Buzzcast

RØDE Reveals Epic New Podcast Gear!

April 28, 2023 Buzzsprout Episode 101
Buzzcast
RØDE Reveals Epic New Podcast Gear!
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Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

In this episode, the hosts review RØDE's newest podcast products, share tips on making an unscripted podcast sound professional, and read a hilarious listener email.

View the DISCUSSION THREAD on Twitter!

📣 SOUND-OFF QUESTION: What podcasting-related conspiracy to you believe?
To have your response featured on our next episode, leave a voice message at podinbox.com/buzzsprout, send a boostagram, or tweet the answer @BuzzcastPodcast!

Slow Clap For The Buzzcast Team
Special thanks to Marcos for sending a listener email like we've never seen before!

Flipping The Script
The Art of Making a Good Unscripted Podcast

RØDE's Biggest Product Announcement Ever
Check out some of the amazing new products revealed by RØDE! Here are some of our favorites:

Smartless: On The Road
Watch the trailer for the new series on HBO

Spotify Drops Exclusivity for Gimlet Shows
Spotify announced the network's shows will be on more podcast platforms.

BeReal Spotify Integration
Your BeReal updates now include what you're listening to on Spotify


Support the show

Contact Buzzcast


Thanks for listening & keep podcasting!

Alban:

I think this is why so many Florida men are on the news.

Jordan:

I think so.

Alban:

Like, oh my gosh, it'd be embarrassing to wear a life vest!

Jordan:

So Priscilla wrote into our Basecamp saying that, you know, over the years, they've gotten a lot of emails about Buzzcast. You know, some good some bad, but they had actually received one that they have never seen before.

Kevin:

Right. This one stood out for some some odd reason. Yeah, I couldn't put a finger on it, but stood out. Yeah.

Alban:

So Priscilla semt this to the group. And I read it and I immediately went to Fiverr and hired somebody to read it for us. This has been pared down a bit. Things don't seem as long when they're written is when they're spoken. So Jordan, I sent you an audio. Let's click it.

Marcos:

Bravo to the cast and writers of Buzzcast. I didn't know what to make of this workplace comedy podcast. As someone who doesn't podcast I wasn't sure I would find the show humorous or even interesting. However, the first few episodes I listened to were entertaining enough that I decided to check out the series from the beginning. After binge listening to the entire series over the last two months. I need to congratulate the team on their 100 episodes. Man, I hope they get renewed for 100 more. There's enough non industry banter about the characters lives to keep things relatable, and the occasional cameo by the real world podcasting figures like Adam Curry and Evo Terra, provide many wink wink, we're all in on the joke.

Jordan:

I like that we're a cast of characters.

Kevin:

Yeah, what did he say, real life?

Jordan:

Real life cameos.

Kevin:

But we're, we're not real life.

Alban:

No, we're characters in a comedy podcast.

Marcos:

But what really turned me into a fan was the chemistry between the three main characters, Kevin Jordan and Alvin. Kevin the Ron Swanson character comes off as taciturn and even standoffish, his endless tilting into the Spotify windmill is a funny reoccurring bit. Anytime Spotify comes up, you know, he'll go into one of his "Get off my lawn", fist-shaking diatribes, you know, comedy gold.

Alban:

Comedy gold.

Jordan:

I like that you're the Ron Swanson.

Alban:

Oh, 100%. None of that is debatable. Yeah, if this was a TV show. Yeah, I think everybody would agree with that.

Marcos:

Okay, the next character, Jordan, clearly a nod to Roz from Frasier had an equally satisfying arc. When I went back to listen to the series from episode one. I was surprised to see that the series began with a different character, Travis. I was interested in seeing that usurpation of the cohost slot, clearly an Andy Dwyer situation where an ensemble cast member did such a good job developing the character into an audience favorite that the writers decided to make her a series regular.

Kevin:

All right, I don't get all these references. He's going very deep.

Jordan:

Okay, so Andy Dwyer-

Alban:

Parks and Recreation.

Jordan:

No, Andy Dwyer is the Office, because Michael Scott left and then Andy became...right, or am I backwards? We got to Google this.

Kevin:

I don't know. I got the Roz reference from Frasier.

Alban:

Yeah. Andy Dwyer is Parks and Recreation. It's the Chris Pratt character.

Kevin:

Yeah, very little. He was a boyfriend of somebody. And he was funny enough that they continue to write them in more and more. Yeah.

Jordan:

Aubrey Plaza's character. Yeah.

Alban:

Yeah. Chris Pratt is on there for like one cameo.

Jordan:

I was thinking Andy of The Office, but not like chubby Chris Pratt.

Kevin:

And I guess that makes sense. Because when Travis was And then you were such a fan favorite you usurped the co host still on the show, Jordan, you were a guest on the show. role. Okay, so I was thinking this was like a total joke, but I really think Marcos actually did listen to every episode.

Alban:

I mean, there is like listening to Travis episodes. Evo Terra. That's a long time ago. Yeah. Adam Curry episodes. Kevin diatribes that's throughout like this is.

Kevin:

Yeah, there were some joking in the Basecamp and I was agreeing with it like that somebody just like prompt an AI bot to write something silly. But I don't know that an AI bot could have done this.

Alban:

Yeah, somebody invested time in this. Let's keep going.

Marcos:

I do enjoy the actors laugh, especially when she leads it to the dolphin whistle range.

Kevin:

That's not an AI bot.

Unknown:

Who's next? Alvin. Right, the character Alvin provides a solid relatable every man constant throughout the series. His presence provides a Jim Halpert-like mirror through which the viewer can experience the antics of his co host and characters. We've all had that boss that throws out half baked ideas wherever it takes us to make it a reality.

Kevin:

No no no, no, I don't like it. Alright, skip over the boss with the half baked ideas part. Keep rolling.

