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If we're to advance podcasting, we have to lose the
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"been there, done that" mentality.
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A reimagining of what podcasting can be is underway, and it needs the help of
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podcasters like you, if it's to succeed.
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Today's episode is brought to you by the Advancing Podcasting
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community at advancingpodcasting.xyz.
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Because why would I do anything normal?
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It's a special community just for listeners and readers of
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Podcast Pontifications and it's populated by like-minded working
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podcasters just like you who also want to make podcasting better.
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You're already listening to the show.
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So why not extend the conversation and your influence
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on the future of podcasting?
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Join us today at advancingpodcasting.xyz.
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Welcome to Season Four of Podcast Pontifications.
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Thanks for letting me take a few weeks off.
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Let's jump right into things.
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We've dropped the ball.
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I mean, collectively, all of us who've been involved in podcasting
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since the beginning beyond just simply hosting a podcast.
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We've all done this.
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We all got blind-sided by a big company some fifteen years
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ago, way at the beginning.
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And we ceded our future to the suits that run that company.
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Sure, we had exceptions to that rule, but by and large, we in the podcasting
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back end system, we all adopted a stance of, "Well, you know, if Apple
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is not going to adopt some change, it's never going to go mainstream.
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So why should we even try to take bold, innovative steps?"
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So instead, we innovated the way very big companies like Apple innovate,
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making small, incremental changes that have limited impact across the
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broader spectrum of podcasting and what podcasting can actually be.
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And that's why it is that every podcast hosting company
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does basically the same thing.
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They all look the same.
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It's why every podcast listening app looks the same, basically does the same
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thing with differences just on the edges.
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But basically homogenization has taken over all of podcasting.
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That's good.
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That's bad.
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That's what it is.
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You know, any truly innovative ideas that were put into practice
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were probably beyond their time.
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And so they were either abandoned - all of them were abandoned basically.
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And also assumed toxic and labeled with the, "Yeah, we tried that and
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it failed, so it'll never work."
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And we all collectively bought into this idea for years.
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It took a global pandemic and the re-emergence of Adam Curry
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to show us a different path that he's calling Podcasting 2.0.
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And still, not surprisingly this time, we're collectively resisting.
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Now, part of that is due to politics.
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You may not buy into the - or perhaps even understand some of
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the extreme edges that get pushed in the Podcasting 2.0 movement.
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I know that describes me.
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I don't buy into a lot of that.
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And I don't get some of that either.
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However, the work that they're doing on the namespace, which extends RSS
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feeds, the lifeblood of podcasting, the work they're doing there will allow us
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podcasters, you podcaster, to do so much more with your audience and it's working.
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It's a slow rollout.
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But I promise you it's working, it's being used.
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So finally for the first time, in more than fifteen years, we're seeing
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the bedrock of podcasting shift.
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And it's not by Apple.
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And it's not happening on Spotify.
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And probably not even any of the apps that you have and I currently have listed
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on the podcasting page of your website.
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Maybe not even supported by your podcast hosting company, who may be
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and probably is taking a wait-and-see approach because they too are waiting
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for Apple, Spotify, Google, some other big directory and/or app to come
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along and implement those changes.
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But those big directories and apps aren't going to come along.
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Not unless they have to.
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Remember, they only jumped into the podcasting bandwagon, I guess, onto the
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podcasting bandwagon when the space was looking interesting to them, something
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that they thought they could exploit.
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So it's up to us to make this space look interesting.
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Now look, if you're not techie, there's probably not much you can do today with
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Podcasting 2.0 and the podcastindex.org.
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There's not much you can do right now except for pressure those who can.
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And that's your podcast hosting company.
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Pressure them to support these new namespace tags that are coming out.
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Email them, hit them up on social media.
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If you can't, if they won't do that, then you can switch.
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It's easy to switch podcast hosting companies, easier than ever.
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Switch to a podcast hosting company that takes a more forward-looking stance and
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is working hard to adapt and adopt as many of these new namespace tags as they can.
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You can also go to newpodcastapps.com and test drive some new listening apps.
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You are using right now to listen to podcasts, try something new and see which
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ones are supporting these new tags and how those new tags might impact you as
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a podcaster, which again, encourages you to go to your podcast host and
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say I want to be able to do this too.
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Now look, I recognize that many, if not most, podcasters just want to sit back,
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produce the best show they possibly can, and not worry about all this techie stuff,
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but I don't think that describes you.
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If it did, you probably wouldn't be listening to Podcast Pontifications.
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Apple, having dropped the ball since April, 2021 is a gift.
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Anchor/Spotify making RSS feeds optional now is a gift.
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It's up to us, it's up to you and to me, and the companies we pay to host our
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content to take advantage of that gift and push podcasting to the next level.
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So, as I've said for years on this program, please spread
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this idea with other podcasters.
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Get them as excited about the future as you are.
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Share a link to this episode or this article with them so that
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they can take that step toward the future and help all of us.
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And if you love this idea and you want to support me, please
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go to buymeacoffee.com/EvoTerra.
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That's it.
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I shall be back tomorrow with yet another Podcast Pontifications.
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Cheers!
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Podcast Pontifications is written and narrated by Evo Terra.
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He's on a mission to make podcasting better.
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Links to everything mentioned in today's episode are in the notes
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section of your podcast listening app.
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A written-to-be-read article based on today's episode is available at
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podcastpontifications.com, where you'll also find a video version and a corrected
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transcript, both created by Allie Press.
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Podcast Pontifications is a production of Simpler Media.
