Craig Constantine

Sabbath

Seriously? A whole day each week without work? Sitting in the orientation that day, I could not imagine pulling it off. I had spent a decade of my professional life running from event to event, fighting for the time to read and write and reflect.
~ Brenton Dickieson, from sabbath unplugged

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Therein lies much wisdom. Go readeth thou shall.

I’d like to suggest a layer of nuance be added: One can only achieve a certain “width” of change for that one day each week. You cannot have a completely relaxed day if the other six are maximally frenetic. If you live with the chaos and noise turned up to 11, you cannot turn it down to 2 on a particular day. By “width” I mean you can really only turn it down somewhat; If you’re normally living at an 11, you can only expect to get down to, perhaps, a 7 on your sabbath. If you really want to have a relaxing day of rest, that’s probably down around like a zero on the chaos and noise knob.

So, Sabbath? Certainly. And work regularly—every day—to turn that chaos and noise knob. Live life at 2, and then your day off can be a sublime zero of rest and recovery.

Let’s be okay with being a little nervous

October 27

There are a bunch of insights in this little conversation with Ira Glass:

I’m ambitious! I want the stories to be special and I want the interviews to be special. The nervousness is my fear that they won’t be, and my awakeness to how hard it might be to get it to work. If you have any ambition, you march into the interview with a battle plan. You have this theory about what’s going to happen with this other person but you really have not the best idea if it’s going to work. Interviewing is an art form that so depends on the soul of the other person and also on how the two of you interact.
~ Ira Glass, from Ira Glass

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I particularly like that one about nervousness as a sign that we are doing something right as podcast creators. What’s the hard work? What’s the part that makes us a little nervous? Exactly.

Oh, good

October 26

I’ve never worked a day in my life! I don’t! These days I get up every morning and say, “Oh good, another day!”
~ Ridley Scott, from Ridley Scott

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I hope the key-phrase in there is, “these days.” Because I definitely do not get up every morning thinking that. Presuming I ever reach that point of “oh good”, the challenge for me will be not piling more “should”s onto myself and forcing myself backwards. We shall see.

Labyrinthine and awkward

October 25

But my very first memory was the Jim Henson film, Labyrinth. This has to be, without doubt, the creepiest Muppet film ever. I reacted strongly to the film as a child: frustration, intrigue, terror, revulsion, surprise, delight, and an awkward boyhood crush on Jennifer Connelly as Sarah, the heroine. It was a powerful film, not least because of David Bowie as Jareth. Evil and allure, Bowie is my archetypal Goblin King.
~ Brenton Dickieson, from Faërie Stories in The Labyrinth

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I agree with this entire post. As in: OMGYESPLEASE jumping up flipping my desk. It’s now been 8 years since Bowie died… and I very nearly rewatched Labyrinth just because of this post. “Evil and allure” in every direction, indeed. Muppets and kidnapped children. Beauty and horror.

AI, but in the other direction

October 24

This recent bite of news from Podnews.net reminded me of a discussion I recently had with Tracy Hazzard…

Is a new Google service flooding podcast apps with spam? Calling them “a threat to the podcasting community”, the podcast directory Listen Notes has made a NotebookLM Detector, to spot shows made by Google’s NotebookLM. So far, it’s detected more than 280 shows which have been made using the AI tool. “Notebook LM has made it easier to mass-produce low-quality, fake content”, says Listen Notes founder Wenbin Fang; though The Spectator’s Sean Thomas suggests that AI may “make the podcast bro irrelevant”.

~ Podnews Oct 8, 2024 issue

As podcasters we’re focused on one direction; call it the “forward” direction with increasing amounts of refinement and care…

we record an episode
we do post-production
we write show notes
we write blog posts or in-depth articles based on the episode
we write based on themes we find running through several of our episodes

Each of us puts a lot of effort into that work, in that “forward” direction.

Tracy and I were talking about using AI to generate podcasts by going in the other direction. What if we took our own work, and used AI to generate new podcasts?

If it was done well, the AI could generate great podcasts, in my voice— me doing host-on-mic, from the things I have written.

That’s an interesting idea…

My mind is an emulation

October 20

My mind is [apparently] a poor emulation of every movie ever created.

I mean, can you reliably tell whether you are an actual human in base reality or an upload/simulation?

Or to extend this even further:

Is there any text conversation that somebody could have with you that would convince you that you are actually a machine?

What a weapon that would be. What a cursed SMS that would be to receive.

