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Nonsense Podcast

Just finished listening to it... a great introductory episode! I like the variety of segments you've got planned. The interviews with famous skeptics should be good, if your interviewing of each other is anything to go by - that was my favourite bit - it was good banter. Well done, Arth!
 
arthwollipot said:
Thanks Plumjam. I think...

Want to be interviewed? :D
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No thanks. I'm sure there's a limit to the amount of nonsense your listeners will be willing to bear ;)

On a more serious note, do you think it'll be easy to get willing interviewees for a show named 'The Nonsense Podcast', and described in iTunes as "Demystifying the nonsense people believe"?
What could budding 'nonsense-believing' interviewees reasonably hope to gain by going on a show which has that kind of billing?
Even if you treat them with kid gloves during the interview, the implication is still that these are people who believe in nonsense.
Unless, perhaps, the idea is to interview people about other people who purportedly believe in nonsense.

Anyway, I listened to the first one and thought you both came across very well. I could see you (actually, hear you) having your own radio show.
There wasn't much content, but that's understandable in a first show.
 
It has enormous potential, with one proviso. Like Plumjam I think you may struggle a little to get good subjects and bunkum believing interviewees though. I wish you both the best of luck.
 
Well, yes. That's why I was at pains in Episode Zero to stress the purpose of the God's Word segment. I'm pretty sure that most followers of the various relitions would agree that there is a lot of nonsense around religion. I'm hoping to be able to get people to talk about that. My ultimate ambition is to get an interview with a Jesuit...
 
I've just tonight finished primary recording for Episode One of the podcast. This episode will feature Barry the Giant Sea Worm, UFOs, biodynamic farming practices, and getting to know Richard Saunders of the Australian Skeptics and the Skeptic Zone.

We also recorded a promo piece which Richard has promised to add to the Skeptic Zone - same episode as the Stephen Fry interview! :yahoo

Fame and fortune, here we come!

Well, fame, anyway. Moderate fame. Okay, a little bit of fame. As of a few days ago we apparently had a hundred-and-fifty-something downloads on iTunes, and our Rating is towards the top end of the bar. We also have 201 members in our Facebook group, and we're the second top result in a Google search for "Nonsense Podcast".

My big news for this week is that Nate Phelps has informally agreed to do an interview with me for the God's Word segment. That will be fascinating. All we have to do is work out the 10-hour time difference...
 
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Wow, lots to look forward to!

Congrats on your success so far, Arth. Let us know when the next episode is up.
 
This is a bit of a teaser, but for the next episode I'm hoping for a God's Word segment.

I'm trying to line up an interview with Nate Phelps, an estranged son of Westboro Baptist Church pastor Fred Phelps. I've had some fairly significant technical difficulties, so I've got some backups, but with any luck...
 
Let me just say here that Jason's editing skills are legendary. There was so much more to the original recording that was really not necessary, and Jason managed to cut it so that the pacing worked - especially during the Pseudo News segment.
 
Arth,
I like the podcast, although I have one minor complaint. Your mic seems to be too low. When you and Jason are chatting, he comes booming through and I have to strain to hear you.

That being said, I'm happy that you guys are trying to not be just another podcast. The "Get to know a skeptic" segment is fun. keep it up.
 
Yes, I understand. It's not the first time someone's mentioned that. :) Well, the problem is basically that Jason is a professional audio engineer and I'm an IT phone jockey. Hence he has expensive high quality microphones and I have a cheap headset. Plus, he lives in Sydney and I live in Canberra, so we do the recordings over Skype.

I am hoping to rectify the problem sometime soon with a decent mike and setup, but right now I have to make do with what we've got.

Anyway, Derek and Swoopy reckon the first five episodes are always awful. The important thing is that we're doing it. We'll get on our feet after another few episodes.
 
arthwollipot said:
Yes, I understand. It's not the first time someone's mentioned that. :) Well, the problem is basically that Jason is a professional audio engineer and I'm an IT phone jockey. Hence he has expensive high quality microphones and I have a cheap headset. Plus, he lives in Sydney and I live in Canberra, so we do the recordings over Skype.

I am hoping to rectify the problem sometime soon with a decent mike and setup, but right now I have to make do with what we've got.

Anyway, Derek and Swoopy reckon the first five episodes are always awful. The important thing is that we're doing it. We'll get on our feet after another few episodes.
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True. I guess if my biggest complaint is that half the team is a little soft, volume wise, then it's not that bad, huh?

Well, the volume and those outrageous accents. Did you learn to podcast from Rich Orman? ;)
 
Completed recording of the second episode tonight. We'll be featuring media reporting of acupuncture, the Case of the Fake Popemobile, condoms, the Mind/Body/SpiritWallet festival, and getting to know Ordinary Guy from the BrainsMatter podcast.

We actually had a small technical difficulty this time. While Jason has the entire session recorded at his end, we normally do a recording from my end as a backup. For some reason the Skype call dropped out halfway through and I only managed to get the stuff before the dropout. For some reason my system did not record the second half of the session.

The good news is that I have a decent microphone. It wasn't ready for this session, but I'm hoping that I'll have the setup... er, set up... ready for Episode 3.
 
arthwollipot said:
Are you accusing me of putting on a fake accent? Just for a podcast?
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Well, yeah. It's a well known fact1 that all non-English languages and non-American accents are put on for the benefits of Americans. It makes it so that it seems like we're not alone. We really do appreciate the effort.




1by "fact" I mean, of course, that I made it up out of whole cloth, one drunken night in Montreal.
 
Of course, because everyone knows that American English is the only true English, and that English English is just an affectation.

BTW, turns out that the technical problem I mentioned is pretty serious and we have to re-record the second half of the show tomorrow night. Jason's recording is plagued by broadband-induced compression artefacts and can't be used.
 
arthwollipot said:
Of course, because everyone knows that American English is the only True Englishtm, and that English English is just an affectation.

BTW, turns out that the technical problem I mentioned is pretty serious and we have to re-record the second half of the show tomorrow night. Jason's recording is plagued by broadband-induced compression artefacts and can't be used.
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Fixed that for you.

Too bad to hear. Or, rather not hear yet. Of course, when I first read your post, I thought you were referring to an EMI problem. Then I realized that not everything is work related.
 
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