Who are you and what’s your podcast about?

My name is Jon Watkins and this is my wife Jenn. I have been a morning radio host for over fifteen years. Secretly behind the scenes, my wife has been the funny one, writing my best on-air stuff. During the pandemic, with our kids downstairs destroying the house, we decided to give podcasting a try. We love to travel and seem to come back from every trip with a disaster story or a list of “don’ts” for next time. So, that’s what we decided to do for our podcast! Anyone can give you travel “tips” but not everyone can share a story about being on a cruise ship in a hurricane. Or spending the day chasing down Kevin Bacon in Napa. But we can!

What’s the first podcast you ever listened to?

It was the same for both of us, Serial Season 1.

Why did you decide to start podcasting in the first place?

I think that we were late to the party. Everyone kept talking about “My Favorite Murder“, the “Joe Rogan Experience” or “Serial”. We decided to listen to the latter and then compare notes each night. Jon was usually wrong with his assessment of each episode.

Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?

Although we are a travel podcast, we are not striving to be a bland travel guide. We have great stories!. We want our stories to be engaging and inspire the listener to go on another adventure. That’s the whole point of, Our Savings Starts Tomorrow. We’re so excited to book our next trip, that our savings will have to wait. As for inspiration, we both love Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. Other podcasts that we listen to (separately, I swear we don’t do everything together) are; Revisionist History, Office Ladies, SmartLess and Absolutely Not.

Who’s your dream guest for the podcast?

We’d love to interview celebrities and comedians who share their travel stories. We both loved Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy TV series, so he’s on our list. Andrew Zimmern is another. Of course, Conan O’Brien too since he has his travel show.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as a podcaster?

We do a twenty minute podcast, which means we spend more time doing stuff for the podcast instead of actually recording it! It’s hard to stand out when there are so many podcasts; including a ton hosted by celebrities! When every former TV show has a nostalgia recap podcast hosted by its star, it’s difficult to compete. The worst part? We love those recap shows! Have you listened to Welcome to Our Show by the cast of New Girl?! So good.

Which episode would you say is the perfect introduction to your podcast?

Our Denver episode was a lot of fun and one of our more recent episodes. We added in a new segment where we share reddit travel stories, and that was fun to do. Make sure to listen so you can hear about being pulled off a bus in the Brazilian Rainforest with a gun to your face! Each episode is stand alone, so find one where you want to visit. Disney World? We have a three-part on the parks. Alaska? There’s an entire episode dedicated to it. Nashville? We’ll tell you the bars that the celebrities hang out at. Oh, one more- if you listen to the Cabo episode, you’ll hear what happens when you drink the unfiltered water (spoiler… it’s not great).

Where can the Pod Bible readers find out more about you?

We’re everywhere! Of course, please start by listening to our podcast on whichever directory you use. Our Instagram is @OurSavingsStartsTomorrow. We recommend starting there so you can see some cool travel pics. Or www.oursavingsstartstomorrow.com.

Listen to Our Savings Starts Tomorrow on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast apps.

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First off, who are you and what’s your podcast about?

My name is Nick Taylor, I’m an audio producer and musician. My Teenage Band features interviews with people from all kinds of different fields about their young attempts at musical stardom. I’ve spoken to writers, artists, actors, comedians, fellow podcasters and illustrators about the musical project of their teenage years. We find out the highs and (mostly) the lows about playing music at a young age. Essentially it’s a love-letter to young music-making.

What was the first podcast you ever listened to?

Probably Mark Kermode & Simon Mayo’s film review, which I still listen to religiously every week.

Why did you decide to start podcasting in the first place?

I’ve been working in radio for over ten years now, but I’ve been looking out for an opportunity to do something off my own back for a while. It just so happened that during lockdown in 2020, I finally had slightly more brain space to come up with something and develop it. Over the summer, a friend of mine started messaging me pictures of old things he’d found: photos of his teenage band rehearsals, and cassettes. It got me thinking how universal that whole experience is. I was in bands from the latter half of my teenage years and throughout my 20s. Even though none of them really got beyond the basic pub circuit of London and Leeds, I still look back on all of it with such fondness. So I thought, why not try and speak to other people about it?

Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?

In terms of other interview podcasts it’s hard to get away from the obvious stuff like Adam Buxton‘s podcast, which is a masterclass in keeping a conversation casual and occasionally silly but still really engaging. Anything with just an effortless rapport between co-hosts is a winner, like The Read or You’re Wrong About. Also something like James Acaster’s Perfect Sounds, which manages to feature a great conversation that isn’t afraid to get geeky about music, but is also funny and crucially under half an hour long which I try to do as much as possible!

