As longtime readers will know, I had an ongoing column called Podcast Portal, which would highlight podcasts that I felt were worth listening to. As some of you likely noticed, it has tapered off over time, and it hasn't gotten quite as much attention on here as it used to. That is why I am announcing its integration into a more organized column called The Podcast Portal Monthly. That's right. Every month, I will attempt to find five shows to highlight that have made a strong impression over the past few weeks. While I will do my best to focus on "newer" shows, I am also going to be making a few changes.
What is the point of The Podcast Portal Monthly? For starters, there's a ridiculous amount of new content being released almost every day. It is impossible for me to keep up with it, especially with new quality shows popping up recently from MaximumFun and Earwolf Studios. While I would love to venture back into smaller and less known shows, I am planning on moving it into more of a variety of picks.
The first thing that's likely going to change is that my general assessment may be made on a few episodes as opposed to the general rule of thumb of one. The one catch is that they all had to have been released in that monthly time frame. While I don't intend to pick shows with established reputations (or those with 100+ episodes), I am probably not going to be as strict with merely picking *new* shows. For instance, I intend to cover Blank Check with Griffin and David for this upcoming entry. While it ran last year, it has altered format and become a different show entirely. It's worthy of mentioning, and I likely wouldn't have room to report on it had I stuck to my old guidelines.
Unlike before, the reviews are likely going to be truncated to paragraphs that summarize the show and their appeal. It still will have the episode and rating accompaniment, but there will not be any content that is as in depth as before. Also, the section referenced as "Worth a Second Go?" will likely be changed more to a general description of who the podcast will be for.
Speaking as this is generally a movie and TV-centric website, it is likely that the content will lean heavily on this factor. However, I do hope to share some additional interests. My one goal, as it has been with other content, is to not pick shows that push political agendas or promote hate speech. While my reviews occasionally reflect deeper beliefs, I don't feel that it's necessary to suggest podcasts that would isolate someone politically. While almost every show I recommend is promised to be opinionated, it will hopefully be from an aesthetic or quality standpoint. The only exceptions are historical podcasts that serve as a resource of information, such as Presidential.
The final, and obvious, goal is that my intention is to not have any overlap. The five mentioned are disqualified from having another appearance outside of the Listmania series. This is meant hopefully that within a year's time frame that I will have discussed 60 interesting shows. While this sounds difficult, just know that a quick search of iTunes charts will show that this is more than a plausible situation. I intend to release them during the last week of each month, though I am unsure at this moment about what day of the week I would choose.
Finally, I will answer the obvious question. Does this mean that Podcast Portal as a column is otherwise over? Not necessarily. I mostly expanded it to monthly because of how infrequently I had been posting. If there's a show worthy of mention, I will do my best to get an entry out there in an orderly time. That doesn't mean that it's disqualified from the monthly section, though it does make it more likely not to be picked. In fact, I am planning on writing a piece on West Wing Weekly following this post's publication - which is good but otherwise wouldn't have made the monthly cut.
I hope that this new format is more suitable to readers and that it inspires an interesting conversation. Hopefully it will inspire you to check out new shows and possibly share more titles with me. I love discovering new shows, and it is always difficult to report on the ones worthy of attention. I hope that this will do good in making it easier and that I can actually meet that quota of 60 recommendations in a year. Trust me. It should be easier than you think.
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