live from the Audio Academy Festival! 🎤

01/10/2026

Audiences never stand still. And neither do we.

At my Welcome Address at the Audio Academy Festival this morning, we glimpsed the future of audio, through the lens of a heritage founded in innovation and evolution. Change is in our DNA.

The moment radio arrived over 100 years ago, our audience moved from sitting right in front of us in a music hall to their own homes, across the country and across the world.

BBC, pirate radio, commercial radio, hospital and community radio. News, comedy, music and more. Technology moves us ever onwards. More and specialist stations launch: jazz, Black music, dance...

Audiences get to choose.

Then came the web, and we created streaming, on demand, podcasts and audiobooks.

Audiences now choose not just what they listen to, but how and when.

And wow, they really are listening: 93% of UK adults tune into audio every week.

Last year my daughter was born. She is one of the very first of Gen Beta: the first generation to grow up AI-native. We are in the middle of the AI revolution and my daughter’s birth makes this revolution feel very personal.

It is exciting. It is scary. Jobs will go, jobs will be created, and roles will change.

Audiences will change.

But how audio will change is up to us.
We decide where we want to be and how we get there. And the Audio Academy is there to support you every step of the way.

So I have one question for you. I’d love you to let me know:
What’s one thing the Audio Academy should do in the next 12 months?

A packed room at Cole Brothers on Friday for our MF DOOM chat at Crossed Wires Festival, digging into the making of MF D...
06/07/2026

A packed room at Cole Brothers on Friday for our MF DOOM chat at Crossed Wires Festival, digging into the making of MF DOOM – Long Island to Leeds with Ellie Clifford (Persephonica), Adam Batty and , plus Khaliq Meer from BBC Sounds Audio Lab, with thanks to our friends at AudioUK ❤️

We had a lush time in Birmingham yesterday evening with and Lauren Redfern. Thanks to our friends at Punch Records for ...
02/07/2026

We had a lush time in Birmingham yesterday evening with and Lauren Redfern. Thanks to our friends at Punch Records for hosting us and to all our lovely friends and members who attended.

There are always events on near you. Find out more at audioacademy.org.uk.

Join us at an event near you this summer. We’re in Birmingham (July 1), Sheffield (at Crossed Wires Festival on July 3),...
24/06/2026

Join us at an event near you this summer. We’re in Birmingham (July 1), Sheffield (at Crossed Wires Festival on July 3), and London (July 16). Wherever you’re at in your audio journey, come and connect.

Join us at Zellig on 1 July to hear and Lauren Redfern In Conversation at our social with friends Punch Records. Tick...
22/06/2026

Join us at Zellig on 1 July to hear and Lauren Redfern In Conversation at our social with friends Punch Records. Tickets at audioacademy.org.uk.

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BD1 1NQ

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