There is something I have been listening to of late that is entirely reminiscent of the early days of podcasting, before it became the “new voice of radio” complete with corny jingles, endlessly long intros, fast talkers with wares to sell and the production values of a top-notch recording studio.
The Talk Show, featuring roughly thirty minutes of unscripted, off-the-cuff banter between John Gruber and Dan Benjamin borders on a complete and utter shambles. It starts in the middle, jumps to the beginning and then ends when one least expects it. There are moments of dead air, over-talk (where both speak at once) and there is absolutely no sense of planning or control.
It’s like walking into a room where two people are caught mid-sentence, whom then continue on oblivious. There are wild debates over vaguely topical tangents and moments of absolute clarity mixed in with comedic buffoonery.
It is completely and utterly terrible. And I absolutely love it.
Because it isn’t scripted, it isn’t structured and doesn’t suffer the “wooden” feel that many of the current crop of podcasts are so desperate to achieve. It’s 30 minutes of solid content. And you know right from the moment the headphones go on to the moment the sudden end takes you by surprise that you will learn, laugh, potentially cry, become frustrated and most importantly be challenged to think.
There have been suggestions a jingle is in order, perhaps show notes or a more structured feel would be better. In other words, take what works then ruin it entirely by focusing on the execution rather than the content.
No sir, no sir that would be just plain wrong. The podcast succeeds because the listener is immediately engulfed in talk radio, transported back to a time when it was far more talk than advertising. It’s the same feeling as when one switches on the radio and is immediately knee deep in an active discussion. It’s engaging and draws the listener in.
John and Ben have started to introduce themselves towards the beginning of the show and don’t waste my time with some 10 minutes of epic intro. Because of that, I don’t feel like I need to skip a damn thing. Why have show notes when there’s nothing to miss?
There are shows that cover technology, have strong production values, are highly organised and have very structured content. That’s great and I congratulate the podcasters who have made it that far. Somehow that just doesn’t seem a good fit for Gruber and Benjamin.
Whilst they both have highly creative yet very structured blogs, the alternative and relaxed style their podcast favours is easy to follow and a comfortable fit. It’s unscripted talk — structuring it seems an antitheses at best.
At roughly thirty minutes it covers the morning commute; the tight time-frame means the content is distilled to it’s best. If it were any longer then some of that brilliance may be diminished in kind.
So if the dynamic duo are reading, please don’t go changing a thing.
Just do what you do, talk as you have, keep the editing tight (yet fluid) and keep doing it well.
≡ This is a journal entry relating to the topics of media, podcast, technology.
Brendan Borlase is a Systems and Network Administrator living in Adelaide, Australia, having lived, worked and breathed Information Technology for over 12 years. Learn more.
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