Dealing With The Skeletons In Your Podcasting Closet

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Podcasters, at least those of us who release content in an episodic form, we treat our past episodes like their water under the bridge, as if they’ll be heard the day or week we release them, never to be listened to again in the future.

In large part, that is true. Episodic podcasts don’t require the listener to back up to the beginning to get caught up. The most recent episode is sufficient, and even someone does take an immediate shine to your content, they might go back and pick up two or three of your prior episodes. It's not all that common where people download your entire catalog.

Or is it?

Looking at not only my show but also the shows I produce on behalf of business-first clients all around the world, occasionally we'll see spikes where someone chooses to download the entire archive.

And some episodic shows (like this one, perhaps?) that provide shorter-form evergreen content are a more natural fit for listening to the entire archive. It’s the listeners’ choice, after all. Last week a brand new podcaster sent me a note to explain while he didn’t download all 267 episodes, he did download and listen to all of the episodes I’ve produced since the beginning of the year.

And so that's great. You and I love it when people react so strongly to our content that they have to grab the full catalog.

But… what if some of the comments we made in those old episodes aren’t perfect? I’m not worried terribly about “perfect” from an audio-quality standpoint. The person made the choice to download old episodes. They should understand that the further back in the catalog they go, it's likely that they’ll encounter less-than-perfect audio. Especially if they go back to the beginning.

My bigger concerns when people back and listen to everything ever produced by me are twofold.

1. Dealing with evolved best practices.

Are the things you said in an episode from 2007 still current? Is was considered “good advice” at the time run counter to best practices today?

2. Dealing with evolved cultural norms.

When I started podcasting back in 2004, I leaned heavily into the more argumentative and (if I’m being honest) asshole-ish tendencies of my personality. Not really for shock value as much as it was to get my co-hosts and guests to laugh. I’m no trained comedian, and I’ll admit that some of the jokes I made were pretty cheap shots that I'm embarrassed by today. (Fortunately, most of the insensitive and downright offensive comments were made on shows that have been purged from the internet. I hope. Let’s just say I won’t be running for office anytime soon to put that theory to the test.)

I am deep in the process of fixing some poor decisions I made when I started this show back in 2018. In short, I’m (finally) combining everything into a single property instead of relying on various disparate systems to present the show and episodes. The hard work is the boring part where I copy and paste content from various platforms to the new platforms. As I do it, I'm seeing some things that I'm not sure should be out there anymore.

So far, nothing has been completely and totally wrong. In the context of history, they’ve been fine. Mostly. More than one has caused me consternation. What do I do if one episode, say whatever I said on episode 117 (which is a made-up number and why I’m not linking to episode 117 which is probably fine) is now flat out wrong. It was right at the time, but the world has changed and now that’s bad advice.

Can I trust a listener will know that advice has been updated? I don’t think I can. I don't mention the date during the recording. And podcast listening apps don’t go out of their way to show the date when a show was recorded. And I don’t really want them to, as I’m working hard to make evergreen content that is discovered by search engines, so I don’t want someone turned off by thinking the content is old and outdated. Except sometimes it is outdated! Agh! The angst is real.

Should I remove the episode from my feed and website? Will it look odd to have episode 116 followed by 118? Will I have to explain to people repeatedly what happened to 117? Should I go back and rerecord episode 117 so that I update the out-of-date things that I said? And just how slippery is that slope? That sounds like a huge challenge for my 267 episodes. What about the podcasters who have 700 or 1100 episodes under their belts. Should they go back?

Should a podcast be held responsible for what they said 10 years ago? Or should the responsibility fall on the listener to examine publishing date so that they take the contents with the context of time? That just sounds weasely as I type it!

I don't know the right answer to this question. I want you to think about it. I think everybody has to come up with their own right answer. So far in my process, I haven't seen anything that is so terrible I have to get rid of it. But I've seen a few things that are making me wonder what to do.

What are you going to do? What's your plan with all of this? Maybe you should have this conversation with another podcaster to find out what their plan is. I think these kinds of decisions are best made when we discuss them together. So talk with other podcasts at the next meetup, online chat, or when you go to Facebook or Reddit to see what the various forums have to say. Ask your fellow podcasts how are they dealing with the skeletons in their podcasting closet.

And of course, you can tell them it was an episode of Podcast Pontifications that sparked the question. Yes, this is me asking you to tell someone to listen to this particular episode (and the whole show) because it’s helpful for any working podcaster, right? I mean, that's why you listen.

If you want to tell me what you're doing to address your podcasting skeletons, email me at evo@PodcastLaunch.pro. I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.

Cheers!

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Sure your podcast sounds great now, but what about all those episodes where it wasn't perfect? What about the advice you gave before your opinions changed? Do you worry about those unenlightened jokes you told for shock value?

Hello and welcome to another podcast. Pontifications with me Evo. Tara. Podcasters, at least those of us who release content in an episodic form, we treat our past episodes like their water under the bridge, like they were heard once and never to be heard from again. Move on. Things are fine, and for the large part of the world, that that is true episodic content.

That's content which changes with each episode where there's no need to back up, typically isn't listened to. From start to finish. Typically it'll listen to by someone taking a look, and then maybe they'll go back two or three episodes. But you know, it's not that it's not regular that people will go back and download the entire content, or is it because I've seen that spike of activity happen, not just for my show, but for the shows that I produce on behalf of clients all around the world.

