Paul Potts writes a great article on What is a Podcast — from an aesthetic/production/creative sense. In addition to espousing just about everything about podcasts that I love, too, he has also some great things to say about radio drama.
And I love what he says about professionalism (as much as I try to make a “polished” show!):
The podcast world is vast, and contains multitudes. “Polish” is code for “make it sound like everyone else does, or we will look down on you.” “Professional” is code for “people without a lot of money need not apply.” Oh, and also “people who want to record something important and true to them, but that won’t fit into a recording studio, or sound just like NPR, need not apply.” Really? I love some of what goes down on NPR, but it ought to be obvious that there is an NPR “style,” and expecting everyone to conform to it is just as bad as expecting everyone to conform to the commercial FM radio style.
Needless to say, I’ve got another feed in my iGoogle and another podcast in MediaMonkey. Thanks Paul!