Last updated on April 15th, 2017
The morning news seems to be a lost art. Most check what they missed on Twitter and Facebook, some ask Alexa for their daily flash briefly, an even smaller percentage read the morning newspaper. But what about having a good cup of Joe and getting the ole fashioned morning news with a digital spin?
That’s what the Wakin’ Up With Danny podcast is all about. Get the morning’s headlines, traffic, and random variety skits with this quirky podcast.
I got a chance to catch up with Wakin’ Up With Danny host, Danny, to talk about some of the feedback he’s received, how he constructs podcast story arcs, and much more. See our full Q&A below.
Discover Pods: How did your podcast get started?
Danny: I actually started the podcast because I wanted to make my friends laugh. I’m also a bit of an audio nerd (I do some music production as well), so I’m always interested in a project that will get me playing with audio in new ways. I wanted to do something that poked fun at morning shows and podcasts, but with a twist (and a bit of heart as well).
DP: Why did you choose a podcast over other mediums?
Danny: The thing that I learned pretty early on, that was super liberating, is that, with an audio podcast, you really can do anything you want with that little episode. The listener is (ideally) attached for the duration, so it’s up to you to sculpt that journey for them. I really like that.
DP: You mention the listener journey. Is this a conscious understanding you go into recording with or does it mostly happen in editing, to help craft the ideal journey?
Danny: That listener journey, I typically figure it out the day of. I don’t do any recording ahead of time, so the entire episode is researched, recorded, rendered and shared that Monday morning. So I start early, at around 6am.
DP: What’s unique about your podcast?
Danny: One thing that makes my podcast unique is that I do a lot of miniature segments throughout the episode (news, weather, today in history, word of the day, Today I Learned, ShowerThoughts, Short stories, etc, etc) and I write little segment music intros for each of them. So I think people come back to see what segments are being added… or which story’s being read this week.
DP: Why do your listeners keep coming back?
Danny: One listener told me she actually uses my short stories to put her kids to sleep. I think that’s just really cool.
DP: Are there specific segments you’ve received feedback on? Any that you’ve added or removed based on comments?
Danny: I got a lot of great feedback around the Short Stories segment. I close the episode with a short story, and I’ll pick out some music to go with the story, whatever it is. People love the music, and have asked that I add a segment that basically features a different song every week. So I started doing that a couple of weeks ago — along with its own segment music intro of course 🙂
DP: What are your favorite 5 podcasts?
Danny: My favorite podcasts are things like Radiolab, The Nerdist, The Worst Idea of All Time, The Moth and TED.
DP: Where do you physically record?
Danny: As far as recording location, I just record the show in my little home studio. I’ve found that recording the show really does put me in a really positive frame of mind for attacking the week. I think more people should make these things. 🙂
DP: Where can listeners find you?
Danny:
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