Over the last few weeks, I’ve had the inclination to look back at all the things we’ve done since we started this silly show in May 2010. Some of that thinking has been fueled by my own desire to see a better podcast come out of this page, but some of it has also come with direct criticism from folks like Fred Kiesche and Paul Weimer (one of our lovely hosts). Understandably, I am still learning about producing a podcast, representing myself fairly in public, and so on and so forth. Throughout the last few years, I’ve learned a lot from making mistakes or succeeding. And through thinking about the good and the bad of the show over the last few years, I think it’s time to consider making some changes to produce a better show. Some of those changes will include: Changing how we address controversial topics: We’ve taken on some scandals in the last few years. For the most part, we’ve jumped into the fray because the topics in question matter to us in some way (usually surrounding issues like sexism, racism, and ethnocentrism). After some brief discussions with folks, I’ve come to the conclusion that we often play the role of “shock jock,” which I did not want this show to become. Regardless of our intentions, I think it’s time we change how we address controversial topics. To varying degrees of success, I plan for us to aim for a more measured and thoughtful approach to the issues — where possible. This way, we can spend more time actually addressing the issues at hand, rather than our own personal investments in the emotions associated with a particular topic. Changing how we advertise this show: We’ve never really advertised this show. That might explain why we have a smaller listenership than other shows (or maybe because we are totally full of suck — but, hey, we have fun, so whatever!). I’d like to change that. Some of the things we’re going to do this year include creating audio spots and pushing our show on social media in a more effective manner. There are still a few things to work out with the hosts, but expect some new things over the next few months. Changing the blog into an actual blog: We’ve had this blog for three years now (roughly) and have never used it for much. Back in the day, we tried to maintain a steady stream of content, but that proved impossible for all of us, as we each have our own writing duties elsewhere (or jobs, etc. etc. etc.). But we think having an active blog is important for a weekly podcast. Something you can expect in the next month is a call for bloggers. We’d like to bring in a whole team of folks to contribute columns and possibly contribute to the show in some way (if you want, of course). Like other sites and podcasts, I think SandF should be more than just “a show.” I’ll probably make other changes too, but these are the big ones on my list. If you have any suggestions or thoughts, please don’t hesitate to let me know in the comments. Really. If it wasn’t for the constructive criticism we’ve already received, we wouldn’t have thought twice about some of the things we’ve done over the last few years. This show revolves around a happy listenership, after all :). Note: Most of these changes refer to things I’ve done with Jen, as Paul is a fairly new addition to the team.
