Podcasts
They're sort of magical, aren't they?
Even in the worst media saturation conditions (so far), podcasts maintain a separate, special status owed to a rich history tracing back through radio and public performance. A podcast (well, a good one, at least) is more like eavesdropping than it is like watching television--it piques our curiosity and invites us to lean in and listen. Meanwhile, our hands are free to cook or drive or do laundry.
Podcasts aren't going wind up as the antagonist of a 'Black Mirror' episode, but they might be an effective way to cope with the aftermath of one. From the evocative soundscapes to the niche subjects and even niche-ier personalities, they're the celebration of the teetering intersection between weird and cool. Having come into media from the "V" side of A/V, I thought I'd feel like something was really missing when working in an audio-only format, but I don't. I've actually come to love the podcast genre for all the nuanced ways it doesn't need to rely on the eyes at all.
Some personal favorites of mine (and there seem to be a lot of them now) include 99% Invisible, On the Media, Science Friday, The Last Archive, The Sporkful, & Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me!.
Grassroots local government
campaign in Malden, MA
At the intersection of technology and civil liberties
The past, present, and future of robotics in healthcare
Boston tech leaders unpack the "Boston Brand Problem"
During my time at Matter Communications, I helped the agency launch its nascent podcasting initiative, standing up and editing 5 shows in our first year and a half: “Freedom Unfinished” for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of MA, “More Capable” with Vicarious Surgical, “On the Tech Trail” S1 & 2 in partnership with the Massachusetts Technology Leadership Council, “ReLearning Leadership” for Agile Leadership Journey, and “Unsponsored Content” by Xandr. I was responsible for researching questions and initial guest communique, interviewing and recording with over 50 podcast guests remotely using the Riverside platform, transcribing interviews, assembling scripts, and compiling 25-45 min podcast episodes.
(Podcast show thumbnails above not my original work; created by others on the Matter Communications team)
Would your friends let you rope them into a full scale podcast production as first-timers? Mine did!
The first half of this two-part case study examines the tools and strategies we used to put together a budget-conscious, robust production with two newbies and volunteer time commitments.
Five guests and a summer's worth of work later, we published our final episode on 10/14/2023 in time to circulate before the November 7th elections.
This second case study addresses the challenges (and solutions) faced over the remainder of the show. New gear, new guests, and new workflows took us from our first foray episode through three more polished products. Once the groundwork's been laid, how does production continue to adapt and evolve? Where do expert interviews come into play? And what do the download statistics reveal about the project at large?