1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:14,880 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,000 --> 00:00:18,520 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,560 --> 00:00:22,320 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech. And today's episode is 5 00:00:22,360 --> 00:00:27,200 Speaker 1: a little different from our typical episodes. And that's partly 6 00:00:27,240 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 1: because as I'm recording this, I'm about to go on 7 00:00:30,600 --> 00:00:32,879 Speaker 1: vacation and I wanted to make sure I had a 8 00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:35,840 Speaker 1: new episode for you guys. But at the same time, 9 00:00:36,120 --> 00:00:38,960 Speaker 1: I honestly just didn't have the time to do my 10 00:00:39,080 --> 00:00:44,159 Speaker 1: full research dive and writing course for an episode of 11 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: tech Stuff. So instead I thought we'd do a peek 12 00:00:47,400 --> 00:00:50,800 Speaker 1: behind the curtain episode and I could talk about about 13 00:00:51,560 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 1: how are podcasting has changed since the time of quarantine, 14 00:00:57,360 --> 00:00:59,840 Speaker 1: like the idea of the stay at home stuff and 15 00:01:00,040 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: how we at I Heart and the former stuff media 16 00:01:05,480 --> 00:01:09,280 Speaker 1: crowd have had to pivot in order to continue to 17 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:14,080 Speaker 1: make podcasts and what that actually means and and uh, 18 00:01:14,160 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 1: I think it's a pretty great story, just one example 19 00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:21,840 Speaker 1: of how people all over the world are adapting in 20 00:01:22,200 --> 00:01:27,200 Speaker 1: this time of coronavirus. And I don't mean to suggest 21 00:01:27,240 --> 00:01:30,600 Speaker 1: that the way we adapted is in some way, you know, 22 00:01:30,760 --> 00:01:34,600 Speaker 1: extraordinary compared to others, but rather just kind of give 23 00:01:34,640 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: an insight into how things have changed for us. But 24 00:01:38,360 --> 00:01:40,520 Speaker 1: to do that, you know, it wouldn't be a Tech 25 00:01:40,560 --> 00:01:44,080 Speaker 1: Stuff episode if I didn't dive into history. And those 26 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:45,679 Speaker 1: of you who have listened to Tech Stuff for a 27 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:48,160 Speaker 1: long time, some of this might be familiar to you. 28 00:01:48,240 --> 00:01:51,360 Speaker 1: I've covered it in some previous episodes of tech Stuff, 29 00:01:51,640 --> 00:01:54,440 Speaker 1: but that was years ago, and I want to talk 30 00:01:54,520 --> 00:01:57,320 Speaker 1: about how the show got started and what it was 31 00:01:57,400 --> 00:02:01,760 Speaker 1: like recording at the beginning, and then eat into its evolution, 32 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: into what it was like just before the coronavirus crisis happened, 33 00:02:07,280 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: and what it's been like since. That has been part 34 00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:14,200 Speaker 1: of our lives. So to begin, we go back to 35 00:02:14,680 --> 00:02:20,480 Speaker 1: two thousand eight. Now that year, Uh, that was when 36 00:02:20,960 --> 00:02:24,240 Speaker 1: I was working for How Stuff Works dot com. Technically 37 00:02:24,280 --> 00:02:26,960 Speaker 1: I've been in the same job since two thousand seven, 38 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:31,280 Speaker 1: but the companies have changed. It's a weird kind of situation. 39 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:33,720 Speaker 1: It's like sitting in a car seat and the car 40 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:36,240 Speaker 1: around you keeps changing, but you've never gotten out of 41 00:02:36,240 --> 00:02:40,120 Speaker 1: the chair. Well, back in those days when we were 42 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:43,640 Speaker 1: launching podcasts, the idea originally was that we were going 43 00:02:43,760 --> 00:02:48,400 Speaker 1: to have a brand extension for how Stuff works dot com. 44 00:02:48,480 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: And but by that I mean every episode was supposed 45 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:55,640 Speaker 1: to tie back to an article on how stuff works 46 00:02:55,639 --> 00:02:57,799 Speaker 1: dot com. If any of you listen to stuff you 47 00:02:57,800 --> 00:03:00,480 Speaker 1: should know, and you've been listening for a long time, 48 00:03:00,560 --> 00:03:04,040 Speaker 1: you know that. That's how they built their episodes. They said, 49 00:03:04,440 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: you know, you can read more at how stuff works 50 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:10,079 Speaker 1: dot com at how such and such works. Well. Tech 51 00:03:10,160 --> 00:03:17,040 Speaker 1: stuff was the same way. It was challenging because I 52 00:03:17,040 --> 00:03:19,400 Speaker 1: don't know if you guys know this, but technology changes 53 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 1: pretty darned fast. So we would have topics on the 54 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:26,840 Speaker 1: website that we're about tech, but they would get out 55 00:03:26,840 --> 00:03:29,400 Speaker 1: of date pretty quickly. I mean, I remember doing a 56 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: podcast about video gaming PCs, and at that time I 57 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:36,800 Speaker 1: had never even built a PC. I had worked with 58 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:39,320 Speaker 1: them quite a bit, but I hadn't built one, and 59 00:03:39,720 --> 00:03:43,120 Speaker 1: I had not fully appreciated just how out of date 60 00:03:43,520 --> 00:03:47,200 Speaker 1: some of the references were. But trust me, my listeners, 61 00:03:47,280 --> 00:03:49,920 Speaker 1: let me know. Since then, I have gotten a little 62 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:53,960 Speaker 1: more education on the subject. But we would try and 63 00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:58,880 Speaker 1: take these articles and then flesh out a podcast around them. 64 00:03:58,920 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: We didn't want to just repeat the article. We wanted 65 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:06,080 Speaker 1: to kind of be supplemental to the article and direct 66 00:04:06,120 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: people back to the website. Now, what we learned in 67 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: those early days at first was that one the the 68 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: limit we had put on ourselves, which I think originally 69 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:20,159 Speaker 1: was ten minute limit, was way too short. And you 70 00:04:20,160 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: guys know me, I can barely introduce myself in less 71 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,000 Speaker 1: than seven minutes, which doesn't give you a whole lot 72 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:31,160 Speaker 1: of time to cover the actual topic at hand. So 73 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:34,359 Speaker 1: we learned quickly to expand that. Originally I think we 74 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:36,760 Speaker 1: pushed it to twenty minutes, and then thirty minutes. Then 75 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:39,520 Speaker 1: eventually we said this just needs to be as long 76 00:04:39,560 --> 00:04:44,159 Speaker 1: as it needs to be, and text stuff gradually averaged 77 00:04:44,160 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: out to around forty five to forty seven minutes per episode, 78 00:04:48,320 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 1: sometimes going much longer, sometimes a little shorter, but that's 79 00:04:52,640 --> 00:04:57,479 Speaker 1: about where we ended up. Well. We also didn't monetize 80 00:04:57,520 --> 00:04:59,920 Speaker 1: our shows at that time. There was really no way 81 00:05:00,040 --> 00:05:03,839 Speaker 1: to monetize them. Advertising on podcasts had not yet really 82 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:07,040 Speaker 1: become a big thing, didn't have any sponsors or anything 83 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:10,400 Speaker 1: like that, so really we were just trying to convince 84 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:12,839 Speaker 1: people to come over to the website and read the articles. 85 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:16,040 Speaker 1: But as I'm sure all of you have experienced, in 86 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:20,520 Speaker 1: one way or another. That's a big request to get 87 00:05:20,560 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: somebody to stop doing what they're doing on one platform 88 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:28,239 Speaker 1: or device and go to a different platform or device 89 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 1: to check something else out. Because back when we started 90 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: doing podcasts, it was before you really used smartphones as 91 00:05:35,560 --> 00:05:39,040 Speaker 1: your main method of listening to podcasts or you know, 92 00:05:39,120 --> 00:05:43,560 Speaker 1: smart speakers or anything like that. You typically we're downloading 93 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:46,880 Speaker 1: podcasts to a computer and then transferring those to an 94 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: MP three player. Yeah, this is back in the ancient 95 00:05:50,360 --> 00:05:54,920 Speaker 1: days of two thousand eight. And with that it meant 96 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:56,520 Speaker 1: that by the time you were listening to it, you 97 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:00,760 Speaker 1: were listening typically unlike an iPod, and there was no 98 00:06:00,839 --> 00:06:04,159 Speaker 1: way to navigate to a web page on the old iPods. 