While I’m not at XOXO this year, my Twitter stream blew up yesterday afternoon when Marco Arment took the stage to announce Overcast, his new podcast app and service.
In his presentation, Marco flashed this slide:
Photo via this turkey.
I couldn’t agree more.[1]
The Prompt is my third podcast endeavor, and I finally have a show that’s a success. While my co-hosts deserve more credit than I do, The Prompt is a huge success.
People say that success often has a cost associated with it, and for me, it’s the attention I can pay to 512. As the show and the site aren’t my full-time, job, I’m having to split the little time I have between the two.
I’m not complaining mind you; that’s the point. I signed up for this, and I love what I do.
More than the time, however, it’s subject matter that I consistently worry about splitting. Often, I’ll have a story idea, but will end up discussing it on The Prompt, and never write a word about it. As a writer, this bugs me, but as a lover of podcasts, I can live with it.
When done well, podcasts — including mine — offer something that no blog post can: conversation.
When I dialogue with Myke and Federico, I’m getting to bounce my ideas off two very smart guys. It makes my content better, and gives our listeners entertaining and insightful audio every week.
We’re in a golden era of podcasts. There are several great, strong podcast networks, with tons and tons of great, independent shows as well. While the original, popular podcasts may have centered around technology, there are countless shows about just about anything under the sun.
The excitement around the medium right now is well-earned, and is not something that will fade anytime soon.
I love showing up every Wednesday, opening Skype and getting down to business.[2] Not only is it exciting to take a part of such an awesome project, but it makes me a better writer, and gives my thoughts room to grown and expand.