Oh, you like podcasts?
Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
More such events are likely to come.
Ive long admiredRadio Diaries.
We covered quite a bit of ground.
Richman, who is now 56, tells me hes wary about nostalgia, but we looked backwards nevertheless.
I could, maybe, run that conversation as a straightforward Q&A.
But I figured, why not pay a slight homage to theRadio Diaries most recognized style?
RadioDiariesbegan as something I was just trying out.
Amanda herself was really wonderful on tape.
It felt like an experiment that just worked.
That became the pilot forTeenage Diaries, which was this ongoing series for NPR back in 96.
The concept moved around after that, expanding on the idea of diaries.
We did a diary in a retirement home, a whole series in prison.
We always come back to teenagers, though.
They just work really well for this format.
There are lots of reasons for this.
Teenagers have a lot more time.
But the more important reason is that theyre in a moment of transition and questioning in their lives.
Teenagers have this very useful idea that everything they say is important and interesting.
Thats an incredibly important trait for a character and a diarist.
There was a reluctance to talk about ones self.
Part of it is self-consciousness and inhibitedness, but part of it is humility or whatever it is.
They really wanted to be asked questions about themselves.
Teenagers dont seem to have that problem as much.
Thats a good question.
I tend to be more comfortable talking about people than about myself.
[laughs] Im more comfortable asking questions, and I feel more comfortable in my curiosity about others.
It wasnt until around 99 thatRadio Diariesbecame a non-profit.
Until then, I was working more like a freelancer.
Forming an organization actually wasnt rare at the time.
There wasnt a way to support this stuff commercially.
Were a little bigger now than we were then, but weve always been small.
Thats the world I came out of.
The world of mission-driven media.
The truth is: In some ways, what we do as an organization doesnt make sense.
We spenda lotof time and resources on each story, and we have to balance two operations at once.
There are ways those two things amplify and support each other, but they have really different demands.
That can be challenging.
We can try different things and take a little more risk.
So thats exciting, to feel like we have our own show.
For so many years, it was like we were just a content-delivery person for NPR.
But theres also something…
I love that we have an audience that comes to our podcast and expects a specific kind of story.
I know we have people who really love our history documentaries.
I know we have people who think of us mostly for our diaries.
But I like that you dont necessarily know what youre going to get.
I like the idea that we can follow our curiosity and our interests.
When I look at the audio world today, its just so exciting that theres so much happening.
Theres been so many experiments in form, so much attention in terms of new listeners.
There are, you know,jobsnow.
Now theres jobs for people, which is good.
A few years ago, I would have said it was easier to be independent.
There were just so many more opportunities and so much more new demand for content.
And thats still true.
Theres an insatiable need for good stories.
Theres a need for it.
Being independent is fucking hard.
Its less hard than it used to be, but its still very hard.
And I think independent journalism is really important.
Whether its a podcast or a restaurant or someone who invented a new umbrella, I support independent creators.
The more, the better.
Turning 25 actually feels kind of complicated.
In a way, survival as an independent media organization is some measure on its own.
Luckily, its been a year of growth.
Weve added new producers.
It feels like were heading in some exciting new directions.
I feel good that Im not looking at 25 years and feeling like an old dinosaur.
That makes for a lot of anxiety, of course, but theres something great about that, too.
Its being able to bring a bit of a beginners mind to every project.
I wish I could say that the process gets easier.
It should, but it doesnt.
And that, actually, feels really useful.
Time is a one-way street.
I dont know about the future.
Do I want to do a film documentary?
Do I want to do a book?
Now I think, Why would I do anything else?
The audience is amazing.
you’re able to find theRadio Diarieswebsitehere.
Then again, the story of Netflix is in some flux right now.
According to the announcement post published yesterday, the new cities are: Boise (ey!
), Houston, Las Vegas, Nashville, Oakland, Omaha/Lincoln, Pittsburgh, and Salt Lake City.
We couldnt be more excited to start building City Casts in these new markets.
In case you need a refresher on what City Cast is,hit up my column from October.
I, for one, am excited to see that my citys getting another news outlet.
Shout-out to ~middle America~ baby.
(Also, a meme.
As in, The newGossip Girlshould be set in Los Angeles.
Welcome to my TED talk.)
This Clubhouse situation is described as TEDs first social-audio partnership.
The company hadpreviously announceda programming partnership with the NFL in April.
Meanwhile…from Rest of World: Jordans government used secretly recorded Clubhouse audio to spread disinformation.
Live podcast shows appear to be revving back up from the pandemic.In the United States, at least.
Maybe even in the U.K. to some extent, which held this yearsBritish Podcast Awardsover the weekend.
(Tough beat at the Euros, fellas.
Maybe next time.)
Someone I know regardedthis Leandra Medine onThe Cutting Room Floorsituationthe first truly viral podcast episode.Im inclined to agree.
Mine was a tattoo shop.
This time, though, there was something fundamentally different.
There were the newly installed Plexiglass barriers that jutted up between workstations, of course.
But also, throughout our entire six-hour session, Mennella wasnt wearing headphones.
Just hearing their voices, confirming their nearby presence, was enough.
For one, it aligned with what seems to be the broader trend of post-pandemic digital fatigue.
(See: what some are calling analog summer.)
So, he says, first and foremost, I have always worn a mask when I tattooed.
I thrive off of that social interaction when Im giving a tattoo, he says.
Its been an ongoing thing, as far as I can remember.
Post-COVID, Im dependent on that human interaction more than ever, Landolt says.
Peeking into TRX now, weve been playing music a little quieter than we normally have, says Landolt.
Everyone just wants to talk to people.
Now I prefer pure crap-slash-fluff, as just background noise.
Tattooers, theyre just like us.
Pre-pandemic, I habitually tuned in to NPR orThe Dailyevery morning, immediately after waking up.
But a few months (or weeks?)
into lockdown, I needed to change how and how early I ingested the news.
Im strictly a written-news gal now, even though those emails look different than they did a year ago.
So do the places I find myself spending time: This weekend, Ill be seeing Mennella again.
Other than that, even I was unplugged.
We had so much to say.
