Relaxed conversations with experts about the topics they are passionate about in psychological research and/or practice

I am a qualified social worker and doctor of psychology (BA/BSW(Hons), Ph.D.), Adjunct Lecturer with the School of Psychology, Charles Sturt University and Methodological Consultant for the Australian Psychological Society journal Australian Community Psychologist. I have held academic roles at Charles Sturt University, Australian College of Applied​ Psychology, and RMIT University. My primary research interest is occupational stress and trauma. In particular, I am interested in exploring the nexus between journalism and psychology.

Psych Attack focuses on the diversity of the domain of psychology. Join us for a relaxed conversation with experts discussing the topics they are passionate about in psychological research and/or practice. The aim is to better understand the spectrum of human experience, the methods used in psychology, and the people attracted to working within it.

The conversations will be of interest and accessible to novice and experienced psychology listeners alike.
 

There is so much that we psychology researchers and practitioners do not get to share with other people. We often do not get to teach in our areas of expertise and we also only tend to publish narrow parts of what we discover in our research and practice. Podcasting provides the opportunity to share findings and ideas more broadly and in a way that does require membership to a journal, university, or organisation.

My goals are to promote the diversity in the domain of psychology. Many people associated psychology with clinical work relating to mental health or therapy. These areas are great, but most people with training in psychology go on to work outside of this area. I want to showcase the many and varied ideas and contributions psychology can make.

I started planning and preparing Psych Attack on May 26, 2021 and launched with two episodes on June 22, 2021.
 

I have always aspired to develop my career as a psychology academic, having worked in multiple universities, teaching across many psychology subjects, and publishing my own research, while also supervising student research projects (Honours, Masters, and Ph.D.).
But recent market and organisational changes have meant this kind of work is less and less capable of providing me the opportunity for work/life balance. So I decided to take some time away from the university system to conduct my own research and pursue projects that help me develop as a person and that bring me joy.

I am funding this podcast myself. Expenditure:

RSS and webpage through Transistor: $US20 per month
Editing: $0 – I am doing this myself
Marketing: $0 so far
Music: $6.60
Domain: $US19.95 per year
Branding currently under design: $AU385

Total in $AU for the first year will be: $736.66
 

I do not have sponsorship for the podcast.

Podcasting allows me to reach out to interesting people and get to know them and their research. In researching for the show and in talking to guests, I learn more about psychological research and practice. It helps me to build my professional network and establish myself as someone sharing and creating knowledge in psychology and more broadly. I am learning new skills and facing fun challenges, like editing audio!
 

I use a free Zencastr account to conduct remote conversations per episode but I also use Voice Memo on my iPhone to capture audio as a backup only. I have the video on to facilitate conversation but I only record audio. I edit the audio in a free version of Garageband on my iMac. I use a Rode NT-USB microphone. Transistor hosts my RSS feed, provides a website for the podcast, and provides analytics.

In each episode I am looking for interesting AND NICE psychological researchers and/or practitioners. I have an initial chat with them via a free Zoom account to discuss the aim of the podcast and to ask initial questions about their area of expertise. I ask them to then send me two papers of theirs; this establishes them as an expert in their area and gives me the chance to familiarise myself with their work so I can guide conversation for a novice audience. I share with them the general conversation arc that I follow in episodes but remind them that I will have questions on the day that I cannot anticipate ahead of time.

The recording session generally takes 1.5 hours, where we chat before and after a 45–55 minute recorded interview. I download the mp3 files from Zencastr and then edit them and create the episode in Garageband. I then listen to the episode using headphones while doing stuff I would usually do while listening to podcasts I enjoy, like cleaning or walking. Then my partner in crime (my husband) has a listen to make sure I haven't missed anything and that the edit sounds ok. I am currently aiming to have at least one episode a month. I write the show notes to provide references for the research discussed and context about the episode and guest. Depending on the content, there sometimes needs to be a warning about content, e.g., mention of suicide or self-harm.
 

It is still early days for me and so I am working out what will work for marketing my show. In each episode I have an idea of who I might reach out to as a particularly interested group for that topic of research or practice. More broadly, I am currently using Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to promote the show and episodes.

Listeners can find the show at:
https://www.psychattack.com
Apple podcasts
Google podcasts
Overcast
Spotify
Pocket Casts
Breaker
Castro
Radio Public
Castbox
Podcast Addict
Player FM
IHeartRadio
Stitcher
Deezer
Indication of listener acquisition:
Transistor show website: 38%
Apple podcasts: 22%
Desktop: 10%
Overcast: 6%
Itunes and Spotify each: 4.5%
Alexa and Castbox each: 2%
 

You have to do a soft launch before your real launch! I hadn't realised ahead of time that there would be differences in time between publishing my first episode and various platforms reviewing and accepting the RSS feed.
Check your audio levels in the software you are recording in (e.g., Zencastr) AND in your computers audio preferences every time you record. One episode I thought the computer preferences would have stayed the same as when I changed them last and it didn't, so the audio peaked throughout the episode for me. So I have to re-record some of my audio and for other parts, bring the volume level down and accept some distortion.

People will reach out to you and ask to be on your show and you may not have their work in mind for your podcast. So make sure you have a clear idea of your show's focus and be prepared to kindly reject requests.

I developed my own pre-recording guide for guests, that goes through the software and hardware requirements, including screenshots.
If you use Zencastr, they have helpful videos on YouTube. I also found YouTube videos by Pat Flynn that were super handy in thinking about interviewing guests, as well as Buzzsprout's webpage and Youtube clips handy in preparing to record and thinking about software.
 

To learn more about me you can access my personal website, which provides an overview or my training, publications, and talks (https://jasminebmacdonald.com.au/). You can also access copies of my papers and follow me on Research Gate (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jasmine-Macdonald), see who is citing my work on Google Scholar (https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=MvOtkgQAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao), or follow me on Twitter (https://twitter.com/Jaz_MacDonald) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasmine-macdonald-nee-thomas-20331088/) for smaller and more frequent updates. If you want to reach out, feel free to Tweet me or flick me an email (hello+podcast@jasminebmacdonald.com.au).

To learn more about the podcast, you can visit the Psych Attack website (https://www.psychattack.com/), search for it on your favourite podcast platform, or follow the Psych Attack twitter account (https://twitter.com/PsychAttackCast) or Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/Psych-Attack-Podcast-100623402270448).