Podcast do over?

The setup tonight at Brunswick

It's no secret that my podcast -- the one I started roughly two years ago -- had flatlined.

I'm the host of "Talent Talks" and a co-host of "The Owners' Box Horse Racing Podcast" (should that apostrophe move because I'm no longer a horse owner*?) and I've been a guest on others. I'm the voice of Mike Hirn's podcast. I've served as an advisor to still others.

*My horse, Carter's Run, of which I owned a piece of hair I suppose, was claimed after a race the other night. So it goes. I'll always be grateful for that brief moment.

But there's been this lingering failure of "Tales From the Booth" hanging over me. When I started the blog, I promised myself I wouldn't let it go dormant and, fifteen years later and 800 posts in a row, we're still here. But I got eight episodes done of "Tales."

"Tales" vexed me. I wrote the script. Then I would comb around for audio. Then I'd dig for further stories and facts about the voices. Then I'd add to the script. Then I'd cut up the audio and work in my narration. I get it. Maybe it should be that way, but when you're doing it for free, you also need to focus your time in a lot of other (paid) places.

I loved the concept and tried to grow it. I added Mike Hirn, hoping it would push me to do the podcast more consistently.

But it became a lot of work and the schedule became a beast. It wasn't Mike's fault but Mike was available when I wasn't and vice-versa. As expected, John Nash and I have been dealing with similar issues and I suspect we'll continue to, especially come May.

I'm here to say that I haven't given up on "Tales From the Booth" and I am thinking about how to jump-start it. In the case of the other shows that I do, there's far less editing and even the preparation isn't as intense.

Oh, it's still a process for sure but the hours that I spent on "Tales" doesn't exist on any other show.

But let's focus on positive steps for our paused podcast.

For one thing, I reloaded all of the episodes on Anchor. While I appreciate Whooshkaa, my former podcast host, there needs to be a land for podcasters who don't have sponsors and just want to do a show. Anchor, as of now, is the right price (free). Whooshkaa went to a paid platform.

I'm more inclined to get going on it again if it runs more in my format, which is to say, a little more off-the-cuff. Yes, I wanted it to have a scripted element but that was taking too much time, versus pulling up some play-by-play and having at it.

It also can be a place to replay some of the interviews and other programs I've produced. A clearinghouse of a "best of" I suppose.

I could just throw "Doubleheader" and maybe even "The Clubhouse" there after each show because I edit them almost immediately anyway. Why shouldn't I repurpose them?

With the Renegades season approaching, it certainly makes sense to add Gades' content as well.

Plus there's the new nifty Zoom PodTrak P4 which I tried out tonight as Brunswick beat Boars Club, 5-2. I worried about the quality of the audio, but I never got a call from Local Live saying things sounded bad and my trusty number one fan told me the audio sounded great.

I came home and edited the audio to remove the intermissions (which is basically natural sound with the Zamboni running) as well as anything before and after the actual broadcast. Otherwise, it is completely natural, as recorded on the SD card that I added to the P4 today. Listen to the whole broadcast here or check out this snipped featuring a goal by Eric Anderson**. In the interest of completeness, here is the full unedited broadcast as it ran on Mixlr.

**Feel free to take a shot every time I say "left corner." Not exactly the work of Fred Cusick there. Also note that I typed the roster for Boars Club earlier today (which I've more or less done since 1999) but forgot to sort it by uniform number. However, I'm hopeful that you couldn't tell.

The P4 has reinvigorated me as I had hoped, allowing me to feel like I can create a little more on the run. So far, the investment has been as solid.

So, yeah, that's where I am tonight.

The wheels are turning for things.

Maybe this old voice isn't done just yet.

(I should add 25 more words to do 800 exactly. I mean, why do 800 words for the 800th post in a row? Because that's what I do!)