Speaker 1: Creativity is an addiction unplugged because we will always say
yes to creativity totally incut because we all make mistakes.
Speaker 2: So turn it into a tool.
Speaker 1: This is arrow unplugged, hey zero, And this is d frag.
D frag is asking the questions and questioning the answers.
I do this in two forms of mediums, and one
of them is sitting down with a notebook, sheets of paper,
physical paper, with a writing instrument and asking the questions.
Because I believe the whole body becomes a part of
the system of choices when you write, whereas when you type,
you're just using your fingers and your mind.
Speaker 2: But I want the whole body to get involved.
Speaker 1: Those inner voices need to be activated by something, so
I keep it in a notebook. And number two when
we go out on these transition walks, a transition walk
through a forest in South Charlotte, North Carolina, where the
goal is to connect with nature, is to come out
here as a listener.
Speaker 2: But our heads are so full of so.
Speaker 1: Much content, the challenges, the changes, the defeats, some of
the victories.
Speaker 2: We don't talk much about the victories unless it's a
really good victory.
Speaker 1: But something so simple is left behind. So you've got
to learn how to ask the questions and then question
the answers. And you're not always going to like what
you get. But as you transition, you see a better you,
you feel better about you, and more importantly, you start
sharing a lot more of you with others who are
traveling beside you. The subject that I want to jump
onto right now, I don't know if you're going to
be able to dive into it as deep as I
really want to go, because I don't know where you
are in the chapters that you write. But I want
to talk about modern day broadcasting. It surprises me that
so many people have jumped into podcasting, which is amazing
to my heart. That's the reason why I created a
podcast called pod Crashing. It's designed to share the stories
of other podcasters who where, why, when, and how it
even happened. Fact, I'll be with Jason Alexander from Seinfeld
next week to talk about his podcast.
Speaker 2: But I love the.
Speaker 1: Idea when people do approach me to ask questions about podcasting.
But I'm also kind of I'm not troubled, but I
question when people that I haven't seen in a long
time step through the glass and they say, Hey, I'm
thinking about I want to get into radio, and I
kind of stop for a moment and I go radio, okay,
Now to find for me what.
Speaker 2: You think radio is.
Speaker 1: Are we talking about terrestrial radio listening through the dashboard
of your car or on a radio connected to maybe
your home system? What is radio in your life? And
the answers that I get are all over the place.
They'll come up with every reason why they want to
get into radio, and the majority of the time is
because I love music, I love sports, I love talking
about the news.
Speaker 2: I get it.
Speaker 1: I get it. What we have to do is define
what you think radio is.
Speaker 2: Now.
Speaker 1: I'm a broadcast instructor. I've been doing that since nineteen
eighty eight, and so I've grown with many, many, very
talented people and have watched them reach global levels because
they took a chance on this thing called radio. But
let's go back to nineteen eighty eight and let's define
what radio was. Back then, the dashboard of a car.
It's what we had sitting on our desk, could work.
It was right there with us at all times.
Speaker 2: I had a transistor radio when I was a kid.
Speaker 1: But in twenty twenty three, radio is your smartphone, it's streaming,
it's watching videos, it's making your own videos, it's creating
your own internet radio station. So, as I was talking
with this gentleman who wrote to me this morning, what's
so surprising is that I knew him when he was
barely six years old, and now that he's wearing adult shoes,
he's just reaching out.
Speaker 2: He's got a love for music.
Speaker 1: He's got this desire in his heart, which I love
it when people share that kind of stuff with me,
when they say that, hey, look, I really think I
should be telling the story of music and I want
to do a radio show. Now, did I say anything
about going to a school of broadcasting. Absolutely not. That's
something that you have to pick up on your own
and really develop because that is a lot of money
in a very short amount of time, and if it
doesn't pay off, you've lost a lot of money because
of that short amount of time. It was probably about
two years ago when the idea occurred to me. When
I'm with students and they're sharing with me the answer
to this question, who the hell are you and why
the hell are you here? And I hear their stories,
I digest their stories because I want to build with
them in the five short weeks that I'm person going
to be with them. The question is, in the process
of you wanting to be a communicator, why do we
have to put such a label as radio on it.
I rarely hear of anybody who says, well, I want
to go into television, that in itself is evolving in
huge ways with the streaming and what is I keep
seeing all these different things on Facebook that go You
can create your own TV station, yes you can, But
can you maintain your own TV station? Can you maintain
your own internet radio station? Can you afford the royalties
that you need to pay out because this music isn't free?
And the pictures that you want to put up on
your internet TV station they're not so free either. I mean, sure,
you can go out and you can make your own stories.
Now we're talking about the price of loyalty, dedication, determination,
the vision of what you're going to do, and when
things don't go your way, how are you going to
change as a person. You see what I'm doing here,
I'm defragging. I'm asking questions and then I will question answers.
Speaker 2: And when you.
Speaker 1: Move through those little moments where you have a day
of doubt or you have that little situation where you go,
I know this can work, but I can't figure out
where are the people?
Speaker 2: Okay?
