How not to make a podcast
When someone asked Thomas Edison about his initial failure to construct to a light bulb, he replied: "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."
Before continuing, I will admit this analogy is slightly absurd, because making a light bulb is an exceedingly more difficult task than creating a podcast, but the one item they share is the act of trial and error.
For those who are unaware, a podcast is a digital show, made available for free on the Internet. You can find podcasts through Apple or on a variety of other platforms. Podcasts can vary in topic from everything from pregnancy to mechanical work, or even how to make your own podcast (which was very helpful in our endeavor). For any topic you might be interested in, no matter how specific, there is a podcast online for you.
How it all began
About two months ago, I was approached by my friend Patrick Feilds about the idea of starting a podcast centered around the theme of books and literature. It was shortly afterwards we enlisted our mutual friend Samuel Zurcher.
The idea spawned from our Wednesday coffee nights in Terre Haute. Basically, every Wednesday night we would get together and discuss the different books we were reading. Thanks to Pat's urging, we have decided to bring our pretentious conversations to the Internet in the hopes that others will listen and can possibly join in the conversation. We decided on the name of the show as Infinite Gestation (hopefully it will not be mistaken as a pregnancy podcast).
The idea of forming the podcast was actually the simplest part of this whole process -- everything else that has happened since then has been...arduous.
It was decided early on that I would be partially responsible for running sound, considering my degree in Audio Recording. The problem, as I later learned, was how little I actually remembered about recording. In short, recording is a convoluted process reserved for those who have an absurd amount of patience (which I lack), and deep pockets (which I also lack).
After enlisting the help of a proper audio engineer, Brandon Fagg, we were finally ready to begin recording.
What to say?
The point of the podcast is ultimately having something to say about the topic of your show. The topics were not hard to come by, the problem is that Pat, Sam and I are writers, so we decided it would be best to outline our show. That was a bad idea. We wanted to keep each show at roughly 45 minutes in length, but with our notes and background, our fist attempt lasted at least twice as long as what we hoped. What we found in our lengthly attempt is the best areas of our first recording hinged on the natural flow in our conversations.
Shameless Self Promotion
I have been lucky in my position at the Greene County Daily World where I have a weekly column and the artistic license to say, mostly, whatever is on my mind. So for those out there who enjoy literary topics and discussion, we would greatly appreciate for you to take the time and listen to our show. The shows we will be debuting include the following: Censorship and George Orwell's "Why I Write," The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass, and Why Kurt Vonnegut Matters. For any topic suggestions you are welcome to email me. We will have the website and podcasts available on iTunes by the end of the July.
Grant is a staff writer for the Greene County Daily World and the co-host of the podcast Infinite Gestation. He can be reached by telephone at (812) 847-4487, ext. 19. He can also be reached via email at gkarazsia@gmail.com.
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