Unveiling Innovative Setups for Podcast and Video Production, with Stephen Robles' Podcast Studio

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And on this episode, we are doing a studio tour of some really cool

 

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podcasting setups. And joining us today is Steven Robles, he is a video and

 

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podcast creator. He is the video producer and podcast producer

 

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at Riverside.fm, which, coincidentally, we are using to record

 

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this podcast. He's also the host and creator of the primary technology

 

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podcast. He does a bunch of tech videos, you know, talking about

 

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Apple devices, mobile technology, smart home devices, and then some.

 

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So definitely encourage you to go check out his content on social media and on

 

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YouTube. Steven, thank you so much for joining us today. Thanks for having me. It's

 

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fun to be here. So, Steven, how did you get into creating

 

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the primary technology podcast? What was kind of the impetus to start that?

 

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Know, I've been podcasting for 13 plus years, back when you had to

 

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hand roll your own XML feed in like a text file, and I've

 

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always Done some kind of technology podcast. I'm just kind of a nerd at heart,

 

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you know, I love doing those kinds of shows, and so I was the host

 

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of the Apple Insider Podcasting for about 4 years. I

 

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got to start it actually in 2015 and then returned in

 

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2020, did that for a number of years, and recently just left there and

 

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wanted to kind of do my own thing, really make push on the video podcasting

 

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front, and so we launched primary technology at the beginning of this year,

 

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January 2024. We hit the Top 18 shows in

 

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Apple Podcasts for the tech category in our 2nd week of launch, then

 

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we just talk about, you know, all technology. There's a little bit of an Apple

 

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slant because we're both kind of Apple guys, but, we try to cover the whole

 

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technology landscape. And, yeah, it's a lot of fun. And I

 

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noticed as I was looking over your stuff, you've been, talking a lot about the

 

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VisionPRO, which at the time of this recording is gonna be hitting people's

 

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doorsteps, and I think yours, this week. Right? I'll be, should be getting it

 

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Friday, February 2nd, on launch day, and I have some videos

 

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planned for it, of course. And then on the Riverside channel, I wanna, You know,

 

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see what implications it has for podcasting. Obviously, right

 

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away, not much because, you know, there's not really a lot of

 

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apps stuff, but you can listen to Podcasting Vision Pro, and who knows with

 

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spatial video and other ways to capture that media, how it might affect

 

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podcasting in the future, especially as Podcasting really leaning into video

 

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nowadays, especially on YouTube and such. So, yeah, we'll see. Yeah.

 

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I I agree with you. I mean, I can't imagine how it's gonna impact just

 

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the audio only podcasting universe other than being able to consume that

 

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content while Doing a bunch of other things that you can do on those glasses,

 

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but I'm sure there are some really interesting and creative ideas coming down the pipe

 

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for people who do video podcasts and other video content. So We'll be

 

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excited to check that out. So let's talk a little bit about

 

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your tech stack. What do you typically use when you are recording your well,

 

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we'll call it Podcasting. We're talking about video and audio in this case. For sure.

 

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Well, I'm sorry I must share my screen. I could show a photo, kind of

 

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a wide shot of my editing area.

 

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And this is my desk. This is where I record all

 

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my content, Podcast, video content. And at the heart

 

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of it, of course, is the Mac Studio that runs everything. And when it comes

 

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to audio, I have a Rodecaster Pro Two of to the

 

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side is my main audio interface. Going into that, I have, this

 

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microphone that I'm talking into now, which is the Earthworks Ethos. It's just

 

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my favorite mic for for podcasting. Also into that, I have

 

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a shotgun microphone, the Sennheiser MKH 416,

 

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which I use for all of my video content. So both of that going into

 

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the Rodecaster Pro 2, into the Mac Studio. And then video

 

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wise, I use a Sony a74 with a

 

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Sigma 35 millimeter F1.4 lens, and that's what I'm

 

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using right now to record this video podcast, and then also

 

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All my video content, I record on that as well. And I also have a

 

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Sony a6400. It was one of my, kind of, first mirrorless

 

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cameras And I use it as a B roll camera, so it's kinda top down.