99 00:06:04,200 --> 00:06:07,600 Speaker 1: This was really before you started seeing that kind of 100 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:09,919 Speaker 1: support built out on the iPhone. The iPhone had just 101 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:13,479 Speaker 1: come out the year before. As for the recording process, 102 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:16,200 Speaker 1: I can tell you what that was like, because it was. 103 00:06:17,600 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: It was pretty jang ki in those early days. We 104 00:06:21,320 --> 00:06:25,240 Speaker 1: had an office space in an area of Atlanta called Buckhead, 105 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 1: which is a kind of a i'd say an upper 106 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:36,320 Speaker 1: class area of Atlanta, a lot of expensive stores and stuff. 107 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:40,679 Speaker 1: I can't stand Buckhead personally. That's just my own personal opinion, 108 00:06:40,920 --> 00:06:43,120 Speaker 1: not a big fan of that part of town. Anyway, 109 00:06:43,320 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: we had an office there and in that office actually 110 00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:49,760 Speaker 1: it was it was an entire floor of an office building. 111 00:06:50,320 --> 00:06:53,760 Speaker 1: But in that office space we had one medium sized 112 00:06:53,880 --> 00:06:56,560 Speaker 1: room kind of in the middle of our office space 113 00:06:57,080 --> 00:07:00,359 Speaker 1: that was closed off. It actually you know, had floor 114 00:07:00,440 --> 00:07:04,120 Speaker 1: to ceiling walls and doors and everything, and it was 115 00:07:04,160 --> 00:07:07,440 Speaker 1: an oddly shaped room. It wasn't like a perfect rectangle. 116 00:07:07,480 --> 00:07:10,680 Speaker 1: It was had weird angles to it, and we usually 117 00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:14,280 Speaker 1: used it to shoot video and stuff in there, although 118 00:07:14,320 --> 00:07:16,320 Speaker 1: we didn't do very much of that. This was before 119 00:07:16,400 --> 00:07:20,320 Speaker 1: how Stuff Works was producing very many videos. We were 120 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:24,520 Speaker 1: mostly focusing on writing articles for the site, but occasionally 121 00:07:24,520 --> 00:07:27,600 Speaker 1: we would shoot stuff in that space. Well, that's where 122 00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:31,400 Speaker 1: they decided to make our little recording studio. The room 123 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: had this odd alcove in one corner where it was 124 00:07:36,680 --> 00:07:38,720 Speaker 1: like a closet, but there was no door to it, 125 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:41,320 Speaker 1: so it's just an alcove and we were using it 126 00:07:41,320 --> 00:07:43,920 Speaker 1: for storage, and that's what we decided to turn into 127 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:51,160 Speaker 1: an audio podcast recording studio. Not ideal, but we fit 128 00:07:51,280 --> 00:07:53,840 Speaker 1: a table in there, a small table because there wasn't 129 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 1: a whole lot of space. A couple of chairs, a 130 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:59,480 Speaker 1: couple of microphones, a couple of headphones, and then we 131 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 1: hung a sound dampening curtain across the entrance of that 132 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 1: alcove to shut it off from the rest of the room, 133 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:10,000 Speaker 1: and on the other side of the curtain, in the 134 00:08:10,040 --> 00:08:15,640 Speaker 1: actual rooms space, we had a production computer, a Mac computer, 135 00:08:16,160 --> 00:08:19,720 Speaker 1: where a producer would sit as we would record and 136 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:22,920 Speaker 1: monitor the recording to make sure that nothing was going wrong. 137 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:26,679 Speaker 1: And so back then, my co host and I, Chris 138 00:08:26,720 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: Pallette and I would sit down and chat into the 139 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:33,400 Speaker 1: microphones and it would get recorded to this production computer. 140 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:38,120 Speaker 1: And back in the day are our producer most frequently 141 00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:43,520 Speaker 1: was Tyler who is now an executive producer over with 142 00:08:43,559 --> 00:08:46,880 Speaker 1: I Heart. Occasionally we would get Matt Frederick, who you 143 00:08:46,960 --> 00:08:50,720 Speaker 1: might know from stuff they don't want you to know, uh, 144 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:53,600 Speaker 1: And once in a blue moon, Jerry would sit in, 145 00:08:53,720 --> 00:08:57,920 Speaker 1: but that's only if she really had no other options, 146 00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:01,360 Speaker 1: because she was very important back then more so even now, 147 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,920 Speaker 1: and I didn't have a whole lot of extra time 148 00:09:05,000 --> 00:09:07,679 Speaker 1: in her schedule. But occasionally she would fill in if 149 00:09:07,679 --> 00:09:11,000 Speaker 1: if no one else was available, And so that's how 150 00:09:11,080 --> 00:09:13,160 Speaker 1: we would record. We would sit down and do that 151 00:09:13,320 --> 00:09:17,360 Speaker 1: and there were very few edits. Usually we would include 152 00:09:17,600 --> 00:09:21,280 Speaker 1: our goofs and mistakes and we would just correct ourselves 153 00:09:21,360 --> 00:09:26,320 Speaker 1: within the context of the actual episode. Um, we didn't 154 00:09:26,360 --> 00:09:29,520 Speaker 1: do the beeps thing that some of us have since 155 00:09:29,520 --> 00:09:32,480 Speaker 1: started to do, where we indicate it within the audio form, 156 00:09:32,520 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 1: we make a beep noise because you can actually see 157 00:09:35,200 --> 00:09:38,360 Speaker 1: it in the wave form. Uh, you see the the 158 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:40,760 Speaker 1: shape of the wave form, and says, oh, well, that's 159 00:09:40,880 --> 00:09:42,520 Speaker 1: clearly where something's messed up and you can go and 160 00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:45,080 Speaker 1: fix it. We just kept on going. So if you 161 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:47,679 Speaker 1: listen to those early tech stuffs, you will hear that 162 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:51,040 Speaker 1: we were using, I believe sure microphones, which we have 163 00:09:51,160 --> 00:09:55,360 Speaker 1: stuck with for the most part, but that that studio 164 00:09:55,400 --> 00:09:58,280 Speaker 1: space wasn't meant to be a studio space. There was 165 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:04,000 Speaker 1: hardly any baffling, baffling being sort of sound absorbing foam 166 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:07,200 Speaker 1: to help cut down on things like echo and and 167 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:12,599 Speaker 1: reverb and stuff. Uh, and it just was what we had. 168 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:17,760 Speaker 1: Eventually we had to move into a smaller office space 169 00:10:17,800 --> 00:10:21,040 Speaker 1: within the same building. We no longer had the full floor. 170 00:10:21,480 --> 00:10:25,559 Speaker 1: We had about maybe a third of a floor lower 171 00:10:25,720 --> 00:10:30,040 Speaker 1: down in the building, and that really caused pain in 172 00:10:30,080 --> 00:10:34,160 Speaker 1: our podcasts. We were still doing podcasting, and occasionally we're 173 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:38,360 Speaker 1: even monetizing them at this point. But now we had 174 00:10:38,559 --> 00:10:44,000 Speaker 1: a different recording setup. Instead of being in an isolated 175 00:10:44,200 --> 00:10:48,000 Speaker 1: room in the center of an office space, we had 176 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:52,240 Speaker 1: an actual office. It wasn't designed to be a studio 177 00:10:52,280 --> 00:10:55,080 Speaker 1: at all. It was designed to be the office of 178 00:10:55,120 --> 00:10:58,520 Speaker 1: somebody fairly important because it was a corner office with 179 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:04,000 Speaker 1: windows on two wall. Now, I'm sure any of you 180 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:06,840 Speaker 1: out there who have had any experience with sound recording 181 00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:10,400 Speaker 1: no that it is not ideal to record in a 182 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:15,520 Speaker 1: room that shares a window to the outside world. There's 183 00:11:15,559 --> 00:11:17,640 Speaker 1: a lot of noise that can come in. We were 184 00:11:17,720 --> 00:11:20,880 Speaker 1: located just off of one of the many Peach Tree 185 00:11:20,920 --> 00:11:24,720 Speaker 1: streets in Atlanta, but in this case, it's the Peach 186 00:11:24,760 --> 00:11:28,280 Speaker 1: Tree