Jordan:

I'm curious though, because it's kind of like an interesting dynamic because at first you're described as the Ron Swanson like Get off my lawn type character, but now you're like the zany boss. And so I don't really understand like what it is.

Kevin:

Yeah, no. Michael Scott.

Unknown:

Right. That bit when Kevin tells Alvin to launch a Buzzapalooza conference in three months that had Alvin pull it out his hair screaming. Yeah, that was a series highlight for sure. His backstory of a lawyer turned marketer while a bit unlikely instead of hidden depth and strength.

Kevin:

We never said he was a good lawyer. That would be a stretch.

Jordan:

I love that it's unlikely but okay, we'll buy it.

Unknown:

How many of us would be strong enough to admit our failure and follow our dreams into something new and unknown?

Alban:

Wait, I want to be clear. Failure being a lawyer? Accurate. Followed my dream of podcasting? Not accurate. This is a this is an accidental dream. This is not a like, I've got to be a podcaster I've got to do it. So I'll claim all that intentionality.

Jordan:

So you never had like your Footloose, angry dancing moment, like following your actual true passion?

Alban:

Do you want to know that I've never seen the movie Footloose?

Jordan:

Oh. That's okay.

Kevin:

You can be forgiven of that. And just to be clear, I'm gonna speak on Alban's behalf. He wasn't a failed lawyer. He was an unhappy lawyer. He's probably a very good lawyer, I don't know never represented me, but he was just not happy doing it.

Unknown:

I'm looking forward to seeing what other hijinks Alvin and the rest of the cast get up to next. Congratulations to the cast, the writers and the crew of the show. I hope more people discover this hidden gem before it gets canceled. Congrats regardless, Marcos.

Kevin:

Before it gets cancelled. Oh, that's so great. But how do you listen to 100 episodes and not know his name?

Alban:

That's my favorite part of this whole thing.

Jordan:

I gotta tell you it was kind of like a different experience hearing about yourself from the outside looking in, like realizing like oh, that kind of is sort of a character arc.

Alban:

Kevin's part cracked me up by far the most, comes off his taciturn but eventually you learned that he's actually like he's not just always grumpy. He actually likes the people he works with.

Kevin:

I'm a little shocked. I know you guys make fun of me because I sound jumpy sometimes I don't feel grumpy.

Alban:

Well, I perceive grumpiness from you on this podcast.

Kevin:

It's not intentional.

Alban:

Well, we appreciate it, Marcos. Thanks for reaching out. Thanks for sending us in that email.

Kevin:

It's gonna be harder for me to tell you guys this now, but we are not renewed for another 100.

Jordan:

So yesterday, I stumbled upon an article by Pippa Johnstone from Pacific Content. And she wrote about the production process that goes into a professional, unscripted podcast that I found really interesting. It's called Flipping the Script, the art of making a good unscripted podcast. And she talks about how a lot of podcasts like professional podcasts, especially that are made, they're heavily scripted, they're read, but there seems to be a very genuine fluidity that happens in conversation when you don't have it as heavily scripted. And so a lot of podcasters mistake unscripted for off the cuff. And those are two completely different things. And she makes a point in this article that I really love saying, like, if you just hit record and go with like, no guidance on where your conversations gonna go whatsoever, it's probably not going to end up so great. And I think that that's a mistake that a lot of like independent podcasters make, too.

Alban:

One of the very first blog posts we ever wrote, Kevin, I think you'd even asked someone to write this before I even started working for you. So there's like 2014 was collecting a ton of tips. And I remember the first tip about podcasting that probably I ever got was the you have to write down at least a few sentences about what you're going to talk about. Because if you don't, all you get is rambling. And there's something about the pressure of knowing you've recorded and not having anything to say that people get very uncomfortable and it doesn't really go anywhere. It just having a basic outline. Here's the articles we're talking about. Here's what were a few of the main points, I think makes everyone's so much more comfortable so that you can get a little bit of a better recording. So yeah, I totally agree with this one.

Kevin:

I'm gonna add some flavor. What's an interesting take on that?

Jordan:

How can I be contrarian right now?

Alban:

For those who didn't hear, Kevin just whispered I'm gonna give my own spin on this. Silence. And then I hear him whisper to himself, What's an interesting take on that? All right, shoot.

Kevin:

Well, I was gonna say we've all heard these podcasts. I guess that like, clearly they're unscripted and they're unprepared. And so they ramble and ramble and ramble. But then I'm like, Wait, is that true? Because I can't think of a podcast, I listened to like that. And then the thought is connecting. It's like, well, there's probably reason I don't listen to podcasts like that, because they're not very good. Yeah. I'm sure I've heard podcasts like that. But I don't follow them. I don't listen to the whole thing and turn them off pretty quick. But at the same time, it's not a bad place to start. Like, if you're like, let's just get some mics. And let's just try to record an episode. And let's see what happens. You can totally do that. You can publish it, you don't have to publish it. But at some point, you are certainly going to want to have at least a rough outline together of the topics that we're going to cover, and roughly how long this should take us. And are we going down too many rabbit holes, like we're not getting through the stuff that we want to get through. So yeah, preparation is key. And if you're searching for examples of people who aren't prepared as like the non example, I can't think of any, because they probably don't get a lot of listenership.

Alban:

Yeah, I've listened to these shows before, and never for multiple episodes. I think if you got two hours to record, you have enough time to do the podcast. But that first 30 minutes, put all that time as a group saying, what things we want to talk about, this is a podcast about books, what books are we going to talk about, okay? Oh, now I'm kind of jotting down a little idea for what I would say there. And it's not that that's exactly the script, it's not like you're going to go step by step through this outline. But everybody has a little bit of like, a shared landscape for where you're moving. And so you kind of see, okay, we're moving from this topic to the next one, I don't need another like rabbit hole in the middle, or else the shows just the ones I think of, or they're always these, like, buddy brew podcasts where it's like, hey, we talk about something, and we drink beers, and we talk about them. And they get behind a mic, and it's a podcast, it's just, it's not a very good podcasts. And I think, you know, just adding a little bit of prep really, really helps.

