Category: podcast

Oh, the teeth-gnashing I have indulged in over not being able to come up with The Perfect Podcast Project™ for myself! Then, out of the blue, a very silly person who I have long respected emerges and ropes me into his own podcast jiggery-pokery.

That man is Brian Hogg, of whom I’ve been a great fan since discovering the painfully hilarious Walt Mosspuppet. One day, Brian’s all, hey, let’s do a podcast together, talking about stuff. And I was like, okay!

And thus, more or less, was born Thinkery, where Brian and I think out loud to each other, and put those thoughts into your ear holes. We do religion, culture, politics, and almost never talk about what one of us is eating at any given time. Almost!

We’ve got two episodes up now, a website, a Twitter handle, a Facebook page, and a long Google doc (which I’m not showing you) full of topics we may or may not cover. Two more episodes have been recorded, and I’m in the process of editing them. We’re still figuring things out, from format, topic balance, to which of us does what back-end work. But I’m feeling very good about it, if for no other reason than I’m not doing all the work, as was the case with the iMortal Show and the Obcast.

So check it out at the website, on iTunes, or your podcatcher of choice.

Episode 1: “Nearer My Bugs to Thee”

Episode 2: “Sociopaths Get Things Done”

I’m thinking about podcasting once again, after abandoning two previous attempts. First was the Obcast, a longform interview show with me and a guest, and the iMortal Show, a panel discussion show with a roster of rotating guests.
I enjoyed both shows very much, but I think in each case I became overwhelmed by work surrounding each episode. Beyond the editing and posting which would be necessary for any format, both Obcast and iMortal demanded the recruiting and coordinating of guests, and the preparatory work of educating myself on the given topic (even if that topic is the guest) well enough in advance. Added to my full-time, intellectually and creatively exhausting job, and being a dad and husband, the unpleasant and stressful aspects of getting each show off the ground outweighed the fun parts. And in each case, I just let the show peter out.

But I know I still want to podcast in some form or other. I just need to find the right format. One idea I’ve toyed with is to make it more narcissistic, more of a solo monologue of my thoughts rather than a discussion. Frankly, that appeals to me less, and I don’t think anyone else would care too much for that either. But if I did go in that direction, it could be as formal as me reading some of essays and posts, or perhaps having a “co-host” who I extemporize at, someone to play the Dan Benjamin to my John Siracusa. But I am no John Siracusa.

Who is, really?

I suspect that whatever format I choose, I likely need to have permanent co-hosts or panelists so that I can remove the stress of wrangling folks for each episode. I have a set cast, and we all do the show at the same time every week (or fortnight or whatever).

And as for topics, the primary subject matter of iMortal the blog is the intersection of tech and human life, but finding a tech angle for every conversation is, frankly, not always fun. I think I’d need to remove tha restriction and broaden possible topics.

So then all the other questions, the usual questions, follow: What’s the format? How long will each episode be? What topics will we cover? How often will we record? Will it be mostly extemporaneous or will there be a great deal of preparation beforehand? Should the episodes be timeless or respond more to current events? I just don’t know yet.

But I’m thinking about it again.