Street, and you could often hear traffic noises and 187 00:11:28,280 --> 00:11:32,160 Speaker 1: occasionally a whistle as a local character known as Baton 188 00:11:32,320 --> 00:11:36,160 Speaker 1: Bob would march up and down the street whistling on 189 00:11:36,200 --> 00:11:41,120 Speaker 1: a whistle and waving at people. So, yeah, if you want, 190 00:11:41,280 --> 00:11:45,040 Speaker 1: if you want to smile, just search Baton Bob Atlanta 191 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:48,080 Speaker 1: and you'll get to see the the ambassador of smiles 192 00:11:48,120 --> 00:11:53,800 Speaker 1: that I'm talking about. Not ideal, but that's what we 193 00:11:53,840 --> 00:11:57,120 Speaker 1: had to work with then, so we would record again 194 00:11:57,240 --> 00:12:02,440 Speaker 1: using sure microphones, using headphones, so decent hardware. We did 195 00:12:02,480 --> 00:12:08,720 Speaker 1: eventually end up covering all the windows with materials like 196 00:12:08,720 --> 00:12:12,960 Speaker 1: like foam, absorbing foam, baffling foam, which probably meant that 197 00:12:13,040 --> 00:12:15,720 Speaker 1: from the outside we looked like there was some sort 198 00:12:15,760 --> 00:12:20,240 Speaker 1: of highly disturbed individual who was occupying that particular office 199 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 1: space because the windows were blacked out from that that 200 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:28,200 Speaker 1: space on both sides, and that helped cut down a 201 00:12:28,240 --> 00:12:30,600 Speaker 1: little bit on noise. But even to this day, if 202 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:33,680 Speaker 1: you listen back to some of the podcasts that were 203 00:12:33,679 --> 00:12:37,640 Speaker 1: recorded during that era, you might occasionally hear traffic noises. 204 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:40,280 Speaker 1: You might even hear a siren, although most of us 205 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:45,280 Speaker 1: would pause our recording whenever an emergency response vehicle was 206 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:48,000 Speaker 1: going down Peachtree Street, which happened at least three or 207 00:12:48,040 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 1: four times per recording session, so that again was not ideal. 208 00:12:53,440 --> 00:12:57,280 Speaker 1: But at the time we were not a podcasting company either. 209 00:12:57,559 --> 00:13:01,400 Speaker 1: Podcasting was becoming more important and it was starting to 210 00:13:02,240 --> 00:13:05,600 Speaker 1: generate more opportunities, both for the company as a whole 211 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:08,320 Speaker 1: and for some of the hosts in particular, and that 212 00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:13,720 Speaker 1: was great, but at that point our focus was still 213 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:17,679 Speaker 1: on the website. At that stage, we were working with 214 00:13:17,840 --> 00:13:21,720 Speaker 1: Discovery Communications that was our parent company at the time, 215 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:26,400 Speaker 1: and so things were different, like we were mostly working 216 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:28,600 Speaker 1: on to make sure that we were in alignment with 217 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:31,920 Speaker 1: our parent company, and that also explains why if you 218 00:13:31,960 --> 00:13:35,960 Speaker 1: go back and look at those episodes, even across all 219 00:13:36,000 --> 00:13:40,200 Speaker 1: the stuff channels, you'll start to see things like uh 220 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:44,120 Speaker 1: topics that maybe we wouldn't have chosen on our own, 221 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:47,360 Speaker 1: but they were in alignment with what the parent company wanted. 222 00:13:48,400 --> 00:13:52,520 Speaker 1: The easiest example I can give of that is the 223 00:13:52,880 --> 00:13:57,720 Speaker 1: Shark Week themed episodes. It was easier for maybe the 224 00:13:57,840 --> 00:14:01,400 Speaker 1: History show to really focus on Shark Week or even 225 00:14:01,400 --> 00:14:05,600 Speaker 1: stuff you should know, but for tech stuff, Shark Week 226 00:14:05,720 --> 00:14:08,600 Speaker 1: proved to be a bit of a challenge figuring out 227 00:14:08,679 --> 00:14:13,640 Speaker 1: how to talk about technology with sharks beyond things like 228 00:14:13,720 --> 00:14:16,240 Speaker 1: it's a cage and it protects you from being bitten. 229 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:18,839 Speaker 1: That got that got to be pretty complicated. I think 230 00:14:18,880 --> 00:14:22,240 Speaker 1: on our first attempt we ended up talking about Bruce, 231 00:14:22,920 --> 00:14:26,440 Speaker 1: which was the nickname for the mechanical shark that was 232 00:14:26,560 --> 00:14:29,840 Speaker 1: used during the filming of Jaws. That was the way 233 00:14:29,840 --> 00:14:33,480 Speaker 1: we got around it. So that for a long time 234 00:14:33,920 --> 00:14:37,040 Speaker 1: was how we recorded episodes. It was either in that 235 00:14:37,360 --> 00:14:41,720 Speaker 1: one alcove or it was in a corner office where 236 00:14:41,720 --> 00:14:43,800 Speaker 1: we were doing our best to try and isolate all 237 00:14:43,800 --> 00:14:49,640 Speaker 1: the outside noise. But things would change dramatically when we 238 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:53,840 Speaker 1: ended up relocating from Buckhead to a different part of 239 00:14:53,840 --> 00:14:58,120 Speaker 1: Atlanta and neighborhood called the Old Fourth Ward, and we 240 00:14:58,320 --> 00:15:02,000 Speaker 1: ended up in a a space in the brand new 241 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:06,480 Speaker 1: Ponce City Market. I'll explain more about that in a second, 242 00:15:06,520 --> 00:15:19,360 Speaker 1: but first let's take a quick break. So we ended 243 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:25,080 Speaker 1: up moving across town. For one thing, we got sold off. 244 00:15:25,360 --> 00:15:29,480 Speaker 1: Discovery Communications sold how Stuff Works dot Com to a 245 00:15:29,520 --> 00:15:33,920 Speaker 1: company called Blue Cora uh and then in turn, Blue 246 00:15:33,960 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 1: Cora spun off uh info Seek along with how stuff 247 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:42,240 Speaker 1: Works dot Com, and we became part of a company 248 00:15:42,280 --> 00:15:46,000 Speaker 1: that eventually became known as System One. And that's about 249 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:48,320 Speaker 1: the same time that we were relocating over to Old 250 00:15:48,360 --> 00:15:51,720 Speaker 1: Fourth Ward into the Pont City Market space. When we 251 00:15:51,760 --> 00:15:55,000 Speaker 1: did that, it was super cool, but it was also 252 00:15:55,080 --> 00:15:59,280 Speaker 1: incredibly challenging. And it was challenging because we had to 253 00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:04,240 Speaker 1: set up brand new studio space in this office and 254 00:16:04,520 --> 00:16:08,280 Speaker 1: at the time, Pont City Market was still being built out, 255 00:16:08,600 --> 00:16:12,200 Speaker 1: so our office space was complete, but there were entire 256 00:16:12,400 --> 00:16:16,160 Speaker 1: floors of Pont City Market that we're being converted over, 257 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: and to understand what Pont City Market is and and 258 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:23,440 Speaker 1: the enormity of that challenge takes a little more history. 259 00:16:23,520 --> 00:16:27,040 Speaker 1: Pont City Market started off as sort of a store 260 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:32,800 Speaker 1: and distribution center for Sears in Atlanta. It was located 261 00:16:32,880 --> 00:16:35,040 Speaker 1: right next to railroad tracks. In fact, the tracks are 262 00:16:35,040 --> 00:16:38,000 Speaker 1: still there, they're no longer active tracks. And there was 263 00:16:38,040 --> 00:16:41,120 Speaker 1: even a section of track that split off from the 264 00:16:41,160 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 1: main track and became a little section just in front 265 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:48,800 Speaker 1: of Pont City Market, so that a train car loaded 266 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:52,600 Speaker 1: down with stuff for Sears could detach, move down this 267 00:16:52,640 --> 00:16:55,960 Speaker 1: section of track, be unloaded, and then moved back to 268 00:16:56,600 --> 00:16:59,640 Speaker 1: join up with a train. So it's a really important 269 00:16:59,640 --> 00:17:03,240 Speaker 1: building and it's enormous. It's a couple of million square 270 00:17:03,280 --> 00:17:07,119 Speaker 1: feet of space, as I recall, and there's like nine 271 00:17:07,200 --> 00:17:12,280 Speaker 1: floors of it. It's huge. But Sears left that building 272 00:17:12,320 --> 00:17:17,399 Speaker 1: unoccupied for a long time. The Atlanta City government had 273 00:17:17,520 --> 00:17:20,560 Speaker 1: a small amount of space something like ten of the building, 274 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:25,200 Speaker 1: but it remained vacant, and then eventually it was bought 275 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:28,640 Speaker 1: by a development company that decided to turn it into 276 00:17:29,200 --> 00:17:32,960 Speaker 1: office and retail and loft space. So if you want 277 00:17:32,960 --> 00:17:37,680 Speaker 1: an extremely expensive loft in Atlanta, you could get one 278 00:17:38,160 --> 00:17:41,399 Speaker 1: at Pond City Markets, outside my price range, to be honest, 279 00:17:42,359 --> 00:17:45,800 Speaker 1: but that's where our office moved to. We built out 280 00:17:45,840 --> 00:17:51,040 Speaker 1: two studios originally, and we eventually named