I still recall the iPods my daughters had when they were young. I figured that podcasts went away once new technology made the iPod obsolete. I was wrong.
It was likely the cell phone that rejuvenated podcasting. Since I had a radio broadcasting background, I wondered whether producing podcasts was something I could try.
So, it was February 3, 2016, when Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness agreed to appear on the first installment of the LarryInFishers.com Podcast. My podcast series began then and continues to the day of this blog post.
I have experimented with many themes. With my tax background, I started a daily tax podcast. Let’s just say the audience did not respond, that that one lasted only a few weeks.
I tried something named “Larry’s Log,” just a daily commentary on whatever was in the news at that time. I tried that several weeks and the audience wasn’t there in significant enough numbers to justify producing a daily podcast.
Once reason for starting Larry’s Log related to my decision in 2020 to end the news blog. But COVID hit and that ditched my plans to start a local entertainment blog because everything was shut down. Then in late October, 2020, I contracted COVID and it was not kind to me. As the virus robbed most of my energy, I had several days to do nothing but think. It was that period that caused me to continue the news blog.
Writing a regular local news blog as a one-man-band is a lot of work, and that’s why I decided to end it all in 2020. However, although I’ve cut back my time commitment a bit, the news blog continues and I thank everyone that continues to read this blog.
There are two lines of podcasting that continue. First, my Arts&Fishers podcast series. It is mostly film reviews, although I do review TV, music & live plays on occasion. I haven’t been able to post as many reviews lately due to personal issues, but post these podcasts when I can.
Then, there is the LarryInFishers.com podcast series that began with the Mayor Fadness interview on February 3, 2016, local discussions with local people. There are few opportunities for local people to sit down and talk about what they are doing in the community for roughly 30 minutes, so my local podcast discussion aims to fill that void.
Allow me to once again thank Izzy and Casey Alexander. In 2020, my grandson was born out of state, so my time was limited during the 2020 Hamilton Southeastern School Board election. These two local students stepped forward to volunteer and, between the two of them, conducted interviews with all candidates for the school board. They did a wonderful service to the local community.
If you want to sample some of my recent local interview podcasts, here are links to a few of them:
January 28, Fishers City Council President Todd Zimmerman
January 6, Monica Heltz, Fishers Public Health Director
December 8 (2021), Kristen Distler, HSE Schools Teacher of the Year
December 1, Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness
November 19, Former IU Athletic Director Fred Glass on his new book, Making Your Own Luck