Fires can’t be made with dead embers, nor can enthusiasm be stirred by spiritless men. Enthusiasm in our daily work lightens effort and turns even labor into pleasant tasks.
~ Baldwin
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Spiritless men →
Audience with Tyler Williams →
What are the differences and challenges in engaging an audience across live performances, studio recordings, and podcasts?
Crafting a consistent identity for a podcast requires balancing creative freedom and audience expectations.
I started out thinking every episode of my podcast needed three actionable tips, something concrete so that even a stranger would walk away with value. But then I realized I was having so much fun just talking to my musician friends—those natural conversations became the real heart of the show.
~ Tyler Williams (8:07)
The conversation explores the differences between live performances, studio recordings, and podcasting, particularly how they affect the performer’s ability to connect with an audience. Live performances demand real-time adaptability, like responding to unexpected disruptions, while studio recordings offer intimacy and control. Podcasting, on the other hand, presents unique challenges due to the absence of a visible audience, requiring conscious effort to maintain energy and engagement.
Another key topic is podcast structure and identity. The discussion touches on title choices, episode intros, and whether podcasts should always deliver specific value, such as tips or insights. The importance of consistency and balancing creativity with audience expectations is emphasized, particularly as podcast creators experiment with formats, such as solo episodes versus guest interviews.
The conversation also highlights audience surprises, such as unexpected feedback on edited episodes, and the role of accessibility. Strategies for improving audience reach, including artwork and search relevance, are considered, alongside concerns over licensing agreements with platforms like Spotify.
Takeaways
Live performance adaptability — Engaging a live audience requires real-time reactions to unexpected challenges, such as disruptions or mistakes.
Podcast intimacy — Studio recordings and podcasts offer a controlled, intimate setting to connect with the audience.
Audience engagement challenges — Podcasting lacks direct audience feedback, making it harder to gauge and maintain engagement during recording.
Podcast identity and structure — Balancing creativity with consistent value, like including tips or key insights, helps define a podcast’s identity.
Episode titles and artwork — Titles and visuals impact whether a potential listener clicks “play” on an episode.
Audience surprises — Listeners often respond unexpectedly to certain episodes, highlighting the subjective nature of audience preferences.
Podcast format flexibility — Mixing guest interviews with solo episodes provides creative freedom without creating separate shows.
Licensing and platform concerns — Understanding the implications of podcast licensing agreements, particularly with platforms like Spotify, is crucial.
Accessibility of older episodes — The longevity of podcast episodes allows them to surprise creators long after publication.
Introductions and summaries — Crafting episode intros or show notes can range from minimal to highly curated, depending on the podcast’s style.
Resources
Hear Me Pod — Tyler’s podcast
Mac Power Users Podcast — A podcast offering tips and insights on Apple devices and workflows.
The Working Musician Podcast — A podcast discussing the challenges and realities of working musicians.
Anchor by Spotify — A free podcasting platform discussed in relation to its push for advertising and licensing agreements.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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Journey with Steve Heatherington →
What is the personal and professional journey of someone who engages deeply with podcasting and alpaca farming?
The challenge of helping alpaca owners led to building a community-driven podcast from scratch.
You’re onto a good thing when that happens—the resistance is an indicator and therefore you need to engage with that and find a way through it, round it, over it, whatever to get past it.
~ Steve Heatherington (8:59)
Craig and Steve engage in a conversation that spans podcasting, personal growth, and alpaca husbandry. They reflect on Steve’s podcasting journey, which begins with his intention to help his wife promote her book. Over time, this evolves into a deeper commitment to podcasting, leading to the creation of his show, Alpaca Tribe, and a role as a coach in podcasting workshops. Steve shares his experiences of learning the craft, overcoming challenges like imposter syndrome, and balancing different podcast formats such as solo episodes and interviews. The pair also discuss the significant time and effort required to develop a podcasting practice.
