Georgia Podcast Network

I think Thomas and Nikki are onto something with Politics is Vocal. A lot of people have ideas for a single issue (or person, television show, etc.) they'd like to discuss in a podcast, but don't end up doing so because they don't want to invest in equipment for a one-off recording.

With our new Skype line, we now have the capability to easily pipe phone calls and voicemail messages into podcasts. So, we're opening up the floor to you. If you have a live event you'd like to cover but no audio equipment to cover it with, you can dial into our voicemail system and leave messages up to ten minutes long with interviews, observations, and rants.

In addition to Politics is Vocal, we envision creating a show consisting entirely of your voicemails that is sort of a cross between Overheard in New York and the AJC Vent/Hello Butts County community grievance lines. So, call us and leave a rant! Rants about local topics are more likely to be published, but we'll include rants about anything if they're clever enough.

Please leave a name and phone number/e-mail address. We WON'T include that info in the podcasts or sell it or anything like that, it's just so we can verify the authenticity of the recordings if necessary. Our phone number is (678) 389-9441.

UPDATE: Note: you don't need Skype to leave a voicemail. You can call the number from any regular phone.

A few months ago, I had the idea (that I thought was original at the time) to create a product where users could add audio comments to posts, then listen to the audio sequentially — sort of a podcast created in bits and pieces at varying times and locations.

Then Skype added a feature to its software that let up to 100 users speak on a conference call at once (which in turn isn't hard to record and post somewhere). That happened before I even had time to look up a venture capitalist's phone number.

Well, now it appears video sharing site Grouper has upped the ante, adding a feature to its site where users can add video comments through a web cam. The videos and video commenting software all work through Flash, and can be embedded on a web site the same way YouTube videos are.

All I can say is... wow! View an example of the technology in action here. It's similar to what I wanted to make, except mine was going to be audio-only.

If this catches on, it could dethrone YouTube. What I know for certain is this is the first application I've ever seen that actually made me want to buy a web cam.

h/t Techcrunch

Amber and I appeared on the Cup O' Joe show last night, which you can check out at the White Rose Society site (click here and scroll down to the link labeled Saturday, May 6th, 2006, or download directly from this link). Something happened with the site's automation that tacked about a minute and a half of silence on the beginning, but it's there. So, just download and click past the first minute and a half.

It was fun, as always. Using Skype, Joe has it wired up so guests can call in, and Amber and I had a conversation with an actual caller. Neat! On the car ride home, we talked about two or three months from now trying to get the same thing rigged up so we could do a live show (which would then be posted as a podcast later).

I'm also glad we went on because it had been a month and half since I'd actually tried to have a recorded conversation that lasted more than a minute or so. The early shows we've been putting up are from a backlog of interviews we recorded long before the site actually launched. There were moments last night when I was groping for what to say, and moments when I didn't sound as articulate as I would have liked. So, it was real good to get the rust out before we talk to Kos and Jerome on Tuesday at their book signing.

Thanks for having us on, Joe!

Cross-posted on Radical Georgia Moderate