Occasionally we'll see spikes where someone will go through and download the entire episode or a show like mine, which presents itself as something helpful. You might want to go back and especially if it was short bursts of content like I have, it might be worthwhile. In fact, I heard from someone last week, we were at a podcasting event.

He's a brand new podcast, or him found out about my show and sent me a note over the weekend that. I said, well, he didn't go back and Donald, from the beginning, he did go back three months and downloaded all of the content. So that's what 60 shows. And so that's great. We love all of that stuff. But as I said in the beginning, what if the stuff that you said before isn't really perfect?

Now I don't mean, well, maybe I do mean perfect from an audio quality. I think people are kind of understanding and that they know the person who is choosing to download old episodes should understand that the further back in the catalog they go, it's likely. And if not likely, than understandable, that quality may suffer.

You know, just as things. Go back. That makes a lot of sense. So I don't worry too much about that now. Obviously, if the audio was really, really terrible, I'd wonder if that's going to damage the brand because, well, I'll get to that in just a moment. I think the bigger concern I have for people who choose to go back and listen to everything is twofold.

One, what of my opinions aren't the same. For you, whatever your podcast is about, and an episodic form. One of the things you said back in 2007 aren't current any longer? Are you giving bad advice? It was good advice at the time, but today it's not. I worry about that. The second thing I worry about and probably worry about more is, um, unwoke commentary that might have been said.

Let's say, I don't mean that in a derogatory way whatsoever. Look, when I started podcasting back in 2004, um, more than a little bit of the content I made was for shock value to get a rise out of my co host and guests. Not really a rise, but to get laughter more than anything. And, you know, I'm, I don't know that I'm in that greater of the comedian.

You know, some of the jokes I made were pretty cheap shots. I'm embarrassed by a lot of that stuff. How about you. It's true. It's history. It's there. I know it. I'm not trying to shy away from it, but you know, is this something. I want to have out there. I mean, I have the control. You have the control. It's your content.

As long as you are still beholden to that. I'm fortunate because a lot of the content, a lot of the podcasts I made back in the early days are no longer available. I have 19 different podcasts I've been a host of. I'm not kidding by that number. Only four or five, depending on how you count of those are live today.

And so of the 15 ish or so that are no longer available, a lot of them are dead. A lot of the files had been removed, so that's good news. But the other ones, I do wonder about it now. The reason this is kind of important for all of us podcasters, I think about is I am in the process right now of. Fixing some poor decisions I made when I started this show.

Basically, I'm, I'm re populating everything and making it available under one single platform as opposed to splitting it up amongst many, it was done with me. Don't, don't do, do what I say, not what I do. So I'm facing my own demons and I'm fixing them. And as I'm going through basically copying and pasting old content from one spot to another, I'm seeing some things that.

I'm not sure it should be out there anymore. Not now. Luckily, nothing has been completely and totally wrong, and in context it's fine, but I am seeing if you episodes of this show that I wonder if there, if it see, here's more on my struggling, what, what, what, what do I do with them? Do I stay complete? Like, let's say that episode 117 I have no idea what I'm supposed to, one 17 if I, if episode one 17 was just flat out wrong, maybe it was right at the time, but now it's simple.

Do not do this, but of course I don't give a date. I don't give any, any commentary, and I am working really hard to make sure that these, these episodes of mine are more discoverable via search engines. It's one of the reasons I'm making this big change. I can't leave it up to the search engine to say whether or not that information is good or bad.

That's just how good I am at doing SEO really well at matches someone search really? So if that advice is wrong. Now, as the recording of this in 2020 should I remove the episode and that means I'd have episode 116 and then 118 what happened to one 17. Should I go back and rerecord episode 117 fixing the things that I said previously, but that's a slippery slope.

This show's only been being produced since we'll have 267 episodes right now, so that's, that seems like a lot, but I have friends of mine who have 700 1100 episodes. Should they go back? Who's responsible for that? Some responsibility has to be on the list and there to take a look and see what the publishing date was, but that's not easy to see in your podcast.

Listening apps, a lot of websites don't display prominently the date because we don't, you know, for whatever reason, it's a pondering. I don't know the right answer to this question. I want you to think about it. I think everybody has to come up with their own right answer. Now. So far in my process, I haven't seen anything that is so terrible.

I have to get rid of it. I've seen a few things that are making me wonder what to do. What are you going to do? What's your plan with all of this? Maybe you should have this conversation with another podcast or find out what their plan is. I think these things are best when we discuss them together. I'm bringing them to you, so I'd love to hear what you think about it, but I also want you to talk it with other podcasts as you interface with at the next meetup, or you know, the next online chat that you have with someone who knows, or the next time you go to Facebook and check out a commentary, ask them how are they dealing with the.

Skeletons in their podcasting closet. And of course when they say, what brought this to your mind, you can tell them that was from an episode of podcast pontifications and you get them to listen. Yes. This is me asking you to tell someone to listen to this particular program because I think it would be helpful or other working podcasters, don't you?

I mean, that's why you listen. I appreciate that. Now, if you want to tell me what you're doing or give some ideas and thoughts, email me. evo@oddcastlaunched.pro reaches me. I shall be back tomorrow with yet another podcast. Pontifications cheers.

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