Element Descriptor
Every mofo has a podcast. Before you start, ask yourself – is the world CALLING OUT for yours? How long will it last? Do you have the requisite hardware and wetware? Well do you, punk?
Level descriptors
| Novice | Practitioner | Expert | Ninja |
|---|---|---|---|
| You understand what a podcast is and how it works, how it can be a useful addition to the written word and allow long-form exploration of complex issues. You also understand that as long a baseline level of technical quality is reached (laughably easy these days), it’s the guests, the discussions and ideas covered that make a podcast good and worth spending time on. | You have a working knowledge of how to produce a basic podcast – formulate a basic structure, engage with a guest, ask interesting questions, and how to record and edit the conversation to produce an end result that is free of glaring technical issues and lets the guest feel they got a fair chance to get their views across, with sufficient nuance and discussion of the finer points | Your guest selection and interviewing technique are both superb, as are your technical skills. Invitations to appear on your podcast are warmly welcomed, such is its reputation. You advise other groups on podcast best practice. | You get personal email from Noam Chomsky and Arundhati Roy, asking how soon they can be guests. Your interviews are referenced by national media outlets. |
Element Overview Essay
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So the reason podcasting is done badly is any idiot with an mp3 player thinks that they’re smart enough and dedicated enough to set up their own podcast. No, just NO.
The consequences of doing podcasts badly is you waste your own time, energy, you proliferate the enormous number of dead or deserve-to-be-dead podcasts. And you lower the respect for the art and craft, both technical and intellectual, around podcasting.
The solutions are to look at people who’ve done good podcasts series, to learn from them to take their advice, and to only start when you have almost all of your ducks in a row, and that you’re going to be able to do a series of tests technically competent and intellectually slash politically useful podcasts.
Development Resources
Assessment Resources
