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Dan Benjamin: Regarding The Talk Show

5by5.tv

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Re: Dan Benjamin: Regarding The Talk Show

#61

Post by anon808 »

rkudeshi wrote: post #15

Summary for anyone who can't listen: * Dan says John emailed him and just said it was time to move on and try something new. Dan says he has total respect and understanding for that. * Dan says he thought if they weren't doing the show anymore, they would retire it together. Surprised and disappointed that John's doing the show on his own and re-using the name. * Dan wishes they could have done one last episode to re…

"Dan Benjamin comes across in this audio clip as a total class act."

He definitely comes across as that, but I'm not sure he is. My gut tells me there was more meaning behind this that none of us are owed, creating public content from it maybe not be the right move; it shows bigger class not to talk about it.

Re: Dan Benjamin: Regarding The Talk Show

#63

Post by oblique63 »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #39
zdw wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Editing audio or video generally takes a multiple of the original running time, not 15 minutes at the end. A 1 hour minimally edited podcast could easily take several hours to edit and review properly.

I don't think it needs doing properly. Seriously, listen to one, if you don't think it could be improved with 15 minutes trimming then I'd be amazed.

I don't know about that. Just to even get an idea of what you want to edit, you need at least the amount of time it takes for you to review your raw material, which in this case could be over 2 hours sometimes...

(I work with a lot of audio, though no podcasts, so I may still be underestimating a bit)

Re: Dan Benjamin: Regarding The Talk Show

#64

Post by chadk »

I really enjoyed his bit about how listeners become (unidirectional) "friends" with the hosts that they spend so much time listening too. Dan really understands the sense of loss that the fans feel over not being informed, and I am glad he broached that topic. Of course, this doesn't justify some of the showings of massive entitlement on Twitter etc. But I am glad he recognized the emotional investment of the fans.

Re: Dan Benjamin: Regarding The Talk Show

#65

Post by chucknelson »

Hontano wrote: post #58
simonh wrote: post #43

Does anyone else find it amusing that the title of the latest post on daring Fireball is "Why wasn't I consulted?".

I read both "What wasn't I consulted?" and "Behind a Press Release" as being very directed at this situation, neither of which were classy ways for Gruber to handle it, just snide allusions. Dan's short message was pure class.

Snide allusions indeed. I don't understand why it's so difficult for Gruber to be a little more polite about his response. I'm sure what he is receiving from listeners is definitely not polite, but he has the audience, so I think he should have a higher standard to maintain.

Re: Dan Benjamin: Regarding The Talk Show

#66

Post by guywithabike »

Tloewald wrote: post #12
f1nch3r wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can criticize and remain classy. I think Dan did that in this statement.

I agree, and if it's true that John took the show's name without even giving Dan advance notice let alone asking permission, then I'm disappointed. I'm curious in general about mule's split from Dan. I loved the original "fuck you, pay me" but never got into "let's make mistakes" and was surprised that they split off 5by5 (and now appear to be poaching) but I'd like to hear the other side...

Let's Make Mistakes didn't "split off". They paid to be on the 5by5 network and once they established themselves, they moved it to their own network. No funny business there, basically.

Re: Dan Benjamin: Regarding The Talk Show

#67

Post by chicagobob »

AllenKids wrote: post #35
mbrd wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think Dan's ability to "move the topic along" should be underestimated. It's a real skill to be able to give a discussion somewhat on topic and on time and he is excellent at it. I can't imagine trying to get even 20 minutes of useful content from Merlin Mann but Dan does it every week on Back to Work!

But almost all the 5by5 major shows are horribly overtime. Hypercritical, Back to Work, Build and Analyse, the once Talk Show, every host other than Dan is rambling, on and on and on and on for hours. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy it, 5by5 podcasts are background noises when I walking around the city, doing chores etc. But information densities are really low (Back to Work is an exception but per Merlin's style it's so…

I've never gotten any of these complaints about shows running "overtime". Personally, the longer the better IMHO. They're podcasts. I listen as much as I can, and then pause them to pick them up later. Short ones are just over quicker and then I have to wait until the next one until there's more to listen to.

PS: (edit) unless its music, I almost always listen to the spoken word at 1.5x or 2x speed.

Re: Dan Benjamin: Regarding The Talk Show

#68

Post by revolvingcur »

oblique63 wrote: post #63
Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it needs doing properly. Seriously, listen to one, if you don't think it could be improved with 15 minutes trimming then I'd be amazed.

I don't know about that. Just to even get an idea of what you want to edit, you need at least the amount of time it takes for you to review your raw material, which in this case could be over 2 hours sometimes... (I work with a lot of audio, though no podcasts, so I may still be underestimating a bit)

I think you and your GP are right on. I edited a short-lived podcast and regularly spent 1.5 hours producing and editing each 25 minute show. Even if you're using good equipment and have a solid connection, producing a tight podcast necessarily takes more effort than is obvious to the listener. That's kind of the point.

Re: Dan Benjamin: Regarding The Talk Show

#69

Post by cw4 »

There were lots of armchair quarterbacks talking about how "they don't owe us anything".

There were lots of comments from Gruber, Mike, etc basically mocking people for being upset that the show dropped Dan and moved with no warning.

Dan pretty much nailed it: he feels like they owed the fans one last episode to say goodbye and they didn't get to do that.

Re: Dan Benjamin: Regarding The Talk Show

#70

Post by aiscott »

georgespencer wrote: post #23
rkudeshi wrote: post #15

Summary for anyone who can't listen: * Dan says John emailed him and just said it was time to move on and try something new. Dan says he has total respect and understanding for that. * Dan says he thought if they weren't doing the show anymore, they would retire it together. Surprised and disappointed that John's doing the show on his own and re-using the name. * Dan wishes they could have done one last episode to re…

Like everyone is saying, Dan comes across really well in this. I don't expect JG will ever give us his take. RE: never listening to any 5by5 podcasts–I listened to The Talk Show a few times. Maybe it's because I'm used to the dogma of professional broadcasting, but I don't think you've missed out unless you like hearing a couple of guys pause a hell of a lot during an awkward conversation. Almost every episode I hear…

I tried to listen to one once. Just to see what it was about... It started out with Gruber cursing because Dan wasn't on yet or some reason. I gave it a few more minutes; it was like listening in on somebody's private conversation. I didn't get the allure of it at all and killed it.

I don't have the time to internet people chit-chat. I can't do it and work at the same time because I find it distracting. If it was somehow really great and I wanted to listen to it, the best I could offer would be downloading and playing it in the car on a long trip. Just ain't gonna happen.

Do things happen in the podcast that don't make it into a blog post somewhere?

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