IF YOU’RE READING THIS, YOU’VE BEEN IN A COMA FOR ALMOST 20 YEARS NOW. WE’RE TRYING A NEW TECHNIQUE. WE DON’T KNOW WHERE THIS MESSAGE WILL END UP IN YOUR DREAM, BUT WE HOPE WE’RE GETTING THROUGH.
~ Matt Webb, from Turing test variations

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First off, there are three different things I wanted to quote and three different directions. Go read the thing. I wish I had written it. Hello? Could the programmers running my brain in the simulation please drop the upgrade soon?! I digress.

As I read the above (the bit I quoted) I had a few thoughts…

One — There’s an idea—I recall it being called a “scissors” or a “shears”—which breaks a mind (human, but the discussion was also about an AI’s mind) once you have the idea. I mean: There’s a discussion of whether or not there can exist such a scissors. I’m sure I’ve read about this; I would have swore I blogged about it. But I can’t even find the discussion on the Internet. What I have found is discussion about the discussion with references to the discussion being deleted and moderator-blocked for a few years. Apparently, because if such a scissors actually exists . . . *bonk* Therefore, my first thought after reading the quoted bit above is that I think that “scissors” once broke my brain, and caused an emulator crash. And the information was mostly erased before I was restarted.

Two — Have you seen the film, The Thirteenth Floor? No spoiler! Go watch.

Three — Making this connection, as I read, made the hair stand up on my arms. Have you see the film, Prince of Darkness? No Spoiler! Go watch.

A guide to the good life

October 18

I wrote this book with the following question in mind: If the ancient Stoics had taken it upon themselves to write a guidebook for twenty-first-century individuals—a book that would tell us how to have a good life—what might that book have looked like? The pages that follow are my answer to this question.
~ William B. Irvine, from A Guide to the Good Life

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There are a lot of books and ideas that get put forward when talking about Stoicism. This book is the best place to start. I wish I had found it much closer to when it was written in 2009. I wish it had been written 30 years sooner, and that I’d found it back then.

The Stoics’ interest in logic is a natural consequence of their belief that man’s distinguishing feature is his rationality. Logic is, after all, the study of the proper use of reasoning.
Ibid p33

[…] when the Stoics counsel us to live each day as if it were our last, their goal is not to change our activities but to change our state of mind as we carry out those activities. In particular, they don’t want us to stop thinking about or planning for tomorrow; instead they want us, as we think about and plan for tomorrow, to remember to appreciate today.
Ibid p71

[W]hen Stoics contemplate their own death, it si not because they long for death but because they want to get the most out of life. As we have seen, someone who thinks he will live forever si far more likely to waste his days than someone who fully understands that his days are numbered, and one way to gain this understanding is periodically to contemplate his own death.
Ibid p200

Generously reposting our work

October 16

The social media practice called “Throwback Thursdays” came up here a few weeks ago. At the time, I mentioned that I’ve done this in the past—but usually only very randomly. I’ve recently started being systematic about reposting my older work, on Thursdays.

I think this is a generous gift to our audiences. There are so many great podcasts out there, that we shouldn’t expect our listeners to notice our work after just one, initial “here I made this.” (Plus it’s a fun walk down memory lane.)

The hardest part is quickly picking which of our episodes to post about…

There’s a handy tool for that. This little web page will kick out a random number for you, https://www.calculator.net/random-number-generator.html

Then on Thursdays, just go through your usual social media posting process.

Don’t forget to tag it “TBT” — usually just adding a “#TBT” at the bottom gets the job done.

The person before you

October 14

Be as open as possible to the person in front of you. Listen and observe so closely that you can follow up on a sigh, a shake of the head, a change in tone of voice. Take a chance on reflecting your observations back to them without judgment: “You looked amused just now. What’s that about?” Ask the question about feelings that occurs to you, the one you might normally suppress.

Allow silence.

And see what happens. I think you may be astonished at the result.
~ Elaine Appleton Grant, from Great storytelling is built on revealing interviews. Are yours falling flat?

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In conversation generally, and in our work as podcasters, is there anything more fundamental than being open?

The Work

October 12

After reading the first “book” in Steven Pressfield’s The War of Art, I’m inspired to define, for me specifically: What is “the work?”

In a specific moment, on a specific day, when I feel that odd uneasiness, I will not try to identify the specific form Resistance is taking. Instead as Pressfield mentions on page 12:

[…] We can use this. We can use it as a compass. We can navigate by Resistance, letting it guide us to that calling or action that we must follow before all others.

Rule of thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.

As a real example of my own experience, Resistance’s compass guides me towards watching sci-fi entertainment (“a harmless relaxation,” I think after working in my yard for hours). So the opposite would be to… organize and streamline my writing environment and processes so tomorrow I can write more easily! No. My hiding in preparation and perfection is just another form of Resistance.

