► Tell us about you and your podcast
I am a Lebanese writer and academic based in Europe. I started this podcast to have a platform from which I could interview people who have experience challenging binary thinking. The topics vary quite a bit, from all sorts of futurisms from solarpunk to degrowth, to tech, anti-authoritarian politics, feminism, abolitionism, decolonialism, anti-racism and all the stuff in between. My listeners are largely from the US, the UK and the Middle East.
► Why & how did you start this podcast?
I just love the format. I like that I can listen to them on my own time and I suspect that it's the same for my listeners. At the beginning, my goal was to simply experiment with a new medium. It was fun, and still is. I wanted to take advantage of the networks I had and started by having a number of friends and acquaintances on, people who have published some book(s) or essay(s) and so on. I started in March of 2020, so at the beginning of the pandemic, so it was also a coping mechanism for me. I released the first episode within the week.
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► How'd you find the time and funding to do this podcast?
I release episodes on a weekly basis and depend on Patreon supporters to do so. I often schedule episodes in advance so some weeks are busier than others, but overall it does take a lot of time to do this podcast, especially as I do all of the steps on my own. I am also doing a full-time PhD and I'm a freelance writer so balancing out all of these jobs has been difficult.
► What do you gain from podcasting?
My revenues are all public because I rely on Patreon supporters. I don't have sponsors.
► How does your podcasting process look like?
I record on Zencastr, edit on Audacity, turn audio into videos on Headliner and design cover images on Canva. Every episode requires at least a few hours of research, and guests get a document with my prepared questions and thoughts beforehand. We don't really follow the document. It's mostly there for me not to forget anything.
► How do you market your show?
Most of my listeners are on Spotify and iTunes. I market manually, through Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.
► What advice would you share with aspiring (new) podcasters?
It's really important to be consistent, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't take breaks.
► Where can we learn more about you & your podcasts?
Website: thefirethisti.me/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/firethesetimes
Twitter: twitter.com/fireTheseTimes
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firethesetimes/
Substack: https://thefirethesetimes.substack.com/
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/firethesetimes
Twitter: twitter.com/fireTheseTimes
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/firethesetimes/
Substack: https://thefirethesetimes.substack.com/