Jordan:

And I think that there's some people that you know, maybe they've practiced enough with, like public speaking or formulating their thoughts that they can pull that off. But once you start getting other people into the mix, it's a little bit more difficult. It's so funny, because I think about when I first started working with you guys, on this podcast, I would look at the outlines. And it was literally just like a punch list, like we're gonna talk about this story, then we're gonna talk about this story, then we're going to talk about this story. And you guys would just like go and you're good at it. I'm not good at that. And so basically, what I had to do was I had to have these like fully fleshed out outlines. So that's one of the things when I came in, was I was like, adding probably too many notes to our outlines, you know, like saying, like, here's all the things I want to talk about. Here's all the details about this, whether or not we talked about it. So it's like somewhere between an outline and a script, I think.

Alban:

Do either of you have private notes? Do you ever, like look at the script and write down like, Oh, here's a few things I want to say?

Jordan:

I started doing that, like two months ago. And I don't know why I didn't do that sooner. So much better.

Alban:

It's not that I'm going to make all those points. But sometimes if you write down the notes in the outline, somebody else takes the point. And then he just stole. I started private notes. At some point, I did this with Kevin and Travis, this is over a year old. And I would have lots of thoughts. And I would have typed them out. And I would rarely like look at those notes during the podcast. But it would help formulate the idea that I might use later on.

Kevin:

I don't. I try not to even look at the outline before we come in to record as much as possible. But my job is to be aware of everything that goes on in podcasting every day. So I have to I'm already consuming everything, at least enough of I like it when there's new things that pop in the outline that I haven't seen before. Like I didn't read this flipping the script blog that you just talked about, or we are talking about right now. But I've read enough stuff around this to understand the concepts. So I like hearing you guys make the points of what was in this article. And then just reacting to them.

Jordan:

The second point that she makes is about recording, and she recommends a long recording session. And so the podcast that she talks about in this is called Work Check. And she says work check episodes are usually 25 to 30 minutes long, but we record for 90 minutes. I know, but that's pretty much what we do too. You know, there's times that we've had recording sessions that go like two and a half hours. And then the episode itself is like 45, 50 minutes. And I think you know, it's one of those things where the post production aspect of it like the editing is so much heavier, but you're able to get good tape when you have these long recording sessions. You know, it's like it takes a while to get into the groove of things or sometimes we rabbit trail and it doesn't make as you know, clear of a point as we hoped it would make and so sometimes those heavy edits are really necessary to make a really quality podcast.

Alban:

It also takes a lot of the pressure off if you know two thirds of this isn't going to make it into the final. You feel fine just going on and making a point that you're not 100% sure if it's gonna land and sometimes at the under those we say to each other, okay, that's not going to work. And it gets cut. And other times we're like, I didn't think you're gonna land that plane. But you did. Yeah, we're using it. So I totally agree with this. If you are going to do an unscripted podcast, and you're doing a bit of these notes, and that's the prep, we are, you're probably looking at two to 3x. The length of the episode is how long you need to be recording.

Kevin:

Yeah, I do think I mean, she's saying a 30 minute episode, you could record for 90, I feel like that's maybe in the beginning. But we've gotten to the point now where we record about twice as long as our final episode. So for us to record, we'll record for about an hour and a half, we'll end up with a 45-50 minute episode. And I feel like if you're at 3x, for too long, you're gonna burn your editor out or you're going to spend a lot of money paying for an editor. So as you get better, it can get tighter, but shooting for a 30 minute show and recording for 90 That's a fine place to start.

Jordan:

And then her third and final point in here is post production, even unscripted podcasts need fixes. One of the things that she talks about pickups and pickups are the bits of dialogue that need to be re recorded. And so she's saying like, even on scripted podcasts, sometimes people will like stumble over their words or say something incorrectly. And it needs to be re recorded. But the hard thing about unscripted podcasts is that they're very natural sounding and you're not reading from a script. So there's times where you might be laughing, like leading into something and you're just like, and next up, we have done it. So if you have to rerecord that, if you're laughing leading into it, then you have to in the rerecord try to naturally laugh to match how that sounds. And it feels absolutely ridiculous. But it works. And it makes it sound so much better. And then you don't have that mistake in the podcast.

Alban:

Yeah, the best time to do a pickup, I mean, I guess it's not technically a pickup, it's a retake. But the best time to do that is right after the stumble. And so we do it pretty regularly. Where, okay, I just missed that miss-said that. So let me redo it. And then you say it again. And you just take the second of the two, or sometimes we'll point out the somebody says something incorrectly, we run back and say that same thing again. So have we ever gone back and done the true pickup?

Jordan:

I have.

Alban:

Really?

Jordan:

There was the episode that we had Cameron on. And it was sort of this like last minute change. And so I hadn't formulated like an introduction. And so it was sort of this haphazardly put together introduction for Cameron to be on the show. And I thought he was on the show for the entire thing. But he was actually only on for a segment. And so I misspoke and said that he was joining us for the episode, but then he left at the end of the segment. In the editing process, I realized like, Okay, this doesn't make any sense. And so I had to rerecord my introduction and specifically say like, he's joining us for the segment. And it just kind of like clarified his purpose of the segment with us.

Kevin:

I hate when you guys do that.

