Consider this mindset:
never in a hurry
never worried
never desperate
never stopping shortAs Epictetus once summarized his entire philosophy: Persist and resist. Persist in your efforts. Resist giving in to distraction, discouragement, or disorder.
~ Ryan Holiday
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This is just one of countless times I’ve strolled this connector-trail. It’s different every time. This time, I was literally arrested mid-stride to snap this.
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A man’s job is to make the world a better place to live in, so far as he is able—always remembering the results will be infinitesimal—and to attend to his own soul.
~ Leroy Percy
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How does a podcast serving millions still make each listener feel personally connected?
Discover why “connection, not perfection” became the north star for one of the world’s most-listened-to language shows.
[Do you ever freak-out thinking about 200,000 people listening?] I think that our vision of the human connection is still so strong inside me, that I think about that. I think about that listener who might feel isolated right now because of language. They’re either living in the US and they’re struggling to get connected in their community, or they’re on a call from Japan to New York and they’re cringing because they think they just said the wrong thing and they’re not building the business relationship.
~ Lindsay McMahon (19:00)
This conversation with Lindsay McMahon explores the strategic structure and guiding values behind one of the most successful podcasts for English language learners. Lindsay discusses how the show’s consistency in structure, length, and tone builds trust and supports learning. The format was intentionally designed from the beginning, and every episode follows a clear template. The recurring message, “connection, not perfection,” drives the brand and resonates deeply with listeners around the world. The show targets global English learners, particularly professionals, and publishes five days a week, delivering a sense of reliability and approachability.
Lindsay shares her team-building strategy, including how co-hosts are hired, trained, and retained. She emphasizes treating podcasting as a business (for example, offering benefits like 401(k) matching), which contributes to long-term team cohesion. The show’s monetization model is also discussed, covering courses, sponsorships, licensing, and Apple+ subscriptions. The team uses lead magnets (like quizzes), and consistent calls to action are embedded in every episode. Additional topics include burnout, managing production buffers, and ambitions to expand into live events and podcast coaching.
Takeaways
Designing a consistent episode format — A deliberate structure supports language learning and creates a predictable listener experience.
“Connection, not perfection” as a guiding principle — Prioritizing human connection over grammatical precision challenges traditional language instruction.
Podcasting as a business, not a hobby — Hiring co-hosts as paid team members ensures accountability and long-term consistency.
Lead magnets drive engagement — Quizzes are particularly effective at converting listeners into email subscribers.
Outlining instead of scripting — Episodes are outlined with teaching goals but intentionally unscripted to maintain spontaneity.
Batch recording and long buffers — Maintaining a three-week content buffer ensures uninterrupted delivery despite emergencies.
Burnout isn’t hypothetical — High-stress periods, like losing a team member, can lead to physical consequences and force reevaluation.
Team chemistry matters — Rapport between co-hosts is essential and carefully considered during hiring.
Being contrarian creates distinction — Challenging industry norms, like overemphasis on perfection, helps define a unique brand identity.
Listener-first thinking — Constant attention is paid to whether the listener is engaged and whether the show is truly serving their needs.
Video is a distribution channel, not a core product — Repurposing podcast audio for YouTube helps reach wider audiences without diluting focus.
Podcasting isn’t the business — The podcast functions as the top of a funnel for a multifaceted language education company.
Seasons don’t make sense for some formats — A continuous delivery model supports learners’ expectations and needs.
In-person events are powerful but resource-heavy — Listener meetups provide deep engagement but require significant logistics.
Launching early provided advantage — Entering the English-as-second-language podcast market in 2013 gave a head start with less competition.
Resources
All Ears English — Main site for the language-learning podcast and its related offerings.
All Ears English YouTube Channel — Video recordings of podcast episodes for additional reach.
Apple Podcasts: All Ears English — To listen, but also if you want to see what they’re doing with Apple+ subscriptions and how that shows up in the Apple player.
Business English from All Ears English — One of the brand’s additional podcasts focused on business-specific English learning.
IELTS Energy Podcast — Show for students preparing for the IELTS exam, also under the All Ears English brand.