 

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And I have a Sigma 24 to 70 lens on that, which just makes it

 

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easy to do those top down shots. Sony autofocus is rock solid, and so

 

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I never have to worry about that kind of stuff. Eye tracking on this main

 

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camera and, you know, center focus on the, B roll camera, and it it works

 

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out really well. And I see you're running all that through the, ?

 

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Blackmagic, Mini there? Yes. The ATEM, Blackmagic ATEM

 

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Mini Pro is the switcher. You know, it has 4 HDMI HDMI

 

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input. So I have the 2 cameras, input there. I also have an Apple

 

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TV, sometimes just to either screen record an Apple

 

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if there's a software update, I have that. And I also have my Mac Studio

 

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Tech display going to that, which I really use when I'm recording a video

 

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podcast. Sometimes I want to, like, Switch over if I'm doing a live stream,

 

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like, I'll be doing a live stream unboxing of the Apple Vision Pro, and I

 

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actually use The, top down camera and the screen share, all

 

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of it, while I live stream through the the switcher. And you'll also

 

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see on the desk on the far left side, There's a Stream

 

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Deck and so I use that strictly to control the ATEM

 

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because the ATEM is kind of far away from where I'm sitting to record. So

 

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I have this Stream Deck to adjust the switcher, but I also have the

 

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Stream Deck Pedal, which is really useful for switching because I

 

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can switch between my camera 1 and my camera 2, my top down

 

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shot, and I can use a 3rd button on the Stream Deck pedal with

 

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my foot to enable picture in picture. So I can quickly

 

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switch between my camera angles and put myself in picture picture, all

 

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with my foot. So I can do all the unboxing, do the live

 

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stream, and really then it looks like a finished edit,

 

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just with my foot pedal and all the the switchers. So,

 

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Wow. Like, fantastic setup, and and this picture looks very clean,

 

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very nice. One question I one, I had never even heard of

 

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the stream deck Foot pedal, that has gotta be valuable for video,

 

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producers, especially who are doing lots of different things and, you know, might be holding

 

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a product while they're talking about and doing a live stream or something like that.

 

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Right. Exactly. Yes. I noticed the 2nd mic, though, in your setup

 

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there off, right behind the one that you're using right now looks like a Shure

 

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7 b. I have a Shure SM7B,

 

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mostly to tell people not to buy it, for the most Tech. No, I'm just

 

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kidding. I did have a video on the Riverside channel that said overhyped. I have

 

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a few microphones as you'll see in this, photo, and, you know,

 

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the Shure MV 7, is a great microphone. That's actually what I use

 

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when I travel. I have to record. I'll throw that in my backpack. It's a

 

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great mic for that. The Shure SM seven b, obviously, it's iconic. You know,

 

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every major podcast that you see with celebrities, they're using the SM7B, usually.

 

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I just find that for most people, even

 

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intermediate podcasters, as they're trying to get into podcasting,

 

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It it's so finicky of a microphone and takes so

 

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much other equipment. You know, most people might have a Scarlett 2I2 audio interface.

 

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They try to plug in the Shure Samson b, and they wonder why

 

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they can't hear themselves or why the volume is so low, and people just are

 

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not aware of the gain needs for the SM7B. And you

 

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really need a cloud lifter or a Fed head or you need a powerful enough

 

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audio interface like a Rodecaster Pro 2 or something like that. Or that MixPre

 

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3 I see in the bottom left corner of this picture. Yeah. I have a

 

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MixPre 3 as well, which was my audio interface before the The Rodecaster Pro

 

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2. And both of those can run the SM7B no problem. But

 

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then I also find, like, the dip switches are finicky on the back of that

 

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and a lot of people's voices, including my own, if they're a little lower and

 

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timbre, that you don't get a lot of clarity or enough clarity for

 

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me, and you have to do a lot of EQ ing and post processing with

 

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it, and so I actually steer people to other microphones more more

 

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of the time. I am the exact same way. When I was working with clients

 