The best way for me is to look at all the possible things I could do, rather than follow Resistance’s compass. Then boil that down to a list of positive, actionable, directions in which I can sit down and work.

In a specific moment, on a specific day, when I feel that odd uneasiness, I can glance at my list and simply do a bit of The Work.

To defeat Resistance I can simply sit down, and do a little bit of any of the following…

do guest outreach for podcasting
write the next issue of 7 for Sunday
write the next Open + Curious article
write new blog posts

PS: I’ve listed “do guest outreach” because—for me—once I do that consistently for a few weeks, all the rest of the podcasting process follows automatically.

What is intention?

October 10

Friend and fellow podcaster Angie Flynn-McIver published a book, Before You Say Anything, in 2021…

Your intention should be something that really lights you up. You need to feel it in your chest, in your gut. It is the verb that connects you to your audience, the umbilical cord that takes your energy to them and brings theirs back to you. Intention is action.
~ Angie Flynn-McIver

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Another quote from the book, was a seed for a recent post to Open + Curious…

Active, not passive

Little Box of Quotes — For those who don’t know: The quote at the top is now included in my collection, which I call the Little Box of Quotes — number 1,471 to be exact. There’s a daily email available with just exactly one quote, and nothing more. For several years it was also a daily podcast which to more than 1,000 episodes (still available wherever you listen). All free, just because I like to create things that make the world a better place.

Changing the name of a podcast?

October 5

My podcasting-friend, and coach, David Nebinski has a question for podcasters over on his Substack…

Should I change the name of the podcast? I have gone back and forth on changing the name… What do you think? Reply back and let me know!

~ David Nebinski, from Should I change the name…

I don’t have a login for Substack (an intentional choice) so I cannot reply there. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I have changed the name of a podcast. The Movers Mindset show had a very different name in the beginning. For me, I realized I was always spending time explaining the meaning of the name— and I realized I wanted to spend that time explaining the show itself rather than the odd name I had.

So I think that’s one reason to change a name: When the name just doesn’t fit.

When people ask me this, I direct them first to Eric Nuzum’s classic question: Can you describe your show in 12 words? …10 words?

Our show titles don’t have be our one (or 2 or 3 even) word answer to that question. But I think they have to at least not detract from describing our show.

Appearance on the Visible Voice podcast

October 4

Mary Chan is a skilled hostess with a gift for great conversation. Her show is laser-focused on helping other podcasters grow and excel. She recently invited me to join her— …actually, stop reading. Go listen!

Even if we’re lucky enough to “do what we love,” work tends to have tedious aspects we don’t like. Craig Constantine is a passion podcaster who, through the creation of thousands of episodes and rigorous reflection, has built a workflow that simplifies every step of his method, from prep to publication.

~ Mary Chan, from The Podcaster’s Guide to a Visible Voice

Simplify Your Workflow to Keep Your Podcasting Passion Alive with Craig Constantine – Episode 84

Cultivating a richer life

October 3

Are you feeling overwhelmed by the never-ending noise and distractions of our modern world? You’re not alone. In today’s fast-paced environment, finding inner peace has become more crucial than ever.

~ from Cultivating a Richer Life with Craig Constantine

Back in early 2023, I was delighted to be invited to again join Vivian Carrasco on her show, The Within (U) Podcast. I think those of you who’ve heard a lot of me, will find this episode a little different. (Thanks go to Vivian for being such an open and inviting hostess!)

So glad that Vivian was able to hit the ship-it button recently on this, and a bunch more episodes! It’s great to see you back on the bicycle Vivi. :)

I know what to do

September 26

For me, fully internalizing this one powerful piece of inspiring profanity has been transformative. But I still find that returning regularly to the well makes all this work even better. So I downloaded both of the Goggins’s audiobooks and worked through them in little chunks on my morning walks over the period of a month. Then I moved on to Peter Attia’s Outlive, and Jocko Willink’s Extreme Ownership.

~ Peter Adeney, from The Ultimate Life Coach

I really do know what I should be doing. (I have no idea if you, or anyone else, does too.) But I can tell you that even though I know… it’s still tough to do the soul-crushing work. I’ve not read any of the books above—although Outlive is on my to-read pile.

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You can totally just say you don’t know

September 24

Our mission, as podcasters is to say “I don’t know” when that is the case, and even more importantly, to make our guests feel delighted to say they don’t know when that’s the case.

At the end of the day there’s an awful lot of what I do as an actor that I don’t necessarily understand – nor should I. One of the necessary evils of acting is doing an awful lot of interviews, which is interesting when you’re asked good questions but it can sometimes be mind-numbing. You feel like, “Why do I have to explain myself? I have nothing to say.” You’re not allowed to say, “I don’t know,” but you don’t always know why you did what you did.