them Bowie after 281 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:54,840 Speaker 1: David Bowie and Eno, so they're named after musicians. We 282 00:17:54,880 --> 00:17:59,040 Speaker 1: would later add two more studios. Originally they were both 283 00:17:59,200 --> 00:18:02,960 Speaker 1: video studio was one was a video studio for sets 284 00:18:03,040 --> 00:18:06,320 Speaker 1: and one was a video studio for backdrops like a 285 00:18:06,480 --> 00:18:10,919 Speaker 1: white psych or a green screen. Uh, those became prints 286 00:18:11,160 --> 00:18:14,080 Speaker 1: and buyork. And so if you've ever watched any of 287 00:18:14,119 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 1: the How Stuff Works videos where there was like a 288 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:21,800 Speaker 1: little kind of study sort of look to it, like 289 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:25,240 Speaker 1: like you're sitting in a study, that was that was 290 00:18:25,280 --> 00:18:27,719 Speaker 1: in one of those studios. And all the old forward 291 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:29,879 Speaker 1: thinking videos where I was in front of like a 292 00:18:29,920 --> 00:18:32,400 Speaker 1: white background, at least the later ones, those were shot 293 00:18:32,400 --> 00:18:35,600 Speaker 1: in the other studio, but we converted those into audio 294 00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:42,000 Speaker 1: studios eventually. Because Stuff Media, the podcasting arm, split off 295 00:18:42,040 --> 00:18:45,400 Speaker 1: from how stuff works dot com. How stuff works dot 296 00:18:45,400 --> 00:18:50,879 Speaker 1: Com remained with System one and the Stuff Media group 297 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:54,040 Speaker 1: we split off, we stayed in the same office space. 298 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:57,720 Speaker 1: In fact, we cohabitated that office space for a while 299 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:00,600 Speaker 1: with the how Stuff Works people. They eventually moved out 300 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:04,440 Speaker 1: and got a different space, but Stuff Media remained there 301 00:19:05,160 --> 00:19:08,600 Speaker 1: and we ended up getting what are called whisper rooms 302 00:19:08,960 --> 00:19:13,480 Speaker 1: for those audio podcast rooms. Now these are like recording 303 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:17,640 Speaker 1: booths um and so it's a recording booth sitting inside 304 00:19:17,800 --> 00:19:21,960 Speaker 1: a larger room. And on the outside of the whisper rooms, 305 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,280 Speaker 1: we've set up desks where we have the production computers. 306 00:19:25,320 --> 00:19:29,200 Speaker 1: Those are Mac computers where we record to those those 307 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:34,240 Speaker 1: computer systems. Inside the whispering rooms, we've got tables, chairs, 308 00:19:34,680 --> 00:19:39,200 Speaker 1: the microphones still using sure microphones and headphones um and 309 00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:43,520 Speaker 1: we have uh, individual little volume controls for our our 310 00:19:43,560 --> 00:19:47,040 Speaker 1: headphones so that we can arrange that to our hearts content. 311 00:19:47,600 --> 00:19:49,880 Speaker 1: I'm slightly hard of hearing, so I turned mine up, 312 00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:52,960 Speaker 1: but that would blast the ears off someone like Lauren. 313 00:19:53,119 --> 00:19:55,919 Speaker 1: So luckily we all have our own individual controls. We 314 00:19:55,960 --> 00:19:58,679 Speaker 1: don't have to, you know, have one master control for 315 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:02,919 Speaker 1: all the headphones. Uh. We close off those doors we 316 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:07,639 Speaker 1: record our episodes. The audio goes through a mixer in 317 00:20:07,920 --> 00:20:12,040 Speaker 1: a couple of studios. There's actually a physical console mixer 318 00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:15,479 Speaker 1: and then a couple of studios use a virtual mixer. 319 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:18,800 Speaker 1: But in either case they're doing the same general job. 320 00:20:19,240 --> 00:20:22,560 Speaker 1: That is, they allow the producer to set audio levels, 321 00:20:22,720 --> 00:20:25,600 Speaker 1: so if one person is just naturally louder than another, 322 00:20:26,320 --> 00:20:29,240 Speaker 1: you can drop their level down a little bit so 323 00:20:29,320 --> 00:20:32,159 Speaker 1: that way you don't have a big jump between the 324 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: loud person and the quiet person. I tend to be 325 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:37,720 Speaker 1: a little quiet, so they boost me up a little bit, 326 00:20:38,040 --> 00:20:41,679 Speaker 1: so that's odd. I'm not used to being quiet. But 327 00:20:41,720 --> 00:20:44,000 Speaker 1: my voice gets you can hear it now. My voice 328 00:20:44,040 --> 00:20:46,880 Speaker 1: is getting worn out the more I talk. Of course, 329 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:49,200 Speaker 1: this is the third episode of tech Stuff that I'm 330 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:53,919 Speaker 1: recording today that explains that. And like the studios that 331 00:20:54,040 --> 00:20:58,280 Speaker 1: we had back in the Buckhead space, which were again 332 00:20:58,359 --> 00:21:02,360 Speaker 1: just you know, kind of a rigged studios, these we 333 00:21:02,480 --> 00:21:04,800 Speaker 1: ended up using a lot more phone baffling. We were 334 00:21:04,800 --> 00:21:06,679 Speaker 1: able to have a lot more control over the space. 335 00:21:07,160 --> 00:21:09,800 Speaker 1: We made sure that the windows and doors that we 336 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:13,520 Speaker 1: used in those spaces kept the noise nice and isolated, 337 00:21:13,880 --> 00:21:17,320 Speaker 1: so you don't have a lot of bleed over. People 338 00:21:17,359 --> 00:21:21,040 Speaker 1: can actually chat outside the rooms, and it's not terrible 339 00:21:21,080 --> 00:21:24,879 Speaker 1: if they start getting into a really animated conversation that 340 00:21:24,920 --> 00:21:28,160 Speaker 1: can sometimes bleed over into the audio. That we are 341 00:21:28,680 --> 00:21:31,439 Speaker 1: hearing as we record, and in that case I have 342 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:36,200 Speaker 1: been known to jump outside and gently suggest people take 343 00:21:36,280 --> 00:21:42,720 Speaker 1: their conversation elsewhere. I'm very um genteel about such things. 344 00:21:44,000 --> 00:21:47,960 Speaker 1: We record into Audition. That is the software we use 345 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:51,719 Speaker 1: at the office. It's a Mac based and so that 346 00:21:51,800 --> 00:21:57,240 Speaker 1: allows people to do things like isolate microphones. Uh. And Tari, 347 00:21:57,520 --> 00:22:01,199 Speaker 1: when she's recording me live at the office, use this 348 00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:04,439 Speaker 1: audition to put little markers down. Whenever I make a 349 00:22:04,480 --> 00:22:08,600 Speaker 1: mistake or have a terrible sound come out of me, 350 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:11,480 Speaker 1: like if I have to sniff or cough or something, 351 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:14,639 Speaker 1: she can put a little time marker on the recording 352 00:22:15,080 --> 00:22:17,960 Speaker 1: so that later on she can very quickly navigate to 353 00:22:18,000 --> 00:22:22,359 Speaker 1: those markers and make those edits um. And it just 354 00:22:22,400 --> 00:22:24,320 Speaker 1: makes things a lot easier. That's why she likes to 355 00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:28,640 Speaker 1: listen live while I actually record. And then if Tari 356 00:22:28,680 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 1: has to say something to me, she has a microphone 357 00:22:31,080 --> 00:22:34,240 Speaker 1: on her side and can communicate to me. It doesn't 358 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:39,359 Speaker 1: get sent to the audition file. It's it's not going 359 00:22:39,400 --> 00:22:41,399 Speaker 1: through to recording, but I can hear it in my 360 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:45,560 Speaker 1: headphones and then I can respond to it. Um. So 361 00:22:45,720 --> 00:22:49,560 Speaker 1: that's generally how things worked at Pont City Market. Oh, 362 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:53,520 Speaker 1: I should also mention, so we have Bowie, Eno, Prince 363 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:58,320 Speaker 1: and York text stuff almost always recorded in Eno, at 364 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:01,600 Speaker 1: least over the last couple of years. Stuff you should know, 365 00:23:01,720 --> 00:23:06,040 Speaker 1: records in Bowie and sometimes I would record in Bowie 366 00:23:06,040 --> 00:23:08,960 Speaker 1: two occasionally. If you watched back in the day when 367 00:23:08,960 --> 00:23:12,879 Speaker 1: I used to stream live on Twitch. Um, that was 368 00:23:12,920 --> 00:23:16,000 Speaker 1: when we were using the Bowie studio. And that one 369 00:23:16,119 --> 00:23:20,240 Speaker 1: is unique among the different studios and all the other studios. 