Recall African Myths, Legends, Folktales & Fables

My name is L.M. Daini. I am a published children's author and the host of the weekly podcast Giraffe's Eggs and other African Tales. On this podcast, we recall African myths, legends, folktales and fables ( in Eglish and in French). We also discuss, occasionally, the African oral tradition and modern-day storytelling with emerging African writers.

Listeners of the show are usually people who love African history and customs, or folktales (especially those from around the world). The demographic ranges from children to adults of any background. The show has listeners in more than 35 countries worldwide.

I believe podcasts have a special place in our society. They are the way to get curated information, about topics we care about, without the distraction of visual media (like on social media platforms, youtube and TV).

I started the podcast because I wanted to use African folktales to tell entertaining stories and thus open a window into the culture, history and customs of the African continent. I believe that it is also important for children of African descent to have stories that mirror their culture. To me, these figurative mirrors and windows are what helps construct a more tolerant society.

The concept for the podcast started in June 2020 and after some research, training and buying the basic equipment it was launched on the last Sunday of August 2020.

I use the app anchor which is user friendly. It is also free and allows each episode to be streamed on several platforms.

The music and sound effects are in the public domains and royalty-free, so are the stories themselves. This has significantly cut down on funding.

The only major investment has been buying a professional mic.

It takes about two hours to create an episode from scratch, as it involves material sourcing, script and audio editing as well as advertising. I put wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings aside, to work on the podcast. As a secondary school teacher, I also have some free time during the term holidays, which greatly helps.

I fund the podcast myself, although it has received some voluntary one-off donations (vial PayPal and CashApp).

It can sometimes take up to four hours to create an episode if it is an interview or a "behind the scenes" episode.

Having a podcast can be time-consuming, however, it is also fulfilling.

I do not gain any financial reward from the podcast at the moment, any donations are re-invested into advertising to get more visibility.
That is not to say that there is nothing to be gained at all in podcasting. I have met new people who share similar interests and have a lot to contribute. I have gained more publicity and sold more copies of my own book (Giraffe's Eggs).

There is also the satisfaction that the podcast's vision is being fulfilled every week, the opportunity to change static narratives and challenging negative stereotypes about Africa and people who come from the various countries in Africa.

My aim is to be one of the best podcasts dedicated to telling the history, customs and cultures of sub-Saharan Africa and the islands around it.

In order to do that, I have had to buy a good quality mic and learn about audio editing on Audacity (a free, open-source, cross-platform for audio editing).

I have also had to learn how to create audiograms and social media marketing.

A typical episode starts with looking for an African folktale (the ones in the public domains, collected in the 19th and 20th century and available for free online). I edit the story for the modern-day audience. I record and edit the episode, create the audiograms as well as the posters for social media posts.

Anchor and Spotify provide analytics but does not show how the listeners found the show. I often use Instagram, facebook and twitter to gauge how people have heard about the podcast, which indicates that Instagram is the main platform on which people hear about my podcast. I have appeared on a couple of other podcasts, which has boosted my visibility. Reviews have of the podcast also helps boost boosting its visibility.

The advice I would give to anyone starting out would be to learn as you go, to not be a perfectionist and to create a Podcast Mission statement early one to keep going even when it gets really challenging, as well as a podcast vision to stay on track. There is a myriad of free help regarding how to run a podcast, notably the youtube channel "Pat Flynn". Regarding the audio and tech, "Think Media" (on youtube also) is very reliable and they have a vast collection of videos.

To find out more: linktr.ee/lm.daini