Steve’s passion for alpacas emerges as another key topic. He describes his life as an alpaca shepherd and shares how his podcast aims to help alpaca owners feel confident and fulfilled while caring for their animals. The discussion also delves into broader themes of creativity and growth, with Craig noting the similarities between podcasting and artistic endeavors like painting. They explore how both pursuits involve facing challenges and continuously improving. Steve emphasizes the importance of identifying a compelling problem to address, one that resonates deeply enough to sustain years of exploration and conversation.
Takeaways
Having a clear purpose — Revisiting “why” helps keep the podcast focused and aligned over time.
The power of curiosity — Sustained exploration and willingness to learn drive growth in podcasting.
Different podcast formats — Host-on-mic versus interviews create distinct challenges and require varied skill sets.
Imposter syndrome — Resistance often signals that you’re doing meaningful work worth pursuing.
Balancing storytelling with practicality — Melding stories with helpful information engages a broad audience.
The iterative process — Success comes from continuous refinement and revisiting foundational questions.
Starting small — Big ideas often begin as modest, practical experiments.
Resources
The Alpaca Tribe Podcast — A podcast aimed at helping alpaca owners feel confident and fulfilled.
The Pod Buffet — A curated platform featuring short, impactful podcast episodes.
Akimbo Podcasting Workshop — A workshop designed to teach podcasting skills and foster community collaboration.
Stephen Pressfield’s Blog — Mentioned in the context of overcoming resistance and creative challenges.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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Thinking →
If everyone is thinking alike, then somebody isn’t thinking.
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Tick tock →
Because we can look back and see that the way time has been measured throughout history has changed, it’s reasonable to imagine when looking forward that it will continue to change – our current use of hours, minutes, weeks and months may be as obscure and forgotten as the nundina, the akhet, or the gesh several millennia from now. The day, the year, and the movements of the other planets in our solar system, on the other hand, aren’t at the whim of the powers that be or of passing cultural trends. The 10,000 Year Clock, therefore, keeps track of these robust and durable units of time. The Clock’s main dial keeps track of the Sun, Moon and stars while The Orrery models our solar system.
~ Austin Brown from, Long Now’s Orrery Prototype For The 10,000 Year Clock – Long Now
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Immediately before reading the above article, I read something about the eastern Sahara Desert. About a researcher who managed to extract a 50-foot core-sample from a lake bed spanning 11,000 years of seasons. What is now a desert was once a lush paradise.
The projects and updates from the Long Now Foundation always fill me with awe and wonder. They always make me try to imagine 10,000 years from now. And that makes me feel like a slightly better person for having spent some time trying to think bigger-than-myself. But that core sample? …it covered still more. 10,000 years is but a blink in geologic time.
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Selene Yeager: Menopause, health, and writing →
What challenges and insights arise from navigating menopause, maintaining health, and balancing creative pursuits?
Selene Yeager doesn’t shy away from topics other might avoid; in fact, she is leading the conversation around menopause. She shares her journey into creating a podcast about menopause, and her own experiences with menopause. Selene explains her thoughts on diet, nutrition, health tracking, and cycling. She discusses her relationship with writing, and what she’s currently reading.
Women drop out at the other end of the spectrum just as much, because they’re alone, their bodies are changing, and it’s worse; you feel like Carrie. It’s almost like Carrie. Remember that Stephen King book? No one is telling you these changes that are going to happen.
~ Selene Yeager (8:30)
Selene Yeager is a professional health and fitness writer, cycling and nutrition coach, personal trainer, athlete, and podcast host. She has written articles for many publications, including Bicycling Magazine, Runner’s World, and Men’s and Women’s Health, in addition to authoring, co-authoring, and contributing to over 2 dozen books. Beyond writing, Selene is the host of Hit Play Not Pause, a podcast focusing on menopause for athletes.
