Sitting in a restaurant, riding on a motorbike, walking in the Old City or waiting in line at an ATM you can see people plugged in, with headphones in ear and smart phone or iPod in hand. While some may be listening to the latest trendy tracks, more and more are listening to a podcast.
For the past 5 months I have found myself at the end of the day covered in sweat, coated in a layer of dust and my mind buzzing with Thai words that collected in my head during a day of teaching in Thailand. On arriving at home I toss down my bag and switch on TED Radio Hour. The hour-long audio show is one of my many post-teaching-podcast-go-tos.
Living, working, volunteering, travelling, and trekking in a foreign country can make you feel disconnected, culturally and linguistically, to home. Podcasts have bridged some of that gap for me during my time in Thailand. Not only can I surround myself by fast-paced English but I can also dive into topics from home like the most recent political turmoil or current social trends.
While my own interest in podcasts has increased while traveling abroad, podcasts have had a large growth in popularity over the last year. iTunes now has 250,000 unique podcasts which totals to over 8 million episodes, with the number of subscribers surpassing 1 billion.
A pod-what?
For those who have not yet been bombarded by Facebook posts on Serial and have no idea what a podcast is, they are audio recordings that can vary widely in style and topics, from dense debate shows to light comedy routines, and can be streamed online or downloaded. They are typically a series broken into chapters and a listener can subscribe to automatically download the most recent instalment.
Podcasts came to be in 2000 but they did not gain larger followings until iTunes added podcasting in 2005. The Google search trend shows the initial spike in searches starting in 2005, reflecting this initial expansion, with another peak at the end of 2014.
There are many facets to podcasting that make it an attractive and addictive form of information as well as entertainment. One particularly appealing piece is how simple it is to make your own. All you need is a microphone, a computer and a decent internet connection.
Want to make a podcast of phone conversations where you shoot the shit with your friends? Easy (already been done: The B.S. Report). Want to make a podcast solely based on the world of J.R.R. Tolkien? Not a problem (also already been done: The Tolkien Professor). The directions to take and topics to cover are endless and, with access to the internet and forms of listening to podcasts expanding, the audience is ever-growing.
Walking the Earth
A few podcasters have taken on topics centred around people or activities here in Chiang Mai. One such podcaster is Michael Margolies. He began his podcast, Walking the Earth, when he left the United States after working as an engineer for five years. Travelling with no itinerary or set path he began to not only discover interesting places but interesting people as well. The 30-50 minute podcast consists of an interview with a fellow traveller, backpacker, or expat discussing their experiences abroad.
A large majority of the now 65 instalments take place in Chiang Mai with the focus on people residing here permanently or temporarily. Ranging from interviews with Damien Walter, a digital nomad, to an interview with John Monoon, a local artist, the podcast portrays the unique variety of foreigners and locals in the city.
Mike reminisces about starting the podcast and how “it has evolved as [he has] through [his] travels.”
When asked, he gives two reasons for starting a podcast rather than a more traditional forum like blogging. The first being, the “raw, unscripted” quality of a podcast compared to the edited and formatted nature of a blog. His background with improv-comedy led him to off-the-cuff conversations. The second reason that he gives is that a podcast is a unique way to track his experience and expand his network with fascinating and passionate people.
While the podcast has served as a timeline for his travels as well as an opportunity to improve personal skills such as communication and web design, he states that the main objective of the podcast is to expose people to the many different experiences that a person can have abroad.
Thai Girl Talk
Mia, an energetic Thai woman, begins every podcast of Thai Girl Talk with the simple greeting of ‘sawat di jao’ after some funky, upbeat intro music. With the assistance of Lanni, a Thai American, they launch into either a cultural topic like ‘saving face’, a linguistic lesson like ‘Thai words with heart’, or a practical lesson on living in Thailand like ‘how to ride a songtaew’.
The duo walks through the challenges foreigners face when learning the Thai language and culture. Mia is the driving force in the podcast while Lanni jumps in with clarifying questions. With this set up you can be that curious kid at the front of the classroom constantly raising their hand with questions, but safe and sound in your own bed, at a café, or on your daily bike ride to work.
Mia launched Thai Girl Talk here in Chiang Mai as a more unique and interesting way to teach Thai. She also wanted to be able to “add the cultural part of Thai language” so people will understand “not just what but also why.”
In explaining the process of starting the podcast, Mia reflects that initially she wanted each segment to be perfect with “fancy equipment” and pre-scripted lessons. After two or three episodes though, she realised the value in the spontaneity of an un-scripted dialogue. Since then, every episode is recorded without Lanni knowing the content so all of her questions and comments are genuine and in the moment.
Mia originally intended the podcast to be for foreigners who were deciding whether or not to learn Thai, and Mia hoped that keeping each lesson brief, with no more than 10 new vocabulary words, would encourage people to learn both about the language and the culture. She has recently relocated to New York and hopes to continue with podcasting by developing a podcast for Thai people living in the United States and learning English.
“Your name here” Podcast
Throughout this article I am sure your own creative ideas have been flowing and you are gearing up to get started with your own podcast on Chiang Mai cuisine or a new rendition of Cash Cab called ‘Songtaew Salary’. If you already have an idea, grab a microphone and start recording.
If you are unsure where to start, StoryCorp, a non-profit based in New York, recently developed an easy to use recording app that guides you through the steps of an interview. The creator, Dave Isay, says in an interview with PBS, “If we take the time to listen, we’ll find poetry, wisdom and magic in the stories of the people we find all around us.” This app provides a platform to preserve these stories.
If you have no desire to listen to your own recorded voice (I certainly do not), but still want to listen to some new podcasts you can find more using iTunes or Podcast Land. Whether you want to listen to podcasts about Chiang Mai or dive into topics from around the world there will be a podcast for you. And if not, you can make one yourself!