79. A Podcast about Podcasts

Code[ish]

Charlie Gleason, Jennifer Hooper, David Routen, Satoshi Nagano, and Chris Castle talk about their various roles in the production of Code[ish], whether that's serving as a host, mixing the audio, or handling the design. The idea for Code[ish] started many years before the first episode was ever recorded. The name came about from the desire to produce a show that was "sort of" about code. From the get go, it was important for Jennifer and the rest of the team to identify several categories which episodes could be placed into: Dev Life (about people and activities), Tips and Tools (about physical and technical tools), Deeply Technical (deep dives into technology), and Heroku in the Wild (how Heroku is being used in production). These tags helped establish a framework very early on.

Although everyone loved the idea, there was a lot of work to be done in the beginning. Someone with audio experience was necessary to suggest equipment and ways to mix the sound. It took a while for the release cadence to get right, because it became very apparent early on that the goal of two episodes a week was too much. And Code[ish] JP, which is a Japanese-language version of the podcast, was also figuring how it should be produced. Little by little, and with encouragement from others at Heroku, both podcasts found their footing.

Producing a podcast is all about listening to questions and ideas, and filtering them into a narrative that makes sense. You have to pair hosts that are passionate about the subject at hand, so that the conversation appears natural, not just a question and answer session. On the technical side, listen to other podcasts and identify what you like about them. Last but not least, always try to learn and improve, by taking listeners' feedback to heart.

Links from this episode

• Adobe Audition, Zencastr, and Simplecast is some of the software used to produce the show
• This XKCD comic shows the importance of sanitizing inputs