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all the time. A lot of them wanted that s m seven b because they

 

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saw, you know, the Joe Rogans of the world using it and, right, every podcaster

 

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who had a video channel was a big deal had it. And, yeah, we just

 

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found that It was it it became so

 

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much, one, more expensive than what they expected

 

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and Cause a lot of problems, because once you add that Cloudlifter, once you add

 

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that Fed head, now it's becoming a super sensitive mic. It's picking up all sorts

 

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of background noise, whereas As a dynamic mic, it really should be

 

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a little bit tighter. Right? It shouldn't be picking up as much. I I I

 

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try to get people to avoid that as well. I agree that m v 7,

 

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though, is a is a Great, great, entry level Shure

 

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mic not even entry level. I mean, it's a it's a high quality microphone, but

 

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it's good for entry level as well. For sure. For sure. I also highly

 

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recommend the, Audio Technica ATR 21 100X as a

 

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USB mic. It's usually 60 or $70 on Samson,

 

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And for a lot of people, I mean, it could take you years into podcasting.

 

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Like, it really does sound great, and it has USB C connection as

 

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opposed to the Samsung Q2 U, which still has the mini USB. And

 

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I'm like, just give me USB c everywhere. I got all under that. You know

 

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what? That's a really because I I Typically recommend the Samson as well, because

 

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I like the q nine u, which I'm not even

 

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sure if they're still selling anymore. Every time I go to look for it, it

 

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looks like they're they're out of stock. But good to know that 2100 x has

 

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the USB C, so I'll I'll update my recommendations as well because I I was

 

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a fan of that 2100 originally too. You know, I

 

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have a podcast host. I do a movie Podcasting, and he's been using that

 

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microphone for, like, the last 6 years, and he sounds great and it's, you know,

 

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really forgive me. He's recorded in hotel rooms. He travels a lot, and it does

 

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great at a lot of room noise rejection. And now there's just so many tools,

 

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like AI tools to to make audio better. You can

 

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almost use those if you don't have the great setup yet, and it's a lot

 

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cheaper. There's some even free tools out there. So Yeah. 100%. In fact,

 

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when I was traveling a little bit more for work, I always kept the

 

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2100 in my laptop bag because, right, you just plug it in, Throw on some

 

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headphones, hold it up, and you're ready to go. I've done a few Podcasting hotel

 

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rooms and, you know, non ideal locations, and it

 

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came out sounding great. So I agree. If you're just getting started and you

 

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don't wanna I mean, everybody wants to invest $1,000 or so into their

 

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setup. But for 60, $70, you know, Maybe a

 

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couple more dollars for a good stand and and a, you know, cheap pair of

 

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earbuds to put in it. You can't go wrong with those 2100 or or the

 

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Samson. Depending on how much your setup is. For sure, and you know,

 

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a lot of times, something like a mic arm is going to be a better

 

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investment at first than buying, like, rather than buying a $250 microphone, Buy

 

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the $70 mic and get a mic arm, buy yourself

 

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a light if you're gonna do a video podcast, and that's probably gonna give

 

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you a better Product upfront because, you know, for a long

 

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time, like, holding a USB microphone, not only is it tiring if you do a

 

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long podcast, but you're getting little clicks and pops, like in the USB cable. Like,

 

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it is you're gonna have all those things, and they're hard to edit out, and

 

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that's something the AI tools to give a bunch of pops and clicks, like, it's

 

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just not gonna do well. So, you know, get invest in a cheap microphone. Get,

 

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not a cheap, but get the ATR 2100 x. It's a good

 

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microphone. Get it in its expensive mic arm, then it'll limit, like, Shocks

 

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and taps on your desk, and you can get a have a much better setup

 

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right away. I couldn't agree with you more. You're you're giving me a little

 

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PTSD from clients that I used to edit who would try handheld or, you know,

 

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all sorts of crazy setups without without a good mic armor or even, truthfully, even

 

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just a good mic stand. Right? That ATR comes with its own little tripod stand.

