The episode is a special edition of Brackets — that is available as a podcast! I strongly encourage you to listen to its entirety by clicking play at the top! or read and interact with audio clips on the Brackets website.
Hello!
Today, we’re going to reveal the secret to producing amazing high quality home made podcasts in the Covid-era, with Antek Hasiura — a Princeton international student from Poland and podcaster extraordinaire, who has started not ONE, not TWO, but THREE podcasts!
Currently, Antek is the host of Tiger Ventures Unfiltered, Tiger Cafe, and his previous podcast Bridge of Stories, with an audience of over 6000, was featured on major publications like the Economist, and was a finalist for the New York Times student podcast award.
If you want to hear more about Antek, or listen to me interview him, play the following Soundcloud clip, or listen to the entire episode linked at the top!
The Greatest Podcasting Tip
Not kidding. What you are about to hear might be the single greatest tip for making podcasts ever — and being an NPR fanatic, I’ve heard a fair share of out-of-the-box podcasting advice, including recording in the closet for better sound quality (which btw actually works).
For friends considering starting a podcast, this advice will be game-changing — especially in the Covid-era where the majority of interviews are conducted online. For the rest of us, podcast listeners and lovers, this will hopefully provide a better appreciation of sound, that changes how you listen to, and think about podcast interviews.
Now, instead of me explaining a podcasting tip via more words, why don’t you hear about it directly from Antek, in the following audio clip!
Voice Memos Recap
No BS. No fancy audio equipment needed. In all honesty, all you need to produce a quality podcast from home are voice memos and this great podcasting tip.
Lets recap the podcasting tip:
For X number of individuals on your podcast episode, record X copies of the audio. Ask your guests before interviewing them to also record via voice memos a copy of the interview and send it to you afterwards.
Bonus Tip: Email your guests in advance! don’t be shy asking them to also record the interview on their end, and if needed, attach instructions in the email for using and opening voice memos.
Then, mix the tape together using your favorite audio software (Audacity and Hindenburg are my favorites). Basically, match/overlap the audio waves from multiple sources, and anytime an individual is speaking, only use the audio from their own recording.
Bonus Tip 2: Look at the shape of the sound waves to match the audio clips + Try starting your interviews with a clap! then you have one spike in the audio waves that makes it super easy to match multiple audio recordings.
On distributing podcasts (which probably deserves its own newsletter episode) here are some sparknotes: Anchor is amazing. It’s free to use, and sends your audio to all the major platforms. Soundcloud is easy to use and good too! Also trying out Substack audio (like right now with this newsletter) so will keep you posted on how it goes.
Some Audio Gems…
Lastly, how can anyone write a newsletter on podcasts without recommending some podcasts! Here are some amazing audio gems ...
AfroQueer: Stories of queer Africans living and thriving on the African continent.
HowSound: Absolutely my favorite podcast about podcasts.
Armchair Expert: Longform interviews that got me through Covid-quarentine.
Inuit Unikkaangit: A beautiful podcast featuring recordings of Inuit people telling stories in their native language, and then hearing the response of their descendants.
Let me know what you think, and your favorite podcasts!
Thanks for reading / listening!
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