I think remember you said in one episode you didn't want to run ads in the podcast so you could talk about anything you want, but most of the episodes are about one of historical events. Do you really think the sponsors would try to alter your content. Personally I wouldn't mind 1 or 2 ad spots in the episodes.
A possible future for Damn Interesting
41–48 of 48 posts
Re: A possible future for Damn Interesting
#42Admittedly, I haven't read DI in quite a while, but seeing this post brought back a flood of memories from my college days of waiting for the next article to drop. This blog was the precursor of an entire genre of "generally interesting shit" that has kind of underpinned most of the spirit of podcasting today. Shows like 99PI, Stuff You Should Know, RadioLab and so on owe I think a little something to this blog. The…
Generally interesting shit, as a category, has been shedding audience figures. It's unclear which of the explanations for this is correct.
Could be the rapidly deteriorating attention span of the typical person that now doesn't have to look too hard to find answers to things in the first place anymore. Previous to the internet (not that this is anything new to say), most people had to learn a little bit about most things to get answers about them, especially if it wasn't something they had much of a natural proclivity for. Information retention isn't great either now. So mostly the audience for generally interesting things now is more limited to people with a specific interest in whatever that thing is, and people who just seek out interesting things. Though, and no disrespect to DamnInteresting intended, it also makes the interesting things seem less arcane, which also could be affecting your hits. People can be that way.
Re: A possible future for Damn Interesting
#43Heavens to Betsy. My server alerted me that traffic was far exceeding a median Thursday. For the record, I am a fairly active user on HN, but I was not responsible for sharing this link here, directly or otherwise. I have little stomach for self-promotion (probably to my detriment).
"Heavens to Betsy", what does it mean?
Re: A possible future for Damn Interesting
#44Heavens to Betsy. My server alerted me that traffic was far exceeding a median Thursday. For the record, I am a fairly active user on HN, but I was not responsible for sharing this link here, directly or otherwise. I have little stomach for self-promotion (probably to my detriment).
"Heavens to Betsy", what does it mean?
It’s an expression of surprise or disbelief, in the same vein as “oh my goodness.” It’s a bit old-fashioned; nowadays you’ll mostly hear it in cartoons and the like, uttered by little old ladies.
No shade to DamnInteresting; I find it quite endearing.
Re: A possible future for Damn Interesting
#45"Signs point to yes" Good luck!
Re: A possible future for Damn Interesting
#46I think remember you said in one episode you didn't want to run ads in the podcast so you could talk about anything you want, but most of the episodes are about one of historical events. Do you really think the sponsors would try to alter your content. Personally I wouldn't mind 1 or 2 ad spots in the episodes.
Well, our unwillingness to be beholden to sponsors is just part of the reason we avoid advertising, but it's not an empty concern. We've done stories that big brands wouldn't like (the true story of Colonel Sanders, the New Coke debacle, etc) and we frequently share some unflattering stories in our Curated Links section.
The larger reason is just that I personally despise ads. I take great measures to eliminate them from my life--paying for YouTube Premium, using the SponsorBlock plugin, running aggressive ad blockers on every device, piHole, etc. It would be quite hypocritical for me to add ads to my own content, I don't think I could live with myself.
I know that some podcast providers wrap ads around everything anyway, but that's between the listener and their provider, there are absolutely ad-free alternatives.
Re: A possible future for Damn Interesting
#47Hi Alan, good to see you again.
Another valuable creator I follow on a different platform went through the same thing about a year ago. I strongly recommend you reach out to him for guidance - he’s a good dude and will share how he broke out of the same death spiral.
Fraser Cain of Universe Today on Patreon.
There is a way out of this and the quality of your content is easily good enough to sustain a susbscriber-supported model.
Re: A possible future for Damn Interesting
#48Wife and I adore the podcast. Will be sending money. We love you guys.
Ditto on the podcast...still subscribed here. I also bought your book (Alien Hand Syndrome) way back when. Cheers!