Listen Notes is a podcast search engine that lets any listener keep a record or playlist of podcasts and/or specific episodes that  they want to listen to later. Users can create more than one playlist. Others can subscribe to any of your Listen Later playlists, so they could be used as a way to curate a list of podcasts/episodes for your listeners, followers, or students. 

I mention this partly because I recently claimed my academic podcast The A&P Professor in the  Listen Notes  platform. Whenever I find a new directory or list of podcasts, I look for mine. If it's there, I claim it (if they offer that). If it's not listed, I do everything I can to get it listed.

It's a short answer: because I want my podcast to be everywhere. Maybe only a handful of future followers of my podcast will find it at  Listen Notes But that's a handful that may not have otherwise followed me. Also, the more places a link to my podcast shows up, the more likely it is that ordinary search engines will take notice. And, therefore, the more likely it is that my podcast will be found outside of  Listen Notes, too.

I'll be sending out a note on Twitter, Instsgram, Facebook, and perhaps even The Academic Podcaster blimp. That puts my podcast out there in front of folks again—the never-ending essential task of marketing. And it tells listeners and potential listeners, "here's a specific platform you can access with one click, now, where you can find my podcast." And who knows, maybe they'll be happy with that cool feature of making curated playlists.

Another reason I mention it now is that  Listen Notes recently published an interview with me about my academic podcast: 

Provide New Scientific Discoveries & Teaching Strategies For A&P Teaching Faculty

You may want to click that link and read the interview because it contains a lot of information on the whys and hows of my academic podcast. Things that might give you some ideas for your academic podcast.

Any podcaster in the  Listen Notes system can request an interview. Which means our podcast will get even more exposures and even more search-engine optimization (SEO). That is, it'll make us seem more popular and important and the search engines will do better at making sure searchers find us quickly and easily. 

And it costs nothing!

   

One of my favorite podcasts for podcasters (PFPs) is Evo Terra's daily show, Podcast Pontifications. 

Evo is a self-described contrarian and podcasting philosopher who muses about what's working or not working or what may or may not be working in the future. Did I mention he's also sort of a podcasting futurist? Podcast Pontifications comes out every morning, Monday through Friday, and for me, it's a "must listen." 

During November and December, Evo usually takes what he calls his "long winter's nap" and gets all refreshed for a new season to start the following January. And during that time, he puts out occasional bonus episodes, where a guest podcaster takes Evo's place for one episode. 

Guess what? Today it was my turn to be the guest CPF (contrarian-philosopher-futurist) on Podcast Pontifications!

In an episode called Temper Your Harsh Critic By Looking For a Podcast's Best Trick, I describe what I call my "best trick" technique for listening to other podcasts. 

The "best trick" technique is based on my early days as a wild animal trainer-in-training, when my mentor would watch other animal acts with me and then challenge me to pick each act's "best trick." Any answer I gave had to be defended. Thoroughly. And by doing so, I learned a lot about what makes a good trick, a good act, and a good trainer. But I also developed a habit of looking first and foremost for the best things in anything I'm critically analyzing.

In the episode, which is best listened to yourself, I tell how the "best trick" technique started, how I began applying it to my teaching in higher education, and how it works for me as a podcaster when I'm listening to other podcasts and trying to learn from them. 

Like all Podcast Pontifications episodes, it's a short and pithy episode. I bet you have 9 minutes you could spare right now to listen to it! Of course you do!

   

This is the first post of a blog called The Academic Podcaster. 

It's not an ordinary blog, it's a piece of a larger effort coming out of a private online community called Academic Podcasting. And it is—or will be—a vehicle for an upcoming new podcast called The Academic Podcaster. But the question begs itself: what is an "academic podcaster?"

Put most simply, an academic podcaster is a podcaster (duh!) whose mission serves an academic mission. That is, it serves students, faculty, scholars, librarians, learning scientists, support staff, educational administrators, alumni professionals—well, that list goes on and on, right? 

An academic podcast could also be speaking from outside academia to support an academic mission, such as facilitating changes in academia—such as advocating for educational reform or promoting diversity and inclusion in academia.

Academic Podcasting grew out of the Textbook & Academic Authors Association (TAA). In the summer of 2020, I presented a Summer Webinar called Why Textbook & Academic Authors Should Be Podcasting. Right Now. It turned out that a handful of interested participants were willing to continue on as a small group to learn more about developing their academic podcasts and being in a community of support. As the mentor of this merry band, I started putting together some instructional content and decided to launch a new podcast as a sort of learning lab. And The Academic Podcaster was born.

The Academic Podcaster is still under development. There's a lot of foundation to be laid before a successful podcast is launched! However, the launch will be coming sooner rather than later. That's how we learn, right? Diving off the cliff before we lose our nerve.

If you'd like to be part of our community and be a living part of The Academic Podcaster, please go to AcademicPodcasting.org and register. It's a free community, but you do  have to register for it because it's separate from the chaotic world of public social media.

Whether you are a teacher considering the use of podcasting to establish a more intimate connection with your remote students, a scholar who wants to expand their network or their recognition as an expert, a textbook author want to connect with your teachers/learners, or any kind of educator or academic, you'll find something of interest in our community. That's because you'll be there and you'll help make that happen!

If you want to stay up to date with this blog, which will also publish all episodes of The Academic Podcaster as they become available, here are some options (easiest option first):

• Option One: Simply click here!
• Option Two: Text "The Academic Podcaster" to (+1) 781.262.3877 (data or message charges may apply)
• Option Three: Fill out the form at kevin.feedblitz.com and make sure "The Academic Podcaster" is selected (and deselect the other newsletters you may not be interested in)