How I Got Into Podcasting

This April will mark 10 years for me podcasting, and thus 10 years of me being part of the team of Darker Days Radio. I've likely recorded some 200 episodes (pure guess) and have been a guest on other shows. Podcasting has been important for me, both with respect to improving my ability to speak in public at events, producing training videos and of course getting my foot in the door with games writing.

I made my jump to podcasting simply by suggesting Secret Frequency topics and then offering to talk about Ghouls in Vampire the Requiem, back when Darker Days Radio was hosted by Mark and Vince (and the transition to Mark and Mike).

Before long I was co-hosting with Mike and Mark, and then it was just Mike and myself helming the show until we grew the team to include Chigg, Peter, James, Crystal, Sam and David. In some respects now I do more work on the production side of the show than simply recording, as I also manage the social media, produce graphics and more. We've also grown beyond just podcasting as we now produce (infrequently) new content on the Storyteller Vault for Chronicles of Darkness and World of Darkness games. Plus we now have new spinout shows such as Darkhammer (Worlds of Warhammer RPGs) and Dread Cassette (a female-led show about horror media). Equipment has been upgraded finally, as I am also using more professional microphones and audio interfaces.

The old guard - Mike and myself in Boston.

The growth, and longevity of the show, and we have hardly changed the show format in those 10 years, has led to us being hosts or speakers on panels worldwide at PAX, UKGE, Dragonmeet, and of course World of Darkness: Berlin where we were the official podcast. Just this year Darker Days Radio was a partner for Virtual Horror Con 2021, and in the year just gone, we also contributed to many online conventions.

Podcasting has allowed me to make contacts with industry professionals, and really get to know the industry and push me to improve my writing - and persevere - until I finally made my first break. Podcasting impacts my day job too. being able to speak with confidence, edit media, and speak to the public at events, is a real boon when you teach, running training sessions, or are organising events. Academics are some of the worst public speakers, and podcasting fits in with my goals of becoming a science communicator. Where Darker Days Radio goes in future - I don't know. There are still lots of new games coming out, more horror tales to tell, and events to attend. I can see as my writing increases I will perhaps be less able to podcast as an impartial person, but facilitate the podcast to be the best, and longest-running show it can be. If you have got this far, why not support my patreon which in turn supports my podcast. - Chris