Jordan:

I think that it does make sense to just pause and redo what you're saying. But sometimes you don't catch things until after the recording. And you go, Oh, wait, that's not gonna work. At the NAB Show in Las Vegas, RODE made what they are saying is their biggest product announcement ever with seven new products and product updates. Hmm. Yeah, this is huge, actually. Because road creates some really cool stuff. And so they've come out with all new things that I think are gonna be really exciting for creators and podcasters.

Kevin:

RODE is like all in on podcasts.

Alban:

They really are. And streaming. I feel like they started off with mostly stuff for podcasting. And then I think streamers started realizing this is really high quality stuff started picking up and now they've added some streaming stuff in here, too. Yeah.

Jordan:

So one of the first things that they announced was the Wireless ME, which I think came out a few weeks ago. It's their compact wireless microphone system. You can have like the lapel mic, or the mic that like attaches to your camera phone or something like that.

Alban:

I've seen these, instead of like a lapel mic that looks like a little mini microphone, they have some that are like almost like a little cube. It's like a very large Starburst. Yeah. And then that thing you'd put on your lapel, and it records. The new thing is that you also have something on the other side that plugs into your phone. But the thing that plugs into your phone now has a microphone too. So if I went around with this little giant Starburst thing, and I was like, hey, put this on. Let me ask you some questions. When I say like, what are you really enjoying about this conference? The recording would still have the audio of me saying, what do you really enjoy about this conference? Because there's a mic on both ends of this.

Jordan:

Exactly. So I mean, you don't have to buy two microphones or be switching back and forth between who's speaking and who is holding the microphone, you know, and then they also added a gain assist to control audio levels.

Alban:

One of the products that stood out to me was this thing they're calling the Streamer X. Kind of looks like, I have a Elgato Wave, it kind of reminded me of that. But or maybe like a really, really small RODECaster Pro, it's got like four buttons, you could have like four little noises, four little Buzzboost sounds, you've got your headphone and your mic audio. So you can adjust those. And it's got a capture card built in. So for a lot of people who stream, you use a DSLR. And then you need a capture card often. So you have something it's like an out on the camera, and then it has to go into something called a capture card. This now has a capture card built in. So you just plug the camera right into it, you plug your mic into it, and then you plug this thing into your computer. And you've got a little bit of a like a mini control station. And it looks good.

Jordan:

So I didn't realize when you're streaming video, and you have a DSLR camera, does it have to go through like a stream deck where you have like a video card in it? Or can it just plug directly into your computer because I was under the impression you could just like put it on your computer and it would all work out.

Alban:

Depends on the camera. So the camera I used to use, I did need a capture card. And so there's some that they're not that big. But you just have to plug them in the kind of the center. And they are doing some sort of like reading transcoding maybe. But it's doing something so that the signal is now going to work for my computer.

Kevin:

Yeah, most computers that have an HDMI port, you might think that you could plug if your camera has an HDMI out, you could just get the right cable and plug it in. But usually the on computers, those are just HDMI outs, they're not HDMI inputs on most computers. Now some might have capture cards built into them. I'm not aware of but like MacBooks and stuff like that's an HDMI out. And so you can't just plug in your Oh, but newer cameras have like USB C like the newer camera Alban just got so he doesn't actually need a separate capture card device, you can just go in USBC. But anyway, if you have a camera that needs a capture device, and this is a good box for you. Yeah. So this is the device that most podcasters

Jordan:

Good to know, I didn't know that. Now the other thing that they announced that I was very excited about is the probably need. This is everything that they need more. RODECaster Duo, which is just a compact version of the Most podcasters are not having three or four people in the same RODECaster Pro II. And so it has like the same audio features the same preamps everything is the same, it has the same like screen on it and knobs except for it's only for two inputs. And it's just like a smaller version, which I really love. Because having the road caster Pro is I mean, it's huge. We were just talking about this like a couple minutes ago, it takes up so much space, especially if you're like me, I'm the only person recording into this thing. Well, this is massive as taking up like a third of my desk. room. Most are having one most of the time, and sometimes two. And so I think this is a great product, I can't believe that. Well, I guess it makes sense. Like if they would have launched with this, everybody would complain, it doesn't have enough inputs on it. So I get that. And you could always have more. But like if it doesn't have enough, that's the real problem. But this is what I'm super excited about this because I also have a road caster sitting on my desk, road caster pro sitting in my desk and it's in it's unnecessarily large. I like to keep a clean desk, it's taking up more space than it needs to I only plug one mic into it. And so I think the road caster pro that's sitting on my desk right now is going to the office. It's a great box, but it's just too big. So this is the exact same thing, just a smaller footprint. Yeah, and it has six smart pads instead of eight. So I mean, it still has just like all the functions, I could

Kevin:

have gone to zero pads. Really,

Alban:

you're the only one who uses it. You love those smart pads

Kevin:

But only like for annoying jokes. You never use them. In reality. I guess if you if you use a clip show or something, I use them last episode. Right? If you have clips that you want to play, it is a convenient way to let him in. But it's rare. Yeah, and most podcasters don't like run clips during their show. If you drop like then sensor pad is

Alban:

How long have you have the sensor pad built in?

Kevin:

A little while.

Jordan:

this whole time?

Kevin:

Every time I get really worked up about something Spotify did then I can make sure the show stays clean.

Alban:

Alright, so I think the reason the original RODECaster Pro it does have support for like your phone and Bluetooth and all this other stuff. But the reason it had four inputs, I think is because it was launched in 2019. And I think at 2019 there were way more people recording in person. And COVID is where people started moving more hey, we're mostly recording in person to most podcasts are recording over the internet using Riverside, Squadcast, or something like that.

Jordan:

That's a really good point. I think that if people are looking at it as like maybe a more affordable option than the RODECaster Pro II, they have it listed for preorder at $499. So I mean it's very, very expensive, especially when compared to like maybe the Vocaster Two or something like that. But I mean it's pretty. It looks really nice.

