Podcast Magic Between Hosts
African proverb: When elephants fight, it’s grass that suffers.
Allow me to tweak it and use sharks, those beautiful sea creatures. It’s always sad to see them fight but it’s family, right? Disagreements are inevitable. The internet exacerbates matters because what is a storm in a tea cup behind closed doors, becomes a restaurant coffee pot, online.
The sharks I’m talking about are podcast co-hosts. Is that the right word? I just assume Tyrone and Timmy are co-hosts, if they are always together unless the podcast is registered as the TYRONE POD. If Timmy is just a guest, he might move on and start his own in the near future and that should not result in bad blood between them.
But somehow, sharks end up throwing stones at each other online, questioning each other’s expertise, which was never in question when Tyrone and Timmy were together. The problem is that they are the only ones that know what really happened, what when down. Maybe Tyrone promised Timmy something, and reneged on his promise. Maybe money started coming in or recognition increased to such an extent that Coach Prime invited Tyrone to Boulder Colorado for the USC game. I don’t know.
I don’t know much about podcasts but one-man or one-woman seem to last longer for obvious reasons. They are stress-free. You don’t have to worry about tantrums and mood swings and you can detect them, if the co-host is your friend. It is easier said and done, but not always practical. It’s a lot of work for one person. It means coming up with story ideas, setting up interviews, what to wear, make-up and choosing audio and video clips. You still have family and that comes first. Conflict between two hosts can be minimized if homework is done properly.
1. Podcast name. Is it mine or both of us? Ownership comes with responsibility, especially financial resources.
2. Studio costs. Are we going to use a professional studio or your living room?
3. Content. Are we going to structure it in a ping pong, tennis match fashion, which means you will always take the players’ side and I, the coaches’ side? Some relationship podcasts are famous or notorious for that division of labour: one host is pro-women, the other is pro-men.
4. Time span. If it’s your podcast and I’m the regular guest, how much notice should I give you when I decide to leave? Of course, I’ll use some of your contacts, if we handle the same content, e.g. football or basketball.
5. The bag. Do we share the money, when it starts rolling in, or is it yours exclusively?
Podcast co-hosting seems to be working for former American football stars Takeo Spikes and Tutan Reyes: thebtmpodcast.com
Nonqaba waka Msimang
Executive Blogger
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