 

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But, truthfully, you put that on your desk mic's pointing at your belly button, which

 

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doesn't really do you much good. Right? You need to get it nice up and

 

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close and personal for it to, for it to work well. I wonder, do you

 

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remember the 1st mic you ever used in podcasting since you've been

 

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doing this for a while? Oh, goodness. The 1st

 

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microphone, It was probably

 

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I had a Shure Beta 87 A as one of my earliest

 

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microphones. I got it because Marco Arment, he's a host on the,

 

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ATP.fm Podcasting know, he also, runs Overcast, right? He

 

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built the app, Overcast. He's the sole developer there. Great podcast app.

 

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But he recommended that as, like, his number one pick for the

 

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Balance of cost versus quality, and there's still a lot of

 

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professional podcasters that use that microphone, like Jon Gruber, who does the talk show, another

 

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big Apple Podcasting uses the Shure Beta 878, and so

 

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I invested in that, and I think I used that for many years. And

 

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from there, I actually went to the ATR 2100X just for ease

 

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of a USB mic, and then I don't even I have so many mics

 

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after that. I'm not sure what the progress was, but that short beta 87 a,

 

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I would still recommend for a lot of people. Solid mic, but XLR only.

 

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So you need an audio interface, and then you get into that whole world too.

 

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Yeah. I remember when I first got started, the audio interface game was, Tech

 

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quite as generous. It could Tech quite as easy as it is today with all

 

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the various RODE products or just the mics with their own built in,

 

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interface, essentially. So, yeah, that's a fantastic

 

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setup. When it comes to video, right,

 

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you have very nice expensive cameras there.

 

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You know, we had great recommendations for that 1st time mic usage. What would you

 

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say to folks who were thinking about jumping into video who cannot invest

 

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the kind of money that, You know, folks like yourself can into those, you know,

 

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high-tech Sony cameras. I mean, nowadays, like if

 

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you have an iPhone And most modern Android phones, like,

 

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that's the best video quality you're gonna get before you

 

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jump to a mirrorless camera. I've tried many, many webcams,

 

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including the nice webcams that are several $100, that

 

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are 4 ks, and none of them perform as

 

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good as an iPhone. And with Continuity Camera, you

 

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can use your iPhone as a webcam with no third party app required

 

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and it looks great and you can do it with Riverside. So honestly,

 

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I tell most people, like, when you think about your budget

 

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and what you're gonna invest in, If you have a modern iPhone, like iPhone 11

 

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or newer, that's your camera until you're ready to spend

 

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about $1,000. Now after the iPhone, I think

 

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the Sony ZVE 10. Which that's

 

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a you know, the camera's around 800, $900. Buy refurbished.

 

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You know, that's another thing too. If you're starting out with equipment, don't shy

 

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away from buying, like, good refurbished, you know, from trusted brands. Amazon

 

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sells refurbished products, B and H photo. Buy refurbished.

 

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Like, it's okay. And the Sony ZV E10 is sub $1,000,

 

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But what's key is it has that Sony autofocus, which

 

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is on point, and it has an interchangeable lens. So

 

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you can upgrade your lens later if you want kind of that Blurry

 

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background or bokeh Tech, you can buy a nicer lens. I would

 

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recommend the Sigma 16 millimeter f1.4, which is about 3

 

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or $400 with that camera. And you can have video that

 

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looks very similar to what I have right now for about $1100.

 

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And so I would do iPhone until you're ready to invest about that in the

 

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Sony ZV E Tech. You know, I I know iPhone does the continuity

 

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camera, and I just I've had my Logitech BRIO just

 

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Set up. It's so easy. It's it's right here.

 

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And I know it doesn't always work optimally

 

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with Riverside and some other platforms. Right? It claims 4

 

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k, but it it never really produces that when you're using some of these online

 

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platforms. So I might actually give that a try. I might go continuity camera and

 

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see, how easy it is and and what the difference is.