Kevin:

And RODE stuff doesn't get at discounted very often or ever, the best you can hope for usually with a RODE product is that you can find it on like b&h is one of their premier partners. And they will bundle that together with some other stuff. So if you find yourself needing like headphones and a microphone and a road caster duo, you might be able to get the package at a lower price. But buying just the road caster do a loan, it's probably going to be always at MSRP, no matter where you find it.

Alban:

The last product that I really like stuck out to me was what they're calling the PodMic USB. So PodMic came out, I think that's another like 2019 product. And it always was just XLR. And it's just a good mic, the build quality of it was superb. I think we've had two since they launched and both still work perfectly. And they both been taken to tons of conferences and bumped around and dropped and all sorts of stuff, no issues yet. And now they've made one with a USB connectivity built in and it's got a little audio switch in it. And USBC looks good. It's like all matte black. So it's even prettier than the old one. I think this could be a contender for a lot of people. If they want to upgrade slightly from the Samsung Q2U. This might be kind of a next step up.

Kevin:

Yeah, one of the nice things about this mic, you're gonna pay a little more for it, I think the key to you, you can usually get around $70. This one is always $99. And I think the price stays the same for the USB version. Is that right? Let's assume it's going to be around$99. So for $30 more, what are you going to get? Well, it does have an internal shock mount built into it. So with the cue to you, if you end up putting on a boom arm, you have to buy like a shock mount adapter to go into your boom arm. And that's about$30. And so you're kind of net even if you're going to put this thing on a boom arm. If you just plan on using the stand that comes with the key to you. And that works for you. You don't need the boom arm, you don't need the shock mount. And that might still be cheaper. I think they do sound pretty comparable. I think most people wouldn't hear the difference. But if you'd like to look better, if you're going to put it on a boom arm can't go wrong. Either way just kind of comes down to you know your budget constraints and

Jordan:

Yeah, and they are made really well. It's funny that you how you're setting it up. mentioned taking them to like conferences and stuff. So I did a presentation on podcasting at my daughter's Career Day last Friday. And I brought my PodMic to hand around to the students because I was like they can drop it. It'll be fine.

Kevin:

That's the one that they can beat up.

Jordan:

It is the one.

Alban:

Yeah, you're not taking some super expensive, ultra fragile mic, you know, those kids are gonna drop it and it's still good.

Jordan:

Yeah. And they didn't drop it. But it was just like, I took comfort knowing that if they did, it was going to be totally fine. The thing that I thought was really interesting was I think it was like last month they came out with the NT1 that had the USB was inside the XLR port, which was kind of funky, but kind of cool at the same time. But they didn't do that with the PodMic USB. So if people don't like the two ports being one in the same, then this might be a better option for them having both the XLR and the USB separate.

Alban:

Yeah, the NT1 just doesn't have as much space on the back of the mic, as the PodMic does. And so I wonder if there was a bit of a design constraint that they just were like, Hey, we don't have space. So we got to put this USBC inside of the XLR port. And then on the pod mic, they're like you know, we have plenty of space, so no stress. I like the idea that the empty one I just went looking at the pod mic though. I'm like, Yeah, this is probably easier way to set it all up.

Jordan:

I really liked the all black too. It looks really good. I think it looks so much better than the previous version.

Alban:

It's always cool to see RODE and everybody else building tons of equipment for the podcasting industry, especially what's kind of you could tell it was geared for podcasters, in particular, and streamers. So thank you to RODE and we're excited to see what else comes out. Maybe we'll get our hands on some of these.

Jordan:

Alright, so some little, I don't know what to call these. News bites or small segments? Like just little things happening in the pods-

Kevin:

Pod snacks.

Alban:

Appe-teasers.

Jordan:

HBO Max, which is now renamed to just Max during the relaunch or rebrand, they played a trailer for the podcast Smartless. They're doing a documentary style series. It's like a short series called On the Road. And it's a Smartless podcast going on tour and having guests that like live shows. And so I'm really interested to see it because I want to see what the behind the scenes of like these live shows for podcasters is like I mean obviously this is a very heightened version of it because it is celebrities they're probably on like a private jet. You know, they're not, you know, taking the bus to the next city but I think it'll be really interesting and probably very funny to be there.

Alban:

Have you ever listened to Smartless? More than just like little clips?

Kevin:

Yeah, I made it through plenty of episodes.

Jordan:

Yeah, that's a podcast I jump around, I just look for guests I'm interested in.

Alban:

Yeah, I'm probably like single digit level minutes that I've ever listened to a bit. Like, I've heard little clips, but never a full episode for sure.

Kevin:

Yeah, it's not a bad show. I understand why it has mass appeal. I mean, it's pretty funny. It's famous people talking with other famous people. I don't know, it's fine. It's like when I used to watch TV on a regular, you know, it was normal part of my life to watch TV. There's a lot of shows that I watched that were just fine. And I think that this podcast kind of falls into that, like, if you're new to podcasting, or if you just open up the app one day, and you're like, What should I listen to? Like, it's always there. It's featured, it's on the top of every chart, but probably not because it's the greatest podcast ever, just because I don't know, when they had a good marketing campaign when they launched in their celebrities. And so it got featured a lot. And now it just stays on top of the charts. There's nothing

Alban:

A cult classic. wrong with that.

Jordan:

It's kind of like beloved celebrities, though. Like in a weird way in that like, you know, Arrested Development is just kind of like

Kevin:

It's broad appeal, for sure. I ask people all the time, what podcasts Do you listen to? And I've heard plenty of people mentioned smartlace. But I've never heard anybody say it's my favorite podcast.

Jordan:

See, and I've heard people say it's their favorite podcast.

Kevin:

See, I haven't. So.

