Really Specific Stories

Scott discusses his long history of listening to Apple-centric podcasts and what it has been like to co-host and produce his own podcasts. He also asserts the importance of accessibility and the benefits of listening to (and even being part of) a minority, citing lessons from the podcast Parallel and his childhood experience as an American living in Japan. Last, but not least, he asks us all to be more intentional in our media consumption and turns the tables in this very podcast.

This is the final episode of Really Specific Stories to be tied formally to a podcast case study in the PhD project.

Podcast case study: Parallel (listener)

Find Scott at scottwillsey.com.

Read a transcript of the episode as a styled PDF or in plain text.

Recorded and edited by Martin Feld, using Audio Hijack and Ferrite Recording Studio

Original podcast theme music by Alex Canion

Andrew is a writer, audio producer, editor and teacher, who, in this episode, reflects on his love for writing and his lifelong journey with audio. This ranges from his experimentation with tape recorders as a child, through to his experience in college radio and his role as host and producer of the arts-and-culture podcast The Organist, working with KCRW in Los Angeles. Andrew then shares the story of how he came to write his first book, The Country of the Blind: A Memoir at the End of Sight, and how that has led him to be featured as a guest in various podcasts.

Podcast case study: Parallel (guest)

Find Andrew at andrewleland.org.

Read a transcript of the episode as a styled PDF or in plain text.

Recorded and edited by Martin Feld, using Audio Hijack and Ferrite Recording Studio

Original podcast theme music by Alex Canion

Lynn discusses her background as a designer, CSS developer and illustrator—drawing on her love for technology and her time in art school, where she explored the concept of intermedia. She also reflects on her varied experiences in consuming aural and visual content, such as podcasts, TV shows and movies, along with various side projects that she has maintained over the years.

Podcast case study: The Talk Show with John Gruber (listener)

Find Lynn at Lynn and Tonic.

Read a transcript of the episode as a styled PDF or in plain text.

Recorded and edited by Martin Feld, using Audio Hijack and Ferrite Recording Studio

Original podcast theme music by Alex Canion

Jarrod explains how he discovered the world of podcasting during a long road trip with a friend, going on to enjoy shows about outdoor reaction, news and the Apple fan community. He also elaborates on his experience of starting his own website, HeyDingus, along with listening to various Apple-centric podcasts—making particular reference to 20 Macs for 2020, a show by writer and podcaster Jason Snell, which blended tech podcasting with a narrative journalism format.

Podcast case study: 20 Macs for 2020 (listener)

Find Jarrod at HeyDingus.

Read a transcript of the episode as a styled PDF or in plain text.

Recorded and edited by Martin Feld, using Audio Hijack and Ferrite Recording Studio

Original podcast theme music by Alex Canion

Jarrod is a paying subscriber of Martin’s One Prime Plus membership program for the shared podcast, Hemispheric Views; this did not influence any of the questions that were asked and did not place any expectations on Jarrod as a participant of this academic podcasting project.

John shares his personal narrative as the writer of Daring Fireball and host of The Talk Show with John Gruber, which is now both a podcast and a live show with Apple executives, held during the company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference. In the conversation, John explains what first captivated him about computers at an early age, expands on his passion for reading and writing and outlines how he has carved out a life of independent production and commentary, based on his technological interests. Last, he describes what he’s most proud of.

Podcast case study: The Talk Show with John Gruber (producer)

Find John at Daring Fireball.

Read a transcript of the episode as a styled PDF or in plain text.

Recorded and edited by Martin Feld, using Audio Hijack and Ferrite Recording Studio

Original podcast theme music by Alex Canion

Martin is a paying subscriber of John’s shared membership program for Dithering; this did not influence any of the questions that were asked and did not place any expectations on John as a participant of this academic podcasting project.

Baldur reflects on his family’s history in radio broadcasting, his path to interactive media and writing books and how he moved away from listening to tech podcasts.

Content warning: some coarse language

Podcast case study: Accidental Tech Podcast (listener)

Find Baldur at baldurbjarnason.com.

Read a transcript of the episode as a styled PDF or in plain text.

Recorded and edited by Martin Feld, using Audio Hijack and Ferrite Recording Studio

Original podcast theme music by Alex Canion

Marco tells the story of how he became a Mac enthusiast, indie app developer and tech podcaster, covering his work on Tumblr, Instapaper, Overcast and Accidental Tech Podcast, among other projects. He also explains why he thinks it's so important to maintain the open Web and podcasting through RSS, in the face of more exclusive publishing platforms and audio hosts.

Podcast case study: Accidental Tech Podcast (producer)

Find Marco at marco.org.

Read a transcript of the episode as a styled PDF or in plain text.

Recorded and edited by Martin Feld, using Audio Hijack and Ferrite Recording Studio

Original podcast theme music by Alex Canion

Martin is a paid subscriber of Marco Arment’s shared membership program for Accidental Tech Podcast; this did not influence any of the questions that were asked and did not place any expectations on Marco as a participant of this academic podcasting project.

Grace is a developer and podcast fan, who shares her experience of following various independent shows over the years and in producing her own chatcast, titled Monkey Mind. During the conversation, she also covers her passion for video games and considers the key differences between aural and visual media, drawing on her own study of film and background in video production.

Content warning: discussion of clinical depression

Podcast case study: Connected at Relay FM (listener)

Find Grace at graceteng.me.

Read the transcript of the episode as a styled PDF or in plain text.

Recorded and edited by Martin Feld, using Audio Hijack and Ferrite Recording Studio

Original podcast theme music by Alex Canion

Shelly is a writer, editor and podcaster who tirelessly advocates for greater accessibility in digital technology. Joining Really Specific Stories, she shares her journalistic and storytelling experience, explains her audio projects, such as Parallel with Relay FM, and illustrates how far we’ve come (and still have to go) in making hardware, software and media accessible.

Podcast case study: Parallel at Relay FM (producer)

Find Shelly at brisbin.net.

Read the transcript of this episode as a styled PDF or in plain text.

Recorded and edited by Martin Feld, using Audio Hijack and Ferrite Recording Studio

Original podcast theme music by Alex Canion

Jason recounts his personal history as a tech enthusiast and how he built a new life on the Web as an independent writer and podcaster. Along the way, he considers his identity, interaction with fan communities and development of various solo and collaborative projects.

Podcast case study: 20 Macs for 2020 at Relay FM (producer)

Find Jason at sixcolors.com.

Read a transcript of the episode as a styled PDF or in plain text.

Recorded and edited by Martin Feld, using Audio Hijack and Ferrite Recording Studio

As an insight into community influence and my own fandom, I use Ferrite Recording Studio with iPad Pro and Apple Pencil because of Jason's early reviews of the app (such as this one) and his comprehensive demo video on YouTube. Just to emphasise the 'iPadness' of this academic/community audio project, you may notice that I left the iPadOS pointer visible in the screenshot above, which Jason also wrote about optimistically back in 2020.

Original podcast theme music by Alex Canion

Martin is a paying subscriber of Jason’s Six Colors and Upgrade+ membership programs; this did not influence any of the questions that were asked and did not place any expectations on Jason as a participant of this academic podcasting project.