 

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Those Sony, by the way, CV e tens, we were doing a Studio build. And

 

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we

 

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were messing around with a bunch of cameras. We went up settling on those, and,

 

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yeah, could not be happier with the quality you get for the Price, the

 

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flexibility, the versatility. I would also recommend getting, one

 

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of those battery like, plug in battery pass so

 

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you don't have to worry about Running out of power with that, that'll make all

 

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the difference. And a few setting tweaks there, and it really is just the perfect

 

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camera for podcasting, especially when you're 1st getting started out

 

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now. Don't take it on the road with you. Don't move around with it. It

 

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does not handle movement very well. But as a stationary streaming camera,

 

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Chef's kiss right there. And and I

 

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would say, you know, to the continuity camera iPhone thing, continuity camera

 

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maxes out at 1080p. It's not 4 k, But your listeners and

 

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viewers have to realize, like, 4 ks is not everything. You can have 4

 

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k resolution, but not good white balance, not good low

 

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light performance, You know, unable to focus on your face

 

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quickly and 4 k, but having all of those problems, like,

 

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I've tested a lot of 4 k webcams and they have those issues, It's not

 

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gonna have a good end product. And the reason why I suggest things like

 

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continuity cameras, the iPhone is great in in an unideal

 

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lighting conditions. It's great at focus and it's great at white balance,

 

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and then you just don't even have to think about it. And if you want

 

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to add that little blur portrait effect, It's not perfect, also depending on

 

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your hair and background and all kind of stuff, but it does really well.

 

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So yeah. Nice. Yeah. That's That's, all solid points of the

 

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iPhone does, well, and even the, the Android cameras too. They all do a really

 

Speaker: 00:16:47

nice job of just making it Easy. Right? Just

 

Speaker: 00:16:51

user friendly. Don't have to think too much about it.

 

Speaker: 00:16:55

Well, this is great. I I mean, you have a fantastic Set up some great

 

Speaker: 00:16:58

equipment there, some fantastic suggestions for folks who are trying to

 

Speaker: 00:17:02

move into a more professional level, but also those just getting started. So really appreciate

 

Speaker: 00:17:05

that. Before we let you go, let me fire a few quick questions

 

Speaker: 00:17:09

at you that we're gonna be asking everybody. So one is, is

 

Speaker: 00:17:13

there any tech On your wish list right now,

 

Speaker: 00:17:16

like, is there a microphone? Is there a camera? Is there something out there

 

Speaker: 00:17:20

that you just you wanna get? You're like, Maybe it's out of

 

Speaker: 00:17:24

budget. Maybe it's not available or or whatnot. Just but it's

 

Speaker: 00:17:28

something that you definitely wanna get your hands on.

 

Speaker: 00:17:31

There's, there's 3 things, that I'd really like.

 

Speaker: 00:17:35

1 doesn't exist, but I want it, which is a Blackmagic ATEM

 

Speaker: 00:17:39

pro video switcher like I have, but 4 k. So Okay. Probably just

 

Speaker: 00:17:43

at about 10 Tech p versus 4 k. I would love a 4 k version

 

Speaker: 00:17:45

of that video switcher. I don't know why it's taking them Yeah, I don't know

 

Speaker: 00:17:49

why it's taking them so long, but I'm hoping for that. That's 1.

 

Number 2 00:17:53

Elgato just came out with a teleprompter That looks

 

Number 2 00:17:56

amazing. It's basically a tiny screen with a little teleprompter,

 

Number 2 00:18:00

but you can use it as a secondary display And, basically,

 

Number 2 00:18:04

like, drag your Riverside window over onto that teleprompter and look

 

Number 2 00:18:08

directly at your guest, but also be seeing, but looking

 

Number 2 00:18:11

into the camera, and so you're not looking off to the side when you look

 

Number 2 00:18:14

at your guest. And I don't have a great teleprompter set up right now, and

 

Number 2 00:18:18

so I would love that, that that Elgato teleprompter. You know, I

 

Number 2 00:18:22

actually have 1 sitting in a box I gotta open up. Maybe I'll do that,

 

Number 2 00:18:24

do a little review, and, and and show everyone what it looks like, in a

 

