► Tell us about you and your podcast
My name is Howard Dorre and a few years ago I decided to read a biography of every president in order, to learn more about American history. I started blogging about it, and in 2020 I turned that blog into a podcast with my wife, Jess.
We take irreverent dives into lesser-known stories of the early American presidents, founders, and their families.
Our audience includes everyone from historians to regular folks looking for humorous, well-researched narratives about American history mixed with some fun marital banter.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
Several people suggested that the stuff I was writing for the blog would be great on a podcast, but I never really listened to podcasts until I got a job with a long commute in 2018. Then I fell in love with the format.
We were inspired to start a podcast by podcasts like My Favorite Murder, Sawbones, and The Dollop - podcasts that told great stories in a conversational way.
It took a few months of planning, and we launched in February 2020.
► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
In 2020 we released two seasons, with 14 episodes total. Doing it in seasons of weekly episodes with long breaks in between allows us to manage full-time jobs and two kids without going mad. Mostly.
We were entirely self-funded until we launch a Patreon in November 2020, and now most of our costs are covered by our awesome patrons. That also allowed us to build a tight community with some fans who have told is we inspired them to study history.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
We’ve had a couple sponsors. One was the History channel’s HistoryCon, which was ultimately canceled in 2020. They reached out about being featured on the blog in exchange for tickets, and I worked with them to sponsor the podcast as well. We had a similar relationship with OneDayUniversity during our second season. But ultimately, Patreon is a better source of income for us now.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
We record with two ATR-2100 microphones, a Scarlet 2i2, and a laptop in a walk-in closet, and I edit with Audacity and finish up with Auphonic.
Preparation can take weeks per episode based on the research. We strive to tell entertaining stories as accurately as possible, and that includes a lot of digging and contacting historians.
At this point it’s just us on the podcast - me telling stories to Jess that she doesn’t know about ahead of time, and her reacting like a a surrogate to the audience, which she’s great at. We’ve gotten feedback from several people saying they want to be her best friend.
► How do you market your show?
70% Apple podcasts for sure. We promote mostly through Facebook – the Plodding FB page has 11k followers and is updated daily with fun historic insights.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
Kristin Meinzer’s book “So You Want To Start A Podcast” is great.
We’re still learning all the time - technical things like mic technique, editing tricks, etc. And even though we’re married, learning how to banter on the mic (especially around a script) is a special skill.