► Tell us about you and your podcast
Werner Herzog once said, "We have to articulate ourselves, otherwise we would be cows in the field." Our podcast, Cows in the Field, is an attempt to articulate the philosophical themes embedded in popular films, while grappling with how they inspire and move us. We are Justin Khoo, a professor of philosophy at MIT, and Laura Khoo, a former art historian turned fundraiser. Every two weeks, we sit down to discuss a popular film, often with guests, who range from other professors, film critics, and filmmakers.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
There is a kind of criticism that aims to curate -- to help a like-minded audience find movies or TV they'll likely enjoy. We are more interested in what we call non-adversarial criticism -- it's a process of working with the artist to unpack ideas that may be latent within their work.
We started the show during the pandemic (Spring 2020) as a way to continue our conversations on film with friends at a distance. Our hope for the future is to continue to be able to talk with smart and interesting people about movies!
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
We release episodes every other week. Editing take the most time, but is in some respects the most fun, since it's where the episode really comes together!
► What do you gain from podcasting?
We do this purely for the fun of it! It's intellectually edifying to talk about movies we love with people!
► How does your podcasting process look like?
We run two Shure SM58s into a Zoom Livetrak into Adobe Audition. We record guests remotely via Zoom, using the double-ender technique (guest records themselves separately). Guests are usually friends or acquaintances that we badger into joining us :-D
► How do you market your show?
Not totally sure! We use Twitter for social media.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
Starting a podcast is super easy! Keeping a podcast going is hard!