From Rick Broida at Lifehacker:

“Don’t have time to sit through A Prairie Home Companion just to hear Garrison Keillor’s News from Lake Wobegon? Or maybe you’re never near a radio at the right time. No matter: Now you can get the segment as a podcast.

Keillor’s long-running, whimsical show tells the stories of that fictional town, where “all the women are strong, all the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average.” Each segment runs 15-20 minutes. If you’ve ever purchased a Lake Wobegon collection on tape or CD, now you can stockpile the podcasts without spending a dime.”

Lake Wobegon podcast [A Prairie Home Companion]

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Tags: Look Who's Podcasting, Storytelling, Public Radio | 1 Comment »

There is a very interesting site called The Public Radio Exchange. It is a site where producers of radio content can post their pieces and those seeking audio pieces can locate same. It is a great model of ‘connecting the dots’. Take a few minutes and look around. It really is an kewl site.

I have long been a proponent of something similar for podcasting. I would love to see a central repository for indie content. Those who are looking for content on a certain subject could browse the repository to find what is available. I believe this would open up podcasting to new players. Not everyone wants to make a commitment to a weekly podcast. They may want to produce occasional pieces instead. Also, those who are no longer able to sustain their show could instead transit over to a creating semi-regular short pieces (around 5 minute) or even longer (20-30 minuyr) instead. This would remove the all-or-nothing situation that exists now. It would allow for greater collaboration.

Let me give you anexample, my wife is attending a presentation today at the Byzantine Rite church nearby. The presentation will be given for a group of homeschoolers on the topic of ‘Reading Icons’. She is going to record the presentation and then put together a piece (including photos) on this outing. She is going to edit the piece and then would like to make it available to any podcaster who would like to use it. Currently, there is no efficient way to post this content so that it can be ’seen’ by podcasters. I know in the past, I have posted, what I thought, was some solid content but got little or no ‘podplay’.

So, what do you think. Would you like to have access to something like a PRX for podcasting?

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Tags: Podcast, Podcasting, Public Radio | No Comments »

One of the most comprehensive radion education sites can be found at Transom.org. The site is dedicated to educating newbies about equipments, how to interview, choosing good stories and more. There are articles, reviews, sample shows and a forum. The training is focused on an NPR approach to radio and as such has A LOT going for it.

This is what Transom has to say about itself:

Transom.org is an experiment in channeling new work and voices to public radio through the Internet, for discussing that work, and encouraging more.

I was please to find that they are providing podcasts now. I downloaded the last ten and am making my way through them.

RSS: http://www.transom.org/blogs/podcast/index.xml

I have made my way through two of the podcasts. They are very interesting, well produced and try hard to teach me something about production. I realize, however, I need to listen to them many more times to pull out the lessons.

If you are looking to learn or refine your craft as a producer or interviewer, Transom is a necessary stop on your way to learning the craft of radio/podcasting.

A couple of notes, first, I did have intermittent problems accessing parts of the site with Firefox. A quick switch to IE and the problems disappeared. Second, the site is secular and so it is quite likely that the choice of stories will at time be… um, not the kind of stories DwM might care to choose.

Let me know what you think. Also, let me now what other ‘essential stops on the internet’ you have found in the area of radio and radio production.

Tags: Community, Transom.org, Public Radio | No Comments »

Disciple with Microphone’s ‘God-Father’ Carlos Briceno wrote an article late in 2004 where he discussed his thoughts and dreams for Catholic radio. It was this article that struck at the heart of many of us. We love the Church and we are greatful for Catholic radio. We knew, however, that the medium was still in its infancy and had not reached its full potential. There was so much that Catholic radio could be, but was not yet.

I remember my wife and I reading the article from the National Catholic Register and feeling a stirring. The article was so right on, it was written by a person with impeccable credetials. I put the paper down and sighed ‘If only…’ It was my wife who suggested we contact Carlos. I didn’t think it was likely anything would come of the email, but I figured ‘why not’? I wrote ot Carlos and told him how much I appreciated the article and he should count me in for anything he wanted to do.

The reply I received from Carlos was essentially ‘Thank you for the email, I will put you on the list’. The LIST? There was a list? It turns out that mine was not the only email. Soon after Carlos began sending emails about his vision for Cathoic radio, how he viewed it and attempted to impart his deep experience with radio upon us novices. He began sending us lessons with homework. Soon afterwords, we began meeting via a Yahoo Group. Early into these discussions, Carlos introduced the group to podcasting. I was flabbergasted that such a thing existed. I began searching the web for more information. This was in February of 2005 and podcasting had been ‘born’ only about three months before.

Soon after Cathoic Insider was born and set a high standard for podcasting. Jayson Franklin had joined DwM as our technical podcasting expert. Slowly, more Catholics discovered podcasting and as we introduced them to DwM, many joined us.

I have made many new friends in the group. I am humbled to know and work with men and women of such high talent and even higher virtue. I am truly blessed. I think, however, that it is time to reread Carlos’ article. It is a good touchstone. Are we taking advantage of the medium fully? What direction should we be heading and how are we touching the world with our voices?

Please do reread or read the article and let me know where you think we are and where we need to head. The Spirit of God is here amongst us, let us listen and make sure we are listening to the Spirits leading.

Tags: Article, Public Radio, Carlos Briceno | No Comments »