Number 2 00:18:27

future video. See, that's wonderful. Yeah. I gotta get 1. I gotta get one of

 

Number 2 00:18:30

those. And and thirdly, I would like to add a 3rd camera to

 

Number 2 00:18:34

my setup for things like live streaming, And even when I just record

 

Number 2 00:18:37

videos, I record all the cameras simultaneously and then

 

Number 2 00:18:41

use multi cam clips in Final Cut because it really cuts down on editing if

 

Number 2 00:18:44

I can just switch, you know, between the different angles. And I would love a

 

Number 2 00:18:48

3rd angle that's, kind of, like, desk level at my hands for talking

 

Number 2 00:18:52

about a product or whatever. So I would have the overshot, which is great most

 

Number 2 00:18:55

times, but having that kind of like desk height shot of a

 

Number 2 00:18:59

product, that's really close-up, and to do that I would need another camera. And

 

Number 2 00:19:02

so, would like another camera. It's it's too much of a luxury right now to

 

Number 2 00:19:06

say, like, yeah, I'm gonna get it. I got the Vision Pro, so, you know,

 

Number 2 00:19:09

that's my budget for a while. And, we'll see, maybe in the near

 

Number 2 00:19:12

future. On the on the podcasting front itself,

 

Number 2 00:19:16

are there is there any place that you would like to see improvement

 

Number 2 00:19:20

in just Podcasting general. Not equipment necessarily, but just

 

Number 2 00:19:24

how it impacts creators or even how it impacts users.

 

Number 2 00:19:29

For sure. Two two big things there. Number 1, I would love

 

Number 2 00:19:32

to see a community aspect

 

Number 2 00:19:37

where you can interact with your listeners that's closer to the

 

Number 2 00:19:41

listening experience. And what I mean by that is, as a podcast creator,

 

Number 2 00:19:45

You can have, like, membership programs or or have Discord communities where you

 

Number 2 00:19:48

invite people to a Discord channel. So I'm just not crazy about Discord. You can

 

Number 2 00:19:52

try to set up a Slack. You can try to set up, you know, an

 

Number 2 00:19:55

actual community through something like Circle, but there's just not

 

Number 2 00:19:58

a great way for your listeners to directly interact with you.

 

Number 2 00:20:02

Again, they can go to social media, you know, if you're there, but Spotify has

 

Number 2 00:20:06

come the closest where they actually have, like, a Q and A feature, where if

 

Number 2 00:20:09

you listen in the Spotify app, as a listener, you can actually shoot a

 

Number 2 00:20:12

question and the podcast creators can see it and answer

 

Number 2 00:20:16

it via text in the Spotify creator dashboard. But I would love

 

Number 2 00:20:20

to see some kind of engagement, like and YouTube is gonna be

 

Number 2 00:20:24

ahead of the game, because as podcasts are more coming to YouTube, YouTube has

 

Number 2 00:20:28

the comments and the likes and the engagement and interaction already locked

 

Number 2 00:20:31

down, because of the video platform. So I would love to

 

Number 2 00:20:35

see Apple Podcasts and Spotify Figure out how to engage

 

Number 2 00:20:39

more with your listeners more closely on it.

 

Number 2 00:20:43

And secondly, Monetization for mid to

 

Number 2 00:20:46

smaller podcasters, and there's a lot of platforms that are working on this. Spotify

 

Number 2 00:20:50

for Podcasting, you can have, you know, ads dynamically inserted. Buzzsprout

 

Number 2 00:20:54

does a great thing where you can have ads inserted just through your podcast

 

Number 2 00:20:57

host, but I would love, you know, when you get to a certain size, like

 

Number 2 00:21:01

10,000 downloads an episode and higher, you You can work with an ad agency and

 

Number 2 00:21:05

they'll book ads for you. But until you're that size, most

 

Number 2 00:21:08

ad agencies don't wanna talk to you. And it's really the only

 

Number 2 00:21:12

way to have, like, consistent advertising, and it's a lot of work to reach

 

Number 2 00:21:16

out to sponsors directly as a podcast host and have those regular sponsorships. So

 

Number 2 00:21:20

I would love for podcast, in general, to figure out how

 

Number 2 00:21:23

can those mid to smaller podcasts monetize that's not

 

Number 2 00:21:28

a ton of work, that's repeatable, it can be ongoing, and

 

Number 2 00:21:31

that brands would be more open to it and so

 

Number 2 00:21:35

that brands would start supporting And I'm not sure how it can be done

 

Number 2 00:21:38

aside from, like, you know, an ad agency type organization. I don't know the answer,

 

Number 2 00:21:42

but I would love for there to be advancement in that area.

