Magpie Journal #12: Podcast Movement 2024

I managed to attend two days of Podcast Movement last week. I needed time to recover from that, another Frank Turner concert, and a conference my work sent me to. I now feel like I can put my thoughts together in a coherent way. 

I loved Podcast Movement. I didn’t get to go to the parties or attend every talk I wanted to, but I got a taste of what in-person does. The last few years have been a push and pull out of emotions out of a pandemic. There are times when I miss lockdown, there are times when I wish things weren't so defaulted to online. The realization that we need to have a balance of in-person, and digital access is sometimes hard to balance. Digital is vital for people who can't monetarily or physically manage to get to a conference. However, the in-person also allows powerful interpersonal connections.

I work closely with podcast marketers, and one of the teams is Tink Media. They do a phenomenal job at matching me to podcasts that  I’ll like, and they’ve become some of my closest to real life, and in real life podcast friends. I got to meet and watch them do their magic in person. I got to see how tall or short people are (not just at Tink). I had the opportunity to be in a physical place where for once, being a podcast critic isn’t something that’s seen as weird, or unusual. 

Usually, when I tell people that I moonlight as a podcast critic, the conversation gets a little weird. A lot of people don’t think of podcasts as something that needs to be written about from a critical perspective. I admit, generally, I hate the word “critic”. I don’t want people to hear that word and see me as anything other than what I am. That is: I am a person who loves podcasts, but I just don’t make them. I listen to them, I think about them, I ask why they’re here, and if they’re good at what they’re trying to do. I have personal rules about how I write and sometimes when I write, but I’m not sitting here trying to tear down these pieces of work or the people who make them. I’m here to celebrate them, to share them, and to get the word out that podcasts are more than two dudes sitting at a microphone talking about a thing. They are dynamic pieces of art that deserve thoughtful attention, not just a few lines under their feed in a podcatcher. 

Over the two days of meeting people and having various conversations about what I do, I started to relax about it. In particular, the moment of pure joy around the Audio Programs Lead from NASA reading my tag and remembering Magpie from two years ago. That is a high I’m going to be riding into next year. Listen, I genuinely just wanted to bring home stickers because…NASA. They have multiple podcasts now, and the fact that I was remembered is astounding. People have lives! They have other projects and personal things. I just couldn’t believe my ears. I think in that moment, I had the first real shift of thought about what I do.

This didn’t just happen with NASA. A few people around the conference had submitted or knew who I was. The ones who didn’t were far more excited than I thought they would be about the word “critic”. The deeper point is that this is something I would have never known was happening if I hadn’t gone to this in-person podcast conference. For the two days I was there, I was struck by how important seeing people in person is. Especially over this exceptionally digital medium. 

I wish that Podcast Movement didn’t have baggage. I wish that there were smaller, more regional meetups and networking events that are easier to get to. Podcast Movement as a national, and international event is important. We need moments to pull together as a community from as top to bottom as possible. Things at Podcast Movement felt culturally disconnected to me. Sure, it could’ve been that I was there for the two days when people were getting to know each other. I didn’t have the parties to meet more people or break down walls. The days I went mostly made me long for easier, smaller, more local meetups. It reminded me to check out the events column in Podnews more closely.

In reality, I know it’s very hard. It's hard enough for me to get to New York City for meetups and I live an hour away from Manhattan. It’s time, energy, and money, which are valuable resources for everyone doing this on a shoestring budget. I was beyond lucky that my weekend from my day job ended up being the first two days of Podcast Movement this year. I’m lucky I have so many people supporting me that I was able to make this work. I would not have been able to do that without the support of my podcast friends, my partner, and my offline life friends. 

I think we need to make it easier to make more podcast friends. Competition is fun, but collaboration is magical. They can go hand in hand and the community itself can support each other. In the Keynote talk with The Diary of a CEO host Steven Bartlett, the idea of being 1% better resonated with me. This is a multimillion-dollar podcast with a team putting out tests with technology most of us can dream about. The idea of being 1% better? That’s something we can do. My 1% better is probably being more consistent with my writing other than reviews. My 1% better can be getting more comfortable with being on social media. 

The podcasting community’s 1% better can go in many different directions. The direction I hope it goes in is a kind and supportive one. A direction where we can be playfully competitive and functionally collaborative without getting joy out of hate. Most people I see in podcasting have this attitude. I have met and worked with some exceptionally kind people. The thing is the influence and monetary power don’t usually follow a collaborative attitude. We know why, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be 1% better, 1% kinder, and 1% more in the direction of good and human. We can be in lockstep, pushing this medium into a better place, rather than clamoring over each other for the million-dollar deals being given to people who are already millionaires. 

If I hadn’t gone to Podcast Movement, I would have never had this all come together. I wouldn’t have a newfound confidence and trust in what I do. I wouldn’t know how tall my friends are, and I wouldn’t have joy in the community I step into. So with the care that we all know we should take, reach out and consider community. Consider how we can work together, and reach out to the side instead of ahead. I think we’ll all be better for it. 

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