Behind the Pod

Podcast
Title:	Behind the Pod
Created by:	Annapods & frecklebomb
Date(s):	2019–
Focus:	interviews, discussion, podfic
Fandom:	Podfic Fandom
External Links:	Dreamwidth; Twitter; AO3
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Behind the Pod is described as "a podcast about podfic, with audio essays, interviews, and other meta discussion by different podficcers each episode."

The idea for the series originated in 2018 when Annapods tweeted "Idea: a podfic podcast where each episode is an interview with a podficcer about one of their podfic projects. A mix between a freetalk conversation, a director's cut commentary and a review."

The first series was hosted by Annapods and frecklebomb. Signups opened May 6, 2019. Participants signed up in groups of two to interview and be interviewed by each other. The first episode was posted to AO3 on October 27, 2019.

The second series was hosted by Annapods, frecklebomb, and eafay70. Signups opened January 26, 2020. Participants could now sign up as individuals or groups of any number, rather than just in groups of two. The first episode was posted to AO3 on August 2, 2020.

The third series was hosted by Annapods, frecklebomb, and eafay70. Signups opened January 10, 2021. The first episode was posted to AO3 on May 2, 2021.

The fourth series was hosted by Annapods, frecklebomb, and eafay70. Signups opened January 16, 2022. The first episode was posted to AO3 on May 8, 2022.

Episodes

Series 1

• 2019-10-27: Episode 1: bessyboo and reena_jenkins. Discussing a long friendship and collaborating partnership, and the history of the podfic community.
• 2019-11-10: Episode 2: Got You Covered - Talking Graphic Design & Podfic Cover Art, featuring lavenderfrost and yue_ix. An interview, cover art tutorial and Q&A session, going all the way from personal fandom history to design principles for better cover art.
• 2019-11-24: Episode 3: Podfic, Fandom & Podfic Fandom!. Growlery interviews ofjustimagine about podfic process, their podfic histories, feedback, female characters, and the importance of Feelings.
• 2019-12-08: Episode 4: New(ish) & Old(ish), featuring arkadyevna and Opalsong. A discussion of different perspectives on getting into podfic & "podfic fandom", different platforms & posting hubs, a little fandom history, and how/why people in podfic fandom tend to stick around.
• 2019-12-16: Episode 5: Kess. Talking about disability and podfic, the podfic community, and podfic as art.
• 2019-12-22: Party Favours:
  • Thoughts on Accents. Eafay70 talks about characters with accents and how she decides whether to attempt the accents in a podfic.
  • Podficcers of Color Roundtable Discussion, featuring blackglass, miss_marina95, rhythmia, and theleanansidhe. Podficcers discuss how being people of color impacts their work as podficcers and how they experience podfic fandom, as well as the strengths and pitfalls of how podfic fandom handles characters of color (CoC) & stories about CoC. Also includes discussions about how to raise the profile of podfics about CoC in fandom and podfic recs!

Series 2

• 2020-08-02: Episode 1: The Pleasures and Perils of Cold Reading Your Podfics. In this episode ItsADrizzit talks about cold reading podfic, why she does it and loves it, and why she sometimes wishes she didn't do it. It's a look into the process and how she approaches finding fic, reading fic, deciding to record a fic, and then actually recording that fic in a way that's a bit different than many podfic creators.
• 2020-08-09: Episode 2: English as a Foreign Language and Other Podficcer Problems, featuring fleurrochard, greedy_dancer, KDHeart, Sophie, and yue_ix. Talking about podficcing with English as a second language (challenges, finding your source text, accents, ...), including some recs.
• 2020-08-16: Episode 3: Am I Speaking Your Language?, featuring eafay70 and Gondolin. Podficcing in languages the podficcer doesn't speak.
• 2020-08-23: Episode 4: Podficcing on the Periphery - What it's like to be the only podficcer in your fandom. ItsADrizzit's experiences in creating podfic in a fandom or part of fandom where podfic is a relative unknown. Discussion points: what to do when no one even thinks about blanket permission, what it's like creating most of the content yourself, and how isolating and discouraging it can be.
• 2020-08-30: Episode 5: Podficcers of Color Roundtable Discussion 2, featuring blackglass, dance4thedead, lunatique, rhythmia, and theleanansidhe. In this episode, the panel introduces two new members, dance and Luna, and discusses how they feel being a person of color impacts their work as podficcers and how they experience podfic fandom. They also discuss how world events are impacting discussions of racism in society and in fandom, and examples of anti-racism work in podfic fandom. In addition, they address talkbacks from the previous roundtable and discuss some who's and how's of creating for characters of color in podfic fandom. Finally, they discuss recs for podfics about characters of color and/or by podficcers of color.
• 2020-09-06: Episode 6: Podficcer Meetups and In-Person Multivoice Recordings. In this live panel conversation at Podfic Winter Chillfest 2020, klb, wingedwords, girlwithabubblegun, carboncopies, luvtheheaven, LittleRedRobinHood, aethel, and reena_jenkins chatted about: the origin of the podficcer meetups Winter Chillfest and Summer Sizzle, their first times participating in in-person multivoice podfic, insights about the experience of in-person multivoice, and their dream projects.
• 2020-09-13: Episode 7: Exchange Moderation - Now With More Challenges, featuring flowersforgraves. Moderating an exchange that is podfic-friendly but not podfic-centric.
• 2020-09-20: Episode 8: Music and Effects in Podfic - Why we do what we do. ItsADrizzit and Analise010 discuss why they choose to use music and sound effects in podfic,, how they choose the music, when they include it and when they don't, some insights into their very different processes (as always, ItsADrizzit goes overboard), and thoughts on listener response and creating clean versions without the added music and effects.
• 2020-09-27: Party Favour:
  • Team Red Out Loud, Voiceteam 2020- ROAD TO GLORY, featuring blackglass, fensandmarshes, LittleRedRobinHood, silverandblue, sobieru, and twtd. Team Red Out Loud reflects on their experiences participating in the podfic event, Voiceteam 2020.

