💌A Love Letter to 99PI's Feed Swaps

We have such a crush on how 99PI talks up other podcasts

I LOVE LOVE!!! It should come as no surprise that most people here at Tink are huge saps, myself included. In fact, not only is today Valentine’s day, it’s also my 14th dating anniversary with my husband. Yes, we are for real that cute.

And you know what else is cute? The way 99% Invisible has always done their feed swaps. We’re regularly asked how to do a feed drop well, and every time, we go back to 99PI. Let’s take a look at what makes them work so well and share the love. And here’s a primer on feed swaps if you’re not yet familiar:

🎢 The exciting world of feed swaps🏆

💪🏻An Arm and a Leg

For this edition, I want to look at my favorite feed swap on 99PI: the episode for Dan Weissman’s podcast An Arm and a Leg. You can listen to the episode here.

I remember when this episode came out in 2018. I’d already been in the podcast space for a few years, so feed swaps were something familiar to me — but not like this. The execution is so elegant, so loving, and I subscribed to An Arm and a Leg (AA&AL) so fast.

Let’s break down moment by moment how this swap works so well.

📖It’s all about the story

Sometimes, it almost feels like a stretch to call these episodes feed swaps — but that’s what they are. They just make it seem like they’re original episodes of 99PI while also directing you to the podcast they’re spotlighting. How? The introduce the story first, not the podcast.

Hey look at this haunted gif I just found. Anyway: the episode does not start with something like:

Hey everyone, it’s cool guy Roman Mars, here with another podcast I think you’re really gonna like. We’re about to play an episode of theirs for you. Go subscribe!

Instead, it starts with a hook:

Abbey Myers grew up in Brooklyn and married a guy she’d known since they were kids. Their first son, David, was born in 1968. By the time David was two, Abbey noticed something was different about him.

🔀Give a little remix

Let’s hop back to that weaving of Weissman’s and Mars’s voices. Given this episode of AA&AL didn’t originally feature Mars, we know that this episode wasn’t just dropped into the 99PI feed without any alteration. And in fact, the credits of the episode shout out producer Avery Trufelman who “adapted [it] for 99% Invisible.”

If you want your feed swaps to work well, put some time into it. Edit to make it sound like it’s already a part of your show. Take the existing audio and weave your own voice, intro theme, bed music in. Give your audience a solid foundation before you introduce that the episode was made by another show.

And OBVIOUSLY only do that with the other podcaster’s consent, and probably some collaboration in how its executed!

📬Pick your title wisely

Feed swaps on 99PI aren’t titled “FEED SWAP: [Other podcast’s episode title].” Instead, this pulls directly from a quote and the central topic of the episode: “Orphan Drugs.”

People tend to dislike the concept of new things, even if they’ll love the new things themselves. When people see that they’re being given something new, a break from form, they are likely to skip listening. Don’t tip your audience off that they’re going to be hearing something new before they even press play.

Feed swaps should feel like seamless listening experiences for your audience, at least until they’re already hooked. If you want to prove how much audience crossover there is between your podcast and your podcast friend’s, the best way is to show, not tell.

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✨ More Magic

• So proud of Andreea Cosai from Team Tink being featured in this AMAZING profile on Ear Worthy! Andreea is championing podcasting throughout Europe with her newsletter Eurowaves and her European podcaster listserv — open for anyone to join! (If the listserv gives ya guff, shoot sweet Andreea an email.)

• We’re so proud of the 2025 AIR New Voices Amplify fellows! These podcasters who are ready to grow their shows receive a $1000 grant and the opportunity to work directly with professionals in the industry — guided by mentors like myself and the inimitable Fay’beon Mickens of Team Tink!

• Have a podcast you think is pretty dang funny? Submissions to be honored at the 2025 Golden Lobes Awards are now OPEN! According to their site, if your podcast has made your audience laugh EVEN ONCE, you can submit in one of their many categories. Seems like I’ll have to submit The Deposition — oh, have you not listened yet? You’re in for a treat.

The Deposition ✅

🎧 From the Desk of Tink

A new podcast from the Immigrantly team, Love-ly is all about the intersections between cultural traditions and modern dating. What does it mean to date as a first- or second-generation immigrant? How do we navigate sticky situationships in an era of apps and digital communication? Host Mehak Shoeb sits down every Friday with a new guest to talk through real stories of their real love lives, focused on the immigrant experience.

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Go tell someone you love them! Next week, Shreya returns with some more podcast marketing magic. ✨

LOVE,
Wil🦇