Interview: Lostcasts
Daisy Timm (DT): Welcome guys. I just would like to start by saying that I am a huge fan of the show. The three of you have a great chemistry together which makes the show so good. How long have you known each other?
BL: I've known Robert for about 5 years and John for about 4.
JK: We were all working together when we started the podcast.
DT: When did you each first discover "Lost" and what changed you from a viewer to a fan? Was it love at first sight?
BL: I watched bits and pieces of the pilot when it first aired, but it didn't take right away mostly because of how hectic my life is at 8pm on weekdays. That Christmas I started watching the reruns and got sucked in. Then I got TiVo and followed it closely from that point on.
As far as becoming a mega-fan, I happen to have a lot of friends that are huge "Lost" fans who were on the forums before I knew there were "Lost" forums. So it was greatly their influence pulling me from casual viewer to forum crawling podcaster.
JK: I was hooked from the pilot. It stood out as something different, and I immediately started comparing it to "Twin Peaks"...which I watched religiously. I haven't missed an episode since.
RS: I discovered a few shows into the first season. I eventually caught up thanks to all the repeats. It was love at first sight, I enjoyed the characters and the story. Most of all, I enjoy the fact the writers assume the audience is intelligent and will make connections. I expect it from HBO shows, but not a network show. The network is usually going to dumb a show down to hit the lowest common denominator.
DT: Who first suggested doing a podcast and why not a blog instead?
RS: I think it was John's idea, but I sat across from Brian so he is the one who asked me if I was interested. I don't blog, I'm a poor writer so I wouldn't have participated in a blog.
BL: I think that was me. We had been talking about podcasts a lot and wanted to experiment with one. We were also talking about "Lost" a lot. Add the fact that "Lost" already had a large online community and it seemed like a podcast would go over well for that audience. So the Thursday after episode one season two, I told John we should do a "Lost" podcast and by that afternoon he put the blog up. John and I were in from the start and we had asked a handful of other folks if they would want to join in and Robert was the only one who took us up on it. Then we recorded our first show that weekend. I may have had the initial idea, but John is really responsible for the format and actually putting everything together. Without him, it would still just be an idea that I had back in Sept 2005.
JK: I don't think it was me. Every morning after the new "LOST" episode aired, we would get into these deep conversations about theories and speculation. It was that conversation we wanted to get across with a podcast. I don't think we could do that with a blog.
DT: Was it as easy or hard as you thought it would be?
BL: Technically, it's pretty easy and I thought it would be easy. You just make an audio file and then post it. But John did all the tech stuff like getting the RSS feed setup, getting it set up on iTunes and finding a place to post the casts for download. So, with John doing all that initially, it was very easy for Robert and me.
RS: The show offers so much to talk about it's easier than I thought it would be. I still don't do enough or as much as Brian and John do.
JK: I was pretty shocked at how easy it was to start. Even the tech stuff wasn't difficult. The only thing I was really worried about was audio recording, since I didn't have any experience with it. But we got a really simple setup using free recording software (Audacity) and a good USB studio microphone (Samson CO1U). The microphone makes a HUGE difference. I would recommend that anyone thinking of doing a podcast put the money into the microphone. Of course, we've been tossing around the idea of doing a video podcast, so I might have to put my foot in my mouth very soon.
BL: The tough part is the research: Filtering through all the forums and reading hundreds of worthless and duplicate posts to find one good little bit of insight. But that's gotten easier over time as our audience have started sending us some of the best info out there so we don't have to search as hard. Our audience is much smarter than us, so the closer we stick with them the easier it is for us.
JK: I'd say we spend about as much time talking to our listeners as we do researching. We try to make it a point to reply to every single email, and that's taking quite a bit more time these days. But it's important for us to give our listeners a voice. We look to them for direction on the show, and take their comments and ideas seriously.
