Jul 07 2005
Getting Snipped: the Podcast
This 12-minute podcast documents my brother’s vasectomy on April 12th, 2005. It was recorded on a Panasonic DV103D-K video camera. But the video was so boring, I decided to transfer the soundtrack into CoolEdit Pro, mix in some extra sounds and do a voice-over. I tried to make it sound like an episode of CBC’s Outfront, using it as an opportunity to explore my own feelings about parenthood. But I don’t have any strong feelings about parenthood. The voice-over I recorded is a complete fiction — and it just doesn’t work. In the end you hear me say something like, “Jeez, I don’t know if I want to have kids.” Wow, what a revelation. (My real feelings about this issue: it’s not an issue. I’ll have kids if I feel the time is right. I’m in no rush.) However, as a document of my brother’s vasectomy, the trip to the hospital and everything else involved in the procedure, I think it’s funny yet informative. So if you’re thinking about going through with it yourself someday, you might want to take a listen.
NOTE: All podcasts are removed once they’ve stopped being downloaded.
Phillip-
Great story-telling style. Loved hearing you and Katlen banter about life. Made me really smile. Do more of this!!
Thanks, Will. If I was able to get some better tape (e.g., if I had a more talkative subject), I think I could have told a solid story with real tension and resolution and all that. But this was more or less an experiment, one which I learned a lot from. I have a better sense of how to work with sound now, what kind of sounds make a good radio doc, what kind of questions to ask, how to tie it all together. As my very first attempt at this kind of thing, it’s not too bad. (My previous podcasts don’t count. Production-wise, they’re nowhere close to being in the same league as this one.) If I do another podcast, I’ll try to keep the production on the same level — unless of course you want to do another beer review.
By the way, just took a gander at your website. Love the pictures. Great stuff. And although I don’t have the first clue about subscribing to podcasts, I think I’ll check out those science programs you mentioned. I already listen to Quirks and Quarks when it’s on the radio; the others look interesting.
Hey, Jody, is it possible for people to subscribe to SWT podcasts?
Podcasts are included in SWT’s RSS feed (http://steelwhitetable.org/blog/feed/) automatically, so if people “subscribe” using SWT’s feed, they’ll get any mp3 we host.