Speaker 1: A lot of podcasters talk about that. They talk about
where are the people? And if you go onto LinkedIn,
there's going to be a lot of people that are
going to be knocking on your door saying, hey, I
can lead you to the people. But are they real people?
Are they real or are they just a bunch of
numbers bots as they call them bots. How do you
get by that kind of a situation where you've invested
a lot of money to get somebody to help you
find the people. But to me, the challenge is not
that they can show me where the people are? Can
you keep the people? See I'm doing it again. I'm defragging.
I'm asking the questions then questioning the answers. I would
love it if everybody had a podcast. I would love
to hear some of the podcasts that are coming out
of Ukraine, or the podcasts of those who were forced
to leave Russia because they didn't want to fight the war.
But they're living in another country and they're trying to
get the word out there because the availability is there.
At one point in time, having that free voice wasn't
always available on terrustrial radio or on regular television. But
these days, because of streaming, what's stopping you? I suggest
anchor dot FM, which is connected to Spotify.
Speaker 2: It's free.
Speaker 1: Most digital platforms will give you a little bit of
space to say what you need to say or to
create what you want to create. But you've got to
ask the questions and question the answers. Can you afford
where you're trying to grow? If you're feeling that moment.
It's not Facebook, it's not Instagram, it's not TikTok.
Speaker 2: It is your voice.
Speaker 1: Are you going to show up for a couple of
episodes or are you going to show up for a
lengthy stay? Create your own seasons. You're asking the questions,
the answers come out, you think, okay, I got it.
Then make it happen and be loyal to it. It's
a Saturday where I am right now, a Saturday. Most
people on Saturdays they don't do anything. They don't work
because it's a time off, or if they've got an
essential job, they're about ready to go to work.
Speaker 2: There I was in a studio.
Speaker 1: That's what it's all about there are no days of
rest when it comes to podcasting. Sure, you can put
up one episode a week. It all depends what you're doing.
I happen to put up several because I'm a radio
guy that happened to jump into podcasting back in twenty twelve,
and I've had to thin out my expectation by asking
the questions and questioning the answers. Where I used to
put in anywhere between nine to twelve hours a day
inside the studio doing the interviews, editing and posting and promoting.
Now I give myself only so much time because you
can oversaturate your presentation, and when you oversaturate it, the
listener is going to go too much. I'm getting too
much of this guy. He's driving me totally insane. So
ask the questions and question the answers. So, if you
were to create an internet radio station, what would you
put on it?
Speaker 2: What type of music?
Speaker 1: I've got two very very close friends that have their
own internet radio stations, and they're both doing pretty incredible.
Speaker 2: But to get there has.
Speaker 1: Required a lot of money and a lot of work,
especially when I said you got to pay for the music,
you got to pay the royalties. One of them features
nothing but monkeys music. Monkey's the nineteen sixties band. It
features only that music. It's a Monkey's Channel. Another one
has based their internet connection to several different styles of music.
It's called Our Beats. And she has done such an
amazing job at staying true to what her dream was
in making those connections with not only present day electronic DJs,
but to other entertainers who are trying to just get
their music out there and to be heard. She's done
a beautiful job. I'm so proud of what she has done.
And what's so funny is that she was one of
my students, and I'm just she's one of those people
that has gone global and with Alan and the Monkey's Channel,
he's just been a very good friend of mine for
thirty five years. But I knew they were hungry for it,
and that word hungry is a very valuable word. Are
you hungry enough to see it through? Or will you
become a part of the clutter? And the only way
to find that answer out don't listen to me, but
I'm just gonna say the only way to find out
that answer is to give it a shot, take a chance,
find out where you are. I mean, I've got a
very good friend. His name is Bill. Bill was one
of my students as well. Bill did pretty good in
sports radio as a producer. But he's been after me
for several years to start a podcast. I'm going to
start it, man, I'm going to start it. And then
he finally told me this year. I said, I want
to start it on March first. I want to start
my own podcast. He said he would start it on
March first. Today is March eighteenth. He's yet to have
started it. He's still playing around with the idea of
I don't know what to talk about, and I hear
that a lot. I don't know what to talk about. Hey,
I do a podcast. It's called CTCs. It's about me
working at a grocery store and sharing the experiences from
theft to section in the bathroom to whatever with people
who happen to be retail people as well. The listeners
come in and it's amazing how people react to something
so simple like that. How do you start a podcast?
What do you want to make it about? Ask the
questions and question the answers. I also have a podcast
that deals with creative spirituality. Why why would you be
so open with the way that you feel. I couldn't
bear my soul the way that you bear your soul
unless you could. If you believe in the person who
is going to receive, then you will show up. That's
where you find your dedication, your loyalty, and your determination.
Who are you trying to reach, Why do you want
to reach them? What do you foresee the connection becoming.
It's amazing and that could be a radio guy who
happens to be wearing a pair of podcasting boots. Ask
the questions, question the answers. I'm taking a walk through
a forest. It's an episode of a podcast. Why I
asked that question all the time, And the answer that
I get is because in your world, maybe you're not
taking that walk until today, and then you go out
there and you start receiving answers, and then you put
it on a page.
Speaker 2: Hi, Marril, And that's Steve Ragan