Perfection, of a Kind, Was What They They Were After
I somehow missed this article on Sunday, but the Philly Inquirer has a nice overview of poetry podcasts.
ZeFrank vs. Rocketboom
ZeFrank’s The Show takes on Rocketboom, the Rocketboom Boy responds, and Ze responds further.
Gervais Pulls the Podcasting Plug
Ricky Gervais has put an end to his podcasts, claiming that he “wants to knock it on the head for a while before everybody hates us.” The good news is that the podcasts made so much money that Karl Pilkington may never have to work again.
Slate Audio Book Club Returns in October for More Base Generalizations
Big news from those cute and cuddly sophists over at Slate! After “a late-summer hiatus” trying to figure out if black writers should be talked about or ignored, the garrulous gang has nailed down the decidedly Caucasian Michael Pollan as their author of the month. Will Katie Roiphe try tapping some hazy memory of a Pollan book she may have read in college under the pressure of politically correct profs? Will Stephen Metcalf hijack the conversation with a turgid aside about how Pollan has earned too many accolades? Find out “in mid-October,” when the audio segment is ready. Let us hope that some brave soul will be able to make it past the thirteen minute mark.
Breaking Down Those Genre Barriers One Podcast at a Time
I don’t believe I’ve noted it publicly, but seeing as how Bat Segundo has been pretty slack on the mystery front (to be rectified when I return from Bouchercon), I would be horribly remiss if I didn’t point you to Behind the Black Mask, a podcast that interviews mystery writers. (via Sarah)
When Publishers Podcast
Unbridled Books gets into the podcasting game, with interviews featuring Ed Falco and Lise Haines. I’ve listened to the Falco podcast and it makes the catastrophic mistake of having Ed Falco read his work through the phone with the gain at a clipped level. This slack fidelity isn’t the way to get readers interested in an author. An author should read his work in person, ideally in front of a crowd, where the sound man can get decent levels and there’s a better aural dimension.
Further, while it’s good to see Unbridled embracing the podcast format, I don’t believe it’s legitimate journalism when a publisher has someone within its own house interview one of its authors. No matter how hardball the questions, there is simply no way to shake the troubling sense that the interview is promotion first, journalism second, and that the interviewer is pulling punches.
I certainly believe that publishers should have a podcasting presence. But perhaps it’s best reserved not for interviews, but for a more liberal use of the medium. Perhaps having an author read his work, transforming a story or a novel excerpt into a radio drama with sound effects and various actors performing dialogue, would be a better use of a publisher’s resources.
Transmissions
Benjamen Walker’s Theory of Everything offers another strange and compelling podcast — this one involving a couple, both recently infected with gonorrhea, who meet through an online personal site devoted to people who have STDs called Incurably Romantic. Wild existential confessionals, misinformation, and a wonderful ending — this is what great radio is all about, folks. Do give it a listen.
There’s a Good Standup Routine In Every Podcaster
Video podcaster ZeFrank does standup. (via Fimoculous)
Another Litblogger Throws In the Hat
Kevin Holtsberry, who is perhaps too apologetic in his debut, enters the podcasting fray and interviews Brock Clarke concerning this article and more.
Running Away from Michael Rice
Well, this is certainly a first. Not only has Cool as Hell Theatre hit Show #80 (to which I offer my whole-hearted congratulations), but one of his guests ran away in the middle of the interview. Was it something Michael said?
The Will Franken Podcast
I listened to the first installment this afternoon, and I have to say that local comedian Will Franken has a very promising comedy podcast. Alternating between lazy California social commentary to cultural obsession (perhaps too much, but he’s just starting out) to the crazed juxtaposition of a cheery guy working at a battered women clinic, Franken’s “Things We Did Before Reality” is a one-man sketch comedy that revives my closet hope that some podcasters out there might just revive old-style radio comedy for a new age of listeners.
Venn Diagram Needed for Those Trying to Date a Podcaster
VNUNet: “US internet users are more likely to download a podcast than try and find a partner online, a new study has revealed. According to research firm Nielsen//NetRatings, 9.2 million web users, nearly seven per cent of the online adult US population, recently downloaded an audio podcast.”
Petecast
Pete Anderson gets into the podcasting game with Petecast. The debut episode finds Anderson getting all crazy and informative about Ben Hecht.
The Internal Revenue Code in Podcast Form
Apple to Profit From Podcasters
So let me get this straight? I labor long and hard over a podcast, and Apple throws ads into it, debases what I’m trying to do and I don’t get to collect any kind of revenue? What an utterly terrible idea.
Charlene Li is Full of Shit
Podcasting News: “11% of all Americans have listened to audio podcasts. That translates into approximately 27 million Americans that have tried podcasts.”
Of course, the term “trying podcasts” sounds suspiciously like a teenager nervously smoking his first joint. But I’d believe Arbitron’s findings over Forrester.