370 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:25,840 Speaker 1: The producer sits at a table or desk that's outside 371 00:23:25,840 --> 00:23:29,840 Speaker 1: the actual recording studio and so they communicate over a 372 00:23:29,880 --> 00:23:34,879 Speaker 1: microphone to the people inside the studio. You know, Bowie 373 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:37,520 Speaker 1: rather is the only one that's different that one. Uh 374 00:23:37,600 --> 00:23:41,879 Speaker 1: The producer actually sits inside the recording studio along with 375 00:23:41,920 --> 00:23:46,439 Speaker 1: the talent. So when Josh and Chuck were recording in 376 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:50,720 Speaker 1: the office, Jerry was also in that same room with them, 377 00:23:50,840 --> 00:23:53,560 Speaker 1: so all three of them would be right there. And 378 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:56,400 Speaker 1: that is the the one difference to all the other studios. 379 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:00,960 Speaker 1: They have the producer isolated from the people inside the booth. 380 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:04,760 Speaker 1: And uh, I just thought that was interesting. I don't know, 381 00:24:05,400 --> 00:24:09,800 Speaker 1: you know how that came about, but that's how it works. Uh. 382 00:24:09,840 --> 00:24:13,800 Speaker 1: In the case of Eno, there is a big window 383 00:24:13,880 --> 00:24:18,359 Speaker 1: on the side of the studio where the producer's desk is, 384 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:21,399 Speaker 1: so I can look out the window and star, although 385 00:24:21,480 --> 00:24:25,480 Speaker 1: usually there's a giant display that's you know, eclipsing most 386 00:24:25,520 --> 00:24:29,520 Speaker 1: of her. And that's generally how it worked in the office. 387 00:24:29,560 --> 00:24:32,879 Speaker 1: We would sit down inside those studios and record. The 388 00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:35,600 Speaker 1: whisper rooms have a little bit more space in them 389 00:24:35,680 --> 00:24:39,800 Speaker 1: than either Eno or Bowie do, and so podcasts that 390 00:24:39,880 --> 00:24:43,200 Speaker 1: have more hosts in them tend to record in one 391 00:24:43,240 --> 00:24:46,479 Speaker 1: of those. Like when I would go into record with 392 00:24:46,640 --> 00:24:50,640 Speaker 1: Ridiculous History, Uh, it was usually in the Buyork studio 393 00:24:50,840 --> 00:24:57,000 Speaker 1: for example. But that's that's how things worked pre coronavirus, 394 00:24:57,800 --> 00:25:02,000 Speaker 1: and then everything would change. Oh, I should also add 395 00:25:02,040 --> 00:25:04,400 Speaker 1: that was also when we started to see a more 396 00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:09,200 Speaker 1: regular use of ads, when we were able to actually 397 00:25:10,080 --> 00:25:13,280 Speaker 1: monetize podcasts. In fact, that's the only reason stuff Media 398 00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:16,159 Speaker 1: was able to exist in the first place. We had 399 00:25:16,200 --> 00:25:20,560 Speaker 1: reached a point where the podcasts could be monetized and 400 00:25:20,680 --> 00:25:24,520 Speaker 1: make money that was on a level that was, you know, 401 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:28,919 Speaker 1: comparable to what the website How Stuff Works was making, 402 00:25:29,320 --> 00:25:31,959 Speaker 1: and that's what made it possible to spend Stuff Media 403 00:25:32,040 --> 00:25:35,080 Speaker 1: off into its separate company, And part of the reason 404 00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:36,760 Speaker 1: we were able to do that is because we have 405 00:25:37,200 --> 00:25:41,200 Speaker 1: a sales team and an ads team, and they worked 406 00:25:41,240 --> 00:25:47,360 Speaker 1: together to be able to get potential ad reads for 407 00:25:47,480 --> 00:25:53,159 Speaker 1: the various shows. And typically hosts have the opportunity to 408 00:25:53,280 --> 00:25:57,760 Speaker 1: review the ads that will run on their shows, not always, 409 00:25:57,800 --> 00:26:01,840 Speaker 1: but usually, and we have a chance to say yea 410 00:26:02,040 --> 00:26:05,800 Speaker 1: or name. So if we find something truly objectionable, like 411 00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:09,160 Speaker 1: let's say that for some reason Sarainos wanted to run 412 00:26:09,200 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 1: an ad on my show, if it were still around, 413 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:15,760 Speaker 1: I could say, yeah, no, not really, not really a 414 00:26:15,800 --> 00:26:19,680 Speaker 1: big fan of that one, and it would just go away. 415 00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:21,679 Speaker 1: But if it were something that I don't have an 416 00:26:21,720 --> 00:26:24,000 Speaker 1: objection to, then you know, I might do the ad 417 00:26:24,080 --> 00:26:27,760 Speaker 1: read myself. It's frequently how we do it, and then 418 00:26:27,880 --> 00:26:31,639 Speaker 1: we do a recording session, usually of just ads. We 419 00:26:31,720 --> 00:26:36,280 Speaker 1: don't typically record ads live in a audio recording of 420 00:26:36,320 --> 00:26:39,720 Speaker 1: an episode. We can do that, and it has happened 421 00:26:39,760 --> 00:26:42,800 Speaker 1: in the past, but more frequently these days we do 422 00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:46,360 Speaker 1: separate recording sessions so that we can really hone in 423 00:26:46,680 --> 00:26:49,240 Speaker 1: on getting the ad just right, and then we can 424 00:26:49,280 --> 00:26:53,320 Speaker 1: insert it into episodes later down the line. Uh. I 425 00:26:53,359 --> 00:26:56,280 Speaker 1: know that a lot of people don't really care for ads, 426 00:26:56,320 --> 00:27:01,920 Speaker 1: they find it irritating. But seriously, without advertisements, we don't 427 00:27:01,960 --> 00:27:05,480 Speaker 1: have a way of making revenue, and without revenue, there's 428 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:09,600 Speaker 1: no reason for us to do the shows because we can't. 429 00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:13,400 Speaker 1: We can't recapture the cost it it takes to make 430 00:27:13,640 --> 00:27:17,679 Speaker 1: the shows. So the ads are what make the shows possible. 431 00:27:18,160 --> 00:27:22,000 Speaker 1: And our goal is to always choose companies that we 432 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:25,120 Speaker 1: like and ads that we don't object to, and then 433 00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:29,880 Speaker 1: incorporate those in our shows. Some weeks it's more challenging 434 00:27:29,920 --> 00:27:33,359 Speaker 1: than others, but that's always our goal. So we don't 435 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:36,520 Speaker 1: do it just to throw ads at you. We don't 436 00:27:36,560 --> 00:27:41,119 Speaker 1: do it because we're swimming in slag. Most of us aren't. UM. 437 00:27:41,280 --> 00:27:43,680 Speaker 1: Once in a blue moon, I might get something where 438 00:27:43,680 --> 00:27:45,280 Speaker 1: I get to try it out first, so that way 439 00:27:45,320 --> 00:27:48,280 Speaker 1: I can actually talk about it with sincerity. What I'm 440 00:27:48,320 --> 00:27:51,480 Speaker 1: doing an ad, But it's not like I'm surrounded by 441 00:27:52,080 --> 00:27:55,000 Speaker 1: products from all the major companies all around me all 442 00:27:55,040 --> 00:27:59,119 Speaker 1: the time. If that were the case, UM, I probably 443 00:27:59,119 --> 00:28:03,000 Speaker 1: have a lot more guitars, but I don't. So that's 444 00:28:03,040 --> 00:28:06,600 Speaker 1: how things worked pre coronavirus. When we come back, I'll 445 00:28:06,640 --> 00:28:09,960 Speaker 1: talk a little bit about how things have changed since 446 00:28:10,000 --> 00:28:13,680 Speaker 1: we started working mostly from home. But first let's take 447 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:15,560 Speaker 1: a quick break for one of those ads. I was 448 00:28:15,600 --> 00:28:31,919 Speaker 1: just talking about March Friday. That appears to be the 449 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:34,720 Speaker 1: last day that most of us were in the office. 450 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:38,000 Speaker 1: Some of us kept going back a little bit after that, 451 00:28:38,080 --> 00:28:42,440 Speaker 1: but not much more after that. Georgia is where we 452 00:28:42,520 --> 00:28:45,959 Speaker 1: are located. And for those who have followed, you know 453 00:28:46,080 --> 00:28:50,720 Speaker 1: that Georgia has had a real rough time of it, 454 00:28:51,400 --> 00:28:55,240 Speaker 1: and part of that is because leadership in Georgia really 455 00:28:55,360 --> 00:28:59,720 Speaker 1: dragged its feet about issuing stay at home orders. Not 456 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:03,800 Speaker 1: in Atlanta, we actually got those fairly early on, but 457 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:06,880 Speaker 1: the state of Georgia, certainly that was not ever really 458 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:12,479 Speaker 1: a big push. So most of us weren't coming in 459 00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,560 Speaker 1: after Friday the thirteenth. I can say that definitively because 460 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:18,040 Speaker 1: I have had to go back to the studio a 461 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:21,680 Speaker 1: couple of times since then. I'll get to that. And 462 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:24,840 Speaker 1: when I was there, I saw on my co worker's 463 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:28,000 Speaker 1: desk a desk calendar and the last date that was 464 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:33,240 Speaker 1: showing was March thirteen. Grim reminder of how things used 465 00:29:33,280 --> 00:29:37,760 Speaker 1: to be. Well. We had to pivot very very quickly. 466 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:42,080 Speaker 1: We were all recording podcasts. It was hard to do 467 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:47,080 Speaker 1: without having access to the studios. We weren't sure how 468 00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:50,320 Speaker 1: we were going to manage doing this when we're all remote. 