Alban:

This is what Megan highlighted in the Buzzsprout newsletter today. I thought this is interesting. So be real just did an integration with Spotify. And so when you take your B-Real, it can show what you were listening to on Spotify. So if you pulled open your podcast real quick and started your podcast and pulled open your be real and took a photo. There you go, you could share what you're listening to.

Jordan:

Okay, I don't know what BReal is. Is it like an app?

Alban:

Kevin? Do you know what BReal is?

Kevin:

Yeah, I know.

Alban:

It'd be really well. It's the next type of social media.

Kevin:

No, it's not. It's been around forever. It's not gonna get any more popular. It's on the decline.

Alban:

I loved at the beginning of this podcast started with Kevin saying like, I'm not grumpy like everyone thinks. Then you just trash everything.

Jordan:

So is it like Instagram?

Kevin:

BReal has already moved. I know some stuff. And this is

Alban:

Yeah, it gives you a notification once a day. And one of the things I know about. BReal has already moved out of like, cool young kid culture. And it's already moved into like it's like you have two minutes to post to be real. And you have Facebook status. Like that's something for the oldies. to take a photo with the app.

Kevin:

It takes front camera and back camera, and whatever you're doing.

Jordan:

Oh, whoa.

Alban:

And the whole point is like, this is what's happening in my life, right?

Kevin:

It's a different time every day, you just get a notification at a random time. And everyone gets the same time. And then they collect all those photos. And then that's what everyone can peruse over the next 24 hours or so until the next notification goes out.

Jordan:

Oh, that's cool.

Alban:

It's trying to be in my mind more like what you do in a group chat with your close friends rather than like Instagram. Instagram is super highly correlated. But like I don't know about either you I have group chats that everyone's while you just get someone's like selfie photo that does not look good. And then everyone in the whole chat just responds with weird photos of themselves. I don't know what's going on there. But it's pretty much it's a private be real.

Kevin:

Well, that's a little bit of like Snapchat culture. Snapchat culture is all about Snapchat culture. That's all about just shooting random pictures. I've never good in them. It's actually a bad thing. It's like, Oh, why are you trying to make yourself look so good.

Jordan:

The other quick story we have here is Spotify drops exclusivity for Gimlet shows. And it's so weird because gimlet like some of their shows were exclusive. Some of them weren't exclusive. So I was actually confused because I thought all gimlet shows-

Kevin:

Let try to explain what this article is about. Spotify has to have a press release every 24 hours. And if they don't, somebody gets fired. So it was like, hour 23, 45 minutes in, and they were like, Hurry, someone's gonna get fired! Push something out! So they're like, Let's drop those and they're like, Most of them aren't exclusive. Anyway, that doesn't matter. All right. So that's.

Jordan:

I mean, that's how it feels. I think you actually hit the nail on the head there. Cuz I was so confused by this news release. And that was getting like so much press and people were talking about it because I was just like, So?

Kevin:

Yeah, it's, it's ridiculous.

Alban:

Well, I hope everyone appreciated this quick bytes, quick hits, appe-teasers segment. We'll be sure to do it again because it went great.

Jordan:

So great. It's time for sound off the segment where you send in your tips, tricks and podcasting advice. Last week, we had the question, what is the biggest mistake you've ever made in podcasting? And what did you learn from it?

Alban:

Sarah Rosset reached out on Twitter and said the biggest mistake that she had when it came to podcasting was waiting too long to create a subscription or a support option. I didn't understand value for value and I'm trying to apply that in other parts of my business to Sarah, thanks for sharing that with us. I think really for anybody who has a podcast and is doing it regularly. Li, as soon as you hit even a small number of listeners, maybe 30 listeners, there's no reason to not turn on your Buzzsprout subscription. There's literally no downside, it doesn't cost you anything. And then if your listeners want to come alongside you and start sending you money, then they can send you money. And it doesn't have to be a quid pro quo. Like you get something in return for something. It's just, you're already receiving value, would you like to send some money in to support the show? And you know, that's available to him. So thank you for sharing that with Sarah. We're excited to hear other ways that you implement it in your business.

Kevin:

All right, Krystal Proffitt wrote in and answering the question, what's the biggest mistake you ever made? She said two things. Always figure out how to pronounce your guests name. If you're having a guest and you're unsure. And always do a mic check before recording, I think two good tips.

Jordan:

I do this a lot to like, not just with like guests, but also with subscribers. When I do like a shout out, like a supporter shout out. If I'm like, even slightly unsure of how to pronounce their name, I will send them an email and like try to double check. And if they don't get back to me, I'm just gonna do my best. But it's a that's definitely a fear that I have. So it'd be very embarrassing to do that to a guest on the show. And then her second part about always do a mic check before recording. I think that a lot of podcasters can relate to this. There's always been like at least one point where you were in a hurry, or you didn't do your mic check and it just wasn't usable. And then you just lost like half hour of your time. So it's always better to just take like two minutes to make sure.

Kevin:

Jordan and I just did a mic check yesterday because I got some new hardware on my desk and want to make sure it was all working before today. Yeah, that's good.

Jordan:

Yeah. And then we also have some boostagrams.