Forrester Tells People What They Want to Hear
The big news going around the podcasting community is this Forrester report, which asserts “that only 1% of online households in North America regularly download and listen to podcasts.” Of course, since the actual six-page report is hidden behind a $249.00 walll, we can’t exactly corroborate the methodology behind this sweeping assertion. Nor is there any indication on how these “online households” are defined or determined. How many people were tested? Where were they tested? Were they dial-up or broadband?
Without these terms established, I really can’t see how anyone who believes in the scientific method can get into a big fuss over this. For one thing, Charlene Li’s math seems considerably off to me. If Forrester claims that there are “just 700,000 U.S. households” using podcasting, how did the two million downloads of The Ricky Gervais Show (after the first seven shows) happen? Surely, a substantial bloc of those downloads were American.
Granted, I’m just as skeptical about the Web 2.0 propaganda as anyone else. But if podcasts are a bust, why are so many companies spending so much money putting them out? Is so much VC riding on a long tail effect? A hunch? Or is this because the web stats (a far more verifiable figure than Forrester’s “we’ll tell you how we did it if you drop three C-notes” ruse) confirm a growing audience of listeners?
Of course, for those who Want to Believe, here are some fundamental reasons why Forrester’s “studies” should be called into question.
1. New York Times (February 20, 2005): From CEO George Colony’s own mouth: “Forrester, as it turns out, as it comes out of the recession, is really a portfolio company.” Colony has also insisted over the years that Google will be eclipsed by Microsoft, Yahoo and AOL.
2. CNet (October 7, 2003): Forrester releases “integrity policy” after Forrester stacked the deck in favor of Microsoft concluding that Windows was cheaper for companies to run than Linux (study paid for by Microsoft, with Forrester using a mere 12 companies as the basis for their results) and another bought and paid for by PeopleSoft. Because of this, software companies are now forbidden from publicizing Forrester results. In other words, Forrester Research commissions deficient studies, asks the companies to pay for them and orders them to keep their mouths shut after telling them what they want to hear! Brilliant!
3. ZDNet (November 17, 2005): George Colony: “I foresee a world in which even enterprise applications like financials, ERP (enterprise resource planning), and supply chain software will be advertising-funded.” Sure, because, as the 191 million+ downloads of Ad-Aware have demonstrated, everyone loves spyware and adware that cripples their OSes!
4. And then there’s bullshit from Colony in the Contra Costa Times (July 31, 2005): “Yet the president of Forrester Research, George Colony, who met last week with Hurd, is convinced that the company’s new chief will impose a sharper focus on HP when he unveils Phase 2 of his plans for the company. The only reason he did not do so earlier this week, Colony said, is that he has not been there long enough to devise a new strategy.”
Really, George? You mean, with all of your seer-like powers, you’re essentially telling us that a new CEO needs to settle and assess a situation before developing a game plan? Wow, that’s like Economics 101!
It’s only natural that newspapers are jumping onto this story like crazy. Because like the Microsoft people commissioning the Forrester study back in 2003, they’re hearing exactly what they want to hear. Podcasting is dead! Long live podcasting!
Well, if you want to believe this without proof or confirmable data, then you may as well believe that George Colony has five testicles in his nut sack.
[UPDATE: Looks like the sample pull was 5,015 computer users and that many of those surveys didn't have broadband. Where were these people located? How was this representative sample obtained?]
Before You Go to Med School, You Might Want to Subscribe to This Feed
To be clear on this, one podcast features “a pull-through procedure for a high imperforate anus,” a procedure that I suspect Toni Bentley hasn’t even considered.
The Other Big News: People TiVo Programs That They Have No Intention of Watching
There’s currently some controversy about podcasts. According to Bridge Data, 80% of podcasts that are downloaded never make it to a portable audio player. They are either listened to on the PC or downloaded without ever being listened to.
Bless Me Father, For I Have Downloaded
USA Today: “Born-again Christians account for 40% of the consumer technology market, which includes digital cameras, laptop computers and high-speed Internet access at home, Kinnaman says.”
Segundo Podcasting Rig
In the past few weeks, we’ve received several emails on the equipment we use for the show.
Shure Beta 58A (x2): Our main recording mikes for the interviews. (You may have noticed a slight boost in audio quality with the last few shows. These mikes are one of the reasons why.)
Shure SM-57s (x3): Backup mikes, what we were using before we nabbed the Beta 58As. (Don’t ask us what we were using before that!)
Behringer UBB1002: A battery-powered mixer we use for large-scale interviews for more than two people. We can record anywhere on battery power! That was our goal in the first place with these podcasts: a sort of nouevelle vague romanticism of having audio facilities that we could schlep about without the need to plug in anywhere. What, our minds asked, if the power went out and the authors we talked with were in the middle of a stunning story? Of course, with real-world conversations, you simply pull the votives out of the cabinet and carry on. This may be a rather odd justification, but consider the other reason: In a public place, finding a place to plug in is often a pain in the ass, particularly if it makes our subjects have to uncomfortably hunch over or the like. We do our damnedest to make our guests comfortable. Hence, battery power.
