Podcasts

howard · Post by **howard** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 10:03 am

A brief delay

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 10:09 am

been reading the tweets too, sounds like the subject is an event in ancient times.

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 10:58 am

Can't explain how excited I am. Getting Hardcore History is better than Christmas. I'm not huge on ancient history, but then again I wasn't huge on the age of Gengis Khan and I listened to that like ear-crack. Gimmie!

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 12:03 pm

IT'S UP!

howard · Post by **howard** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 12:07 pm

YES! I was about to do some work this afternoon - forget that.

ETA: Molon. Labe. Bitches.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 2:18 pm

I know absolutely nothing about this topic. I tried to listen at work but work stuff got in the way and he lost me in 20 minutes.

Sounds very interesting though, will give it a good listen over the next few nights.

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 2:25 pm

What's this one about?

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 2:51 pm

Giff wrote:What's this one about?

Sparta.
Greco-Persian Wars. 499BC

Giff · Post by **Giff** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 3:01 pm

Eh, I saw 300.

Moreta · Post by **Moreta** » Thu Oct 29, 2015 3:31 pm

I'm always happy to see a new HH episode is available. i just did a bunch of readings on the Achaemenid empire so I'm interested to hear Carlin's take.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Sat Nov 21, 2015 6:05 pm

The 2nd season of Serial will be the Bowe Bergdahl case and will reportedly start airing in a week or two.

Will be interesting what their take is on a famous case as opposed to the obscure case in Season 1.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Sun Nov 22, 2015 4:16 am

Already preparing for the Fox News outrage machine when he's brought back into the spotlight and given any sort of positive context.

Side note about Bergdahl: my friend got to interview him after he was brought to Germany for questioning and reintegration. It's due to his career field being SERE. He's a fascinating case study for their entire world. I'm not sure what has been declassified, but some of the things I learned (and experienced going through a specific portion of their tech school) are really cool things that the mainstream media otherwise will never know. I'm excited to hear about what Serial has in store.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Thu Dec 10, 2015 2:38 pm

Listened to Serial 2 during lunch today.

I see now how they are taking things to another level.

***Spoilers below***

The have teamed up with a the guy that produced Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty (Mark Baol), who has 25 hours of one on one taped phone interviews with Bergdahl... he has been completely radio silent, so this is unprecedented access to the key player. She did a very good job setting things up, including interviews with a number of his former platoon mates.

But the truly fascinating stuff was listening to Bergdahl, both in his recounting of his conditions in captivity, along with a pretty detailed explanation of his rationale for why he left the base. Even if you think you know the details, there's a pretty important distinction/clarification that he makes on this front.

Overall, though, it's hard to come away with a conclusion that he's just... well, it was just a colossally dumb thing to do, regardless of his motives. And the thing is, he seems to have put a lot of thought and planning into it, but he was captured mere hours after he left the outpost.

The tease for next week was amazing... Ep 1 we here his version of being captured, next week we hear from the Taliban.

howard · Post by **howard** » Thu Dec 10, 2015 3:28 pm

I did not listen to the first season. The subject of this season sucked me right in.

One side thought from this episode is it provides a large number of people an opportunity to think about this 14 year long war in Afghanistan in a way many people never have. The stark conditions on the front lines, the utter pointlessness, another angle of the complete stupidity of this particularly stupid long long war. The descriptions of the forward bases you don't hear very often.

I found it riveting, but I have a huge reservation. I am worried that the story is going to be told in a manner to produce dramatic effect, with intentional misdirection. Even though I did not listen to the first series, I got the impression (fairly or unfairly) that they used this dramatic technique. And I will not enjoy that. My fear may be unfair, and prove to be unfounded. I hope so, and I maybe you guys can reassure me.

That aside, I think this is gonna be really cool.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Thu Dec 10, 2015 5:06 pm

Howard, I think there wasn't a ton of misdirection for dramatic effect in the first season. I think, sometimes to a fault, they were kind of stabbing in the dark and frankly seeing where the story took them.

And here's where I'll critique the first season. I have not stopped following the case and I have listened to a few podcasts that have gone into a much deeper dive on just about all aspects of the case. To say that kid got railroaded is a massive understatement. I'm not saying Koenig screwed up the reporting, but... There are HUGE fucking holes in the state's case. I won't go into all of it, but from both procedural and evidential aspects there's no way that kid should've been convicted.