469 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:55,000 Speaker 1: But fortunately we have a very dedicated team of people 470 00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:57,280 Speaker 1: who were working very hard to make sure we had 471 00:29:57,320 --> 00:30:02,880 Speaker 1: the assets we needed that included microphones. So most of us, 472 00:30:02,920 --> 00:30:06,000 Speaker 1: I think, ended up with an audio technical a T 473 00:30:06,200 --> 00:30:10,760 Speaker 1: two thousand five USB mike. This style of microphone is 474 00:30:10,920 --> 00:30:15,200 Speaker 1: a dynamic microphone. That means it's directional. It's not a 475 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:19,120 Speaker 1: condenser mike. You can find condenser mics things like the 476 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:22,760 Speaker 1: Snowball and the Yeti, both from Blue Microphones. Those are 477 00:30:22,760 --> 00:30:27,720 Speaker 1: condenser style microphones. This one's directional, which means that if 478 00:30:27,800 --> 00:30:31,480 Speaker 1: you start to wander off to either side of the microphone, 479 00:30:32,440 --> 00:30:35,560 Speaker 1: your volume is going to drop. Because the microphone is 480 00:30:35,600 --> 00:30:38,200 Speaker 1: really designed to pick up sound in a cone that 481 00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:41,760 Speaker 1: extends out from the end of the microphone, you're supposed 482 00:30:41,800 --> 00:30:45,360 Speaker 1: to maintain, you know, a fairly close distance to the mic. 483 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:49,520 Speaker 1: We also have pop filters. These are a little round 484 00:30:49,600 --> 00:30:53,960 Speaker 1: filters that have a a gauze like material. It's it's 485 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:57,320 Speaker 1: like almost like panty hose. In fact, there are people 486 00:30:57,360 --> 00:31:00,600 Speaker 1: who have made pop filters using Penny Ho's and the 487 00:31:01,440 --> 00:31:04,360 Speaker 1: chief purpose of that is to stop puffs of air 488 00:31:04,640 --> 00:31:07,840 Speaker 1: when you start hitting things like pas. Like if you've 489 00:31:07,840 --> 00:31:11,600 Speaker 1: listened to some of the episodes that came out shortly 490 00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:14,880 Speaker 1: after Lockdown, you'll hear a lot more popping peas, or 491 00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:17,480 Speaker 1: they'll be a lot more prominent. I'm using the word 492 00:31:17,680 --> 00:31:19,720 Speaker 1: words that have p's in them way too much right now, 493 00:31:20,000 --> 00:31:21,760 Speaker 1: But there are a lot more prominent in those early 494 00:31:21,800 --> 00:31:24,720 Speaker 1: episodes because it was before I had put my pop 495 00:31:24,760 --> 00:31:26,920 Speaker 1: filter in place. Now I've got it there and you 496 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:30,040 Speaker 1: can still hear it, but it's not nearly as a 497 00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:31,960 Speaker 1: big of a punch in the in the ear drum 498 00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:34,360 Speaker 1: as it used to be. The a T two thousand 499 00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:37,640 Speaker 1: five USB mike. This is not an AD They didn't 500 00:31:37,680 --> 00:31:39,960 Speaker 1: get AD space or anything for it. But it's a 501 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:43,680 Speaker 1: microphone I particularly really like because it does have an 502 00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:47,480 Speaker 1: XLR output, so you can hook it up to an 503 00:31:47,640 --> 00:31:49,680 Speaker 1: XLR cable if you wanted to put it to a 504 00:31:49,680 --> 00:31:52,720 Speaker 1: physical mixer and then connect that to a computer. But 505 00:31:52,840 --> 00:31:56,160 Speaker 1: also has the USB port so you can connect it 506 00:31:56,280 --> 00:32:00,719 Speaker 1: via USB to a computer directly. And it's actually a 507 00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:04,720 Speaker 1: pretty decent quality microphone. It's not at the same level 508 00:32:04,960 --> 00:32:07,840 Speaker 1: as the professional microphones we have back in the studio. 509 00:32:08,080 --> 00:32:11,280 Speaker 1: And I'm sure if you were to listen to episodes 510 00:32:11,320 --> 00:32:13,480 Speaker 1: back to back from one that was taken in the 511 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:16,240 Speaker 1: studio to one that's done at home, you'd be able 512 00:32:16,280 --> 00:32:19,480 Speaker 1: to start to hear that. But it's it's decent, it's 513 00:32:19,560 --> 00:32:23,920 Speaker 1: really good. It's it's amazing to me how these style 514 00:32:24,160 --> 00:32:28,120 Speaker 1: microphones have improved over the last five years or so. 515 00:32:28,720 --> 00:32:33,920 Speaker 1: And uh, we tend to record into various recording software. 516 00:32:34,000 --> 00:32:38,920 Speaker 1: I use Audacity. Audacity is a free piece of software 517 00:32:39,040 --> 00:32:41,720 Speaker 1: and you can use it to record multiple tracks to 518 00:32:42,880 --> 00:32:47,400 Speaker 1: a single recording. Um, it's really handy. It's a little 519 00:32:47,440 --> 00:32:50,600 Speaker 1: bit it's a little bit tough to to learn how 520 00:32:50,640 --> 00:32:54,400 Speaker 1: to use all the different features. It's got a bit 521 00:32:54,440 --> 00:32:57,760 Speaker 1: of a learning curve to it. But it has a 522 00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:00,400 Speaker 1: lot of stuff in it that is really helpful for 523 00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:06,040 Speaker 1: podcast recording. For example, there's a noise removal tool where 524 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:09,719 Speaker 1: what you'll do is you'll capture room tone room and 525 00:33:09,760 --> 00:33:12,920 Speaker 1: we would do this in the studio too, because it's 526 00:33:12,960 --> 00:33:16,160 Speaker 1: it's a very standard approach. But room tone is just 527 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:21,240 Speaker 1: letting the microphone pick up the sound that is native 528 00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:24,160 Speaker 1: to whatever the recording environment is there might be a 529 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:29,360 Speaker 1: hum from air conditioning or the noise from the fan 530 00:33:29,520 --> 00:33:32,320 Speaker 1: from a computer or something like that, and you just 531 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:35,320 Speaker 1: let the mic record for you know, ten seconds or so, 532 00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:39,880 Speaker 1: and then you use that as a sample, and the 533 00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:43,080 Speaker 1: software what it does is essentially looks for frequencies that 534 00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:46,880 Speaker 1: match that sample and remove it from the finished recording. 535 00:33:47,480 --> 00:33:50,680 Speaker 1: So that way you can eliminate or at least reduce 536 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:56,040 Speaker 1: the audio of whatever the room sounds like. So Audacity 537 00:33:56,080 --> 00:34:00,240 Speaker 1: has that capability to um. It has the ability to 538 00:34:00,680 --> 00:34:02,920 Speaker 1: do lots of stuff like I can do reverb things 539 00:34:02,920 --> 00:34:05,120 Speaker 1: like that, not that I ever would for an episode 540 00:34:05,160 --> 00:34:07,360 Speaker 1: of tech stuff seems like that be a bit much, 541 00:34:07,840 --> 00:34:10,719 Speaker 1: but you can do that. So if you want to 542 00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:14,919 Speaker 1: record stuff, I do recommend checking out Audacity. Like I said, 543 00:34:14,960 --> 00:34:17,200 Speaker 1: it's free to use. There are also a lot of 544 00:34:17,200 --> 00:34:20,480 Speaker 1: different plugins you can get that can add more features 545 00:34:20,480 --> 00:34:23,600 Speaker 1: to Audacity. I used to do that a lot before 546 00:34:24,280 --> 00:34:28,520 Speaker 1: I was recording podcasts with with how Stuff Works, So 547 00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:31,839 Speaker 1: that was that's that's kind of the approach I take. 548 00:34:31,880 --> 00:34:35,160 Speaker 1: I set up my microphone, I start Audacity recording, I 549 00:34:35,239 --> 00:34:37,239 Speaker 1: let it record for about ten seconds, and then I 550 00:34:37,280 --> 00:34:41,239 Speaker 1: record my episode. Stop the recording. I then go through, 551 00:34:41,480 --> 00:34:45,120 Speaker 1: remove any long pauses, and maybe do some minor edits. 