 

Number 2 00:21:46

Yeah. I mean, I think it would have to be somewhat similar to, like, the

 

Number 2 00:21:49

megaphone model, which is you get a company that says, I wanna buy, you know,

 

Number 2 00:21:52

a 1000000 impressions, and then they just disperse them out a bunch Across a bunch

 

Number 2 00:21:56

of different podcasts, but now brands have to be comfortable with

 

Number 2 00:22:00

any podcast, right, being where their content shows up. And

 

Number 2 00:22:04

then, Similarly, I think the content creators have to be okay with any ad

 

Number 2 00:22:07

showing up and having a little bit less control over it for that for that

 

Number 2 00:22:11

model to work. But that's that's a really That's a really good thought. And, you

 

Number 2 00:22:14

know, going back to the other thing you were talking about, that social aspect of

 

Number 2 00:22:17

podcast consumption, I really thought Facebook or

 

Number 2 00:22:21

then Twitter, was really gonna grab that one and

 

Number 2 00:22:25

and take it for a ride, but neither one of them can really sink their

 

Number 2 00:22:28

teeth into it and figure it out. Now in, you know, Apple Podcasts, you can

 

Number 2 00:22:32

leave reviews, you know, 5 star reviews, and I actually do this thing on my

 

Number 2 00:22:35

shows where I give shout outs To anyone who left a 5 star

 

Number 2 00:22:39

review on the Podcasting Apple Podcasts, we do it at the top of the show

 

Number 2 00:22:42

for Primary Technology, and it's kinda great because I tell people, leave your

 

Number 2 00:22:46

name and where you listen from, because a lot of times the Apple Podcasts reviews

 

Number 2 00:22:49

just has their username, and a lot of times it's not even, like, a real

 

Number 2 00:22:52

name, it's just a random string or something they made up, and so that's almost

 

Number 2 00:22:56

a way to my listeners, they've they've really enjoyed hearing their

 

Number 2 00:23:00

name said, like, hey. Thanks, Chris, listening from Germany

 

Number 2 00:23:03

or whatever. And just that little bit of interaction goes

 

Number 2 00:23:07

a long way, but to take it even further to maybe there's comments,

 

Number 2 00:23:10

and I understand there's a whole moderation thing there. Apple probably avoids

 

Number 2 00:23:14

things like comments being able to be left on content on its

 

Number 2 00:23:18

platforms. I totally understand there's a bunch of moderation questions there, but some

 

Number 2 00:23:22

mechanism, would be nice for more engagement. Yeah.

 

Number 2 00:23:26

Some sort of direct communication tool. And then, I mean, there third party ones, but,

 

Number 2 00:23:29

yeah, it would be nice for it to be a little bit more centralized. I

 

Number 2 00:23:32

think that's drove a lot of the the podcasting space.

 

Number 2 00:23:36

Fantastic. And even from Members too, you know, I do Apple

 

Number 2 00:23:39

Podcasts subscriptions for my 2 shows, Primer

 

Number 2 00:23:43

Technology and Movies on the Side, I have people like supporting the shows directly, paying

 

Number 2 00:23:47

monthly or even annually, but I get no data on who that

 

Number 2 00:23:50

is. And I understand that's a privacy and security thing that Apple

 

Number 2 00:23:54

promises, but when you do get members on things like

 

Number 2 00:23:57

Patreon or Memberful, you can ask for names and Addresses,

 

Number 2 00:24:01

and then you can support your your supporters, people who are paying to listen to

 

Number 2 00:24:05

your content, by sending free merch, stickers, anything.