Because she was pretty much compiling this story on a week to week basis, with the pressure to do the reporting AND the taping for a rapidly growing and rapacious audience, she just missed or misread a TON of shit. I think she got the general gist of the key points, but there's just a lot left on the table that she didn't have time to fully examine. If reported fully and properly, there really wouldn't be this ongoing debate about his innocence.

=-=-=-=-=-=

I say all that to say, despite these flaws, I still hold the show in very high regard. They brought a 15 year old case back to life and they DID move a number of key items out of the shadows. They deserve a lot of credit for where that case is today (IMO, moving to the guy getting out at some point.)

And, given that esteem, I believe with this situation, they have gone to school over mis-steps and logistical issues. It is my impression that they are not putting these episodes together in near real-time. They also aren't trying to solve a murder (extremely high level of difficulty, even though that's not what they stated as the purpose... that's what people came to expect.) They have 25 hours of this guy already in the can. They, apparently, have access to a ton of his colleagues... The fucking Taliban? IOW, they aren't out trying to be amateur sleuths, which is EXTREMELY inefficient. (They spent a TON of time trying to track down timelines and various iterations of the key witness' version of the murder... Dude told 4 different versions, why are you burning entire episodes trying to verify how long it takes to drive from Point A to Point B.)

TL;DR - The subject matter and the ability to learn from the unnecessary time constraints from season 1 should make this season much less haphazard and slapdash.

howard · Post by **howard** » Thu Dec 10, 2015 5:47 pm

That is very good to hear. Makes this seem even more promising.

Nonlinear FC wrote:Howard, I think there wasn't a ton of misdirection for dramatic effect in the first season.

like I said, (or avoided saying directly,) I don't know what I'm talking about, but despite my ignorance of the first season I've formed this worry. Probably in part I'm projecting the dramatic license used by that HBO miniseries on Robert Durst, The Jinx.

With the different time constraints, plus experience, plus partnership with the filmmaker, plus 25 hours of conversation w/Bergdahl, should make for even better storytelling.

Johnnie · Post by **Johnnie** » Thu Dec 10, 2015 6:04 pm

Absolutely enthralling.

And then the teaser for the next week is her calling the Taliban.

Holy shit.

I hope this podcast sheds new light and shits all over the crowd that condemned him because of the prisoner trade. Man, the arguments I had with military members over this issue. I'm gunna contact my buddy that interviewed him. See if there's anything he was involved in.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Fri Dec 11, 2015 12:30 am

When Bowe talked about how crappy his superiors were, I immediately thought of Johnnie telling all his stories and his recent crappy re-assignment

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Fri Dec 11, 2015 5:43 am

degenerasian wrote:When Bowe talked about how crappy his superiors were, I immediately thought of Johnnie telling all his stories and his recent crappy re-assignment

Are you talking about the Browns?

Johnny Carwash · Post by **Johnny Carwash** » Fri Dec 11, 2015 6:22 am

Pruitt wrote:
degenerasian wrote:When Bowe talked about how crappy his superiors were, I immediately thought of Johnnie telling all his stories and his recent crappy re-assignment
Are you talking about the Browns?

That is great.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Fri Dec 11, 2015 9:58 am

awesome

The Sybian · Post by **The Sybian** » Fri Dec 11, 2015 11:34 am

howard wrote:That is very good to hear. Makes this seem even more promising.

Nonlinear FC wrote:Howard, I think there wasn't a ton of misdirection for dramatic effect in the first season.
like I said, (or avoided saying directly,) I don't know what I'm talking about, but despite my ignorance of the first season I've formed this worry. Probably in part I'm projecting the dramatic license used by that HBO miniseries on Robert Durst, The Jinx.

With the different time constraints, plus experience, plus partnership with the filmmaker, plus 25 hours of conversation w/Bergdahl, should make for even better storytelling.

Your assumption about the first season is correct. They took the story in emotional swings, where it seemed clear he was innocent, then clear he was guilty. The POV was Koenig grappling with whether she believed Adnan's story. It was compelling, but walked the line between journalism and dramatic storytelling.

DSafetyGuy · Post by **DSafetyGuy** » Fri Dec 11, 2015 1:21 pm

Nonlinear FC wrote:Howard, I think there wasn't a ton of misdirection for dramatic effect in the first season. I think, sometimes to a fault, they were kind of stabbing in the dark and frankly seeing where the story took them.

