For those who like knowing how the podcast sausage is made — prepping my lunch conversation with @aijiang.bsky.social for the next episode of Eating the Fantastic required 726 snips and deleted an extraneous 13 minutes, 37 seconds. Please join us Friday to experience the result! pod.link/1083737796
As an old concert sound guy I'm curious about what's in the 726 snips. Pauses? Ums and stutters? Gross chewing sounds? Feels like a very granular level of editing to the uninitiated (i.e., me).
Many things. Coughs and throat-clearings. The sounds of swallowing. The clink of a fork against a plate and the clunk of a teacup on the table. The click sounds which occur when moist lips first part after taking a drink. Extended pauses due to chewing and not wanting to talk with one's mouth full.
Unnecessary interactions with servers. Sometimes a question is asked, then restated, and so one can be eliminated. The deletion of misstatements when one of us says a year, or a book title, or an author, realizes we’ve erred, and restates the correct into. The paying of the bill.
And yes, umms when they serve no purpose. Because sometimes they do, to indicate the guest or host is being thoughtful. I could go on! I’ll do whatever editing it takes to present the guest in the best light and offer the best possible listening experience for those who decide to download episodes.
I do feel I owe that to any guest who does me the honor of presenting their voice to the public. I also put in that kind of work *before* we speak, trying to read every word they've written so I can discuss their life and body of work knowledgeably. I want to capture the best conversation possible.
