I seldom do anything in the right order with these One Month projects.
If I’m learning about baking, I don’t want to start with something easy, like chocolate chip cookies. I want to jump into baking pies or try to make a wedding cake (that went very badly, but at least no bride or groom were hurt in the process).
With this month figuring out how to start a podcast, I winged it from the beginning. I figured all I had to do was record something. The rest would sort itself out as I went.
And that’s been the way this month has progressed. I got some recording equipment and then found a place to record a show. I asked a few people to be my guests and booked time at WTSQ.
Then, I let them talk.
I still have to put it all together into something that makes sense, but mostly what’s left is just fidgeting with some software and uploading something, anything, to the internet.
Easy, peasy.
What I didn’t do before I started was look to see what was already out there. What kind of digital neighborhood would I be joining? Would what I had in mind even fit in?
I envisioned my podcast, “Smalltown Famous,†as mostly an oral history project. I was going to talk to people I thought remarkable or notable for one reason or another — or mostly, let them do the talking while I tried to not ask too many stupid questions.
But just how crowded was the local podcasting field? How competitive was it?
It turns out, not very.
West Virginia has plenty of podcasts, and I listened to many. Some were easier to listen to than others. Some were rough around the edges. Some bored me, but like with any other kind of show, not every podcast was meant for me.
Still, if I had a real complaint, it was that there wasn’t that much variety, but I looked.
For days, I listened almost everywhere I went. I listened in my car. I listened at home. I listened as I pushed a lawnmower across my yard, already missing the gloom of winter and hoping the ticks hadn’t thawed out yet.
I listened as I dropped off to sleep and then when I got up some mornings.
This is not to imply that I listened to everything, but I think I got a pretty good sampling of what the average person might find without much trouble.
The best-known podcasts from West Virginians belong to the fabulous McElory family from Huntington.
These guys got into podcasting early, stayed and created a nerdy empire that is the envy of anybody who spent a lunch hour dissecting 20-year-old comic book plots with their best friends from high school — not that they necessarily do that.
The podcast that put them on the map is called “My Brother, My Brother and Me,†which was really just the start of what’s practically made them a podcasting institution with a worldwide following.
What they do is just fun.
Locally, there are really only a handful of active West Virginia-based podcasts. Some of the longest-running shows, like “Us & Them,†or “Inside West Virginia Politics†are hosted or sponsored by traditional media, like a radio or television station.
They may start out as a show that’s recorded, broadcast and then uploaded online.
HD Media distributes “Outside the Echo Chamber†through its various newpapers’ websites and as a podcast.
“Inside Appalachia,†which I produce for West Virginia Public Broadcasting, is also a podcast, but it’s built like a public-affairs radio program and is on the station’s weekly broadcast schedule.
Most of these podcasts sound smoother and more refined, but you don’t have to have high production values to get into podcasting. Mostly, you just need something to say and an audience you want to reach.
Lots of West Virginia churches have jumped into podcasting. Some of them may have moved into that after they started streaming services online during the pandemic — or maybe moving to podcasting was just a variation on how some larger churches used to record services on tape or CD and distribute them to whoever wanted them.
There were more than enough podcasts with just a couple of guys talking sports or politics.
As best I can, I avoid lengthy conversations about either. I’d rather talk about comic book movies and food.
With sports, I was an athlete in high school (though not a very good one), and I’m sort of an athlete now (also, not a very good one), but I’ve never spent much time at stadiums or ballparks.
I don’t play golf or box.
I’m more of a participant than a spectator.
Politically speaking, I’m as half informed as the next person, but I work in media and I signed an agreement not to get involved in things like heated political arguments. This might reflect poorly on the company, though everybody seems to be OK with me joking about invading Ohio.
Regardless, I don’t have the stomach for political shows. I don’t need anybody to tell me to grab a torch and a pitchfork. I got both when I opened a credit card at my local hardware store.
But I tuned into a few shows that were relatively tame. If anyone was calling for anarchy or rebellion, I didn’t hear it, but there also weren’t any good jokes.
You have to go with your interests. I found “West Virginia Beer Roads,†which discussed beer in the state — where to get what and even things like trends.
Apparently, we’re moving into lighter, fruity beer season and also embracing lower alcohol content as a trend.
I doubt that last one, not in this economy. People want more bang for their buck.
There were a few podcasts about exploring West Virginia and talking about what they saw.
Some of them, I think, were for tourists, but I found one that was just a family bumbling around from county to county. They were earnest and curious, just seemed to want to share what they saw, whether it was always interesting or not.
I looked for true crime and weird podcasts and came up with “Crime in the Coalfields†and “Mountain State Mysteries.†I listened to hometown whodunits and shadowy conspiracies that maybe involved aliens, the atomic bomb or both.
Listening to so many of these shows was exhausting, but I came away with the idea that while there were dozens of podcasts out there, with people chatting about all kinds of things, there was still room for more. There was still space for different ideas and new voices. Not every space on the board had been claimed, and there was room for just about everyone.
I felt like my little podcast would be just fine. I kind of hoped that maybe somebody would hear what I did and think, “Well, heck, I could do that,†and then just do it.
I’ll let you know when “Smalltown Famous†launches. I hope to have the first season ready to go by the end of May.