And here's where I'll critique the first season. I have not stopped following the case and I have listened to a few podcasts that have gone into a much deeper dive on just about all aspects of the case. To say that kid got railroaded is a massive understatement. I'm not saying Koenig screwed up the reporting, but... There are HUGE fucking holes in the state's case. I won't go into all of it, but from both procedural and evidential aspects there's no way that kid should've been convicted.

Because she was pretty much compiling this story on a week to week basis, with the pressure to do the reporting AND the taping for a rapidly growing and rapacious audience, she just missed or misread a TON of shit. I think she got the general gist of the key points, but there's just a lot left on the table that she didn't have time to fully examine. If reported fully and properly, there really wouldn't be this ongoing debate about his innocence.

I felt that they structured the first season of the podcast in a way to intentionally make your opinion of guilty/not guilty change and keep interest up.

On the bolded portion, you talking about Undisclosed? We both posted about it in the previous "podcasts" thread (there's some Serial stuff starting here and Undisclosed follows later, obviously). I wish I could say it's amazing that Adnan was found guilty, but I am far too cynical about the police/legal system.

I haven't listened to the current episode of Undisclosed and even though I posted that it is biased for Adnan, there is no way I can believe he murdered Hae after listening to Undisclosed (and I posted I thought he was innocent from just listening to Serial).

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Fri Dec 11, 2015 1:26 pm

The justice system just amazes me, mostly cause I know nothing about.
How does the Adnan case go from a mistrial, to nearly thrown out, to a 2nd trail and conviction and Adnan not testifying for himself. What a range of emotions for that kid. His whole future hinged on what seemed like a coin flip.

Also why does it take Serial to get the appeals process going. Nothing happened in this case from 2000 to 2014 and now everything is happening in 2015. What does it take for the 1000s of other cases like this one that doesn't have Serial.

howard · Post by **howard** » Fri Dec 11, 2015 1:36 pm

For a bunch, it took DNA. The story of how hundreds of innocent people were convicted and imprisoned, later to be exonerated by DNA evidence starting in the late 90s should have ended with a massive reform of our criminal justice system. But, no.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Fri Dec 11, 2015 2:23 pm

DSafetyGuy wrote:
Nonlinear FC wrote:Howard, I think there wasn't a ton of misdirection for dramatic effect in the first season. I think, sometimes to a fault, they were kind of stabbing in the dark and frankly seeing where the story took them.

And here's where I'll critique the first season. I have not stopped following the case and I have listened to a few podcasts that have gone into a much deeper dive on just about all aspects of the case. To say that kid got railroaded is a massive understatement. I'm not saying Koenig screwed up the reporting, but... There are HUGE fucking holes in the state's case. I won't go into all of it, but from both procedural and evidential aspects there's no way that kid should've been convicted.

Because she was pretty much compiling this story on a week to week basis, with the pressure to do the reporting AND the taping for a rapidly growing and rapacious audience, she just missed or misread a TON of shit. I think she got the general gist of the key points, but there's just a lot left on the table that she didn't have time to fully examine. If reported fully and properly, there really wouldn't be this ongoing debate about his innocence.
I felt that they structured the first season of the podcast in a way to intentionally make your opinion of guilty/not guilty change and keep interest up.

On the bolded portion, you talking about Undisclosed? We both posted about it in the previous "podcasts" thread (there's some Serial stuff starting here and Undisclosed follows later, obviously). I wish I could say it's amazing that Adnan was found guilty, but I am far too cynical about the police/legal system.

I haven't listened to the current episode of Undisclosed and even though I posted that it is biased for Adnan, there is no way I can believe he murdered Hae after listening to Undisclosed (and I posted I thought he was innocent from just listening to Serial).

Yeah, I'm certainly open to what you guys are saying in terms of structuring the show to keep people unsure about various aspects, most notably his guilt/innocence. I just don't think it was misdirection, but rather a fairly honest accounting of where Koenig's head was at throughout her research and reporting.

To a fault, I think she tried to be "fair" and "conservative" in how she treated just about everyone. Jay Wilds lied repeatedly, both on the stand and in his statements to the police. You can buy into the state's bullshit that he was consistent about key aspects, but that is what I called it, bullshit. The guy's stories not only contracted earlier versions, each of them had massive logistical issues. There was no reason to beat around the bush on that.

