Sorry, there's no such thing as a video podcast
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We have another podcast rant for you this week, so I’m going to start this newsletter off with some good news. Back in August, I wrote about the podcasting industry’s messy teen years, in the context of intellectual property. At the time, it had just been announced that Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings were reviving their original podcast, For Colored Nerds.
And now, they’re back!
They talk about the details of their deal with Stitcher that has them retaining their intellectual property rights—still a rarity in podcasting, but we’re starting to see it more often—in an interview with the New York Times this week. It’s also well worth reading their interview with Vulture, where they reflect on what happened with The Nod at Gimlet. After all of that, it’s good to see them back behind the mic and in control of their own work.
If all that good news is too sickly sweet for you, fear not! We have a spicy take that is sure to sour your opinion of video podcasts.
Buckle in for a guest rant from Jay Cockburn, Vocal Fry senior producer!
*I do not feel this way about Paul Rudd - Michal
There is no such thing as a video podcast.
That’s a TV show.
Specifically, it’s usually a poorly made talk show featuring two men (probably) who think they’re more interesting and funny than they really are (definitely).
That is also true of many podcasts. But here’s my real beef: calling a badly made TV talk show a “video podcast” shows that you think a podcast is just a poorly made radio talk show.
And while J*e R*gan has convinced uninteresting 30-something bros that they too can get rich by talking to their friend for 3 hours and recording it with a backwards Blue Yeti, that’s not what a good podcast actually is.
Like television, there are few limits to the podcast format and genre. It can be a narrative documentary or a science fiction drama. It can be a historian monologuing. Audio is more intimate and more flexible than video.
Here’s an open secret: one of the most important things for a great interview podcast is good editing. You record more than you need then cut the filler speech, the irrelevant sidebars, and the uninteresting questions until you have a conversation that is captivating from start to finish.
If you do that on a “video podcast” it will be a mess of jump cuts.
So, when you add video to your bad radio talk show, you’re showing me you don’t really understand what makes a good interview podcast.
Here’s my theory: podcasters upload their “video podcast” and see that it gets a bunch of views, but very few people are actually watching them. They’re listening, but they’re people (Gen Z) who are used to doing everything on YouTube, so they have the video running in the background (thanks to Gen Z staff member Sabrina for confirming my half-baked theory).
The video podcasters would probably get the same return if they just stuck a graphic on screen for the whole video. They could avoid compromising their production process for something that few eyes ever see, and if they do… probably don’t care about.
But then that would imply that “video podcasters” have something worth calling a production process.
- Jay Cockburn
The Narwhal is hiring a B.C. Bureau Chief and an art director! Read the details here.
Sheridan College is hiring a managing editor of their literary magazine, The Ampersand Review of Writing & Publishing. Cute that they have an ampersand in their name. You can be just like Eileen from Sally Rooney’s latest novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You? but with a slightly better position.
CBC is hiring a producer for the National! Apply by EOD November 23.
CBC Halifax is hiring an associate producer for Mainstreet! I love Halifax. Should I move back? Apply by EOD November 23.
The Canadian Press is hiring an entertainment reporter-editor and a business reporter-editor.
Transmitter Media is hiring a New-York based project manager.
Lost Women of Science is hiring an associate producer and a production assistant.
The Toronto Star is bringing back their one-year internship! If you’re a postsecondary student or recent graduate with less than five years in journalism, you can apply for this paid opportunity to work with the Star. No deadline is listed, so don’t sleep on it.
FROM EXECUTIVE PRODUCER SYLVESTER STALLONE, Katie Jensen is listening to: The Comeback. It’s a documentary series about meteoric success, devastating falls, and inspirational comebacks, and did you see the part where it’s EXECUTIVE PRODUCED BY SYLVESTOR STALLONE?
Cue the Rocky soundtrack.
Sort Of is the CBC’s new darling, and this month’s episode of Wider Lens features a conversation with the show’s co-creators, Bilal Baig and Fab Filippo. I remember seeing Bilal in a play in a literal shed in an alleyway a few years ago—it was a mesmerizing performance, and they’re even more captivating in Sort Of.
We also have a fresh roundup on the blog of famous podcasters and radio-makers who have shared their creative processes. If you find yourself in a slump, it’s sure to get your creative juices flowing.
We want to hear from you! What are you looking for in your podcast news? Let us know on Twitter, Instagram, or by email at info@vocalfrystudios.com.
Thanks to Emily Latimer for editing this newsletter, and to Katie Jensen for designing it. Thanks to Jay Cockburn for writing today’s rant on The Big Fry.
We’ll see you again on November 26. Until then, here’s an update from digital producer Emily Latimer’s basket of kittens.
Yours in friends and fries,
Michal
