I’ve been listening to podcasts while running for the past couple years.  One that I regularly listen to is called the Dirtbag Diaries.  It’s a pretty interesting (to me) collection of stories from outdoorsy people.  This past spring while running, I heard the editor, Fitz Cahall, ask for story suggestions and started thinking.  At first I was thinking how different my life was from most of the subjects, even though we enjoyed many of the same things.  Then I started thinking about how I’ve been trying to brainwash (I mean involve) my kids in outdoor pursuits.  So I sat down and wrote a little piece about that and suggested that I thought many people were in a similar situation.  To my surprise, Fitz emailed back and asked if I’d like to work with him on an episode.  Go here www.dirtbagdiaries.com to listen.  Click more to read more about the story.

I learned that making a decent podcast isn’t as simple as throwing a few ideas together and reading them.  We went back and forth several times with Fitz asking questions, me answering in great detail, and then Fitz trying to condense all my random and rambling thoughts into something coherent and focused, that flowed and that kept the listeners’ attention but didn’t get off track.  I’m really happy with the final product, even though there were parts of the story that I also really liked that got cut. 

Once we got a final draft ready, I set up my “dirtbag recording studio,” which usually functions as our closet.  With blankets hung to muffle any echoes, I sat in front of the laptop wearing a recording headset.  I quickly learned that most normal movement caused the cord or headset to creak slightly, which was easily audible in the recording.  So I tried to keep pretty still, and I think you can get that sense from listening.  Once I was done I sent it to Fitz and he did some final editing and added the music. 

So it’s been a pretty cool experience.  From one of the previous episodes I gather there are about 4,000 regular listeners, and so far the response has been very positive.  I have to give a lot of credit to Fitz’s editing.  I’d never really understood the importance of an editor until I saw how he improved on what I’d started.  One of the fringe benefits of doing this was that I realized very clearly that I really enjoy my life.  It doesn’t matter how much more anyone else is able to do, I have a great time doing what I’m able to do.