In addition, the treatment of Gutierrez was unnecessarily light. That woman was a complete disaster by the time she got to Adnan. That information was not debatable. She was disbarred soon after under circumstances exactly like what Adnan and his family went through (taking money and then not using it to find witnesses or conduct specific investigations). And yet the episode focusing on her goes out of its way to talk about her overall career as a means of being "fair" to her legacy or some bullshit.

=-=-=-=-=-=

And, yes, definitely Undisclosed, but also one called Truth & Justice (it was originally Serial Dynasty and it started as kind of an aggregator of all the show and all the podcasts covering the show.)

There's no question it is biased, but it's kind of like when you watch a documentary where you know they have a heavy bias, but you also are being presented with fairly irrefutable facts to prove their point. Blackfish is a pretty good example, I guess. The Jinx would be another, though there are big problems with their approach.

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Fri Dec 11, 2015 2:27 pm

degenerasian wrote:The justice system just amazes me, mostly cause I know nothing about.
How does the Adnan case go from a mistrial, to nearly thrown out, to a 2nd trail and conviction and Adnan not testifying for himself. What a range of emotions for that kid. His whole future hinged on what seemed like a coin flip.

Also why does it take Serial to get the appeals process going. Nothing happened in this case from 2000 to 2014 and now everything is happening in 2015. What does it take for the 1000s of other cases like this one that doesn't have Serial.

The thing about the mistrial, by most accounts, that trial was going Adnan's way. For the second trial, the prosecutors were able to tighten up a number of holes and Gutierrez did a really shitty job on a number of fronts letting victories from the first trial float away.

And, absolutely, no chance this gets through the appeal process without the Serial spotlight.

wlu_lax6 · Post by **wlu_lax6** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 2:47 pm

So the guy behind Planet Money and a bunch of other great NPR stuff left to start his own podcast company, Gimlet Media. He has a few shows, but one is called Surprisingly Awesome. The episode on Tubthumping is solid.
https://gimletmedia.com/episode/tubthumping/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Nonlinear FC · Post by **Nonlinear FC** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 3:16 pm

I'm pretty sure I brought that up awhile back... EVERYTHING they put out is top-notch.

The first one they did was called Start-Up and it's all about how Bloomberg (planet money guy) started this company and all of the trials and tribulations that go along with it (getting funding, hiring initial staff... naming the company.) The second season was about a dating app start-up, and they are now back with a mini-season updating how things are going with Gimlet (spoiler - well.)

The second show was more of an acquisition and it's a former WNYC show called Reply All. Two hosts that take items of interest that are internet- or technology-related and do a bit of a deep dive. It's quirky and hard to explain, but trust me, it is consistently REALLY good.

The third show is Mystery Show with adorable host Starlee Kine. Each episode she takes a "mystery" that someone brings her and tries to solve it. You may have seen her on Conan talking about the actual, confirmed height of Jake Gyllenhall - Which for some weird reason had become some kind of internet controversy.

And, yes, the 4th show to come on board is Surprisingly Awesome. It is hosted by a former NPR guy and Adam MacKay who you may know as writer, director, and producer known for films like Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and Step Brothers and a former head writer at SNL. Very good show.

=-=-=-=-=-=

TL;DR - Check out gimletmedia.com if you are looking for really well done, smart and fast-paced podcasts.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Wed Dec 23, 2015 3:17 pm

wlu_lax6 wrote:So the guy behind Planet Money and a bunch of other great NPR stuff left to start his own podcast company, Gimlet Media. He has a few shows, but one is called Surprisingly Awesome. The episode on Tubthumping is solid.
https://gimletmedia.com/episode/tubthumping/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Downloading now.

The podcast "Criminal" is usually interesting. Everything from hate crimes to biographies of career criminals to the crimes behind folk songs.

This one is about what happens when people steal from the Petrified Forest. http://thisiscriminal.com/ep-23-triassi ... 7-17-2015/

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 10:35 am

Nonlinear FC wrote:I'm pretty sure I brought that up awhile back... EVERYTHING they put out is top-notch.

The first one they did was called Start-Up and it's all about how Bloomberg (planet money guy) started this company and all of the trials and tribulations that go along with it (getting funding, hiring initial staff... naming the company.) The second season was about a dating app start-up, and they are now back with a mini-season updating how things are going with Gimlet (spoiler - well.)

The second show was more of an acquisition and it's a former WNYC show called Reply All. Two hosts that take items of interest that are internet- or technology-related and do a bit of a deep dive. It's quirky and hard to explain, but trust me, it is consistently REALLY good.

