SF Signal: James Patrick Kelly on Podcasting

James Patrick Kelly on Podcasting

James Patrick Kelly, no stranger to podcasting himself, has an Asimov's article called Adventures in Podcasting. In it he envisions a "talknet" of podcasters - much like an audio version of the blogosphere - that will be realized when podcasting comes of age. He also goes on to list some of his favorite podcasts. My favorite bit:

It's been my personal experience, alas, that it's a hell of a lot easier for me to say something stupid than it is to write something stupid; rarely can I listen to an interview I've given without cringing. On some podcasts I've listened to, the quantity of chatter seems to matter more than the quality of thought. Oftentimes these shows will consist of two or more speakers who seem to be modeling themselves on drivetime shockjocks. They interrupt and insult one another, often in the process losing their train of thought. They crack wise about sex and beer and skiffy flicks and reward each other with guffaws in a kind of grotesque comedic codependency.

I have to agree with the sentiment in the article that the awkwardness of poor blogs extends into podcast-space. I don't listen to podcasts all that much, but some of the ones I've listened to are mediocre at best. There's a skill involved in speaking just as there is in writing.

Note to self: If we ever do a podcast, fill the airtime with sensuous supermodel-sounding babes to cover any lack of podcasting skills.

I listen to several podcasts, but many of the fanbased podcasts I've tried weren't any good.
Fireflytalk and The Signal are both excellent SF podcasts.
(I've tried SLice of Scifi, but haven't been able to enjoy it.)

IF you ever start a podcast, I'd be glad to help!

Posted by Kev on Wednesday April 05, 2006 at 10:12 PM

I'm a podcaster myself and I agree with this. Ultimately I don't want to be doing much talking on my podcast myself but asking questions. I'd much rather editorialize on my blog than on my podcast. It's easier to sound smarter in ASCII than mp3.

But I'd much rather hear an interview or debate than read one.

Posted by Jose on Thursday April 13, 2006 at 6:48 AM

I will be honest and say that I would like to see us get a podcast up and running here for SFSignal. I know I have volunteered to get that running, but have been busy with ... stuff.

We will have one, but I don't know when. We all tend to get together at lunch at least once a week and that would be the most likely spot to get one put together - it would be like one of our comment flame fests but with voice instead of text. There we go, thats a teaser for ya. Now I must be off to find a supermodel to fill in the dead air between our witty banter..

Posted by Tim on Thursday April 13, 2006 at 3:16 PM