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MetaxuCafe UpdatesSearching Member Sites
I’ve recently added a search function so that you can limit your Google search to just the blogs that are members of MetaxuCafe. I think that will be a good resource for everyone looking for literary topics online and you’ll find it right on the front page as well as other places on the site. Now if you want to read about, say Orhan Pamuk, but only want to search the litblogs you trust, you can narrow your search right here.
BURNING WORDS Podcast Reviews March 2008
by Tamara on March 13, 2008
by Tamara Kaye Sellman
Welcome to Burning Words: Podcast Reviews, a monthly column reviewing short prose podcasts featuring fiction or creative nonfiction.
What is a podcast? It might be thought of as the 21st Century equivalent to the old time radio show. Using the latest technology, listeners can download these radio shows as media files to their mp3 devices and computers and, with a single click, listen at their own convenience, either through headphones or through a speaker. Most podcasts are free and can be downloaded through various directories such as iTunes, ZenCast and Podcast Alley.
Note: All podcasts reviewed in this column were downloaded to either an IBM ThinkPad or a Creative Zen V mp3 player for listening and review.
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MARCH 2008 PODCAST REVIEW
Resources for new podcasters
This month I’d like to break from my typical reviews to focus on the resources one can turn to if they are interested in developing their own podcasts.
I’ve gone and done a few myself for Writer’s Umbrella, the podcast that now serves my editorial business, Writer’s Rainbow (you can listen to the painfully amateur podcasts here!). I have plans to produce two other podcasts: MRPod for MRCentral.net (the magical realism virtual/social network I direct) and one for my own work (The OddPod, coming soon!).
To produce these podcasts on my own has taught me a healthy respect for what it requires to be a podcaster. And it’s also helped me to focus on some of the more technical and performance challenges inherent in the audio form. I think it’s safe to say that, upon entering the realm of podcasting, any potential producer must accept a future shaped by a continuous learning curve. It really isn’t that difficult to make a podcast (not with user-friendly and free Audacity to handle most of the work), but it’s the content that counts. While it’s okay to be a little self-conscious about production values at the beginning, it’s far more important to keep in mind your original impetus for producing a podcast in the first place, then work toward excellence in content with each successive cast.
That being said, I remain committed to those underproduced, more personal, less perfect attempts at podcasting. They offer the kind of intimate communication between performer and listener that makes the podcast so appealing. I feel like I’m listening to a real person who has something real to share with me, cracks in their voice, mediocre audio values and all.
Not that slick podcasts like The Writer’s Almanac, hosted by Garrison Keillor, don’t deserve credit, because they also contribute fundamentally to the larger vision of podcasting. But pristine production values aren’t always the thing that makes a podcast good. In the end, it’s about content, entertainment, authenticity, and a genuine desire on the part of the podcaster to share something they value.
Below, I’ve cited the resources I’ve used in the last couple of months to get my own podcasts going. Between the five of them, potential podcasters should be able to find all the information they need to move forward on their own projects. Good luck! —TKS
Resource: “How to Podcast: The definitive step-by-step guide on how to podcast without breaking the bank”
Author: Jason Van Orden
URL: http://www.how-to-podcast-tutorial.com/00-podcast-tutorial-four-ps.htm
Description: This web tutorial gives readers four simple courses in how to put together a podcast. The four basic steps include Plan, Promote, Publish and Promote. I like the organization of this self-guided tutorial, and the navigation between sections seems pretty intuitive. This is nuts and bolts stuff.
Resource: “Podcasting Underground: Podcasting Tips for Podcasters”
Author: Jason Van Orden
URL: http://www.podcastingunderground.com
Description: Another resource from Jason Van Orden. Visit this site to get your advice any number of ways: via podcast, blog, feed, or via email newsletter. I struggled to get the QuickTime mp3 popup player to work without crashing my laptop, but I downloaded everything free from iTunes without a problem. The feed is easy enough to add to your aggregator, as is the email newsletter. The blog is really for folks already more “in the know,” methinks. For very beginning podcasters, may I suggest…
Resource: “Podcast Freq”
Author: Anna Farmery
URL: http://www.podcastfreq.com/
Description: I’ve read this regular blog via my aggregator for quite a while now and I think it’s really useful and friendly to people who are not practicing media techs. Podcast Freq describes itself as serving “the non geek,” and I agree with that synopsis. The blog’s various A-Z series (one for podcasting tips, one for recommended podcasts to listen to, and yet another one for promoting one’s podcast) are really thorough and demystify the entire podcast production experience.
Resource: “Podcasting for Dummies “
Author: Tee Morris and Evo Terra
URL: http://www.dummies.com/WileyCDA/DummiesTitle/productCd-0471748986,page-1.html
Description: I’m a fan of the Dummies series of how-to books and this one doesn’t disappoint. Like Podcast Freq, Podcasting for Dummies makes the planning and production of your podcast a cinch (well, when compared with going it alone). It gives the big picture of podcasting as well, and clarifies some of the industry terminology. Great to have on hand when you’re looking for a solution to some specific problem. Chapters in the book are also available in podcast format for free via iTunes (makes sense, eh?).
Resource: “Podcast411 “
Author: Rob Walch and Mur Lafferty
URL: http://www.podcast411.com/
Description: A good podcasting hub with interviews and links to various podcast directories and related news. A good podcast to listen to regularly once you get going. Mur Lafferty is especially known for producing the successful science fiction podcast, EscapePod.
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Previous podcasts reviewed:
King Bonk’s Campfire Cast, March 2007
http://metaxucafe.com/cafe/article/burning_words_podcast_reviews
short fiction, essays, poetry, music, soundscape
Miette’s Bedtime Story Podcast, April 2007
http://metaxucafe.com/cafe/article/burning_words_podcast_reviews1
short classic fiction and essays
The Stuffed Fabulist on Air, May 2007
http://metaxucafe.com/cafe/article/burning_words_podcast_reviews_may_2007
From the website: “A collection of contemporary fables, parables, and other reports of ‘things that go bump in the night.’â€
Bound Off, August 2007
http://metaxucafe.com/cafe/article/burning_words_podcast_reviews_may_2007
Short stories in the literary tradition
Special Edition: Hurricane Katrina stories, August 2007
http://metaxucafe.com/cafe/article/burning_words_podcast_reviews_special_edition
First-person oral history re: Hurricane Katrina
Well-told Tales, October 2007
http://metaxucafe.com/cafe/article/burning_words_podcast_reviews2
Pulp fiction in the hard-boiled, scifi or horror genres
Special Edition: Spirited Holiday Podcasts, November 2007
http://metaxucafe.com/cafe/article/burning_words_podcast_reviews_for_december_2007
Christmas Stories from Germany; Living Books for Ears; Ford Galaxy of Stories; New Year, New You
Special Edition: Podcasts I am thankful for, December 2007
http://metaxucafe.com/cafe/article/burning_words_podcast_reviews_november_2007/
Grammar Girl; Librivox; The New Yorker Fiction podcast; RUSC? R U Sitting Comfortably? Vintage radio program archive; This American Life; The Writer’s Almanac
Jack Straw Productions, February 2008
http://metaxucafe.com/cafe/article/burning_words_podcast_reviews_february_2008/
The Jack Straw Literary Podcast for new media writers and artists
© 2008, TKS
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