OptinMonster — Tool mentioned for generating email opt-ins from website traffic.
Podcast Movement — Mentioned as the location (at the 2024 event in London) of recent discussions on the future of video in podcasting.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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Sunday morning was cool, misty and overcast. I was sitting on the patio with a cup of coffee and thought: “The lawn needs mowing.”
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The machine does not isolate man from the great problems of nature but plunges him more deeply into them.
~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
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Reading my previous journal entries (as I do every morning) I was surprised to find it’s been only a year since I move my 7 for Sunday weekly email off to its own site. (If you like reading my blog posts, you’ll love reading my weekly email. ;)
It was quite a lot of work, although I’d completely forgotten all about it. What a gift it was to my today-self; yes, the work to move the project making it even better, but more so the delight of being reminded to look back and appreciate the project now.
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The present moment was once the unimaginable future.
~ Stewart Brand
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Things were quiet the morning after coaching and volunteering at the 2025 Move NYC event. Coffee. Chill morning air. Sun rising through the trees. A snapshot to remind myself that sometimes I do get the rare privilege to be able to literally address the sun with sun salutations. And although I can stare at anything while meditating, when I find moss-covered balanced stones also in the direction of the rising sun… sublime. Thanks Ruby and Jesse!
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What happens when faith, logic, and vulnerability collide in a personal search for truth?
Cassian Bellino has turned personal doubt into a public quest for answers interviewing scholars about Christianity.
I think just, over time, you really understand that God invites these questions because He doesn’t want us to live blindly or have blind faith.
~ Cassian Bellino (36:55)
The conversation explores the origin and evolution of Cassian’s podcast, Biblically Speaking, focused on asking scholars direct, often difficult questions about Christianity. It begins with her internal conflict—wanting to live as a Christian while not fully understanding or agreeing with the faith—and follows her decision to start a podcast to resolve those doubts through dialogue. Cassian’s podcast is a place for intellectual exploration, built from personal curiosity and a desire for logical clarity rather than blind faith.
The discussion touches on content strategy, emotional challenges, and the mechanics of sustaining a solo creative endeavor. Cassian recounts her journey through building community platforms, hiring coaches, learning software systems, and dealing with burnout. Marketing, guest outreach, and pre-call preparation processes are shared in detail, alongside reflections on episodes that felt like failures but later proved meaningful to listeners. Throughout, the conversation centers on the power of asking questions and trusting intuition to guide the creative process.
Takeaways
Starting with doubt — A podcast was born from unresolved questions about faith and a desire for logical understanding.
Living authentically — The tension between personal beliefs and behavior pushed a transformation toward integrity.
Faith as inquiry — Rather than blind acceptance, the creator invites and pursues questions to deepen belief.
Community encouragement — Support from family and friends played a pivotal role in catalyzing the podcast’s launch.
No formal training — The project began without vision, planning, or marketing infrastructure, yet succeeded organically.
Scholarly access — Professors were invited via public contact information, creating opportunities for deep conversations.
Iterative development — The podcast and related projects grew through trial, error, and continuous refinement.
Strategic pivoting — Several initiatives were launched and later shut down based on response and sustainability.
Emotional cycles — Creative highs and lows are acknowledged as normal and are met with grace and reflection.
Guest preparation — Pre-calls, topic selection, and clear expectations ensure productive and respectful interviews.
Mismatch recovery — A seemingly misaligned episode later proved invaluable to a listener, showing the value of publishing anyway.
Platform building — Tools like Go High Level, automated funnels, and lead magnets were adopted through hands-on experience.
Future expansion — Plans include more complex episodes with multiple guests and potential sponsorship monetization.
Audience insights — The content resonates strongly with stay-at-home mothers and reflective older men.
Constructive doubt — A major theme is that God welcomes questions and wants people to understand their faith deeply.
Resources
bibspeak.com — The Biblically Speaking podcast’s official website, with guides and merchandise for its audience.
