GEEK THIS!

In the past, International Podcast Day episodes were a list of my favorite podcasts. This year I wanted to take a different approach and talk about what podcasting is and how you can start your own.

UPDATE: Beginning January 2018, Dave has been employed by Blubrry and has included an affiliate link to their services.

In the past, International Podcast Day episodes were a list of my favorite podcasts. This year I wanted to take a different approach and talk about what podcasting is and how you can start your own.

What Is A Podcast?

Let’s start with the literal definition of “podcast”. According to Google, a podcast is:

“a digital audio file made available on the Internet for downloading to a computer or mobile device, typically available as a series, new installments of which can be received by subscribers automatically.”

That’s a pretty good overview. There are more technical details, such as RSS feeds, that I’m going to skip over for time’s sake.

 

Blubrry, one of the “big two” in podcast media hosting points out a big qualifier:

“In order to make posted audio and video files a true podcast, the proper technology needs to be in place to allow automated content downloading and syndication.”

Enough of the technical stuff, right? Let’s get into making your podcast because it does take a little bit of work.

How To Start

There are three important components when it comes to starting your podcast:

Topic

Audience

Schedule

Topic

Knowing what you’re going to talk about is 90% of your show. When I started Geek This, I knew it would be my opinion on comics and movies. That was the bare-bones outline. If I would have done it right, I would have asked myself, "How will I stand out while talking about my topic?" That’s what you should do, too.

Audience

The next step, after figuring out what you want to talk about is figuring out who you want to talk to. This is something that I skimmed over. It was too easy for me to say, “geeks and nerds and people that like this kind of stuff.” If I’m completely honest with myself, that was a cop-out.

 

You should look at demographics when you’re determining your audience. What age groups do you want to talk to? For me, that’s difficult because I know a lot of the ages of people that have interacted with the show over the years. Right now, at this point, I would say my age range would be between males, aged 15 to 45. I get this number because I have people in mind that are roughly around these ages. Also, I’m not excluding women, but I have a good feeling that the majority of my audience is male. If you’re a woman listening to this episode, leave a comment in the shownotes or on Facebook. I’d love to know for sure!

Schedule

Now, you’ve figured out what you’re talking about and who you’re talking to. It’s time to nail down a schedule. The most successful podcasts have a regular schedule. When I started this show in 2012, I didn’t have a definite course of action here. I tried to record episodes when I knew no one would be home and the house would be quiet. The fact that I’m impatient, I would upload the episode right after editing. Look through the episode archives and you'll see that inconsistency was the name of the game for a long time.

UPDATE: Beginning January 2018, Dave has been employed by Blubrry and has included an affiliate link to their services.

In the past, International Podcast Day episodes were a list of my favorite podcasts. This year I wanted to take a different approach and talk about what podcasting is and how you can start your own.

What Is A Podcast?

Let’s start with the literal definition of “podcast”. According to Google, a podcast is:

“a digital audio file made available on the Internet for downloading to a computer or mobile device, typically available as a series, new installments of which can be received by subscribers automatically.”

That’s a pretty good overview. There are more technical details, such as RSS feeds, that I’m going to skip over for time’s sake.

 

Blubrry, one of the “big two” in podcast media hosting points out a big qualifier:

“In order to make posted audio and video files a true podcast, the proper technology needs to be in place to allow automated content downloading and syndication.”

Enough of the technical stuff, right? Let’s get into making your podcast because it does take a little bit of work.

How To Start

There are three important components when it comes to starting your podcast:

Topic

Audience

Schedule

Topic

Knowing what you’re going to talk about is 90% of your show. When I started Geek This, I knew it would be my opinion on comics and movies. That was the bare-bones outline. If I would have done it right, I would have asked myself, "How will I stand out while talking about my topic?" That’s what you should do, too.

Audience

The next step, after figuring out what you want to talk about is figuring out who you want to talk to. This is something that I skimmed over. It was too easy for me to say, “geeks and nerds and people that like this kind of stuff.” If I’m completely honest with myself, that was a cop-out.

 

You should look at demographics when you’re determining your audience. What age groups do you want to talk to? For me, that’s difficult because I know a lot of the ages of people that have interacted with the show over the years. Right now, at this point, I would say my age range would be between males, aged 15 to 45. I get this number because I have people in mind that are roughly around these ages. Also, I’m not excluding women, but I have a good feeling that the majority of my audience is male. If you’re a woman listening to this episode, leave a comment in the shownotes or on Facebook. I’d love to know for sure!

Schedule

Now, you’ve figured out what you’re talking about and who you’re talking to. It’s time to nail down a schedule. The most successful podcasts have a regular schedule. When I started this show in 2012, I didn’t have a definite course of action here. I tried to record episodes when I knew no one would be home and the house would be quiet. The fact that I’m impatient, I would upload the episode right after editing. Look through the episode archives and you'll see that inconsistency was the name of the game for a long time.

 

When I brought the show back from the brink of death, I had a plan in place. New episodes would release every other Wednesday.

 

Why did I choose this schedule? First, Wednesday is “New Comic Book Day”. It’s when new comics hit store shelves. It fits with the kind of content I create. this enables my audience to listen to Geek This while getting their new comics.

The two-part series for It continues with Dave's discussion on the 1990 television mini-series and the recent reboot.

The two-part series for It continues with Dave's discussion on the 1990 television mini-series and the recent reboot.

Complete show notes coming soon.

The two-part series for It continues with Dave's discussion on the 1990 television mini-series and the recent reboot.

Complete show notes coming soon.