The conversation explores the complexities of menopause, emphasizing the intersection of physical changes, societal stigmas, and personal identity. Selene discusses her journey of embracing menopause as both a challenge and an opportunity, using her experiences to inspire and educate others. Topics such as hormonal fluctuations, their effects on mental and physical health, and the lack of open discourse surrounding menopause are examined.
In addition to menopause, the conversation highlights the speaker’s multi-faceted career as a writer, athlete, and podcaster. She shares insights into maintaining creative energy, managing time, and balancing professional and personal responsibilities. Discussions also touch on broader health themes like intermittent fasting, its specific impact on women, and the importance of listening to one’s body for optimal well-being.
Takeaways
The transformational journey of menopause — Women can navigate menopause as an empowering phase of self-discovery and growth despite societal stigma.
The interplay of science and storytelling — Communicating complex health information in relatable ways fosters understanding and action.
Challenges of aging athletes — Physical changes can lead to disconnection from familiar identities, but adaptation and support networks are crucial.
The pitfalls of intermittent fasting for women — Unlike men, women often experience adverse effects due to physiological differences.
Balancing creative and physical pursuits — Structuring time around energy rhythms can help sustain productivity and joy.
Supportive communities for menopausal women — Finding a network of peers can significantly ease the challenges of life transitions.
Resources
Hit Play Not Pause — Selene’s podcast focused on menopause for athletes, hosted by the speaker.
Feisty Menopause Community — Menopause guidance for active women.
Roar by Stacy Sims and Selene Yeager — A book addressing the unique needs of female athletes.
North American Menopause Society — Offers resources and certifications for professionals specializing in menopause care.
(Written with help from Chat-GPT.)
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Zoomed way, way out →
It’s true that such adaptations are now anachronistic; they have lost their relevance. But the trees have been slow to catch on; a natural consequence of the pace of evolution. For a tree that lives, say, 250 years, 13,000 years represents only 52 generations. In an evolutionary sense, the trees don’t yet realize that the megafauna are gone.
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There’s an effect in film making which you’ve seen but may not have realized exactly what you were seeing: The dolly zoom shot. “The dolly zoom is a famous technique invented by Alfred Hitchcock for his 1958 film Vertigo. The shot is achieved by simultaneously tracking backwards or forwards while zooming in or out.”
The narrator is too breathless for my tastes, but still, take a few minutes to watch this explanation of the dolly-zoom. You can thank me later: https://nofilmschool.com/2017/05/watch-what-dolly-zoom-can-do-you
Ahem. Now, back to my top-quote and what I wanted to say in the first place…
Text-based, disorienting dolly-zoom!
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Who has authority? →
Suppose he had passed his judgement upon a hypothetical proposition, and declared, ‘I judge the proposition, “if it be day, there is light,” to be false,’ what would have happened to the proposition? Who is being judged here? Who has been condemned? The proposition, or he who is utterly mistaken about it? So who on Earth is this man who has authority to pass such judgement on you?
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Community creation as art →
We make art with everything we are, the doom and the glory of it. We make art to know ourselves, to locate ourselves in the web of being, to make ourselves more alive. We make art that, at its best, helps other people locate themselves and live.
~ Maria Papova from, Keith Haring on Creativity, Empathy, and What Makes Us Who We Are – The Marginalian
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I think that art is, among other things, a physical something which exists separately from the artist. Art can be ephemeral—chalk work that disappears, a dance performance—but it exists in reality. (As a counterpoint: Art cannot exist solely in one’s imagination.) We even acknowledge that property of art being something-which-exists within the word artifact. (As in art-i-fact, and facts are concrete things which can be known about reality.)
Artists. Art. Artifacts.
Until just reading Popova’s comment, I hadn’t thought of creating a community as art; But now I am wondering.
I’m certainly a creative person, and creativity is required to create—hey, look at that—a community. Clearly a community isn’t summarily disqualified from being art simply because it is ephemeral, both in the sense of its appearance changing over time, and that it will one day cease to exist. But is it art?
Because a community sure looks like something that fits within what Popova is saying up there.
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