My partner and I have created a podcast.
We’re still waiting on iTunes moderator approval before it’ll appear in iTunes, but as you all can’t wait, the mp3 file is here. We’re aiming to get these out about once a fortnight, depending on my partner’s university schedule (be warned, we’re both English majors).
It is the first attempt at podcasting by both myself and my partner, so be warned there are a couple of errors* and we’re both still getting into the habit of how to talk about comics with a microphone in front of us.
Aside from discussing recent geek news and what we’ve been reading in our spare time, we reviewed two graphic novels, Christopher Yost’s Red Robin – The Grail and Gail Simone’s Secret Six – Unhinged.
In any case, let us know what you think! We’d love some feedback to know how to improve this.
*The most obvious of these is that we only got the podcast online after PSN has come back up, and in the podcast we spend a good few moments on the podcast bitching about how it is still down. 😛
I quite enjoyed listening to the first podcast. I hope you guys manage to make a lot more of them!
Some (hopefully constructive) feedback:
Remember that your audience may not know what certain things mean/are, and even if they do already know, that extra bit of information/context can make the discussion flow a bit more smoothly. I think you guys are in a position to have an easy back and forth with Chris being the voice of the less well-informed listener and Zoe as the knowledgable comics afficionado, and I liked that Chris was asking questions and seeking clarification on certain points, but was disappointed on a couple of occasions when his queries were quickly glossed over rather than being clearly resolved. More background/context/explaination is always a good thing for these kinds of reviews, in my opinion. When you go into that extra layer of detail the listener feels like they’re part of the discussion. When you leave things unsaid, or consider them assumed knowledge, it creates a barrier that can make it feel a bit unwelcoming. Obviously you don’t need to tell us who Batman is, but some of the lesser known characters and events need that extra bit of coverage to keep the listener on the same page as you.
Specific examples of this: when Chris asked who a certain character was and Zoe’s answer was “they’re annoying”. A perfectly fair opinion, but it would have been cool to also get a quick answer just so I knew who you were talking about, because I personally was asking the exact same question. Similarly, when it was said that people who didn’t know what the Bechdel Test was wouldn’t care, that’s pretty alienating language – explaining these things, even briefly, keeps the audience feeling involved (for the record, I do know what it is, but the comment still left me feeling distanced). Conversely, when Chris asked who was in the Secret Six and you explained it, I really appreciated the additional info.
Also, Zoe, the book and comic reviews you’ve put up on this site have been so detailed and interesting, yet I felt a couple of times when you were discussing stuff in the podcast you were saying more in the way of personal background info (where you got it from and how long it took to find and how much you like it) than discussing what specifically you liked about it and why. However, I found this was only really the case at the start of the podcast when you were doing the “recent reading” segment – your critiques of Red Robin and Secret Six were far more detailed and I found them quite interesting. Perhaps that’s the idea anyway – for the “recent reading” bit to be more informal, which is fine 🙂
I hope my feedback is welcome! Overall a great first effort guys. I really enjoyed listening. Keep it up!
Also, I’m really curious to check out Secret Six now – it sounds awesome!
Plus, I was happy to hear Echo getting a plug from Chris. One of my big favourites.
This was the greatest mp3cast ever within the first 30 seconds
Also “If people don’t know they don’t care.” = gold.
I rather enjoy how you are discussing things that the other hasn’t read.
50mins was a bit long, though if i wasnt at work I may not have had the time to listen. 🙂
The music at the start though is that your own or from something (it sounds familiar but cant quite put my finger on it) as if you have pinched it from somewhere it can technically be copyright infringement. This is why Yahtzee no longer has a different song at the start of the each of his Zero Punctuation rants.
Haha. I’m very surprised you can’t work it out, given I know I’ve been in the room with you when you’ve heard it. It is an edited down version though I guess, but yeah we do plan on eventually changing it to something of our own.
We are aiming for around the 45minute mark, every other podcast I have listened to has gone on for longer, as in a lot are around the 2hour mark. So I’m not going to worry about time just yet. 😛
Gah, Ok listened again and now it is obvious. I must have been distracted by something else in the room.
2 hours? Crazy people have no lives.
Keep at it, I look forward to the next episode and chuckling to myself for the small part I had in getting you into the comic addiction.
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