Continuing
my array of listicles for this blog, I thought I’d dip into the
world of podcasts. I’m a podcast addict. I love nothing more than
to pop in a pair of earbuds and listen to the vast range of
talk-radio style downloads available to the public for free. Free.
D’you hear that? Free.
For
those unfamiliar with the medium, a podcast is essentially a radio
show that had been put onto the internet as a file which you listen
to on your computer/phone either by streaming (when you’re on-line)
or downloading (for when you’re off-line). That’s it. The BBC website has hundreds of their radio shows which you can download for free,
including dramas, new music, news, debate, science and loads more.
It’s worth a look if you are new to podcasts and want to find shows
in your interest area.
Pleasingly,
many series have been going for sometime so have a large back
catalogue available to listen to straight away. I have recently been
binging on some series and it’s a great way to learn about new
subjects, especially as you can be a passive participant in the
conversation and listen while you walk, exercise, cook or paint the
kitchen.
I
listen to a wide variety of podcast on tons of different subjects. I
like to fill my ears with distractions aplenty which may inspire my
life or writing, so I listen to drama (Tracks), technology (DigitalHuman), science (Infinite Monkey Cage) and Comedy (Beef and DairyPodcast) among others. For this post however I’d thought I’d keep
my recommendations to those shows of interest to writers and readers.
In no particular order, here goes nothin’:
1.
Guardian
Children’s
Books Podcast is produced by the bestselling left wing newspaper
of the same name and features talks and interviews with such
luminaries as Jacqueline Wilson, Jeff Kinney, Eoin Colfer and Judith
Kerr. There are around 80 episodes available at the time of writing
and updates are sporadic (presumably due to the lack of coverage of
children’s book in newspapers – that’s a subject for another
day)
2.
Jedlie’s
Reading with Your Kids: One of the few children’s literature
podcasts out there, this updates a LOT, with an enthusiastic host in
the shape of magician Jedlie. It’s also open to requests for
interviews, so if you have a book to plug, get over to the site and
put in a request. And oooh look: Here's an episode with me on it! LINK!
3.
One for the illustrators among you, Make
It Then Tell Everybody
is a series of podcast interviews on comics and drawing. The host is
Dan Berry (www.thingsbydan.com)
a comic artist and lecturer at Glydwr Univeristy. In each podcast,
lasting roughly 30-40 minutes, he chats easily with his subjects
about their background and their work, focussing in detail on their
working methods. For artists, it's a great chance to hear the nitty
gritty of working in the comics and illustration trade, and Berry has
also talked to some writers, providing listeners with interviews that
go into a level of detail that you rarely hear. His podcast with
comics and screenwriter Tony Lee is one of the best I've ever heard,
and is pleasingly frank about the industry.
Running
through the interviews is the mantra which is reflected in the title
of the website. The practical nature of the conversations can be
inspiring, leaving the listener with a desire to go and create, even
if, like me, you can barely draw a straight line.
Berry
has a great presenting voice (almost soporific in its effect – one
tweeter suggested he should do hypnosis CDs), and an easy, jokey
manner with his interviewees. The quality of the audio is also
astounding, better than some BBC productions, which adds an air of
slickness to the operation. www.makeitthentelleverybody.com
is a great find, and I recommend downloading a few podcasts straight
away (did I mention it's all free?) and contributing to Dan's
'donate' fund, even if you don't think that comics are your 'thing'.
Truly inspiring stuff.
4.
If you’re interested in screenwriting: Created
and hosted by Ben Blacker, a TV writer of shows such as Supernatural
and Supaninjas, the Nerdist
Writers Panel Podcast takes writers of TV, film, comics and books
(but mostly TV) and grills them under a high heat until well and
truly cooked. The panels have writers from hit TV shows such as
Buffy, New Girl, Dollhouse,
M*A*S*H, Bones, Lost, CSI, Friends, Sesame Street
and many, many more. It's well worth listening to the entire run of
120-odd podcasts (at time of writing), even if you've never heard of
the writers or the TV shows they've worked for. The stories of being
inside the industry and pitching shows are fascinating and often
hilarious.
Describing
itself as a talk about the craft and business of writing, the show
delves deep into the technical aspects of writing in the US. Know
what 'breaking a story' is? Or 'A' story and 'B' story? Listen and
you'll find out. I've learned so much about the modern TV industry
just from tuning in every week and letting the masters of their craft
chat into my earholes (more maybe than I did in university? Shh,
don't tell the lecturers...).
Personal
favourites are the Sesame Street Writers, anything with Jane
Espensen, and the highly inspiring talk from the creators of The
Lizzie Bennett Diaries, on the complexities of Transmedia
storytelling. Go on, jump in, get wet. (if
you like this, also check out the UK
Scriptwriters Podcast)
5.
Spektrmodule by Warren
Ellis is a collection of music, haunting sounds and ambient
tunes. Ellis himself is the writer of legendary comics such as
Transmetropolitan, Iron Man, Fantastic Four, Trees, RED, and now the
Netflix series Castlevania. I have found the podcast to be perfect
writing music: dark and eerie, with few lyrics to distract you from
your work. It also makes great reading music.
6.
The Creative Penn
is a series which has been going for some 300+ episodes under the
amiable hand of Joanna Penn, who writes thrillers under the pen name
JF Penn. She is an indie author and
an authority on the indie publishing movement. While most of the
content focuses on publishing adult books yourself, anyone interested
in writing can take away some nuggets of gold on marketing, creating
and producing your own fiction. If you like this, then also seek out
the Self
Publishing Formula with Mark Dawson, and the Bestseller
Experiment.
7. A new one to me, but packed with great info for writers The Folklore Podcast is a deep dive into folklore and fairytales with experts and academtics. Hosted by Mark Norman, this is a fine example of the podcasts put out there for free by enthusiasts. I highly recommend the one on Hansel & Gretel - I'll never read the story at bedtime to my son in the same way again...
I've given up trying to limit myself to a top 5 so you'll have to make do with seven. More recommendations as I find them.
As always,
tell me about any I’ve missed in the comments on on Twitter
@metcalfwriter.
-
Dan Metcalf is a writer for children. Find out more about him and his books at www.danmetcalf.co.uk
2 comments:
Thanks for this list. I often wonder if I should listen & watch more, rather than just read blogs, but always worried about the time suck, since you can't skim through podcasts or YouTube to judge if it's worthwhile. Having somewhere recommended to start very useful indeed.
I also listen on 1.5x speed and can get up to 2x sometimes! Speeds things up a bit!
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