Series 3

• 2021-05-02: Episode 1: Kpop and Podfic Origin Stories. Averytree interviews Signis on their sixteen years in kpop fandom, how they started making podfic before even knowing what it was, and some interesting quirks of their recording process. Averytree shares their kpop and podfic origin stories, and they talk about reasons why kpop has less podfic than other fandoms of equal size. Originally recorded during Voiceteam Mystery Box for Team Kpop.
• 2021-05-09: Episode 2: Podficcers of Color Roundtable Discussion 3, featuring blackglass, dance4thedead, kingtysonsworld, lunatique, bluedreaming, RhetoricalQuestions, and rhythmia. In this episode, the panel introduces three new members, Blue, Tyson, and RQ, and discusses how they feel being a person of color impacts their work as podficcers and how they experience podfic fandom. They also discuss examples of anti-racism policies and events centering characters of color in podfic fandom. In addition, they address talkbacks from the previous roundtable as well as recs for podfics about characters of color and/or by podficcers of color.
• 2021-05-16: Episode 3: Word Enemies. Averytree, moon_apple and the24thkey discuss podfic in kpop fandom, personal fannish histories, and word enemies.
• 2021-05-23: Episode 4: Author, Pod Thyself!. Eafay70 analyzes her podfics in terms of whether she wrote them, in addition to talking about the various events for which she's podficced.
• 2021-05-30: Episode 5: The turtley pawsome collaboration of writing, podfic, and art, featuring Amanita_Fierce, DoubleL27, Elswherefumbling, RhetoricalQuestions, and sunlightsymphony. In this episode, a group of fan creators reflect on their fintastic experience teaming up for pod_together 2020. Topics of discussion include writing (and punning) for audio, expanding representation from a less-diverse canon, first-time podficcing, creating immersive and authentic soundscaping, and anchoring artwork in a story.
• 2021-06-01: Episode 6: Gender and Voice, featuring averytree, pxssnelke, olympvs, Signis, and WhiteHaru37. Five nonbinary podficcers talk about how they perceive their own voices, how they feel about the way their voices are perceived by the wider world, techniques of pitch, speed and vocalization to distinguish voices in podfic, and more.
• 2021-06-13: Episode 7: Interviews on Accessible Moderating. Frecklebomb interviews other podficcers about their various moderating experience, philosophy, and motivations, and also talks about their own, as well as reflecting on the nature of accessible fannish organising.

Series 4

• 2022-05-08: Episode 1: Podficcing While Deaf. Averytree interviews Aether on making podfic as a deaf creator, on deaf and hard of hearing characters in pop culture, ways in which fic writers can better represent these characters in fiction, and some of Aether's own work which focuses on experience of hearing loss and cochlear implants.
• 2022-05-15: Episode 2: Got You Covered - Podficcers of Color Roundtable Discussion 4. Returning panelists blackglass, bluedreaming, lunatique, RhetoricalQuestions, and rhythmia hold a "chill" roundtable discussion about podfic events centering characters of color and their experiences participating in them, the fandoms they've been enjoying, podfic recs, and ideas for potential projects and events.
• 2022-05-29: Episode 3: The Art of Radio Plays. Eafay70, ItsADrizzit and WhiteHaru37 discuss the art of radio plays, both in general and specifically the two they wrote and participated in.
• 2022-06-05: Episode 4: Podficcers Talk T, featuring averytree, carboncopies, fensandmarshes, and yoursfemmely. Four trans and nonbinary podficcers talk about taking testosterone: whether they have, whether they want to, if they don't want to, and why.
• 2022-06-12: Party Favours:
  • Fests. Hullomoon invites N0Connections and HowOldAreWe to talk about participating in fests, and specifically creating works for Schitt's Creek fests.
  • Long Pod. Hullomoon invites Amanita_Fierce, N0Connections, RattleandHum, and HowOldAreWe to discuss the joys and tribulations of long pods both as creators and listeners.