Blogging about Blogging: On Podcats

In this episode: we listen to, compare, contrast, and opine on six podcasts, in preparation for our own adventures in lo-fi. I'll proceed chronologically, posting thoughts after I sample each, in something approximating a liveblog. Disclaimer: I'm generally loathe to publicly commit to an opinion regarding any media I've only just sampled, unless its a band that I already totally hate. All of these impressions are based upon limited exposure, and I'm focused many upon their relative effectiveness as a podcast, so anything negativity should be regarded in that context and excused on account of my charming naïveté.

EdTech Weekly

Described by the host as a "fast paced roundup of news and resources from the world of education and technology, EdTech Weekly plays out like a rambling, collegial conference call, in which (in episode #132, at least) four participants in different Midwestern cities discuss what's new and what's news on the net. Like any conference call, the discussion features no shortage of technical bloopers, and the hosts sometimes struggle to answer follow up questions regarding the links they've brought to the table. There's some interesting stuff here, some of it tangentially related to the classroom and some not at all (the episode I sampled began with the news of Facebook's allowing vanity URLs, which all the participants agreed was a giant deal that week, but probably won't cause many progressive educators rush to amend the ol' syllabus). Overall, it's hard for me to commit to 45 minutes of a scattershot roundtable weblink barrage, when the discussion only occasionally really sparks.

Kidcast

The yin to EdTech's yang in tone and production values, Kidcast is more consciously episodic (theme music, even!) and the discussion, led by our host "Dan," is far more focused and substantive. This episode, #62, is subtitled "Some Thoughts on Video Podcasting," and while the podcast doesn't seem overly scripted, it's clear the host came to the mic well-prepared, with an outline of material flexible enough to allow for brief digressions but tight enough that the program remains concise, informative, and compelling. "Dan" also has a great bit of advice in this episode for ersatz podcatser: 80% content, 20% production. Dan stays conscious of his audience throughout, and offers advice regarding tailoring a podcast to its intended audience without specifically using the phrase "a face made for radio."

Teacher 2.0

Teacher 2.0 benefits greatly from brevity, which may be the soul of wit, but is the invisible unicorn fairytale night terror of a lot of bloggers and podcasters. Like Kidcast, we have one host -- Rodd Lucier -- very directly, but conversationally and in good humor, challenging teachers to think about new classroom strategies. In the episode I sampled, he advocates open exams, in which students may use any materials and outside resources, so that teachers might design a test that more accurately reflects real-world "test questions." And he does it in just over 6 minutes, thirty seconds, which is a reasonable estimate of how much time the typical stress-fried educator might have "free" in a given week. Know your audience. Also, it's broadcasted from the far away land of "Canada," but it's okay, because he speaks fluent American.

Teachers Teaching Teachers

First impression of this episode, TTT160 (subtitled "Cell Phones, Spinning, Diigo, Databases, Administrators, Inline Linking and More!" but from a title like that, how much more could be left?): wow, you can hear a ton of edits to the audio track. Not that I'm complaining about editing; I appreciate the effort to tighten the material. But this is instructive -- while it's certainly tight, this podcast is shorn so aggressively that it's almost TOO machine-gun fast. It's a shame, becuase those first-person educator anecdotes are incredibly valuable, bringing interesting views and divergent experience to the table, Each of these teachers has an interesting perspective, and the show remains interesting by virtue of their inclusion, but take a breath, better establish and introduce the topics of discussion, and clean up the audio track. Says the totally uninformed, unexperienced, newly minted podcast authority.

MacBreak Weekly

Well, you'd hope a show featuring technophilic Mac addicts would sound professionally produced, and MacBreak nails that, sounding like a morning radio show replete with panelist in-jokes and phonemes clearly enunciated in sonorous tenors. The cast offers widely-ranging media experience, and it comes through -- here's a podcast that has well-informed panelists that also know how to perform for mass media. That's a heck of an advantage to have (probably because someone is, um, paying for this podcast to be made), and one most podcasters won't have. They should pay attention to the little things here, such as how to speak comfortably and clearly for the mic and avoid awkward vocal tics ("umm," "err," excessive "likes," crying uncontrollably). An entertaining little show, which manages to sidestep the casually insufferable nature of many Mac zealots. (And I'm an iTouch owning graphic designer, so I speak from experience.)

This American Life

I'm calling an audible here (look! A topic-centric link pun!), veering entirely from the suggested listening list in favor of a podcast of megaton wattage. This American Life, the Peabody-winning, long running, internationally acclaimed, adapted-for-Showtime, generally-best-selling-every-week-on-iTunes radio digest from WBEZ in Chicago, is avaialble in podcast form. If you're not familiar with the show, I urge you take a listen -- their staff has some recommendations for you here, but be warned, it's a gateway drug. To be fair, This American Life doesn't strictly fit in with the criteria of the previously discussed shows (though many of their stories have dealt with matters of education and new technology, and their worldview is broad enough that no subject would surprise me), but I'm examining these podcasts on their merits as podcasts, and what is a podcast if not an audio program tailored to a specific audience? Public radio -- and, I'll grudgingly admit, some for-profit broadcasters -- have been doing this stuff for years, and it's revealing to listen to NPR and American Public Media podcasts to hear, first, how to professionally compose an audio feature, and second, how they've adapted and changed their programs to work as podcasts.

And since I'm nearing the end of this over-long post (remember how I was complaining about a lack of brevity on the net a few hundred words ago? Ta-da!), I'll keep veering: below, This American Life host Ira Glass discusses what makes a good story. These clips aren't about education or technology, and won't help you in a recorded groupthink discussion of bleeding edge teaching concepts or on in a Crossfire-style screaming bout with your mosted hated philosophical nemesis, if that's how your podcast rolls, but it's informative, and I like it, and anyone who's going to the trouble of recording themselves talking should first think really hard about what they have to say. Parts two, three and four here, here, and here.