Category: Podcasting

Reviving Communal Radio Programs

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When I got up this morning, I was excited to see a notification on my phone saying that the new season of the podcast Serial had finally launched.  This season they’re going to dive into the story of solider Bowe Bergdahl, who was taken hostage by the Taliban after deserting his post.

One of the reasons why Serial is so successful is because it’s so successfully edited and produced. Listening to the show feels like you’re watching a great episode of Law & Order. It’s paced so well.

My wife and I both work from home.  So neither of us have a commute where we can listen to the podcast, like lots of our friends. Tonight, we just sat in the living room, around my Jambox speaker, and listened to the first episode of Serial Season 2.

It reminded me of the photos of families sitting around the radio listening to programs, in decades past. Podcasting isn’t new. It’s been exploding for years now. But this is the first time there’s been a podcast where it seems normal to want to listen to it with someone else at the same time.

Season 2 is coming at a great time. Most of the network television shows are on winter break. So I can give Serial audio program the same time that I would’ve previously watched something. The fact that that’s happening

Are you listening to Serial together with someone else?

Podcasts I Listen To

There was an interesting article in the Washington Post a few days ago about how podcasts were becoming more popular again and how plenty were actually becoming profitable businesses.

I’m a huge fan of podcasts, especially audio podcasts. I love being able to take typical mundane tasks like driving, exercising or cleaning, and flip on a podcast. It turns that boring task into something where I’m engaging my brain.

I was thinking about the podcasts that I listen to. First and foremost there’s the gold standard of podcasts and that’s the work that’s done by Leo Laporte and the TWiT Network.

I have been listening to Leo Laporte’s This Week in Tech Podcast since it was called Revenge of the Screensavers. It’s just Leo and his friends talking about hot topics related to the tech industry. It comes out every Monday.

His network has produced a number of other shows which have become staples for me. There’s MacBreak Weekly which comes out in Wednesday’s. There’s This Week in Google which comes out on Thursday’s.

Throughout the years I’ve tried a number of other podcasts. Now I’m also listening to the Product Hunt podcast, Alton Brown Cast, and Andreessen Horowitz podcast.

Do you listen to podcasts? If so which?

Just Added “Wine Library Reserve” to My Apple iTunes Podcast List

When my boy Gary V. and Wine Library TV joined the Revision 3 show line up, we all got a bit of a surprise gift.  It is the delivery of Wine Library Reserve.

Wine Library Reserve is a 5 minute summary of two of the shows that Gary does every week.

Gary currently does a show every day and they tend to last 20 to 30 minutes.  I’ve been quite busy lately so these have become hard to stay up with and consume.

I’ve really enjoyed Wine Library Reserve and have added it to my Apple iTunes podcast list.

If you’ve hesitated to get into Wine Library TV before because it’s felt like a fire house, check this out.  If you do subscribe, what do you think?

Happy Birthday to Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV

Our friend and father of the Vayner-nation Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV turned 32 today and I want to wish him a BIG happy birthday today.

Drop on over to his video blog and give him some last minute birthday wishes.

What Online Television Shows Do You Watch?

One of the sessions at BarCamp DC that I heard a lot of buzz about after words was Joe Price‘s discussion of the Future of Television.  I’m bummed I missed it but I was facilitating one of the other rooms.

Joe and I talked after and we thought it’d be cool to get an online thread going about what kind of online television shows people are watching.

I watch (in no particular order)…

What do you watch?  Leave me a comment.  Write a blog post about it.    I don’t have cable tv so I wanna hear about what new shows I should be watching.

I’d love to hear from as many people as possible.

It’d be especially cool to hear from folks that were at BarCamp DC.  Matt, Jason, Jackson, Cindy, Patrick,  Samantha, Brian… tag you’re it.  Post about your favorite online tv shows and then tag  more people.

Maybe you don’t watch much online tv.  If that’s the case, post about why and what’s missing.  What would make it a better experience?

Watch Wine Library TV’s Gary Vaynerchuk Tonight on NBC’s Conan O’Brien Show

Master of all things wine and host of the popular podcast Wine Library TV Gary Vaynerchuk is going to be a guest on the NBC’s The Conan O’Brien Show tonight at 12:30am.

How cool would it be if this was one of Conan’s most watched shows because the Web world came out in force to support Gary?  It’d be such an awesome message about the power of the Web and podcasting.

So… stay up late tonight and support Gary Vaynerchuk and Wine Library TV.

Oh oh…. you can follow Gary’s adventure’s on Twitter.  Apparently he’s on stage right now doing the taping.

Diggnation is Coming to London

One more juicy tidbit. For all of you Diggnation fans in London,  it is official that Kevin and Alex will be making the trip across the pond to London to do a shooting of the show at the Future of Web Apps conference on October 3-5.

The following was sent as part of a e-newsletter from Carson Systems:

We’re so excited to let you be among the first to know that Kevin Rose and Alex Albrecht will be joining us at Future of Web Apps in October, where they’ll be filming a live episode of Diggnation.
If you haven’t already purchased your ticket, you can do so at
https://secure.carsonsystems.com/event/6/public/booking,
it promises to be a lot of fun.

To keep tabs on more FOWA developments like these, subscribe to the
blog at http://www.futureofwebapps.wordpress.com

I hope to attend Future of Web Apps.  *crosses fingers and toes*

Gary Vaynerchuk – a gentleman, scholar, and example of an expert in a Web 2.0 world

Last week, I went off on Jakob Neilsen for essentially saying that you have to bloviate like a dotty old tenured professor if you want to be considered an expert in your field. (exaggeration) My thesis was that its important to know your stuff but that you need to interact and have conversations with your community. It’s through these conversations which you gain trust with the people you’re there to serve.

Someone who exemplifies these qualities for me is Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV. He is both a gentleman and a scholar. He takes advantage of all that Web 2.0 has to offer to spread his message of Wine to the world.

For those of you not familiar with Gary, he hosts a podcast, Wine Library TV, that goes out every weekday where he reviews some wine. He’s fun and engaging. It’s probably one of the best shows on the Web. Both Time Magazine and ABC News have decided to stand up and take notice.

On his show, he is constantly asking for user feedback but his show isn’t the only place where he interacts with the community. He has a Twitter account. In addition to giving personal updates, he used to use Twitter as a way to field viewer questions live on the show.

Now instead of using Twitter to field questions, he has an application on Facebook called “Ask Gary.” There users can post question for Gary, which he’ll answer.

He has a profile on the wine social network Cork’d. You can see what he’s drinking and what his thoughts are on the wines that he’s tried. He loved the community of Cork’d so much that his company Wine Library purchased it. He hopes to grow the community and use it as a way venue for encouraging people to try new wines.

At the end of everyone of his shows, Gary says, “you with a little bit of me…we’re changing the wine world.” I can imagine if Jakob Neilsen had a podcast he’d say, “I’m changing the world and I’m glad you just paid $3,000 to listen to me talk about it.”