🙀 OMG I launched a podcast 🤯

I’m terrified. Have I mentioned I’m terrified? I probably shouldn’t talk about being terrified so much, but I do have an anxiety disorder and a reputation for being honest about my mental health, so yeah.

I’m also ridonkulously excited.

I’ve always wanted to make my own podcast.

In fact, this isn’t actually my first podcast. When I went to add UPO to Apple Podcasts, I discovered that I actually made my first podcast in 2008.

I made a trailer and one whole episode before the project died. I was still in college for screenwriting & playwriting, had no podcasting resources or anyone who could help me. And I’ve never done well on solo projects. So no surprise it died so soon.

Fifteen years later, things are different.

I’ve got more than a decade of production experience under my belt. I’ve worked on podcast development and production for another company. I’ve started my own business.

I’ve got the skills, the resources, and the connections to make a podcast work.

I’ve still got a lot to learn.

Like don’t wait until the day you want to start promoting your show to add it to Apple Podcasts. (I’m doing a media blitz where I talk about finding the show on your favorite podcast players, and it’s not yet available on THE podcast player. 🫣)

And how to be vulnerable-but-professional when reaching out to your favorite podcasters for help.

And how to manage my discomfort with monetizing my content. (I just want universal basic income so I can make things without worrying about money, gawd.)

What do you want from the paid subscription?

I’ve got some things planned, like an in-depth analysis of a single episode from Old Gods of Appalachia and an exploration of bias by comparing the Behind the Bastards and The Irish Passport’s episodes on the Great Hunger. I’m pretty stoked for those.

But this paid space is as much yours as it is mine. If Unsolicited Podcast Opinions is like my apartment where I invite everyone to come and hang out, this paid space is like the building’s community center. (It’s a flawed analogy but go with it.)

So reach out and let me know what you want to see! Or fill out this fun little poll.