Who’s your dream guest for the podcast?

There are two answers to this really! There are people whose former lives playing music when they were younger are well documented like Andi Oliver, Lauren Laverne, Mark Kermode and Peter Capaldi, I’d absolutely love to talk to them. But also there’s the people whose teenage band stories haven’t been uncovered yet. I’d love to know if someone like Michaela Coel, Tom Hanks, Catherine O’Hara or Nicola Adams have ever dabbled in playing music.

What’s the biggest lesson you’ve learnt so far as a podcaster?

As the thing I want to talk to people about is very rarely on their CVs, there’s been a lot of blind reaching out to people and essentially going “Hey! You’re cool! Were you ever in a band?”, and sometimes that’s actually worked out. So I guess I’ve learned to not be afraid to approach anyone who I’d love to interview just in case. Some of the names I’ve managed to get have been incredible, especially for Season 2, which will be starting soon! Also in my day job at a national radio station I’m very used to nothing getting on air until at least one other person has heard my work, so it’s a bit daunting at first doing something like this entirely on your own. I think it’s really important to have one or two extra pairs of ears on anything you do just to catch little mistakes or things that can be improved upon. I sent the first episode to about 6 close friends before it went out, and my partner now somehow finds the patience to listen to each episode beforehand as well, for which I am eternally grateful… even if I haven’t yet got as far as giving her the on-air exec producer credit she keeps asking for.

Which episode would you say is the perfect introduction to your podcast?

Either Episode 6 with Alex Goldman from Reply All who was such a delight, or the very first episode with Cheri Percy and Fliss Kitson talking about their feminist punk band ‘Violet Violet’. The way they talked about the good and the bad bits of their teenage band days, and the strong emotional hold the band still has on them, was exactly what I was hoping to get out of talking to people for this podcast so I couldn’t have asked for better first guests really.

Where can the Pod Bible readers find out more about you?

The podcast is on Twitter and Instagram @myteenageband, we have a website myteeenageband.com, and I’m on Twitter and Instagram myself @nick_tea.

Listen to My Teenage Band on ACAST, SPOTIFY and all OTHER PODCAST APPS.

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The post My Teenage Band // Sharing youthful attempts at musical stardom appeared first on POD BIBLE.

Hi Rosie! Your podcast evolved from your work in different mediums – first your book Is Monogamy Dead? and then solo stage show The Conscious Uncoupling. What made you decide to make The Breakup Monologues as a podcast?

The creative lineage dates back even further than that! The Conscious Uncoupling was the final part of a trilogy of solo comedy shows that began with The Science of Sex. I toured that around the U.K. in 2009 and 2010 but have revived it for subsequent performances in New York, Sydney and at Edinburgh Fringe. That was a silly lecture all about the psychology of attraction, the kind of subversive sex ed. lesson we all wish we’d had at school. But behind my grubby lab coat, makeshift props, spoofy ancient love poems and graphs was a serious intent to get to the bottom of how relationships worked… and sometimes didn’t!

So there’s been this more serious line of psychological enquiry underpinning my creative work about love for over a decade. I think it stems from growing up gay and feeling different. There are many things about love and attraction that are universal but some that are different for queer partnerships. Did you know that lesbians divorce at a much higher rate than anyone else? That surprised me. But also made me feel better about my very serially monogamous past. It’s not atypical for a queer woman.

Did you take inspiration from any podcasts in particular before you started?

I guested on The Guilty Feminist to talk about my book Is Monogamy Dead? (which had stemmed from the middle part of the aforementioned trilogy) just before starting The Breakup Monologues. So that definitely inspired me to record the second and third seasons live at Kings Place. Although I’m changing format and feel for the new season [which started on 12th February]. That’ll have more of a magazine feel with separate interviews linked by me. That was also a format familiar to me because I’ve presented a show on Resonance FM for many years. So, if anything, my original inspiration came from radio… and the sort of mix of intelligence and humour of some of Radio 4’s artsy and cultural output, Woman’s Hour, Loose Ends and so on.

What is the most valuable lesson you have learned as a podcast producer since the start of The Breakup Monologues?

To be adaptable. Lockdown threw a big spanner in the works for me. I’m a live performer. It’s in my blood. So it took me a while to adjust to the fact that live shows weren’t going to be happening again for a while. I also had to figure out how to replace the lost ticket sales income. Fortunately a couple of superfans came to the rescue and put some money into the new season.

