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(by Troy Price) My dad passed away last year. Now this isn’t going to get sappy or anything… At the most poignant, but it will be poignant about podcasting, so that’s all right.
OK, back to the story. My dad died and regardless of his over the top personality or his bank account or anything, our time together is over. We then, too quickly, had the task of going through what he left behind.
There were pictures of him as a doe eyed kid. There were what-nots from the house I grew up in. There were dishes from ex-wives. There were TV dinners from the freezer. With most of the stuff we went through there was maybe a good story or something, but it didn’t tell us much about the persons dad was deep down. His selection of TV dinners were probably more affected by what was on sale and the money in his pocket that his own tastes. The dishes he kept were probably stemmed from anger and vitriol that has long sense faded. The house where the what-nots stood belongs to someone else now. And that spry, doe eyed kid is long gone.
But then we came across his pocket knife. He had that one for I don’t know how long. It had the name brand, ‘Old Timer’ on its side. Before this one I can remember him having a ‘Case’ knife. And I can remember him briefly having a ‘Buck’ knife before that, but he didn’t want to be limited to just one blade.
If he thought anything needed to be cut, he would pull out his knife. If a bag of food for our pets or farm animals needed to be opened, you would hear that distinctive click as the correct blade snapped into place. On one family picnic he sliced a Sara Lee cononut cake with that gross knife when the cake was too frozen for the plastic cutlery. And in the days of my awesome mullet I would know my dad was sneaking up behind me when I would hear that click…
Dad almost always had a pocket knife in his pocket. The only time he did not have it with him was at weddings or in the hospital. I can’t account for why he didn’t take it to weddings, but even though he didn’t have that knife in his gown pocket, he knew exactly where his knife was at all times in the hospital.
I don’t know what having a pocket knife represented to him, but by the way took such care of it I knew that it must mean something deeply to him. Because I know that knife meant something special to him, I am treating it differently than I am his other bric-a-brac.
Now, let’s talk about podcasting. I listen to a lot of podcasts. I appreciate that if I become interested in most any topic there is a person with a podcast talking about whatever my current interest is. Unfortunately, many podcasters follow a formula with their show or record on specific topics because they think they will get downloads. They are forgetting something that podcasts can provide more valuable than colorful cover art or on-point ID3 tags can.
I have found some podcasters that podcast to share their deepest passions. It is these podcasts that I look so forward to that I count down to the days when they are released. And these shows (even if they are released infrequently) fill me with joy when they appear on my phone.
Here are a few examples of these shows that you should listen to.
Listen to Dan Carlin’s Hardcore History Podcast. Especially the ‘Romancing the tribes’ episode. But here is a warning. Do not listen to it as you walk into Walmart. You will cry. You will have to go into an unpopular aisle in some dark corner of the store and ugly cry. Some of that is because of the subject matter and some of it the way Dan talks about it. Dan Carlin calls himself a fan of history, but you would know that even if he never said it. It is obvious that he is sharing something that means a great deal to him.
Listen to Jennifer Waits talk about college radio over on the Radio Survivor Podcast. She thinks, breaths, and dreams college radio. When she tours a station you can hear her commitment to the medium as she searches for what makes each DJ unique and what is universal across all of college radio. No one talks about college radio like she does.
Listen to any of Scott Sigler’s Q and A episodes on the Scott Sigler Audiobooks Podcast. Scott cares about his writing and craves giving his readers what they want. He first serializes his books into podcast episodes and then offers Q and A episodes where he answers questions about his sick plot twists and his character’s dark motivations. He loves creating his Siglerverse and works hard to share it fully.
It feels like each download from these three podcasters reveals part of their soul. When each of their podcast episodes come automatically to my phone it offers me a direct connection to the person behind the microphone. I do not think I am unique with this, I think everyone is continually seeking deep personal connection with others. While this type of connection is rare in the electronic world, podcasting can provide this.
The formulaic podcasters that seek only downloads are missing this opportunity. I challenge you to share more of yourself in your podcast. This way people can deeply connect with you and your downloads can bring joy to your listeners.
I appreciate the connections that are offered by the podcasts that come to the phone in my pocket, and also the connection offered by that ‘Old Timer’ in my other pocket.
Do you listen to anything where you feel the podcaster is sharing their heart? Please comment below to let me know!
_Troy Price is the co-founder of _Front Porch Studios_ in Berea, Kentucky. He’s been involved with podcasting for over a decade. Reach Troy by email at _Troy@frontporchstudios.com.
Comments:
Hey Troy, so sorry to hear about the loss of your Dad. My Dad is 94 so it seems like any day I’ll be getting the call. And I have the same “pocket knife” memories. So sorry, man… I agree that passion is important - but only if it’s communicated with wisdom and quality. Many people have passion but can’t talk their way out of a paper bag. Others have plenty of passion about things that are pointless or useless to the world. I’d modify what you say by adding those two things… 1. Passion expressed sloppily will do nothing but give you a bad rep with listeners 2. Passion expressed about something pointless is… well, pointless. Podcast on, my friend!
#### [Troy Price](http://www.frontporchstudios.com "Troy@frontporchstudios.com") -
Carey, Thanks for the kind words. Your dad is 94, wow. Are the good days good? Also, thank you for your comment. I think though that listeners easily excuse passion shared sloppily and I think an equal number of listeners would find the same show engaging and pointless. Agree?