 

Number 2 00:24:09

And that's the, like, I don't get that data from Apple

 

Number 2 00:24:12

Podcasts. There's no way for me to send a free t shirt to

 

Number 2 00:24:16

someone who supports me on Apple Podcasts, And so, again, it would be nice

 

Number 2 00:24:20

if there was some way, even for that level of communication, where

 

Number 2 00:24:24

I can send a message To everyone who supports the show, even if they you

 

Number 2 00:24:27

know, I don't get their email addresses, like, I totally get the Apple, but it

 

Number 2 00:24:31

would be nice to, like, have that open ability to

 

Number 2 00:24:34

reward the people that are literally paying to listen to the show. Yeah. And

 

Number 2 00:24:38

and Supercast is another one that does really good job with, private podcast

 

Number 2 00:24:41

feeds and, you know, supplying that information. So I agree with

 

Number 2 00:24:45

you there. It would be nice to have a a nice direct connection to those

 

Number 2 00:24:48

listeners, especially ones who have who are so invested in the show they're willing to

 

Number 2 00:24:51

pay for access to it. They're not just tripping over a

 

Number 2 00:24:55

podcast one day and being like, oh, no. Leave me alone, Stephen. I didn't ask

 

Number 2 00:24:58

for this. You know, that's Very, very different story. Last

 

Number 2 00:25:02

thing we always wanna ask everybody is what is currently your favorite podcast that you

 

Number 2 00:25:05

were listening to besides your own? Oh my goodness. I mean, I listen to so

 

Number 2 00:25:09

many Techy podcasts, and so that would be, my initial reaction. I actually have

 

Number 2 00:25:13

enjoyed Smartless, which, you know, it's a celebrity Podcast actors,

 

Number 2 00:25:16

and and typically, I shy away from celebrity driven

 

Number 2 00:25:20

shows, but I actually really enjoy Smartless. I think it's it's enjoyable.

 

Number 2 00:25:24

It's fun to listen to. I enjoy a lot of

 

Number 2 00:25:27

Decoder episodes with Nilay Patel, and, I'll do

 

Number 2 00:25:31

2 more real quick, and then I'll I'll say, my favorite recent one. But

 

Number 2 00:25:35

Omnibus is a fun podcast. It's kind of like obscure history.

 

Number 2 00:25:39

They go in-depth on, like, random historical events. That's with Ken Jennings,

 

Number 2 00:25:42

who, Jeopardy! Famed. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah, he's a co host there,

 

Number 2 00:25:46

and John Roderick, and they talk about interesting stuff, and if you're a

 

Number 2 00:25:50

creator, podcast or video, YouTube, whatever,

 

Number 2 00:25:54

Creator Science by Jay Clouse. It is an incredible

 

Number 2 00:25:58

resource. He has amazing guests on that show. I've been listening to

 

Number 2 00:26:01

every episode recently, and if you're trying to grow as a creator

 

Number 2 00:26:05

or video, podcast, whatever, just listen to his show. I mean, it's

 

Number 2 00:26:09

just Incredible advice for free, and

 

Number 2 00:26:13

he has these huge names on there that talks about success in in their

 

Number 2 00:26:16

fields, including podcasting. So, Yeah. Highly recommend. Excellent. Well,

 

Number 2 00:26:20

we'll make sure to provide links to, those shows as well as,

 

Number 2 00:26:24

again, links to everything that Steven does. He is A video

 

Number 2 00:26:28

and podcast producer at Riverside FM, the platform that we are

 

Number 2 00:26:31

using to host this conversation to record it. And he's also the

 

Number 2 00:26:35

host Of the Primary Technology podcast, you can find

 

Number 2 00:26:39

it at PrimaryTech.fm. We'll include a link there so you can find it very easily.

 

Number 2 00:26:42

Stephen, thanks for, taking us into your studio and for joining us.

 

Number 2 00:26:47

Thanks so much, Mathew. It's been a pleasure.