@thisisbiblicallyspeaking — Instagram
@thisisbiblicallyspeaking (TikTok) — TikTok
Biblically Speaking Podcast — YouTube
Go High Level — Platform used for building funnels, automating email, and managing community outreach.
intro.co — Platform used to connect with podcasting coaches and mentors.
testimonial.to — Tool for collecting and displaying user testimonials.
The Hansel and Gretel Code — Curtis Cates’s podcast mentioned by Craig that explores intuitive storytelling (particularly episode 31, The Power of Plan B.)
David Wasicki — Podcast coach mentioned by Cassian, who provided guidance on branding and emotional support.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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[R]eject the first judgements and the objections that spring out of them because those objections are so often rooted in fear. […] This is radically different from how we’ve been taught to act. Be realistic, we’re told. Listen to feedback. Play well with others. Compromise. Well, what if the “other” party is wrong? What if conventional wisdom is too conservative? It’s this all-too-common impulse to complain, defer, and then give up that holds us back.
~ Ryan Holiday
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There were several days with rain during a recent visit to Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. Lots of rain makes for gorge-ous greens and roaring streams. Here, in Root Glen.
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People are getting a little desperate. They might not show their best elements to you. You must never lower yourself to being a person you don’t like. There is no better time than now to have a moral and civic backbone. To have a moral and civic true north. This is a tremendous opportunity for you, a young person, to be heroic.
~ Henry Rollins
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My wife is a Peony hybridizer—she’s really interested in growing, and creating new, Peonies. We recently visited the spectacular (even caveman-me could see that) collection of Peonies at Hamilton College in Clinton, New York. I took one—exactly one!—photo of a Peony. She took a “few” more than I did.
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Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance.
~ Steven Pressfield, from Writing Wednesdays: The Unlived Life
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For me there’s a huge tension between those two. I see so many things that I want to do—and I don’t mean binge-watch TV shows. I imagine something I’d like to write—for example, a weekly, emailed publication for paying subscribers—and the complexity of creating it overwhelms me. The writing is the easy part; Or, am I deluding myself? The only salve I’ve found is to remind myself over and over and over that I consistently overestimate what I can get done in a day, and underestimate what I can get done in a lifetime.
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All original parts, some wear. As I’m starting to look for opportunities to coach in movement spaces, a headshot is a requisite.
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Peole who do not know how to laugh are always pompous and self-conceited.
~ William Makepeace Thackeray
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Claude and I discussed it, and my theory (Claude is giving me full credit) is an LLM of this sort is not a communications medium at all. There’s no way for a human to put a new idea directly into it and no way to send that message to another human. Instead, my take is that Claude brings us everything it knows, and that its function is to help us go within, not across.
~ Seth Godin, from Across and within | Seth’s Blog
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A slightly longer than usual blog post from Godin making the interesting point differentiating across time, versus across space (just normal space, not outer space.) I know I find “talking” with LLMs very helpful for various reasons. I think the biggest is that it is (or at least “feels like”) one-on-one communication; It’s very much not social media where I always feel like I’m serving corporate masters by making grist for their mills.
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There’s a pretty obvious incentive at play when companies have the ability to unilaterally alter how their products work after you buy them and you are legally prohibited to change how the product works after you buy them. This is the first lesson of the Darth Vader MBA: “I am altering the deal. Pray I don’t alter it any further.”
~ Cory Doctorow, from Pluralistic: Brother makes a demon-haunted printer
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There are many wrongs to right in the world. This one “small” legal wrinkle doesn’t seem like a big deal at first glance. And then…
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In a word, Senecan joy comes from within, from a good person’s own character and conduct: it arises from goodness itself and from right actions that one performs. This means that joy will not always be a matter of smiles and laughter, for good actions may be difficult and unpleasant: one may have to accept poverty, endure pain, even die for one’s country. A good person does these things only when they are right, and only for that reason, but the doing is itself a good and a reason to rejoice.
~ Margaret Graver and A. A. Long from Letters on Ethics
I don’t understand how we got to the common definition of “stoic”—the suppression of emotions. It’s a shame, because Stoicism is literally the opposite of suppressing one’s emotions. Emotions and reason have their right place. Stoic joy.
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