Derry is a town in Maine that holds an evil that reappears every 27 years. In this episode, we start at the beginning of it all.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months, you may have heard about a new movie coming out called It.

 

When I discovered Hollywood was looking to reboot It, I knew I had to take a journey. I had to track down the book and watch the original mini-series first. For that reason, this episode may run a little bit longer than most. Let’s start with the book. In the next episode, I’ll discuss the two film projects based on the book.

 

I debated long and hard before I began reading the book. I even questioned whether I should on social media. Should I read the book before seeing either of the movies? I had mixed suggestions from friends. In the end, I decided to go to Audible and download the audio book. Reading a physical copy would take me an eternity to finish. 44 hours and 57 minutes later - which was more like 3 weeks later - I had finished my first Stephen King novel. It was quite a ride.

 

The Story

Children are being murdered in Derry, ME. This leads seven friends to band together and defeat the evil plaguing their town. They return 27 years later to do it all again when more murders happen.

 

Listening to a book that is a couple minutes shy of 45 hours long can take a toll. Especially when you don’t break it up with podcasts or other books. That said, It is a very interesting book that kept me coming back for more. I want to talk about what I liked and disliked about it and I’m going to do my best to be clear, assuming you’re new to the story.

 

I have mixed feelings over the way King wrote the book. It takes place in two timelines that interweave to create a complete story:

 

In 1958, Bill Denbrough and his friends (the Losers Club) are children. In 1985 when they’ve grown up and have to return to Derry.

 

Writing this way is good at times, but others are difficult to follow. A chapter will end mid-sentence and then the next chapter will finish it. This is a way to draw each era together, I suppose. Other readers have seen that the weaving begins very broad and then narrows toward the end. It’s clever for sure, but may work better in a book or a film than it does in an audio book.

 

Meeting the Losers Club takes a little while with this writing scheme. Some characters stood out more than others, but all-in-all, they were likable. The main problem with them was that Eddie and Stan very well could be one character. I assume King knew this when he was writing their adult return since he (spoiler) killed off Stan in a suicide. As I’m sure you’re well aware, characters can make or break a story. In It, the characters hold the plot line well.

 

In the marketing for the new film, as well as in the original mini-series, Pennywise seems to be the main focus. In the book, though, that isn’t so much the case. Each member of the Losers Club sees the terrifying clown, and he is the primary villain. He isn’t the only version of Derry’s evil incarnate, though. Ben sees a mummy, Eddie sees a werewolf. Stan sees a giant bird. More on that in the next episode where I dissect the movies.

 

There is strong language throughout the book. The derogatory terms for gay people and black people ...

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last few months, you may have heard about a new movie coming out called It.

 

When I discovered Hollywood was looking to reboot It, I knew I had to take a journey. I had to track down the book and watch the original mini-series first. For that reason, this episode may run a little bit longer than most. Let’s start with the book. In the next episode, I’ll discuss the two film projects based on the book.

 

I debated long and hard before I began reading the book. I even questioned whether I should on social media. Should I read the book before seeing either of the movies? I had mixed suggestions from friends. In the end, I decided to go to Audible and download the audio book. Reading a physical copy would take me an eternity to finish. 44 hours and 57 minutes later - which was more like 3 weeks later - I had finished my first Stephen King novel. It was quite a ride.

 

The Story

Children are being murdered in Derry, ME. This leads seven friends to band together and defeat the evil plaguing their town. They return 27 years later to do it all again when more murders happen.

 

Listening to a book that is a couple minutes shy of 45 hours long can take a toll. Especially when you don’t break it up with podcasts or other books. That said, It is a very interesting book that kept me coming back for more. I want to talk about what I liked and disliked about it and I’m going to do my best to be clear, assuming you’re new to the story.

 

I have mixed feelings over the way King wrote the book. It takes place in two timelines that interweave to create a complete story:

 

In 1958, Bill Denbrough and his friends (the Losers Club) are children. In 1985 when they’ve grown up and have to return to Derry.

 

Writing this way is good at times, but others are difficult to follow. A chapter will end mid-sentence and then the next chapter will finish it. This is a way to draw each era together, I suppose. Other readers have seen that the weaving begins very broad and then narrows toward the end. It’s clever for sure, but may work better in a book or a film than it does in an audio book.

 

Meeting the Losers Club takes a little while with this writing scheme. Some characters stood out more than others, but all-in-all, they were likable. The main problem with them was that Eddie and Stan very well could be one character. I assume King knew this when he was writing their adult return since he (spoiler) killed off Stan in a suicide. As I’m sure you’re well aware, characters can make or break a story. In It, the characters hold the plot line well.

 

In the marketing for the new film, as well as in the original mini-series, Pennywise seems to be the main focus. In the book, though, that isn’t so much the case. Each member of the Losers Club sees the terrifying clown, and he is the primary villain. He isn’t the only version of Derry’s evil incarnate, though. Ben sees a mummy, Eddie sees a werewolf. Stan sees a giant bird. More on that in the next episode where I dissect the movies.

 

There is strong language throughout the book. The derogatory terms for gay people and black people are prevalent. I don’t condone the use of them, but it did give some realism to the era. Looking at it from a 2017 viewpoint, it is vulgar and overused. That’s a little heads-up if you’re interested in reading this yourself.

 

Also, by this point, you may have heard of “that scene” from the ending of the book.

Surprise! Another bonus episode! This time, Dave digs into anime via the new Netflix film, Death Note, which is an adaption of a well-received anime and manga of the same name. He also shares how his opinion changed after watching the first couple episodes of the anime.