This replaced our Samson Mixpad 9, which we picked up used, not realizing that it was designed for live PA situations rather than what we were doing.
Samson Mixpad 9: We maintain this as a shaky backup. Or in the event that all audio production facilities suddenly stop manufacturing mixers. Actually, we’re not quite certain why we still have this. Probably because it sounds like a drum machine when it really isn’t. (Used for Show #11.)
Sony Minidsc Recorder MZ-R70: We’ve had this puppy since 1999, believe it or not. And it’s served our purposes extremely well. We’ve definitely put 200,000 miles on this trusty Dodge Dart, but catastrophically dropped this in a Manhattan subway a year ago. The thing still works, but it does have its occasional quirks, which we clean up in post.
SOFTWARE:
Audacity: Yes, we use this. It actually works very well for a lot of basic cleanup and cuts. And the best part is that it’s free.
Cakewalk Sonar: We can’t say enough fantastic things about this multitrack editor. We haven’t tried Cubase or Garage, but there’d have to be an utterly compelling case to get us to change.
Sound Forge: If Audacity doesn’t do the trick for a specific audio gaffe, you’ll find us firing up this application and doing our damnedest to restore the audio.
FURTHER NOTES:
It takes us at least 20 hours to produce a podcast. That includes booking the guest, reading the book(s), doing the research, preparing our questions, doing an equipment check, conducting the interview, dumping the audio into our computer, engineering the puppy, uploading and promoting it.
Radio Shack is actually quite fantastic for affordable mike stands, Y-adapters and ancillary doodads. It is not so good for mikes. Believe me, your microphone matters!
The better it sounds in production, the less work you’ll have to do in post. So it’s important to get the best signal possible in the field!
Organizing and booking guests is sometimes more time-consuming than you might imagine. But we do enjoy the many people we’ve talked with along the way and hope to meet several of them in person at BookExpo America.
Sparkletack
I can’t believe I didn’t discover it until now, but Sparkletack is one excellent podcast concerning itself with the history and culture of San Francisco.
Cool as Hell
Cool as Hell Theatre returns after a lengthy absence. If it takes David Perry to resuscitate Michael Rice from the grave, then I urge Mr. Perry to continue his recruitment efforts. Failing that, perhaps Mr. Rice might be interested in delving into more charlatans, freaks and dilletantes, as these seem to be his most entertaining podcasts.
He’s All Stocked Up on Kidneys
Warren Ellis has a podcast with groovy music donated by indie music called The Apparat Programme. Check it out.
Podcasting Authors
While Slushpile is busy noting any and all Jay McInerney developments, it should be noted that McInerney, perhaps taking a cue from Cory Doctorow, might be the first big author to exploit podcasting beyond mere chapter excerpts. McInerney has been providing excerpts from his readings, and it looks like he’ll be offering other goodies far beyond this. There are only two podcasts so far. But if this is representative of what authors plan to do with the form, I hope we’ll see more of it.
Revealing the Truth!
Alright. The cat’s out of the bag. For those who have emailed, yes, there was an interview with Dave Barry. Yes, it is a very funny interview and it should be going up in a few days. Yes, I am indeed the unnamed “local podaster” identified in C.W. Nevius’s column. Yes, C.W. did reveal his first name to me in an odd patrician tone. (He also assured me that he had “done some podcasts too,” to which I replied, “Cool. But did you engineer them?”)
But C.W. Nevius is DEAD WRONG about podcasts! For one thing, there is no “correct” way to use a podcast. Contrary to popular belief, a podcast is neither a form of social etiquette nor a small utility tool. For another thing, a podcaster would never refer to himself by his first two initials. At least not in any serious capacity.
Consummation of the Literary Podcast
The Agony Column is now podcasting proper. And he’s sitting on a bunch of old interviews.
New Podjack City
To my knowledge, there is no one podjacking The Bat Segundo Show. But anyone currently podcasting needs to read this horror story . The potential implications here (third-party podjackers attaching advertisements and profiting off of content produced by others) are staggering. And frankly, I’m surprised that I was naive enough not to consider that things like this wouldn’t happen sooner or later.
Why Wikipedia is a Problem
Adam Curry, historical revisionist? Not just a revisionist historian. But if Wikipedia is to be an effective resource, then it needs to ensure that impartial third parties update the entries.
All Signs Point to Lunatic
The Cool as Hell Theatre Podcast talks with a man named “Rex Reginald” who claims to be the author of a book called The Party Crashers. Apparently, Mr. Reginald claims that the producers of the film The Wedding Crashers ripped off his book. But here’s the interesting thing: There’s no trace of any book authored by Rex Reginald at either the Library of Congress or ISBN. In fact, the only book named The Party Crashers is a novel written by Stephanie Bond. Reginald claims in Rice’s podcast that he’s involved in a major lawsuit against unidentified producers and studios, that he’s about to get paid big money to buy a mansion. Perhaps he might want to consider investing this cash in a publicist who might be able to plug his nonexistent book.
