The Australian Red Cross Has A Podcast On How Aid Works

How Aid Works is a podcast from the Australian Red Cross. It’s actually one of the most popular podcasts in its category in Australia, and it’s all about how the Red Cross’s aid workers operate around the world — in war zones and disaster areas. If you’ve ever wondered where the money from your street corner charity donation goes, this is how you can find out.

The Australian Red Cross’ How Aid Works podcast hit the top of iTunes’ Government & Organisations and Not-For-Profit categories this year more than once, and its second season means overall listens are nudging 50,000 downloads — over 700 a week.

Peter Walton, the Red Cross’ director of international programs, says the podcast revolves around the organisation’s own staff: “Guests in this podcast have treated people wounded in war zones, built shelters after earthquakes, and ran field hospitals on the scene of the world’s biggest disasters. We asked them what it’s really like to do the jobs they do, and they responded with personal insights, wise advice and brutal honesty.”

The Red Cross is one of Australia’s largest not-for-profits, and channels much of its fundraising efforts into international aid as well as work within Australia. This podcast covers everything from the emergency work that the organisation does to the ongoing effect on aid workers once they’re home — it’s sobering and educational and emotionally challenging, and you should give it a try to even if you don’t donate to charity.

It’s a quiet time of year for podcasts — all my favourites seem to close up shop in December over the new year break — so I’ve been on the look-out for new ones recently. How Aid Works is a departure from my usual mystery and crime (and West Wing Weekly) crop, so I’m branching out. If you’ve got a few minutes, take a listen and educate yourself to the work that the Australian Red Cross does — you can find it on iTunes and Stitcher and TuneIn and SoundCloud. [How Aid Works]


The Cheapest NBN 50 Plans

It’s the most popular NBN speed in Australia for a reason. Here are the cheapest plans available.

At Gizmodo, we independently select and write about stuff we love and think you'll like too. We have affiliate and advertising partnerships, which means we may collect a share of sales or other compensation from the links on this page. BTW – prices are accurate and items in stock at the time of posting.