Postmortem on the podcast
I’ve always had a hard time relating with people around and the gap increased as time went on. Podcasts and talk radio before that were ways, I could interact without leaving my comfort zone. And if you spend more than 30 hours a week listening to other people and their ideas, it is bound to happen that you start fantasising about hosting one.
Three years later, I find myself wanting more than just the not so challenging coursework of my master’s degree. I have plenty of time which in which I’m loitering around, and I think it’s probably time to look for something bigger. I ask my friends Hanniyah, Rishabh, and Sarvashreshth if they’d like to join me. There is a massive community of people who still listen to the radio even today, but sadly that doesn’t translate into a podcast audience. I pitched my idea to these three along with with the Fatreons, Orla Gartland’s online community. Sidebar: Orla is fantastic, and you should support her patreon. A podcast mashup of Do By Friday and the RoosterTeeth podcast. A lighthearted conversation show where we have fun intelligent discussions, have long conversations about our interests at the same time challenge each other to do one thing that was out of the ordinary for a week.
First posted sometime in February 2018.
The turn around time from the first mention to first recording session two months. I don’t have any formal training in production, and I was making things up as we went along. So, coming out of this, I can see some apparent faults on my part.
The cast I had assembled barely knew each other, I was the common link. This meant what I hoped was an instant gel and hilarious times turned into a stiff back and forth.
Apart from Hanniyah and I, no one was motivated enough to put in the effort for the preparation. Which meant the starting 15 - 30 mins of each recording was spent in a meeting about the podcast.
I read somewhere, you should have at least three test episodes before going into full release and promotion. This meant we had to record for three weeks straight and not get any visible results.
We recorded using the double-ender method. Given the state of Indian internet, meant all recordings on all four ends veered off sync at different times.
I have no clue about editing, I asked help from my friend Alan of the OGNetworks and a fellow Fatreon for tutorials. Editing and finding our first episode took me over 20 hours over three days.
I had hoped that the first few challenges would be enough to nudge us over the initial bump, but it quite did the opposite. We had a democratic process of selecting our problems, but since this crew didn’t feel comfortable with one another, it quite did the opposite which made for weirder episodes that lacked enthusiasm.
There was this critical advice Alan gave me at the beginning, which I ignored. He asked me to rethink the idea and make this podcast about some common topic instead of just the personality. I thought was our strength, the variety coming from varied backgrounds acted to our deterrent. We never could record a podcast without all four of us present and work made us bounce the recording sessions. The editing took me a lot longer than anyone would have thought, and since this was a fun side project for all eventually, it went on the backburner and burnt up.
Would I do it again? Hell Yes! But I wouldn’t take up juggling so many hats balls and knives together. I might be working on something as you read this.
PS: Here are the challenges we recorded but never published.
Visit an old age home near you
Watch Netflix's Queer Eye
Don't use any plastic for a week
Play an impossible game from hell
Treat yourself with your favourite meal