Ultimately, we want the podcast to be valuable to them. That's one of the reasons we spend so much time researching, and it's also one of the reasons we delay the recording of our podcast. We wait to see the conversation develop, for theories to be debunked, and for Easter Eggs to be found. It's one of the things that makes our podcast unique.
BL: Also getting used to being a kind of talk show person took some time. Trying not to talk too fast. Making sure my thoughts come out with a beginning and an end so we don't talk in circles or trail off into nonsense.
We're still working on that stuff, but we're getting better. Also, knowing how much non-"Lost" banter we should have. Ultimately, we look at Lostcasts as a show that people listen to because they love "Lost" and not because they love us, so we try to stay focused on the TV show and not make it the Robert, John and Brian show. And that's sort of become our niche in the "Lost" podcast realm I think.
DT: What's your favorite part about it? What makes you do it each week?
BL: I've got a lot of things I like about doing the cast. A lot of listeners say they like to listen because it's like they're sitting in a pub with three friends that happen to know a lot about "Lost." And that's what I like about it too. John and Robert are two friends I really enjoy hanging out with so that's the best part about it.
What makes me do it each week is our audience. They're a great group of people. They're really decent, humorous and intelligent. And the fact that this podcast has become a part of their weekly ritual is something I have a lot of respect for. We've got a listener in New Zealand who tells us they like to have our podcast for their Sunday nature hikes and that impresses me. So, I don't want to let that listener down. I want to have the podcast up early enough on Saturday to make his or her (I don't remember if it's a guy or a girl) Sunday hike. When our schedules don't work out and we can't do the podcast on Saturday it's a drag to read all the comments of people out there wondering when the cast will be up. I don't want to leave them hanging. We've got listeners all over the world in every nook and cranny you could imagine and knowing they're out there waiting for us is a pretty big incentive.
RS: Hanging out with Brian and John. Getting to chime in with wise cracks when they are really geeking out on something.
JK: One of my favorite parts of doing this podcast is learning about what Robert and Brian have found. We research stuff separately, which means we tend to find different things. Brian and Robert always manage to dig up something that I had no clue about. It's fun to discover those things in the middle of recording the podcast.
As far as why we keep doing the podcast; I love the show, and there's always something to talk about. But we have a fun time recording the podcast, too. I've said before that I wouldn't be doing the podcast if it were just me behind the microphone.
DT: You've mentioned on the show that you listen to the official "Lost" podcast. What other podcasts do you listen to? Any non-"Lost" ones?
BL: I don't actually listen to the official "Lost" podcast (I tend not to enjoy the hosts). And I don't listen to any of other "Lost" podcasts for that matter and don't know much about them (doing a podcast about "Lost" is enough "Lost" for me).
JK: I listen to every episode of the official "Lost" podcast, and some occasional episodes of other "Lost" podcasts. "Lost" podcasters are actually a kind of tight group, and many of our listeners say they listen to other "Lost" podcasts as well. Oddly enough, I really don't listen to our podcast at all, unless I was out of town that week, or couldn't make the recording.
BL: US Senator Barak Obama does a weekly podcast that's ground breaking in its openness for a politician with that high a profile. I love KCRW and take their Morning Becomes Eclectic, The Treatment, and Metropolis podcasts. And I'm a huge fan of This American Life so I'll grab that podcast as well. But mostly I listen to music where Matisyahu, The Flaming Lips and Mason Jennings are pretty high up in the rotation these days.
JK: I really like the Channel Frederator podcast, as well as Diggnation. KCRW has a ton of great podcasts, and I'm also following a few of the G4 TV podcasts, since I don't get it on my TV at home.
RS: The Onion Radio News, Ricky Gervais, Slate Explainer, Across the Sound.
DT: Well guys, thank you so much for taking the time to answer all my questions. I have a thousand more, but you have a podcast to put on.
You can check out my overall review of "Lostcasts" here.
Stay tuned next week for an episode review of NPR: Pop Culture.
Powering Off.
posted by Daisy Timm at 11:07 PM
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