~ Jude Law, from Jude Law: “It’s Not You”

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‘nuf said.

Self less

September 22

Let’s bend relationship advice to apply to podcasting: Feeling stuck in a rut with your podcasting? Go have a conversation with a guest where your entire intention is to be of service to them.

The asymmetry between wanting to know others and being known by them presents an inherent problem, because relationships require reciprocity: If I don’t do the work to know you deeply, a relationship doesn’t form in which you will know me. This vicious cycle—Poe syndrome again—is made much worse when you are lonely to begin with […] In other words, if no one knows you well and you are thus lonely, that may make you more self-focused and less interested in others, making it much less likely for others to want to get to know you well.

~ Arthur C. Brooks, from Why It’s Nice to Know You

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Question: What would happen, if your intention with a podcast episode, was to help some else’s well-being— if your intention was only to demonstrate to them that you care? What if you go into it hoping for nothing for yourself?

So not an intention of, “I want to know X, so I’ll ask good questions.”

But rather, “I think they’d enjoy talking about X, so I’ll ask good questions.”

Answer: It’s totally amazing. It alters your own life. You should go do it 500 times.

(Wether or not you turn those conversation into podcasts is irrelevant of course.)

Humans being

September 20

The How Sound episode, “Getting inside someone else’s skin” (May 14, 2019 from the Sound School Podcast) contains insightful comments regarding why in-person is so great.

(Sorry, I cannot find a web-page specifically for this episode. You’ll have to find it in your favorite podcast app.)

Too long; didn’t listen? Here are my thoughts and opinions…

Listeners can tell when we have captured “humans being” and that can only be done when we humans are in our natural environment. That’s field-recording… pointing a mic at someone in the real-world.

Anything else is not the same thing. Wether that’s in a full studio, over a call even with video on, or when I carry a bunch of gear and give them a mic and great headphones sitting in their home… none of those are the same as field-recording a human being (and I intend both meanings there.)

Anything else is some degree of “disembodied and silenced” — quoted because that is a nugget taken from the podcast.

Do more than just take the photo

September 18

I’ve given a lot of birthday gifts in my years. (I’m sure you have too!) But this photo is a gift I’m particularly proud of.

First, a map: My mother is one of 27 first-cousins. (Her mother was one of eight children.) My mother is one of the youngest of those first cousins (perhaps the youngest, I forget.) Two of my mother’s first-cousins are the man seated center (in the front row, his wife’s arm interlocked) and next to him is his sister, Cocetta (who everyone called Connie).

Several years ago, Connie had a birthday party. An enormous party. An enormous party of boisterous people. At one point, I started going around and forcefully demanding family members proceed into the other room. This wasn’t appreciated by many in the moment, but once I got a dozen people moving, it caught on. And then many people passed their phones to a few volunteers to start snapping. I expect you’ve experienced being corralled into a group photo such as I’m describing. It’s not the greatest family photo ever taken. But it was taken.

Then—and this is the part that few do—after the party I hounded several people until I found the best photo and I ordered professionally printed and framed versions of this photo. I ordered one, quite large version of this photo which was given to Connie for her home. Several smaller versions were given to her closest relatives (like the one in my hallway, shown above.)

Don’t just take those photos, considering gifting them as physical mementos too.

What’s our five-paragraph essay?

September 14

The article I’m linking to below is about AI — wait don’t run away. It made me actually think about: What is the purpose of the five-paragraph essay? How does one write such a thing—what exactly am I doing when I go through the soul-sucking process of doing it?

So you don’t have to read the short, linked article… but I recommend it.

The five-paragraph essay is a mainstay of high school writing instruction, designed to teach students how to compose a simple thesis and defend it in a methodical, easily graded package. It’s literature analysis at its most basic, and most rigid, level.

~ Emma Camp, from Rethinking the 5-Paragraph Essay in the Age of AI

Back to the question in my title:

In podcasting, what is our five-paragraph essay?

The five-paragraph essay is a blunt tool, sure. But it is clearly one, important but small, piece of a large puzzle called “learning to write well.” You do it very early in “learning to write well” and then you leave it behind.

What is our five-paragraph essay?

Any one of the following could be our five-paragraph essay…

Write a terrific, single, “hook sentence” from a podcast episode.
Write a paragraph of 3-5 sentences from a podcast episode.
Find at least one quotable portion from a podcast episode.
Write a list of takeaways in a specific style and with specific formatting.

Why do I say those things? Because once I understood how to do them by hand, turning to tools like AI is not cheating. The AI does a solid B+ (ref article above) job, which I can then finish to my A-level.