Arkansas makes podcasts, from the Ozarks to the Delta. Come find your people. Arkansas Podcast Collaborative: monthly meetups, genre pods, the Podshelf directory, and the ARKAST festival.
The Arkansas Podcast Collaborative is a nonprofit for anyone who makes or listens to a podcast in Arkansas, and for the businesses that advertise on those shows.
Just want to come once? The next meetup date is posted below.
WHO WE ARE
BUILT BY PODCASTERS, FOR PODCASTERS.
The Arkansas Podcast Collaborative is a nonprofit for podcasters and the people who love podcasts. Monthly meetups in Central and Northwest Arkansas, ten genre pods, the annual ARKAST festival, and the programs that keep shows on the air.
ARKAST began in 2022 as a one-day festival for Arkansas podcasters. Until then the state had no event where podcasters could meet each other and no awards for the work.
The Collab now runs Podcaster Meetups in Central and Northwest Arkansas every month, and ARKAST is in its fifth year on Friday, October 16, 2026.
After the first festival, the organizers formed the Arkansas Podcast Collaborative in spring 2023 as the first nonprofit organization for podcasters in the United States.
The Collab is growing into other parts of Arkansas and the surrounding states. Its programs pair podcasters with mentors, help them book guests, and help them reach listeners.
Meet the board
THE ARKANSAS PODCAST FESTIVAL // FOUNDED 2022
ARKAST 2026.
ARKAST is the Arkansas Podcast Collaborative's yearly festival, the one night the state's podcasters gather in one place. The fifth ARKAST is one evening at the E.O. Manees House in Argenta, North Little Rock: dinner, the new membership packages, the opening of ARKAST Awards voting, and conversation until around 10. The meetups and pods run the rest of the year.
HOW TO JOIN
HOW MEMBERSHIP WORKS.
Membership is open to anyone who makes a podcast in Arkansas, plans to start one, or listens to the shows made here, and it works in three steps.
Show Up
Come to a monthly meetup or a pod night in Central or Northwest Arkansas. Podcasters, listeners, and local businesses are welcome, and the first visit is free.
Join
Membership funds the meetups, classes, and pods. One membership covers every program, whether you make podcasts, listen to them, or run a business that wants to reach them.
Use the programs
Classes, one-on-one mentorship, long-term support, your genre pod, and your show listed on the Podshelf.
FIND YOUR POD // SMALL GROUPS BY GENRE
FIND YOUR POD.
A pod is the small group for one genre: the hosts who make that kind of show, the listeners who follow it, and the local businesses that want to be heard in it. Every member show sits in one of ten pods, each with a leader and a month of its own to host the meetups. Businesses can join a pod too. Down the road, a business will be able to fund ads across the shows in its pod from this site, and the pod splits the work. Find yours, or run one.
MONTHLY MEETUPS // LITTLE ROCK AND NORTHWEST ARKANSAS
MONTHLY MEETUPS
The Collab holds one meetup a month in Little Rock and one in Northwest Arkansas. Hosts compare equipment, trade guest contacts, and play clips of what they are working on. One pod hosts each month and sets the topic.
Month Little Rock
Central Arkansas Podcaster Meetup
Little Rock // Central AR Chapter
A monthly meetup for podcasters and for people thinking about starting a show. Bring your equipment questions and a clip of what you are working on.
Next date announced soon. Get on the list and we will send it.Chapter Details
Month NWA
Northwest Arkansas Podcaster Meetup
NWA Chapter
The Northwest Arkansas chapter meets monthly in the Bentonville and Fayetteville area. The format is the same as the Little Rock meetup.
Next date announced soon. Get on the list and we will send it.Chapter Details
THE PODSHELF // EVERY MEMBER SHOW
THE ARKANSAS PODCAST DIRECTORY.
The Podshelf is the Collab's directory of podcasts made in Arkansas, from true crime and the paranormal to Razorback sports to business. Every listed show has its own page with cover art, a description, and links to where it is published.
WHAT WE RUN // INCLUDED WITH MEMBERSHIP
PROGRAMS FOR EACH STAGE OF A SHOW.
The Collab runs three programs: classes for people learning the basics, mentorship for hosts building a first season, and long-term support for shows past their tenth episode, and membership covers all three.
Classes
Hands-on workshops on the basics: gear, recording, editing, hosting, getting your first ten listeners.
Browse ClassesMentorship
One-on-one pairings with working Arkansas podcasters who have built shows in this state.
How It WorksLong-Term Support
Help with guest booking, distribution, and sponsorships for shows past their tenth episode.
Long-Term SupportPodshelf Listing
Your cover art on the Podshelf with the rest of the member shows, plus your own page with links to everywhere you publish.
Submit Your Show
THE BLOG
NEWS AND HOW-TOS.
Support the Collab during the funding freeze.
There's a federal funding freeze hitting small Arkansas nonprofits this year, ARKAST included. Here's what that means for us and how you can help.
Matthew Orton on cryptid encounters and podcast origins.
From ARKAST: Matthew Orton of Drunken Cryptids on how the show started, the encounters that stuck, and why podcasting picks up where TV stopped.
Top 5 high-quality, low-cost gear picks.
Starting a podcast on a budget? The five pieces of gear we recommend to first-time Arkansas podcasters, plus why we like them.
THE NEWSLETTER
THE NEWSLETTER.
The newsletter covers the next meetup date, upcoming classes, and shows that joined the directory. Leave an email address to get it.
MEMBERSHIP OPENS SOON
Know a show that belongs on the shelf?