The Zesty Zoy Pod
I have been Podcasting!
Unlike some other things I have done, I apologize for not posting about my very first podcast episode last month. I have been too lazy and not really focusing on Medium blogging too much.
But overall, I did start a podcast called the Zesty Zoy Pod! I mostly advertise to my colleagues and friends through Spotify, since it seems like it is the best source, as almost everyone uses Spotify. It is also on Apple Music and Google Podcasts since those seem to be very popular options as well (especially with how Google Search has a nice interface when the Zesty Zoy Pod is searched)
Obviously it had to have Zoy in its name since it is indeed my signature trademark (whatever that means), and a cool word in general. The Podcast cover design was just something quick, creative, and minimalistic that I whipped up on a photo editor.
The thing on the bottom left is a nice flat hawaiian pizza (pineapples of course!), which is indeed quite ‘zesty’ — if we’re speaking on the pineapple juice’s acidity — around the same acidity as an orange, which is very very very zesty!
Ever since the 5th episode or something like that, I have been making daily podcast episodes. There is no like pre-recording a bunch then scheduling the uploads — I must do one every day for the integrity. And this podcast is versatile, it talks about almost everything, and it can bring on almost every type of guest.
Usually, episodes I record alone is around 15–20 minutes long and with guests, it can range from 20–50 minutes long depending on the amount of topics and how comfortable the guests are with sharing a bunch of zesty info!
Starting from like the mid 20s episode, I decided to whip up a quick soundtrack using Garageband to serve as the podcast’s intro, thanks to a suggestion from my good friend Martin (though I was also considering this a while too). It turned out very zesty and nice; quite original too! Brings the hype whenever someone plays an episode from the start.
As of now, I am 41 episodes through. I hope I can continue with 1+ podcast episodes per day for the rest of the year (challenge!!!!!), and I can’t wait to reach the milestone of episode 50 and 100 (and eventually 200…. maybe 1000 when the time comes?????). It has been quite an interesting journey so far, and I can probably make more specific Medium posts that goes more into detail in my podcasting journey.
Tech Used
For the podcast hosting stuff, I had a bunch of options — both free and paid, a bunch of both. But at the end, I ended up choosing a paid option, rss.com.
I first chose it since it seemed like the ‘official’ one (though there probably is not one), since the RSS Feed is basically the thing that the podcast services like Spotify needs. Heck I can probably host one on a personal website or something, but it may need specific formats of the RSS Feed XML file that it ultimately reads from.
This is pretty interesting to find out, since basically all my sound files for podcasts can be accessed through the RSS feed link. Don’t know if it needs to be kept private, or what the big podcasters use for it.
Overall though, although the backend might be a bit laggy (or frontend idk) for the user experience, everything still works great, I have no complaints. I had to pay 100 something for a year, but I know this is worth it since some other free options have a limit. I do daily episodes which may vary in length so that is why I just want to play it safe.
For the recording software I use, it is the Voice Memos app that is default installed onto my Macbook (and MacOS). It seems quite reliable, and not a big deal overall since it’s just recording voice.
For guests, I switch over to Zoom. It seems quite reliable, the call recording options are solid, and retains quality. The only bad thing is when I have 2+ guests, there is a 40 minute time limit which may not be as nice if longer episodes are needed. But aside from that, there are no complaints.
Finally, for my mic/headphones, I use a Logitech G432 gaming headset. I got this in March, since I decided to stop using the Macbook built in mic/speaker to do daily standup calls and such since it is a bit annoying. I also did not like using Airpods or earbuds since it may be annoying sometimes. (a lot more context coming in my full review of the Logitech G432 headset).
But overall, this headset is solid. The built in mic is very nice, and the audio is good as well.The long in-line cable means that I can move around a lot very easily during the podcast episodes, in case I need to grab something. It is also comfortable, and my head is quite adapted to it.
So this is my post on the Zesty Zoy Pod. A great up-and-coming podcast that I have been doing so far, and I have been very grateful of the experiences that I have had with guests, as well as making episodes by myself. A very fun experience, and hopefully I can make more posts about it!