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TL;DR: Gear isn’t just about utility, it’s about excitement and energy. If a new piece of audio gear has you making more content, having more fun (or experiencing less stress), and it reduces the timeline from idea creation and idea execution, then please STOP punishing yourself for desiring new gear, and for buying new gear. (**caveat: as long as you can afford that new gear**).

My Portable Podcasting Gear List (2025 Edition).

1. Recording Device: any modern device with a USB-C port (that can run the free Røde Capture app).
2. Microphone: the Røde Wireless Micro system (USB-C).
3. Production: Auphonic.com where you get 2 hours of advanced and automated audio processing for free each month. I used this today for Adaptive Leveling, Noise Reduction, Reverb Removal, and hitting my LUFS targets. My Auphonic settings are in the show notes and the LinkedIn Newsletter.
4. Editing App / Software: Audacity for MAC and Windows. https://www.audacityteam.org/

John Lacey's Rode Micro Demo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97Ctq2CBlkc

LUFS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LUFS

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Where did all the Soundseeing Tours go in Podcasting?

TL;DR - Your Podcast doesn’t have to be an Interview Show or a Panel Show built (from format to presentation) to enable video production. It can be different, unique, more.

In 2012, when I first started ramping up my Podcast consumption into overdrive, one genre that I always enjoyed was the Soundseeing Tour genre. Travel, Language and Culture all wrapped up into an incredibly organic form of audio-storytelling. I’m not sure any Podcast genre has had me on the edge of my seat quite the way Soundseeing Tours did back in the day: What is going to happen next, and what will I hear next? So, I guess the question becomes, why aren’t Soundseeing Tours still getting produced, and if they are, why aren’t they getting shared, promoted and embraced by Podcast Listeners and/or the Podcasting Industry?

At the risk of sounding anti-video here (that’s not my intention), I think the reason is pretty clear, if your mindset is Video-First, then much of what makes Soundseeing Tours so unique can be easily reframed as uniquely-annoying elements of producing a show.

• Planning for travel and recording locations.
• Physical movement, and the ability to move and communicate at the same time.
• Dealing with unknown environmental variables like weather, temperature, noise and human activity.
• Permission and privacy considerations when recording on-location.
• The increased need for advanced storytelling skills to describe the Tour / Location in the audio format.

Call me selfish, but I genuinely hope we see (and hear) a return of the Soundseeing Tours in 2025. I want to experience more audio tours from Japan, Africa, Newfoundland (Canada), and the Pacific North East in the USA. I miss closing my eyes and just escaping to a different part of the world.

Theatre of the Mind is real folks, and audio is where the magic starts.

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If you happen to have Listened to some unique audio in Podcasting lately, please post in the comments here on LinkedIn or DM Josh on Instagram @joshuacliston . Speak to you again soon, and bye for now.

TL;DR: If you’ve done the work to produce a super polished audio show, then you’re not putting up an inferior product to video on YouTube, just a different one. Audio on YouTube is NOT fake video, it's expanded accessibility.

4 Reasons TO put Audio-only episodes on YouTube:

1. For Increased Accessibility. (Every day at my day job I sell TV's to folks from across the age and cultural spectrum, and the number of people that ask about running Wireless Headphones out of their TV's so they can easily listen to programs and shows continues to surprise me. YouTube is the app that gets the majority of mentions from Customers, and I think it's because a) the Customer themselves has mastered the YouTube interface and wants to stay there for everything, and b) the non-English versions of the YouTube app on the major TV-OS offerings are stable and navigable).
2. To allow non-technical people to map listening progress seamlessly across multiple devices.
3. To allow people (who Care) to comment, give a thumbs up, Subscribe to your show, and even support your show on-platform.
4. To take advantage of the streamlined UX (User Experience) on YouTube. (There is no account required to get to the content, and the YouTube app doesn't hassle you every second day for your email address and for your preferred genres/tastes/interests before you get to LiSTNR .... sorry .... sorry, I meant listen).

The caveat I often hear about Audio-on-YouTube is the "extreme drop-off rate", which I believe is real, but I would posit that the drop-off rate for almost all content posted to YT (audio, video, amateur mime, everything that's NOT Cats) is "extreme".

The Short-long of it: If someone likes to Listen to shows, they don't really care how or where it happens, as long as it works and it's as simple as Click Link >>> Press Play.

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Email me your thoughts to josh@jcaldigital.org or DM me on LinkedIn or on Instagram (@joshuacliston).