Kevin:

Yeah, so boostagrams. We've got a bunch this week. I'll run through it all pretty quickly. Dave Jones sent in a bunch of sats said he has a misogynistic clothing story as well. So Alban and Dave can talk about that at their leisure. Mere Mortals wrote in- No! Mine is not a misogynistic clothing story. I don't know. Hey, let me get through the boostagrams don't step on top of the boostagrams. Mere Mortals wrote in this is Keiran saying, Are you going to add the ability to name sound bites? Because some apps might be surfacing them? Absolutely. Like we're totally open to the idea. Like, let's see what happens with the apps if they start surfacing them. We're happy to entertain ideas for new features that anytime. Anonymous wrote in said, Podverse demo. Thank you for the feedback, Anonymous. Genebean wrote in pretty excited about pod rolls looking forward to mobile apps implementing them. I agree. Podrolls, awesome idea. It's already in pod news. We have them for Buzzcast. So I think that's going to be a win for the community. Jean been also written congratulations on 100 episodes. Thanks, Genebean happy to be here. Happy to be renewed. Mere Mortals Podcast jealous can I get hooked up with some pod roll? Yes, you can. I think we've already settled that through email. And Moritz from Alby wrote in and said, talking about YouTube and RSS feeds, can you subscribe to the RSS feed of a YouTube channel and import it into a feed reader app. This is the one for the Buzzcast channel, and he you know, put the URL there. So thank you all for the feedback. We love buzzboosts, they always come in with a little bit of support, which makes them extra special. So keep them coming.

Alban:

Sound off for next week, I would like to know if you could go back to when you were just a brand new podcaster-

Kevin:

That is such, a it's almost a cliche at this point.

Alban:

It's a good question.

Kevin:

No, it's not. What's a conspiracy theory that you actually believe is true?

Alban:

That's my question. Yeah, you're trying to steal my question and say all my questions are bad questions.

Kevin:

That's a good one. So use that. What is a podcast conspiracy theory that you think is actually true? So we're doing that would be interesting. Let's do that.

Alban:

Lock it in, Jordan.

Kevin:

Is that it? Are you gonna say it? Or?

Alban:

You're saying you did it? That's it.

Kevin:

All right. So Alban's question for next week, or two weeks? What podcast conspiracy theory do you think might actually be true?

Alban:

I just wanna be clear. This is not my question. This is your question, you interrupted my question, which is okay. But that's the question. It's a Kevin question.

Kevin:

If that's what you want to submit for your conspiracy theory, go ahead, but it's kind of lame. So we're hoping to get some better answers here. The constraints, if you want to use our Podinbox, please keep your responses to 30 seconds or less, or we will not be able to play them.

Alban:

Yes. And on the less side, the better.

Kevin:

The shorter the better. Yeah, let's hear the crazy conspiracy theories. They have to be about podcasting. Not just not just like put out there by a podcaster that you might think could actually be true.

Jordan:

All right, to send in your response visit podinbox.com/buzzsprout, send a boostagram, or tweet the answer at Buzzcast podcast and as always, thanks for listening and keep podcasting.

Kevin:

Yeah, so I've been, I've been swimming because you know, all my my children swim. And so and I've been doing running for a long time, but it's hard on the body. And so a lower impact exercise opportunity has come my way and is swimming. So I started swimming. It's been a lot of fun. I've never done it like I was never swimmer in high school and everything I just swam mostly for survival and a little bit of fun.

Jordan:

In Florida it's like, for survival.

Alban:

Have you ever been in a need to survive situation where you if you didn't swim, you would die?

Kevin:

Oh, yeah, one time, only one time. I was I was in the Bahamas, and I was on a bit now in the Virgin Islands, sorry, close to the Bahamas, in the Caribbean, Caribbean. And we were my wife was laying out on the beach, and I decided to go swim around this island that was off the beach was like, you know, a couple 100 yards out, and then I was gonna swim around it, and I was gonna come back. What I didn't know is when I got to the back side of the island, the water like, dropped off super deep. And I was like, Oh, neat. And I had a mask on. And I was like looking for fish. And I saw I swam out there. And then there was very strong currents. And I felt myself getting cold. And I popped up. And I looked and I was getting pulled away from the backside of the island. So no one on the beach could see me. I was out there all by myself. And I was like, I need to swim towards these rocks or something pretty hard. And it was tough. I was not making a lot of progress. And so I actually got really scared. So that's the one time I did something sure for survival. And I made it, believe it or not, I made it back. And I came back and told my wife, I was like I was dying. You're fine. And she went back to sleep.

Jordan:

That's why don't go in open water.

Alban:

I had one. I was just sitting on the beach. I think I was with my brother. And we saw that there's people at the beach who have like rafts, and the raft just started floating away. And they all kind of walk towards it and then stopped. And I'm like, What are they doing? It's just floating out in the water now start to get pulled by current No way. Oh, none of them know how to swim. So I go, I'm going to help solve this problem. And I run and I'm like, do you guys not know how to swim? Like, no one's like, Okay, I'll go get your raft for you. And I start swimming after it. Then I pop up. Okay, it's another 100 yards off. It's another 90 yards off. And it just keeps getting ripped faster than I'm getting out to it. And at some point I look and I'm like, well beyond the edge of the Jacksonville Pier. And I turn around. And when I'm in like, between the waves, like, whatever the the middle of a wave is, I don't know, the crest is the top is the top and the trough. I don't know, the bottom. When I'm in there, I can't see the top of the high rise buildings anymore. Oh my gosh. So you're out there and I go, this is how I could die. Because I keep thinking I'm getting pretty close to this thing. But for every bit and now I'm getting pretty tired. And so I'm like I have to turn around like just except I'm not gonna get it. And it had been long enough that by the time I was getting back like people had come out to try to like help me because they were like that guys went out there a really long time after that. And I think the Coast Guard was called because a boat flew up like minutes after I got back. But um, again similar to Kevin SPOILER ALERT made it but don't get caught in a rip current. It's surprising.

Jordan:

Why do you guys not wear like life vests? Like, life saving devices.

Alban:

Oh my gosh, Jordan. You want to talk about something that will really put you in danger? Wear a life vest to the beach in Florida. That's dangerous.

Jordan:

Why? Cuz you'll get beat up?

Alban:

Yes. I would beat that guy up.

Jordan:

The Rockies. Sawtooths. Yeah.

Kevin:

Yeah, that's like when you guys go out for a hike. And, Yeah. Do you wear survival suit?

