Waste AM

Moot Newt is a new podcast series by Joddle and Max. An open letter to podcast subscribers here at waste AM.

Dear listeners,

Those of you who have been with us since the beginning will know that we have made a lot of progress since we started podcasting back in June.We were complete newbs and didn’t know anything about recording software or how and where to get a podcast feed published. We started off with one microphone which we shared between three people. Our style was a lot more formal and stuffy. We also required beer to ease our nerves before recording!

Now we hope our podcasts are more enjoyable to listen to; we feel more at ease presenting the show and the audio sound quality has vastly improved. We’ve been surprised by how well the podcast has been doing in the Itunes store (we  have a good rating) and total downloads have superceded our expectations.

That said, we felt held back by the podcast’s name and subject. Imagine you were browsing in the itunes store: you wouldn’t be overly keen on checking out a podcast about waste, would you? That’s what our podcast’s name – waste am fm – would have evoked. And like Stephen has commented, most people just aren’t interested in waste as it has negative connotations. Our podcast was never going to reach many people because the name and subject just don’t resonate with people.

Another issue was that we simply didn’t have enough to say about waste issues. That’s why we felt it was essential to broaden the scope of the show. We like podcasting because it is fun, but we don’t have enough time to swot up on each topic before we record. That’s why we have decided to change the show…

The show is now called Moot Newt. It’s about eco issues with a bit of tech thrown in. We’re just being ourselves and talking about issues we care strongly about.

Once we’re got to grips with the technical issues we’ll be getting guest on the show too. We also aim to podcast at more regular intervals.

So why Moot Newt?

Most listeners to Moot Newt will be found directly through the itunes store, especially if we become a featured podcast within a category. itunes doesn’t have a good search function. If you wanted to find a show about eco issues you would more likely find what you were after by googling ‘eco podcast’. We figured that a lot of people use the itunes store as a catalogue. Basically, they browse the cover art of podcasts and titles until they see something that looks interesting.

Stand Out

If you have good cover art and an intruiging title you are more likely to stand out in the itunes store. If you stand out, you are more likely to attract those people who are just browsing, and might take a punt with your show.

Cover Art

The best thing about our show is the cover art (thanks Laurence!). It’s a memorable graphic which communicates the idea of a protest, but you can’t be sure what kind of protest the newt is making because it has no expression. Is it an argumentative newt? An angry newt? An apathetic newt? You will have to listen to find out.

To me the cover art suggests a youthful show that doesn’t take itself too seriously. It’s the kind of show we would check out if we were browsing, but then we’re biased, aren’t we?

Choose a Signifier

But we wanted the newt for more than the cover art… There is a tradition / trend of naming podcast shows as animals. This may be because creatures of the animal kingdom are expressive symbols. They represent complex ideas to us. For example, Fox = sly ; snake = untrustworthy.

To us, Newt signifies small and vulnerable. There are also more complex connotations such as – rare; indigenious; endangered. To us, the idea of a ‘newt’ is evokative of the same associations as ‘environment’. Both newts and the environment are threatened by the acts of humans. Our show is about issues which are important from an environmental perspective.

Newt isn’t a perfect signifier for our needs (it also suggests poisonous) but we feel that the cute cover art can counterbalance this.

And as for ‘Moot’ – according to the Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, it means to ‘open something up to discussion or debate’.

It’s closely related to:

• consider, turn over, debate (we mull over issues in the show)
• arguable, debatable, disputable (to us, there are no clear cut answers)
• irrelevant *we try not to be totally irrelevant!

But most of all we chose ‘moot’ and ‘newt’ together because they kind of rhyme!

Thanks for listening,

Joddle and Max

Listen to Moot Newt

I’m no longer publishing podcasts on this site. They are on a subdomain. View the latest shows here. If you want to subscribe directly to the feed you can do it here.

Thanks for listening,

Joddle and Max

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:01:37 — 84.6MB)

In this podcast Joddle and Max share their experience of trying out veganism. The podcasters also discuss motivations for becoming vegan while exploring the environmental impacts of a meat and dairy based diet.

Vegan Podcast UK

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:07:33 — 123.7MB)

Joddle and Max reflect on what it means to be green and involved in eco projects as a young person. Recalling their involvement in an overseas volunteering programme in Nepal and their experience of self-starting environmental projects in the UK, the podcasters get personal and share stories about being green with Waste AM FM listeners. What characterises the green youth movement? Is it a training ground for green and political careers, or perhaps something more idealistic borne out of a desire to change the world for the better?

——– More in this Eco Podcast

Joddle Discoveries - Joddle’s been reading inspiring and romantic literature of the sea:

The Old Man and The Sea, Ernest Hemmingway

Treasure Island, Robert Louis Stevenson

Knut Hamsun, Victoria

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If you enjoyed the show, you may wish to show your appreciation by subscribing to the Waste AM FM podcast series in the Itunes store

You can also help us by clicking the social media share icons above and below the post, letting people in your eco circles know about our eco and waste podcast series

Thanks for listening! @wasteAM @MaxLundsten