552 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:48,560 Speaker 1: I then save the project. I convert it to a 553 00:34:48,640 --> 00:34:52,280 Speaker 1: wave form and I save that to drop Box because 554 00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:56,160 Speaker 1: these files tend to be pretty large, and I share 555 00:34:56,280 --> 00:34:59,960 Speaker 1: from Dropbox over to Tari. So Tari can then download 556 00:35:00,000 --> 00:35:03,360 Speaker 1: a wave file and then she can import that into 557 00:35:03,680 --> 00:35:08,680 Speaker 1: Audacity and make edits and do things like attach things 558 00:35:08,680 --> 00:35:11,880 Speaker 1: like the theme music. Have it, but go into the 559 00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:16,440 Speaker 1: right um, the right the right format so that everything 560 00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:19,120 Speaker 1: is proper. You know, we've got the opening and closing theme, 561 00:35:19,200 --> 00:35:21,240 Speaker 1: We've got the ad breaks, all that kind of stuff, 562 00:35:21,760 --> 00:35:24,840 Speaker 1: and then she can then publish it and then you 563 00:35:24,880 --> 00:35:29,600 Speaker 1: guys get it. So now, uh, that's how I record 564 00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:33,160 Speaker 1: because I do a single host show, so mind's easy. 565 00:35:33,320 --> 00:35:36,640 Speaker 1: There are people who obviously have more than one host 566 00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:41,440 Speaker 1: in their show, and for them the process is slightly different. Uh, 567 00:35:41,480 --> 00:35:45,160 Speaker 1: they will record in one of several ways. They actually 568 00:35:45,200 --> 00:35:47,879 Speaker 1: there's there's not one single way to do this. So 569 00:35:48,280 --> 00:35:50,400 Speaker 1: I'm going to talk about a couple of different approaches 570 00:35:50,880 --> 00:35:54,239 Speaker 1: and the pros and cons to each of them. Some 571 00:35:54,320 --> 00:36:00,360 Speaker 1: people will use a service like zen Caster or squad cast, 572 00:36:00,920 --> 00:36:06,279 Speaker 1: and these services are somewhat similar, and it's really fascinating 573 00:36:06,320 --> 00:36:11,000 Speaker 1: how they work. So everyone logs into an online session 574 00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:16,359 Speaker 1: using whatever tool they're using, and they can hear each other, 575 00:36:16,400 --> 00:36:19,080 Speaker 1: and depending upon the service, they might be able to 576 00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:23,600 Speaker 1: see each other too through webcams, and as they uh 577 00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:26,400 Speaker 1: they can start recording through this session. But as they 578 00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:29,600 Speaker 1: start that recording, the recording is not going over the 579 00:36:29,640 --> 00:36:34,960 Speaker 1: internet directly to the cloud. Instead, each person is recording 580 00:36:35,040 --> 00:36:39,920 Speaker 1: to his or her direct device, their computer. So it 581 00:36:40,000 --> 00:36:44,640 Speaker 1: looks like you're just having an online video call. You're 582 00:36:44,680 --> 00:36:49,319 Speaker 1: all chatting and having your conversations as you record, and 583 00:36:49,440 --> 00:36:51,600 Speaker 1: it's almost like you're in a studio. It's just that 584 00:36:51,640 --> 00:36:55,800 Speaker 1: you're doing this over video chat. But what's actually happening 585 00:36:55,840 --> 00:37:01,480 Speaker 1: is that each audio track is recording to the individual 586 00:37:01,920 --> 00:37:05,960 Speaker 1: computers and then at the end, the computers upload that 587 00:37:06,080 --> 00:37:10,319 Speaker 1: recording to the cloud, where the service will then put 588 00:37:10,360 --> 00:37:14,359 Speaker 1: it all together so that it's all synchronized and you 589 00:37:14,719 --> 00:37:19,640 Speaker 1: have a nice master recording of separate tracks for each person. 590 00:37:20,560 --> 00:37:23,120 Speaker 1: That is phenomenal to me. That's like magic to me, 591 00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:26,719 Speaker 1: because it means that the quality of the recording you 592 00:37:26,760 --> 00:37:30,080 Speaker 1: get is the best that it possibly can be, because 593 00:37:30,080 --> 00:37:33,319 Speaker 1: it's the going natively to the computer. It's not like 594 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:35,319 Speaker 1: an internet phone call. If you've had a lot of 595 00:37:35,320 --> 00:37:37,879 Speaker 1: Internet meetings, you know that even just a little bit 596 00:37:37,880 --> 00:37:42,319 Speaker 1: of Internet you know, hiccups will cause delays. You might 597 00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:45,480 Speaker 1: have someone's vocals drop out. There are a lot of problems. 598 00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:49,880 Speaker 1: But because this is initially recording to your local device 599 00:37:50,560 --> 00:37:53,800 Speaker 1: and then gets uploaded, you get a much better quality 600 00:37:53,960 --> 00:37:58,480 Speaker 1: recording that way, and then it gets uh put together 601 00:37:58,719 --> 00:38:01,600 Speaker 1: in the cloud and the producers can take that and 602 00:38:02,000 --> 00:38:04,120 Speaker 1: do the edits that they need to. They can download 603 00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:07,040 Speaker 1: a sound file and go through the editing process before 604 00:38:07,080 --> 00:38:11,880 Speaker 1: publishing it. That's one way that people are recording their 605 00:38:11,920 --> 00:38:15,480 Speaker 1: shows if they have multiple hosts. Another way is that 606 00:38:15,520 --> 00:38:20,400 Speaker 1: they will use some form of internet communication tool like 607 00:38:20,560 --> 00:38:25,600 Speaker 1: Zoom or Microsoft Teams or uh Skype or whatever in 608 00:38:25,719 --> 00:38:29,760 Speaker 1: order to have the call. They might even record that 609 00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:32,720 Speaker 1: that call so that they have sort of a scratch track, 610 00:38:32,800 --> 00:38:35,880 Speaker 1: that's what we call a reference track. But they will 611 00:38:36,400 --> 00:38:42,879 Speaker 1: record their individual audio locally, so they might start up 612 00:38:43,520 --> 00:38:47,200 Speaker 1: an Audacity file, for example, or a voice memo file 613 00:38:47,360 --> 00:38:50,840 Speaker 1: or something along those lines, and they will record themselves 614 00:38:50,920 --> 00:38:54,280 Speaker 1: locally to their machine, and then once it's all done, 615 00:38:54,760 --> 00:38:58,720 Speaker 1: they will share their recording to the producer of the show, 616 00:38:58,960 --> 00:39:02,960 Speaker 1: who then has to take all these recordings, synchronize them, 617 00:39:03,400 --> 00:39:08,279 Speaker 1: and put them all together. This is potentially very complicated 618 00:39:08,560 --> 00:39:11,719 Speaker 1: if people are recording at say different bit rates, you 619 00:39:11,719 --> 00:39:14,560 Speaker 1: can have real issues with synchronization, like you can have 620 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:18,200 Speaker 1: it where audio will drift a bit and eventually you 621 00:39:18,239 --> 00:39:20,080 Speaker 1: can get to a point where someone is answering a 622 00:39:20,200 --> 00:39:23,080 Speaker 1: question before the person who's asking it has even finished 623 00:39:23,120 --> 00:39:28,400 Speaker 1: asking the question because the recordings haven't quite lined up properly, 624 00:39:28,760 --> 00:39:32,120 Speaker 1: and it requires a lot of fine tuning adjustment to 625 00:39:32,160 --> 00:39:34,880 Speaker 1: get it fixed. It's a lot of it's a huge headache. 626 00:39:35,400 --> 00:39:38,000 Speaker 1: If everyone's recording on the same bit rate and everything, 627 00:39:38,120 --> 00:39:42,240 Speaker 1: you you bypass that, but it doesn't always happen. Sometimes 628 00:39:42,239 --> 00:39:46,600 Speaker 1: people just don't notice their settings, so it still remains. 629 00:39:46,640 --> 00:39:48,680 Speaker 1: One of the big challenges is which way do you go. 630 00:39:49,080 --> 00:39:53,600 Speaker 1: Do you use the zen caster type approach where everybody 631 00:39:53,760 --> 00:39:57,600 Speaker 1: is in the same virtual space and then eventually their 632 00:39:57,640 --> 00:40:00,960 Speaker 1: audio gets uploaded to zen Caster and the producer can 633 00:40:00,960 --> 00:40:05,120 Speaker 1: pull it down, or do you record each track individually 634 00:40:05,719 --> 00:40:08,239 Speaker 1: send that to the producer who then has to assemble 635 00:40:08,400 --> 00:40:12,040 Speaker 1: the podcast out of that way. Tari is lucky for 636 00:40:12,080 --> 00:40:15,040 Speaker 1: tech stuff. She's unlucky in a lot of ways, but 637 00:40:15,080 --> 00:40:18,160 Speaker 1: this way she's very lucky because it's just me. So 638 00:40:18,200 --> 00:40:20,480 Speaker 1: she just has to get the one audio file from 639 00:40:20,480 --> 00:40:24,400 Speaker 1: me and then she can edit that and send it on. 640 00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:29,000 Speaker 1: So that's easy on that level. Uh. It's one of 641 00:40:29,000 --> 00:40:30,920 Speaker 1: those things where I didn't really appreciate it till I 642 00:40:30,960 --> 00:40:32,760 Speaker 1: had to deal with it. I've done a few episodes 643 00:40:32,760 --> 00:40:35,799 Speaker 1: where I've done some interviews, and that's where you start 644 00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:40,600 Speaker 1: coming into potential problems, whether it's an issue with the 645 00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:44,920 Speaker 1: software running on another person's machine, or their internet connection 646 00:40:45,640 --> 00:40:48,000 Speaker 1: or your internet connection. I mean, there are a lot 647 00:40:48,000 --> 00:40:53,279 Speaker 1: of things that can cause issues. Now. I mentioned that 648 00:40:53,440 --> 00:40:56,280 Speaker 1: I have gone into the office a couple of times 649 00:40:56,320 --> 00:41:02,040 Speaker 1: since we shut down in the middle of Mark and Uh, 650 00:41:02,080 --> 00:41:05,799 Speaker 1: in those cases it was because I was recording episodes 651 00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:10,480 Speaker 1: of Smart Talks, the IBM series that I um I 652 00:41:10,480 --> 00:41:14,000 Speaker 1: am one of the hosts for, and Smart Talks is 653 00:41:14,000 --> 00:41:16,720 Speaker 1: a really important show. I talked to really important people. 654 00:41:17,000 --> 00:41:21,799 Speaker 1: And my internet at home occasionally decides it wants to 655 00:41:21,800 --> 00:41:25,240 Speaker 1: go on vacation at a moment's notice and it'll drop. 656 00:41:25,680 --> 00:41:29,239 Speaker 1: So rather than risk having that happen while I talk 657 00:41:29,320 --> 00:41:32,400 Speaker 1: with these important people. I will make the trek into 658 00:41:32,440 --> 00:41:35,799 Speaker 1: the city to go to Pont City Market, to go 659 00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:38,239 Speaker 1: to one of our studios and to record there where 660 00:41:38,280 --> 00:41:41,520 Speaker 1: I can be reasonably sure that my internet connection is 661 00:41:41,560 --> 00:41:45,600 Speaker 1: as solid as it gets. It's fast, and it's not 662 00:41:45,719 --> 00:41:48,439 Speaker 1: likely to drop. And and because there's nobody else there 663 00:41:48,480 --> 00:41:51,960 Speaker 1: most of the time, uh, there's no congestion on the network. 