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The beauty of podcasting is that anyone can do it . It ’s a uncommon medium that ’s nearly as well-heeled to make as it is to devour . And as such , no two citizenry do it on the button the same way . There are a wealth of hardware and package solutions open to possible podcasters , so setups start the gamut from NPR studios to USB Skype rigs ( the latter of which became a sort of default during the pandemic ) .
This week , we spoke to Jody Avirgan , who cobalt - hosts“Summer Album / Winter Album”with the frontman of the American indie tilt dance orchestra The Hold Steady , Craig Finn . Each sequence find Avirgan and Finn debating whether a classic phonograph recording should be categorize as a “ summer album ” or “ winter album . ”
Avirgan – who previously hosted shows for Radiotopia , TED , FiveThirtyEight , and ESPN – tell us about his podcasting set - up of option . Here he is in his own Book :
“ Even when I worked at ESPN / FiveThirtyEight , I always had a household recording frame-up . Since leaving — which happened to cooccur with the start of the pandemic — I ’ve made my cellar recording studio apartment my main home . It ’s actually the kitchen of a cellar studio flat , so just off - frame , behind some drape , is a electric refrigerator ( unplugged ) , sink , and raft of cabinets .
“ But I ’ve hung tons of curtain , scattered soft things around , and put some reasoned dampening panels up . I call back it ’s now both informal and pretty warm - sounding . My mic is an Electro - Voice RE27N / D , a $ 500 studio mic .
“ To be clear : I do n’t make RE27 money . We purchase this mic when I was host 30 for 30 . I leave ESPN three weeks before the pandemic striking , and somewhere in there I wrote them an e-mail asking if they wanted me to return the mic . I never find a response , and I certainly did n’t write a follow - up . So I kept it . This is probably why Disney stock is down 20 % over the last five years . It ’s a very warm mic , but it ’s a giant .
“ When I ’m on the road , I bundle an AT2020 - USB+ , which plug the right way into my computer and I can knock out chase from wherever — commonly under a cover in a hotel closet , which is a podcaster ’s natural habitat .
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“ I run my mic through the FocusRite Scarlett 2i2 , a simple but mighty interface that lets me control my mic level and route right into my computing gadget , where I am often join people over Zoom or Riverside . I always record a local backup file using Hindenburg , which I then save to Dropbox . All road eventually pass to Dropbox .
“ The one space I vary from the typical Podcaster 101 outfit is in my headphones . Everyone has the Sony MDR-7506 , and I ’ve persist through my sightly share of those , but I really care the Rode NTH-100 earphone . They are just a little more comfortable , wait a little slicker , and so far the cushioning has n’t broken down in the way that the cushioning on the Sony ’s of necessity does , leading one to feel little bootleg flecks in their ears after tape .
“ Like a lot of podcasters , I ’ve been doing more and more picture poppycock lately . I ’ve used Descript for years , but as the worlds of audio and video recording have merged , I do almost all my editing in it at this point . I make societal telecasting of our conversations for “ This Day ” and “ Summer Album / Winter Album , ” but also original stuff I ’ve been playing with on Instagram .
“ I ’m doing a series each week where Itry to opine the titleof that week ’s New Yorker cover , and I record that right into Descript and sprain it around in like 20 minutes using a templet I built . Descript — I ’m a bounteous fan . It ’s very versatile , and it ’s courteous to work with a political platform that seems to give a bull about what podcasters need , as opposed to ProTools .
“ I presuppose I ’ve had to think about my visual setup a honest amount , too . I bought the webcam that the Wirecutter recommended , but honestly I favor the look of the MacBook camera , so I usually just apply that . In my background signal , I put some books to prove that I lie with how to understand ; a sign photograph of George Mikan , about whom there was a run bit in “ Death At The Wing ” — and $ 28 worth of simulated plants from Ikea .
“ I obstruct the view so I do n’t reckon people can even see that the plants are there ; but I care to know that they are there , and will always be there , because of forever plastics . ”
We ’ve antecedently asked others of our favourite podcast hosts and producers to highlight their work flow — the equipment and package they use to get the job done . The list so far include :
