At the risk of offending my libertarian-minded friends: Podcasting's lack of clear standards is hurting the growth of the medium.

Not that I think we should make a standards board that reviews the quality of podcasts for inclusion in our secret club or anything draconian like that. No, I'm committed to podcasting being and weird and wild, or as bland and tame, as the creator(s) want their show to be.

What I want -- nay, demand -- is that we establish standards for all the non-artistic, behind-the-scenes plumbing and duct work that make a podcast a podcast.

Yes, I realize we have guidelines. But as you'll hear on this short episodes, guidelines lead to ignorant decisions and often stymie a would-be podcaster from getting started.

There's no reason we can't declare *the right* encoding specs.

There's no reason we can't declare *the right* ID3 specs.

And it's 2019, and it's ludicrous that podcast hosting companies still let invalid RSS feeds publish. No one makes an artistic decision to have an invalid feed. Why does it happen? A lack of standards.

Fair warning: This episode is a little rant-y. You're welcome.

Mentioned in this episode:

Support For Abortion Rights

While Americans overwhelmingly support the right of an individual to make their own decisions about abortion, unfortunately, that right is no longer protected everywhere in the U.S. The Supreme Court overturned Roe v Wade on June 24th.

Abortion is a basic healthcare need for the millions of people who can become pregnant. Everyone should have the freedom to decide what’s best for themselves and their families, including when it comes to ending a pregnancy. This decision has dire consequences for individual health and safety, and could have harsh repercussions for other landmark decisions.

Restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion, threatens the health and independence of all Americans. Even if you live in a state where abortion rights are upheld, access to safe medical procedures shouldn’t be determined by location, and it shouldn't be the privilege of a small few.

You can help by donating to local abortion funds. To find out where to donate for each state, visit donations4abortion.com.

If you or someone you know needs help, or if you want to get more involved, here are 5 resources:

1. ShoutYourAbortion.com is a campaign to normalize abortion.

2. DontBanEquality.com is a campaign for companies to take a stand against abortion restrictions.

3. Abortion.cafe has information about where to find clinics.

4. PlanCPills.org provides early at-home abortion pills that you can keep in your medicine cabinet.

5. Choice.CRD.co has a collection of these resources and more.

We encourage you to speak up! And spread the word.

This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:

OP3 - https://op3.dev/privacy