Starting a podcast on Podbean and others

[Colibri]

Hello,

I am contemplating starting podcast episodes about a topic dear to me : housing.
Being in a privileged position of having access to major players in the local housing industry (real estate agent, contractor, lumberyard manager, etc.), my goal is to discuss with them and provide answers on various issues related to the current housing crisis. This is both a local and national issue and the perspectives discussed on the podcast would be relevant not just to the locals.

I brainstormed for a while about picking the right vehicle for this : filmmaking/documentary, newspaper writing, blogging but it seems the podcast format would be best suited to my skills, plus I do enjoy meeting new people IRL, doing the interviews.

Not being too knowledgeable about podcast platform, a quick search led me to Podbean as an one stop shop, easy to deal with platform.

Anyone with experience dealing with them ?
Any recommendations ?

I will also need to get recording equipment as I don't wish to use my phone. I found some interesting information about which equipment are worth it, again, any recommendations, real life experiences ?

Thank you all !

[Loner]

Sweet!! I'll tune in for sure.

Some good recommendations in this thread wrt microphones/gear, but I guess you saw it already: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=11846

I don't know much about podcasts, and even less about specific platforms, so I can't offer much in terms of advice, just basic, basic thoughts.

Some podcast pet peeves:
- Interviewers who won't let the interviewee speak
- Sound too low (can't hear well even w/ volume at 11); sound too loud (distorted); sound too low but then boosted (noise); level difference between interviewer-interviewee
- Can't download the podcast (in mp3 of whatever)

Thinking about the angle of the podcast, what public/region/listenership do you wish to target? (Sorry, I'm not sure I got it.) You'd like to have listeners from your vicinity specifically? Or from the whole (English-speaking) country? I'm thinking that, if you talk only to local people, unless you specifically focus your questions on the national situation, you might not draw in (as many) people from elsewhere, even if the topic you discuss do have national relevance. And even then. Listeners from Toronto or Vancouver who click on the podcast and see only guests from your locale might not be all that tempter to click, thinking (even if erroneously) that it'd be irrelevant to them. You have a good access to local people, and that is a big plus (certainly in the case where you target a local "market"), but perhaps you could widen your audience by talking to people from around Canada? If you present yourself well, you'll have access to a whole lotta people. I'm sure researchers, policy-makers, big contractors, community organizers, and many other experts and thinkers would be glad to participate and talk to you. Food for thought, I have no clue if it's a good idea or even if you'd be interested. It is also a different game, since you'll have different technical challenges (recording from Zoom instead of your mic), and you won't necessarily meet people IRL, which you like. Anyways, just quick thoughts in case they're useful.

Also, you wrote that you thought about different avenues (filmmaking, writing, etc.), and you seem to be settling on podcasts, but there's no reason why you cannot do many of those things. For instance, you can use different interviews as a starting point to write a piece (with a different angle) to sell to a magazine, which will then help you gather viewers, etc.

I'm sure this helps not at all, since it's obvious-y stuff, but anyways, I'll follow this thread, maybe I can help in other ways. Good luck!

[Colibri]

Yes, I read the comments about Jacob's podcast and the not so great sound quality and volume.
Looks like this is probably number one thing to make sure you master. No matter how interesting the subject is, if the sound is unbearable people will not listen for too long. It is definitely on my radar.
I have been listening podcasts lately and I take notes of what I like and dislike about them. Yeah, interviewers who can't shut up or mumble stuff instead of digging into the subject... I also listen quite a fair bit of radio and to me a good podcast is similar to a good radio show when the host has a pleasant voice, doesn't speak too slow or too fast. I noticed the best shows or podcasts are when the host seem to be genuinely interested by the subject and/or the guest. You can feel those things in the tone of voice.

I am still brainstorming about the angle to take for the podcast as I have about 20 subjects that could become each an episode, they are all linked to housing, some are about the various issues and others about possible solutions. I want to keep things light of course and infused with humour and self-mockery as we are the ones creating our own problems most of the time but we can also find solutions on our own, which people have done and should be shared (the solution).
Will ask a musician friend to create the intro jingle with her hammered dulcimer, it should be interesting.

Yeah, you are right, it will be very difficult to reach people outside of the local bubble. And yet, I am only speaking for myself but if this was done in Plattsburgh it would still be interesting to listen since issues are very similar across the country (continent ?). For now, keeping expectations low is probably best, at least if I can have local people listening I will be happy.

My hope is that magazine/newspaper will want to have an interview with me ! not the other way around That should not be too hard with local newspapers, slow news day is a real treath.

That is some good food for thoughts. Please keep sharing if you happen to have more ideas.

[Seppia]

Podbean works great, but they've killed the best priced option (100mb per month of new podcasts, 100gb monthly bandwidth but it was never enforced, all for line $35 per year).
Now the cheapest usable option costs $120 per year which is steep.

I am the least tech savvy person on planet earth, but I have been recording podcasts for more than 10 years with very little trouble.
Just get a call recorder+skype, or you can use streamyard+youtube channel and then download the audio from there.
Edit with Audacity for the mp3, then upload automatically on apple podcasts and spotify

If you want to build an audience, persistence is key

[Loner]

Great, looking forward to hear this then! And yes, getting interviewed by the local paper is a really good idea for sure (usually doesn't pay though, while the inverse does, if that's a consideration). If you angle for that, I'd suggest taking the PR in your own hands, and approaching them yourself. If you wait for them to discover you, and to ask for an interview with you, it might take longer.

[Alphaville]

i'm mostly a reader and don't listen to podcasts much but imo it's not like talk radio, it is talk radio. same demands on the listener's attention.

for gear you want a vocal mic basically. that's your input, turning mechanical vibration into electricity.

the recording end can be handled in different ways--including the phone btw if you have the proper interface.

i posted some stuff in that old thread you mentioned, and if you have specific questions i'll try to answer.

[white belt]

How do you define the current housing crisis? I think as others have pointed out, housing is generally very local so it may be hard to appeal to a wider internet audience (not that big if a deal if you don’t care much about reaching a wider audience).

Have you checked out other podcasts about your topic? Talking Headways might be something to check out because it covers urban planning and affordable housing.