The third show is Mystery Show with adorable host Starlee Kine. Each episode she takes a "mystery" that someone brings her and tries to solve it. You may have seen her on Conan talking about the actual, confirmed height of Jake Gyllenhall - Which for some weird reason had become some kind of internet controversy.

And, yes, the 4th show to come on board is Surprisingly Awesome. It is hosted by a former NPR guy and Adam MacKay who you may know as writer, director, and producer known for films like Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and Step Brothers and a former head writer at SNL. Very good show.

=-=-=-=-=-=

TL;DR - Check out gimletmedia.com if you are looking for really well done, smart and fast-paced podcasts.

Awesome! Listened to 2 episodes of Mystery Show. Loved the interactive part and how we follow the case. Britney Spears one was food.

Listened to 6 episodes of Start Up. Amazing how polished the successful people are. Alex bumbles through alot of it. The whole equity negotiation and then picking the name was fascinating. When you told us about this the name Gimlet was insignificant to me.

Thanks for recommending!

govmentchedda · Post by **govmentchedda** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 10:38 am

degenerasian wrote:
Nonlinear FC wrote:I'm pretty sure I brought that up awhile back... EVERYTHING they put out is top-notch.

The first one they did was called Start-Up and it's all about how Bloomberg (planet money guy) started this company and all of the trials and tribulations that go along with it (getting funding, hiring initial staff... naming the company.) The second season was about a dating app start-up, and they are now back with a mini-season updating how things are going with Gimlet (spoiler - well.)

The second show was more of an acquisition and it's a former WNYC show called Reply All. Two hosts that take items of interest that are internet- or technology-related and do a bit of a deep dive. It's quirky and hard to explain, but trust me, it is consistently REALLY good.

The third show is Mystery Show with adorable host Starlee Kine. Each episode she takes a "mystery" that someone brings her and tries to solve it. You may have seen her on Conan talking about the actual, confirmed height of Jake Gyllenhall - Which for some weird reason had become some kind of internet controversy.

And, yes, the 4th show to come on board is Surprisingly Awesome. It is hosted by a former NPR guy and Adam MacKay who you may know as writer, director, and producer known for films like Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and Step Brothers and a former head writer at SNL. Very good show.

=-=-=-=-=-=

TL;DR - Check out gimletmedia.com if you are looking for really well done, smart and fast-paced podcasts.
Awesome! Listened to 2 episodes of Mystery Show. Loved the interactive part and how we follow the case. Britney Spears one was food.

Listened to 6 episodes of Start Up. Amazing how polished the successful people are. Alex bumbles through alot of it. The whole equity negotiation and then picking the name was fascinating. When you told us about this the name Gimlet was insignificant to me.

Thanks for recommending!

I really enjoyed the 6 episodes or so of Surprisingly Awesome that are out.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 7:28 pm

listened to more of Start Up. Got to the episode where they fuck up the ad using the kid.

As fascinating as it is, 1.5 million is a lot. They are shooting to become a big business so that's the capital needed.

If Howard wanted to turn Swampcast into a business, how much would he need to start with to make it worthwhile?

howard · Post by **howard** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 8:13 pm

Well, first you would need to hire/find a talented host. Motivated too.

There are so many damn podcasts out there, almost all of them no fee. But hundreds of them are at least selling some ad spots, generating some revenue.

The credits at the end of the Serial pod is at least 20 people long; that is a lot of salaries. I think it takes at the very least a couple of skilled people to produce and handle the computer/streaming/website technicals. More like three or four people. Then, writing if that is a thing in your product.

This is where Marc Maron really impresses me. AFAIK, he generates all the content from his brain, maybe some research help, and has a very interesting and very popular podcast. But as well as talent, he has a ton of experience talking in an entertaining manner for a living, decades of standup plus his radio experience (Air America).

So, a minimum of 3-4 salaries, full time if you are doing more than one a week. More like 6-10 salaries, depending on how much writing/research is necessary. Maybe $20k in gear to make it broadcast quality and a reliable streaming/storage platform, plus $1k a month or so. Lets spitball $200k for startup and the first year, half that if you get interns, volunteers and people deferring salary.

OTOH, someone like Bill Burr, another talented guy with decades experience entertaining people, has minimum production costs, I'm guessing it is just him and one technical guy. It sounds lo-fi, but he is really popular.

