Podcast Power! Liz and Sarah go behind the podcast curtain and talk to Panoply’s Director of Nonfiction Programming and By the Book co-host Kristen Meinzer about what it takes to grow a successful podcast. Pro Tip: treat it like a college thesis. They also introduce their new Assistant, Mary Mehrkens! What makes her Happier in Hollywood? Supporting her peers instead of stabbing them in the back. This week’s Hollywood Hack: personalized stationery. Finally, Liz has a VEEP celebrity sighting.
Links we mentioned:
- By The Book Podcast
- AIR
- She Podcasts
- By the Book on Facebook
- Kristen Meinzer on Twitter
- By the Book on Twitter
- American Film Institute
- Mary Mehrkens’ Instagram
- Crane Stationary
Get in touch:
- Twitter: @elizabethcraft and @sarahmfain
- Instagram: @LizCraft and @Sfain
- Join our Facebook Group
- Leave a voicemail: 949-HAPPY-21
- Email us
- Leave a comment below
I don’t entirely agree with what Kristen said about podcast length. One of the biggest podcasts, the Joe Rogan Experience, is usually 3 hours long. (It has the top episode on iTunes right now and is #3 for shows). There is also This American Life (#8 right now) which is 1 hour long. Kristen is right that there are a lot of top shows in the 20-40 range, but I don’t think you should artificially aim for that length if you’re creating a podcast.
Part of the beauty of podcasts is that you can do whatever you want with them. For example, in You Made It Weird with Pete Holmes, “the shows goes as long as it goes”.
But I still loved hearing what Kristen had to say. And female podcasts hosts are pretty rare, I listen to a lot of podcasts and I can only think of 4 that I listen to with female hosts, and I only discovered Happier and Happier in Hollywood this year! So I hope to find some more gems with female hosts.