Jordan:

Would I wear a suit? For what?

Kevin:

When your'e going for a hike. what are the mountains near your house called? Is it the Rockies still?

Jordan:

For going for a hike? I mean, yeah, you bring survival stuff. You don't just like go for a hike in the woods.

Kevin:

Yes, you do.

Jordan:

No. You don't.

Alban:

Yeah you do.

Jordan:

What? Gosh. No. You have to always be prepared. You need firemaking, you need warmth, you need water. You need-

Kevin:

I don't believe this. You put all that stuff in your little pack before you go out for a hike?

Jordan:

1,000%. I got lost on a mountain once. I really did. I almost got stuck there overnight. You bring your stuff

Kevin:

I guess in Florida. Yeah, for I guess we just we just live like it can be really dangerous. And I just don't understand why guys don't wear like a life vest going out in the ocean. You're like yeah, we're just gonna swim. on the edge a little more.

Alban:

Yeah, I would never. I would be embarrassed to take all that stuff with me if it was only for like a couple miles.

Jordan:

I mean, it's not like huge. I mean, you just bring like a couple things. Like maybe you bring like a flint or a box of matches, and you bring like one of those like little heat blankets and you bring like a bottle of water. It's not that much stuff. You can fit it in a small backpack.

Alban:

Like astronaut blankets?

Jordan:

Yeah.

Alban:

It's like a big sheet of aluminum foil?

Jordan:

Yeah, I mean, I don't know maybe it's a Pacific Northwest thing, but like you bring that stuff. You make sure that your life is preserved. If you're like in a sticky situation. You don't just like swim out in the ocean and say like hope I don't die.

Alban:

I think this is why so many Florida men are on the news. I think so like oh my gosh, it'd be embarrassing to be in a life vest.

Jordan:

I think we're finally getting down to it like you guys were giving me a hard time for thinking Florida was kind of like crazy but you guys just like don't care about your like well being.

Kevin:

Well, I mean, not the beach. The beach is not not that bad. If you got a boat, you definitely have all your survival stuff. But off the bat, yeah. Anyway, Alvin and I, we started swimming. So I joined the team. I think Alban swimming independently, right chime in here whenever you want to-

Alban:

Have a solo swim.

Kevin:

Solo swimmer. So it's going terribly. There's a lot of lanes in a pool, and they typically go like on the furthest left side is the slowest. The furthest right is the fastest. I'm in the furthest left lane. I've got a couple of lane buddies with me. Their names are Joyce and Teresa. They are both in their 80s or older. They're super nice. They give me lots of swim tips.

Alban:

They give you any like Werther's Original like candies?

Kevin:

They are super nice. I hope I they might listen to the show. I hope they do if they do. Hi, Joyce. Hi, Teresa. Thanks for all your help in the pool. They mostly go back and forth on their kickboards while I struggled to keep my head above water and make it down and back. And they give me some tips along the way. And it's been a lot of fun. I'm not good. I'm very slow. But it's a great workout. I don't do any of those fancy flip turns. I wear baggy sweatpants. I don't have like a speedo or anything. That's all coming soon.

Jordan:

You know what I love about you, Kevin is you like skip several steps. Because if it was me and I was taking up swimming, I would probably swim with a private instructor like to get really good. And then I would join a team so that I would be a really good member of the team. You You go. I don't really swim. I'm gonna join the team. You're just like, go for it

Kevin:

Jump in. I asked a lot of questions. And I'm not afraid to look like a fool. And I just go for it. And I think I do both those things. I asked way too many questions. Nobody else has questions. And I absolutely.

Alban:

Kevin is probably pretty modest about his swimming abilities though, because Kevin's kids are all excellent, excellent swimmers.

Kevin:

I've watched a lot of swimming. That's like, you know, it's like watching a lot of

Alban:

I'm just saying your comparison is not against like, Hey, can I not die in the pool, which is where I'm probably looking. Your kids are at least one D one college swimmer. And the others may be someday. And so for you to be like Oh, I'm not a good swimmer. You're comparing yourself to people who are pretty good.

Kevin:

So I'm comparing myself to Joyce and Teresa who are much better than I am. Materially better on every measure Joy's to do in college, whoever she might have been. She might have been she's not now but she's way better than I am. What's yours from story Alban? How you been doing?

Alban:

Oh, not good at all. I mean, swimming, it's just confusing, because like, there's so much more technique than there is like just raw power. So running like you know how to run faster, you just do it more quickly. But swimming, if you just start doing it faster, it doesn't mean you're going to go fast. Yeah. And so it's a lot of me trying to learn the strokes and then really breathing. I think the breathing part is difficult. I do try to do the spin move at the end. The flip, turn,

Kevin:

turn the spin move. I don't even attempt the flip turn because in my mind, I'm gonna break my neck. Like somehow I'm gonna get my neck caught up on the edge of the pool and snap myself and then just be laying there in the water enjoys. Save me. I don't want them to have to deal with that.

Alban:

Yeah, I'm not good at it. I dragged my hand on the bottom of the pool somehow in my last spin move. The last one was the pool so I'm not good. I hope to get better. I hope to improve Someday I hope to be swimming there right alongside Kevin Joyce and Teresa. Yeah.

Kevin:

But you know what this is telling me is that when we have our buzzer Palooza conference, we're going to have to have a swim event. We're gonna have to have like relays or something.

Alban:

We've also been playing pickleball, wecan have a pickleball championship. Yeah,

Kevin:

We're gonna have a pickleball courts and a lap pool and it's gonna be fun.

Alban:

I'm worse at pickleball than I am swimming, and I'm not good at swimming.

Jordan:

Are we also going to have like that thing where you put the egg on the spoon you try to walk fast

Kevin:

Buzzapalooza Olympics are coming together.

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