On ending a much loved podcast
This is from a LinkedIn post I wrote in late January, 2023:
Last week I ended my podcast, The Broad Experience, about women and the workplace, after more than a decade of production. I did it for a number of reasons, ranging from the weariness of the solo producer to lack of income, and a desire to re-focus the many hours I've dedicated to this show to other things.
TBE was something of a pioneer when it started in 2012 and I'm so grateful that it got a boost from Miranda Sawyer in the Guardian in 2014, and other publications after that, back in the days when far fewer women were hosting podcasts.
It has been incredibly rewarding to hear from so many listeners over the past week, some of whom I've never heard from before. Podcasting can be a lonely business. After the interviews, it's just me working out how I'm going to tell the story, cut the tape, structure the show. Mine was a narrative storytelling podcast, which is a ton of work, even when it feels like it shouldn't be. I am an avid editor. I dread wasting a listener's time.
I will need to sit for a bit with what it means NOT to be producing this podcast after so long. There doesn't seem to be much written about how to elegantly end things you passionately took up years before. But I've now said a formal farewell to the creation that was a big part of my work life for almost 11 years.
I have learned so much from my guests and my listeners (sometimes they were one and the same).
I'm sure my thoughts on solo podcasting - and when and how to end a podcast - will continue to percolate in the coming weeks, and I may write something else about that eventually.
In the meantime, thanks to all who listened and took part in this independent show.