664 00:41:52,040 --> 00:41:54,960 Speaker 1: It's just me. Sometimes it's me and maybe one or 665 00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:59,320 Speaker 1: two other people. I can report that everyone is following 666 00:42:00,080 --> 00:42:05,640 Speaker 1: very strict processes and rules in order to do this properly. 667 00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:14,439 Speaker 1: We wear masks, We have antibacterial uh wipes everywhere which 668 00:42:14,440 --> 00:42:18,279 Speaker 1: we use to wipe down equipment. We have you know, 669 00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:21,960 Speaker 1: hand sanitizing stations throughout the office so that we can 670 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:26,000 Speaker 1: frequently do that as well. So we take that very seriously. 671 00:42:26,239 --> 00:42:28,800 Speaker 1: We have a full list of steps that we follow 672 00:42:28,840 --> 00:42:31,919 Speaker 1: when we go into the studio, which includes wiping down 673 00:42:31,960 --> 00:42:36,520 Speaker 1: the equipment both before and after we use it so that, um, 674 00:42:36,560 --> 00:42:38,880 Speaker 1: you know, when you're talking into a microphone, you want 675 00:42:38,920 --> 00:42:41,719 Speaker 1: to make sure that you've sanitized that microphone so that 676 00:42:41,800 --> 00:42:44,960 Speaker 1: the next person who uses it doesn't end up getting sick. 677 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:47,759 Speaker 1: If you happen to be carrying COVID nineteen and you 678 00:42:47,800 --> 00:42:50,040 Speaker 1: don't know it. You don't want to infect anybody else. 679 00:42:50,920 --> 00:42:53,960 Speaker 1: So we do have those rules still in place. Everyone 680 00:42:54,040 --> 00:42:58,680 Speaker 1: follows them and it's been challenging. We've got some super 681 00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:02,080 Speaker 1: cool podcas asks that are coming out of our studio 682 00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:06,440 Speaker 1: that require us to use the studio space that I'm 683 00:43:06,480 --> 00:43:09,600 Speaker 1: really excited to listen to. I can't even talk about 684 00:43:09,640 --> 00:43:12,320 Speaker 1: them now, but let me tell you they are. The 685 00:43:12,560 --> 00:43:14,480 Speaker 1: people who are working on them are some of the 686 00:43:14,560 --> 00:43:17,239 Speaker 1: hardest working and most creative people I know. I am 687 00:43:17,280 --> 00:43:21,040 Speaker 1: not on this project, by the way, I don't merit 688 00:43:21,120 --> 00:43:25,560 Speaker 1: that consideration, but the stuff I'm hearing about it is 689 00:43:26,760 --> 00:43:29,279 Speaker 1: really exciting and I can't wait to share it once 690 00:43:29,320 --> 00:43:31,600 Speaker 1: it's ready to go. But it's one of those things 691 00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:34,040 Speaker 1: where they have to go into the studio and so 692 00:43:34,080 --> 00:43:37,920 Speaker 1: we have to take all those precautions. So when you 693 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:42,760 Speaker 1: listen to our podcasts, whether it's tech stuff or stuff, 694 00:43:42,800 --> 00:43:45,080 Speaker 1: you should know stuff they don't want you to know, 695 00:43:45,520 --> 00:43:49,600 Speaker 1: ridiculous history. Keep in mind these shows are being done 696 00:43:50,120 --> 00:43:54,319 Speaker 1: by people in various parts of the world at this 697 00:43:54,400 --> 00:43:59,640 Speaker 1: point and on various pieces of equipment, and that we 698 00:43:59,719 --> 00:44:03,879 Speaker 1: all all had to adapt to that super fast with 699 00:44:04,400 --> 00:44:08,399 Speaker 1: not really a whole lot of prep time, And to me, 700 00:44:08,520 --> 00:44:10,920 Speaker 1: it is phenomenal that we were able to keep doing 701 00:44:10,960 --> 00:44:15,640 Speaker 1: that with a bare minimum of fuss uh, at least 702 00:44:16,080 --> 00:44:19,480 Speaker 1: fuss that was noticeable to the listeners. I'm sure there 703 00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:23,319 Speaker 1: was a noticeable change in the quality of recordings, and 704 00:44:23,719 --> 00:44:29,960 Speaker 1: in some cases there might be outstanding uh incidents where 705 00:44:30,040 --> 00:44:34,759 Speaker 1: it's even more noticeable. But overall, I think we've done 706 00:44:34,800 --> 00:44:38,040 Speaker 1: a pretty darn good job, and most importantly, we keep 707 00:44:38,040 --> 00:44:42,959 Speaker 1: delivering the stories that excite us to you guys. So 708 00:44:43,200 --> 00:44:45,239 Speaker 1: next time you hear a podcast that you really like 709 00:44:45,560 --> 00:44:48,759 Speaker 1: and you think, gosh, those folks aren't they are not 710 00:44:48,880 --> 00:44:51,080 Speaker 1: sitting across a table from each other the way they 711 00:44:51,160 --> 00:44:54,399 Speaker 1: used to, you know, take a moment to appreciate that 712 00:44:54,560 --> 00:44:56,880 Speaker 1: and the hard work that they do, not me. I 713 00:44:56,960 --> 00:45:00,319 Speaker 1: stay here by myself. It's really not any different. If 714 00:45:00,320 --> 00:45:03,280 Speaker 1: you want to feel sorry for someone, feel sorry for Torii, 715 00:45:03,719 --> 00:45:07,040 Speaker 1: because since she can no longer listen to me record live, 716 00:45:07,600 --> 00:45:11,440 Speaker 1: she can't make those markers anymore in the audio file. 717 00:45:12,040 --> 00:45:14,800 Speaker 1: So that means she has to listen to every single 718 00:45:14,880 --> 00:45:19,160 Speaker 1: episode all the way through and catch all the times 719 00:45:19,160 --> 00:45:22,640 Speaker 1: I make mistakes, and then do it that way she 720 00:45:22,680 --> 00:45:25,160 Speaker 1: can't just you know, put in a marker so that 721 00:45:25,200 --> 00:45:28,200 Speaker 1: she can come back later and fix it quickly. She's 722 00:45:28,239 --> 00:45:32,120 Speaker 1: the one who really deserves the props. Me, I'm doing 723 00:45:32,160 --> 00:45:33,799 Speaker 1: what I always did, It's just I'm doing it into 724 00:45:33,840 --> 00:45:37,279 Speaker 1: a different microphone. Now. Well, that's a peak behind the 725 00:45:37,280 --> 00:45:41,040 Speaker 1: curtain of how things are going in the the COVID 726 00:45:41,120 --> 00:45:45,759 Speaker 1: nineteen world in podcasting. How we were able to to 727 00:45:46,600 --> 00:45:50,200 Speaker 1: pivot to that and adapt to that with I think 728 00:45:50,360 --> 00:45:54,400 Speaker 1: the a pretty small disruption to how we do things 729 00:45:54,800 --> 00:45:57,879 Speaker 1: in the grand scheme of things. I'm sure that like 730 00:45:58,560 --> 00:46:02,480 Speaker 1: most of my other co hosts, I'm sure everybody's really 731 00:46:02,520 --> 00:46:04,439 Speaker 1: looking forward to a time and we can go back 732 00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:07,520 Speaker 1: to the studio and see each other in person and 733 00:46:07,600 --> 00:46:10,279 Speaker 1: actually sit across from the table and and have a 734 00:46:10,280 --> 00:46:14,880 Speaker 1: discussion and not be separated by miles and miles between us. 735 00:46:15,080 --> 00:46:18,399 Speaker 1: I'm sure everybody, like me, we're all looking forward to that, 736 00:46:19,040 --> 00:46:21,960 Speaker 1: and I do think it will have an impact on 737 00:46:22,040 --> 00:46:25,840 Speaker 1: just the quality of the conversations we have. But my 738 00:46:25,920 --> 00:46:28,879 Speaker 1: hat is off to all of my peers out there, 739 00:46:28,960 --> 00:46:32,080 Speaker 1: both within the I Heart radio community and outside it, 740 00:46:32,640 --> 00:46:36,320 Speaker 1: everyone who's working so hard to try and keep things 741 00:46:36,400 --> 00:46:41,760 Speaker 1: going in incredibly extraordinarily difficult times, and then, of course 742 00:46:41,800 --> 00:46:45,759 Speaker 1: also goes outside the realm of podcasting. I know lots 743 00:46:45,800 --> 00:46:48,560 Speaker 1: of you out there have been impacted in various ways 744 00:46:49,160 --> 00:46:52,399 Speaker 1: and have been working very hard in your own right 745 00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:55,880 Speaker 1: to keep things moving, and my hat is off to 746 00:46:55,880 --> 00:46:58,400 Speaker 1: you as well. I think we're all in this together, 747 00:46:58,840 --> 00:47:01,840 Speaker 1: even if we all have to be a part. Wow, 748 00:47:01,880 --> 00:47:05,120 Speaker 1: that's that's deep. Okay, let's wrap this up. I have 749 00:47:05,200 --> 00:47:08,279 Speaker 1: to go out and get ready for a vacation where 750 00:47:08,280 --> 00:47:10,160 Speaker 1: I'm going to be in a cabin in the middle 751 00:47:10,200 --> 00:47:14,759 Speaker 1: of nowhere in the Georgia Mountains, and I will be 752 00:47:16,400 --> 00:47:20,160 Speaker 1: contemplating I don't know my toes. Maybe we'll see. Maybe 753 00:47:20,160 --> 00:47:22,440 Speaker 1: I'll learn to play guitar a little bit more while 754 00:47:22,480 --> 00:47:25,280 Speaker 1: I'm out there. If you guys have suggestions for future 755 00:47:25,320 --> 00:47:28,560 Speaker 1: episodes of tech Stuff, whether it's a specific technology, maybe 756 00:47:28,600 --> 00:47:32,440 Speaker 1: it's a company, Maybe it's a trend in tech. Maybe 757 00:47:32,440 --> 00:47:35,600 Speaker 1: it's a personality and technology, anything like that, anything tech 758 00:47:35,719 --> 00:47:40,120 Speaker 1: related or how tech impacts our lives, reach out to me. 759 00:47:40,200 --> 00:47:42,279 Speaker 1: The best way to do it is on Twitter. The 760 00:47:42,360 --> 00:47:46,000 Speaker 1: handle is tech stuff h s W and I'll talk 761 00:47:46,040 --> 00:47:54,920 Speaker 1: to you again really soon. Tech Stuff is an I 762 00:47:55,040 --> 00:47:58,560 Speaker 1: heart radio production. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, 763 00:47:58,880 --> 00:48:02,040 Speaker 1: visit the I heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 764 00:48:02,120 --> 00:48:03,640 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.