Also, to think about your USP. When I began talking about breakups onstage and in the podcast, audiences said it was so needed. Breakups weren’t talked about. Now there are more podcasters and authors discussing them. Which is what I was trying to achieve in a way. But now I also think I have to work harder to make The Breakup Monologues distinctive. And I think the cerebral/science angle about the parallels between addiction and heartbreak, or the sociological aspects of how polyamory changes the conversation about breakups and the way we bring those ideas in alongside the more personal anecdotes, is the kind of thing I have always enjoyed doing. Some of my favourite reviews of my book were the ones that acknowledged that there was clearly a huge amount of research that had been done but that research came across in such a light, accessible way. Also, I think inclusivity is a big thing for me. Not just in terms of sexuality. One of my favourite guests was Lynn Ruth Miller, who talked about dating and sex for the over eighties!

Earlier this year, you were awarded funding from the British Podcast Awards and Wellcome Trust to make a miniseries, My Chemical Romance. Where did the idea for these bonus episodes come from?

I had been aware for a few years of the work of neuroethicist Brian D. Earp into the idea of ‘love drugs’ and ‘anti-love drugs’ that could either help us to stay in a relationship or reduce the trauma of leaving one. Could the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind actually become a reality? So when the Pulse Award scheme from BPA and Wellcome was announced, it seemed like the perfect idea to explore in a double bill.

Did you have to produce this series in a different way to your regular episodes?

Yes. Although that hadn’t been the plan. I wanted to record these as a live double bill at Kings Place with a diverse and intelligent panel including Brian. However, the event was scheduled for late March, just at the start of lockdown. So instead I recorded a socially distant conversation with Brian and then did something completely new. I put an open call out online for listeners to submit their stories about how drugs we already take such as SSRIs, birth control pills etc had affected their romantic lives (and had perhaps had side effects of acting like an anti love drug). This was really interesting to put together.

And did you learn different things from doing the My Chemical Romance miniseries?

I suppose I felt more confident that you can still make great content without necessarily needing celebrity names. Obviously The Breakup Monologues has had some big names and will continue to do so. It does help with getting the word out and getting media or social media attention. But a great story or a new, intriguing idea is still worth a lot too.

What is something as a podcast producer you haven’t tried yet but would like to?

Over lockdown, I’ve been listening to a lot of the classic long form investigative or storytelling shows like Serial, S-Town, The Missing Cryptoqueen and Passenger List. I am desperate to make something like this, where you start off with a question but then maybe go off on other fascinating tangents. I have an idea I love for a series like this. But I might need some production support and finance to really do it justice. So we will see.

In the meantime, I’m also adding a slightly more themed and narrative approach to the latest season of The Breakup Monologues. There will be one particular episode where I’ll be unravelling the mystery of why one tiny breakup, after only a couple of casual dates, ripped right to the heart of all my vulnerabilities and kind of defied the ‘normal’ breakup rules of how much something is supposed to hurt if it hasn’t lasted very long. It’s a very nuanced change in atmosphere but the listening experience might feel a bit more like chapters of a book.

How do you experience other podcasts as a listener? Can you turn off your editing ear and just enjoy shows, or do you always tune in to the things you would have done differently yourself?

I tend to enjoy podcasts in different genres to mine. Although recently I have been listening a lot to the clever use of music in other podcasts. I always just had a fun little theme that came in and out at the start and end. But now we’ve got another piece by the same composer which fades in and out throughout the show as well. It’s a very simple change but one that points to the slightly different direction I’m taking things.

Do you have a dream guest?

I mentioned the film Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind above. It’s one of my all time favourites. I’d love to interview Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet about how they’d feel if the memory erasure process depicted in the film became a reality. They’ve had a few divorces between them. I wonder if they’d erase their ex-partners!

And now it’s coming full circle and you’ve been commissioned to write a book based on the podcast! Can you tell us about that?

The Breakup Monologues book will be published by Bloomsbury at the end of May. It tells my own story of trying to learn from my breakups, and from all the experts and friends that I’ve interviewed, and figuring out how to actually try and stay in a relationship at last. I think my breakups have proved to be such learning experiences, and ultimately really positive, that I’ve become a bit of a breakup addict. Is it possible to do that much active learning and growth while actually staying in a relationship? We will see!

Where can Pod Bible readers find out more about you and the show?

The Breakup Monologues is on Instagram @breakupmonologues where I post fun backstage images from the live shows, exclusive extracts, bonus content and ideas from the show and book. I’m also on Twitter @rosiewilby. It would be great to hear from people there. Otherwise there’s my website www.rosiewilby.com, the show is available on all good podcast platforms, my first book is available from all great bookshops as a paperback, ebook and audiobook and the new book is available now to pre-order. 

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