Conversational Podcasts does something a little different; It invites the listener to listen to the wheels of two minds in a closed room as they turn
Whoever thought that conversation could be bottled up, packaged like perfume and sold to those who wanted to capture a feeling, a feeling, an idea. Reverse. start over. Anyone who thought that conversation could be boxed in, and when opened, could be transported to a new world of knowledge and imagination. Who thought conversation could become a commodity?
The podcasting business thrives on conversation – short, medium-sized and long, long like the mythical tail of Hanuman. These should be distinguished from interviews, which have a discrete and specific purpose, with a clear boundary between the seeker and the informer and the introvert. Journalistic interviews can serve the purposes of eliciting or confirming the news of the day, or as a platform for portraiture, where we see, hear or read someone portraying a personality. But Conversational Podcasts does something different; It invites the listener into a closed room to hear the wheels of two minds spinning.
The best conversational podcasts are those where host and guest meet on a level platform – not so much in terms of domain expertise, but as two (or more) people who share a curiosity that is jointly discovered when They speak. There is a real sense of listening to questions and carefully crafted answers which in turn generates more questions both within the conversation and for those listening to it. Even the exchange is being recorded but the participants are not performing. They are so deeply involved in the interchange that the audience’s sentiment is completely absent.
There are many podcasts, each deriving its own flavor from the host’s style and scope they set.
all women
the one i discovered a few weeks ago was The Indian Edit, hosted by Nitasha Manchanda, features conversations with “innovators in Design, Culture and Entrepreneurship”. Manchanda’s guests are all women from the Indian subcontinent, as she says. These are not the women you might have encountered unless you have a particular interest in the fields they represent – perfumery, craft design, children’s publications, community media, cuisine, among others – but each has There is a story to tell and a perspective to share. Manchanda noted on her website that as a podcast listener, she rarely appeared on shows about people she wanted to hear or hear about. In the three years the show’s run, she’s sampled a variety of creators and risk-takers, each of whom introduces you to the window of opportunity they’ve opened up for themselves. Some of the conversation drifts into the rare reach of high-end fashion and haute cuisine, but overall, there is something out there that at any stage of life find themselves stuck in.
just go with the flow
You can sample episodes in any order, but one I’d recommend is Sarah Thomas, founder of Kalamata’s Kitchen, a venture aimed at creating adventurous and compassionate eaters of children, as well as episodes where community radio serves the voice of Gurgaon. Guest Aarti Jayaman details of her journey.
Conversational podcasts are probably the simplest type to record and package; It demands fairly basic production and sound design skills. But it’s not easy to keep up, and those who have managed to run a show any longer deserve applause. And, like Manchanda, if they’ve managed to package it with character, even more so.
Hyderabad-based writer and educationist Usha Raman is a clean woman fighting a losing battle with the mess in her head.
,