I think even with outstanding talent and product, you would need months if not a year or two before you broke even. And a lot of luck, including quick recovery from your inevitable errors. I'm sure there are a small number of podcasters who take in as much as $1 million a year, like Maron, but not too many. And I bet Serial cost well above $1mil a year to produce.

eta: I just found a stat, that podcast ads pay between $20-45 per thousand listeners. You have 50,000 people who download/stream your show per week, you collect ~ $1000 to $2250 per week.

degenerasian · Post by **degenerasian** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 8:24 pm

You are the talented host!

I wonder what Dan Carlins staff is like.

howard · Post by **howard** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 8:34 pm

Carlin is another exceptionally talented and hard-working exception. Him and a producer, Ben. Plus whatever technical/website help. AFAIK. He has resisted taking steps to further monetize the show, because he does not want to be a boss, telling people what to do and making a slew of production/financial decisions. He likes his current workflow, reading a ton of books, scripting it himself and talking. So it is 3-4 months between shows.

BSF21 · Post by **BSF21** » Tue Dec 29, 2015 10:43 pm

howard wrote:Carlin is another exceptionally talented and hard-working exception. Him and a producer, Ben. Plus whatever technical/website help. AFAIK. He has resisted taking steps to further monetize the show, because he does not want to be a boss, telling people what to do and making a slew of production/financial decisions. He likes his current workflow, reading a ton of books, scripting it himself and talking. So it is 3-4 months between shows.

If he really exists...he's kinda like The Stig.

Pruitt · Post by **Pruitt** » Thu Jan 07, 2016 10:34 am

Just heard this great story about the time Joe Dimaggio returned to his ancestral homeland.

The town - anxious to shed its image as a Mafia hot spot - blew its budget getting ready for Dimaggio... but he never showed up.

Well worth a listen.

http://www.kitchensisters.org/2015/09/2 ... -dimaggio/

Gunpowder · Post by **Gunpowder** » Thu Jan 07, 2016 10:40 am

howard wrote:For a bunch, it took DNA. The story of how hundreds of innocent people were convicted and imprisoned, later to be exonerated by DNA evidence starting in the late 90s should have ended with a massive reform of our criminal justice system. But, no.

The prosecutors, et. al. who were clearly showed to have railroaded people and fought against DNA evidence being used later down the road should have been jailed. Preferably next to the bankers.

Florida is the absolute worst with this.

Gunpowder · Post by **Gunpowder** » Thu Jan 07, 2016 10:42 am

howard wrote:Well, first you would need to hire/find a talented host. Motivated too.

There are so many damn podcasts out there, almost all of them no fee. But hundreds of them are at least selling some ad spots, generating some revenue.

The credits at the end of the Serial pod is at least 20 people long; that is a lot of salaries. I think it takes at the very least a couple of skilled people to produce and handle the computer/streaming/website technicals. More like three or four people. Then, writing if that is a thing in your product.

This is where Marc Maron really impresses me. AFAIK, he generates all the content from his brain, maybe some research help, and has a very interesting and very popular podcast. But as well as talent, he has a ton of experience talking in an entertaining manner for a living, decades of standup plus his radio experience (Air America).

So, a minimum of 3-4 salaries, full time if you are doing more than one a week. More like 6-10 salaries, depending on how much writing/research is necessary. Maybe $20k in gear to make it broadcast quality and a reliable streaming/storage platform, plus $1k a month or so. Lets spitball $200k for startup and the first year, half that if you get interns, volunteers and people deferring salary.

OTOH, someone like Bill Burr, another talented guy with decades experience entertaining people, has minimum production costs, I'm guessing it is just him and one technical guy. It sounds lo-fi, but he is really popular.

I think even with outstanding talent and product, you would need months if not a year or two before you broke even. And a lot of luck, including quick recovery from your inevitable errors. I'm sure there are a small number of podcasters who take in as much as $1 million a year, like Maron, but not too many. And I bet Serial cost well above $1mil a year to produce.

eta: I just found a stat, that podcast ads pay between $20-45 per thousand listeners. You have 50,000 people who download/stream your show per week, you collect ~ $1000 to $2250 per week.

With some technical knowledge, you could make a very good version of Bill Burr's with maybe one guy, if that. You'd have to pay for the equipment (not that much), the hosting, etc (no idea but can't be that much) and you'd have to revamp a room in your house for recording (prob 5 figures).