Thoughts on the Table

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► Tell us about you and your podcast

Hi! I'm Paolo and I am the host of a podcast on food and food culture called Thoughts on the Table.

I'm Italian born and raised, but I have been living abroad for over 20 years - first in Vancouver, Canada, and then in England.

Generally, each episode of my show features a new or returning guest who shares their stories, experiences, and insights on what food means to them and how it is a part of their culture. Given my background, a recurring theme has been of course Italian food and especially Italian food around the world in its many renditions and, often, misinterpretations!

► Why & how did you start this podcast? 

I've always been fascinated with the radio, and when I was younger I worked in a local radio station as a sound engineer. I was also a radio show host for a period of time.

I still love the radio and listen to it, but podcasts have naturally become a more accessible option, which offers more variety, and styles. I became hooked on This American Life, and on shows like Stuff You Should Know.

I started my podcast in 2013 along with an ex-co-worker trying to do our own version of Stuff You Should Know: we would both research a topic of common interest, and then record each other share what we learned, along with personal stories and anecdotes. Then, when my co-worker left, I started doing interviews.

I released my first episode fairly quickly, but just to my blog. It took me a few months to realize I should release to iTunes and make my work accessible to all podcast clients.

► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?

I try to release one episode a month, after 7 years I have produced a total of 90 episodes. Really, though, my cadence has been quite uneven: I took a pause of 11 months once and then caught up by posting weekly for a period of time.

My production volume is limited because I have a day job and I do this as a hobby without funding. Usually, it takes me a few hours to plan an episode (e.g. work on an outline), then about one hr to do the recording, 10 hrs of editing/post-production, and a couple of hrs working on shownotes, publishing, and promotion.

► What do you gain from podcasting?        

I haven't taken any sponsorship so far. However, podcasting is extremely rewarding for me. I love meeting new people and put them in the best position to show how amazing they are, and I love making them sound even better with editing. In doing this, I think I also improved my improv skills and public speaking and this has benefitted me at work.

► How does your podcasting process look like? 

I record mainly using Audio Hijack for Mac which hooks up to Zoom or Skype and gives me two separate tracks, one local and one remote. Then I do all of my post-processing in Audacity.

My guests generally are people who I met online via my blog, other bloggers, authors, chefs, tour operators. In a few cases, I've been approached by people who wanted to promote their work, which I've accepted in exchange for their interesting stories!

I prepare each episode by sharing a Google Doc with my guests and inviting them to edit their outlines together with me.

► How do you market your show?

I publish on iTunes and the show can be found on any podcast client. I promote episodes through my blog, plus Twitter and Facebook. I don't know where most of my acquisition comes from, but I know from Feedburner that there is an increasing number of subscribers and downloads.

► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?

Podcasting is a fantastic activity, it's a direct expression of one's personality and can create a very special link with the listeners. But the most rewarding aspect of podcasting is for me the ability to connect with my guests and establish a collaboration. Connect face to face, or just on the phone, and get to know one another.

My best advice for anyone who starts podcasting is to keep listening to a lot of podcasts from others and don't put anything out that you're not proud of - it doesn't need to be perfect but it needs to have good quality, good content, and overall bring value to your listeners.

► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?

disgracesonthemenu.com
Quatrofromaggio
instagram.com/disgracesonthemenu
twitter.com/quatrofromaggio