To celebrate 100 episodes, I answer 7 listener submitted questions in 7 Minutes.
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Story created & performed by:
Podcast Coordinator: Cori Birce
Audio Production: Ken Wendt
Original Art: Pete Whitehead
7MS Episode 100 7 Questions in 7 Minutes.mp3 - powered by Happy Scribe
Hey, Aaron, can you believe it's our 100th episode,
100 episodes, it's unbelievable,
insane, actually.
So what are we going to do for this special 100th episode?
I am going to ask you, seven listener submitted questions and you have to answer all seven of them in seven minutes.
Listeners submitted these?
Yes.
So I have to answer
in seven minutes, you have to answer seven questions
I have to answer seven questions in seven minutes,
which is a challenge for you, I'm sure.
Not used to this.
No, I'm timing you, though.
I'm sorry. By the way, I want to say thank you.
You're welcome.
Everything you do. I'm sorry that this has taken over our lives.
No worries. Just a front room closet converted into a recording studio. Very normal everyday things
like sand through the hourglass. So are the seven minute stories of our lives.
I wouldn't have it any other way.
I love you and I appreciate you.
Thank you.
All right. Let's get started.
I love you, too. OK, bye
bye. I didn't mean to say OK. I meant to say I love you.
I said OK.
I know
you said it first.
One, two, three. Let's count to three and say I love you.
This is the nerdiest thing ever. We can cannot put this on the air.
Yes, we are. One, two, three. I love you.
I love you too.
Here's the episode.
I've started the timer go,
OK, the first question is from Drena in Washington,
OK,
big fans!
they're awesome out there.
Oh my gosh, yeah, we love all of them.
Ok, so in episode 33, the Yellowbird
real specific.
Yes.
Did the Yellowbird have a name?
Wow. That's a you know, that lets you know that people are really listening.
Yes.
Which is awesome.
so amazing.
You know, so in that episode, no, my mom and my family, for some reason, we just had a terrible tendency to not name pets. We just named them as the name. Like one of the cats was Kitty, one of my cats was kitty, you're like "it's a cat." And then we just call it the Yellow Bird. So, it literally did not have a name.
It's just the Yellowbird.
Just the yellow bird
your mom's cats do have names now, but.
Yeah, but early on it was just, I don't know if it's laziness.
just kitty and yellowbird and blue bird
just colors. Great question.
OK, so the next question is from Erol Senal.
OK,
how the hell do you tell a seven minute story every week?
I'm thinking like so many? Kind of thing?
yeah
So first of all, he has a great podcast called Success Shorts. If you get a chance, take a listen to it. You know, that question is... I think it's just the fact that I have done it for so long, meaning I fell in love with the art of storytelling. My dad was a great storyteller. My grandfather was. And I got addicted to that form because I believe it's a ...One of the most meaningful, if not the most meaningful form of communicating idea and meaning. You can, you can share complex ideas and transfer meaning and emotions in such a short time and in such a simple way. And so I fell in love with that because you don't need a ton of things to do that you don't need a lot of bells and whistles. You just need your mind and your voice and someone else's attention.
Yeah.
And so I practiced it all the time as a kid. I practiced it in the classroom as a class clown. I practiced in college and then even when I got
parties
parties like and so over time before it became like a professional thing, I just worked on my craft not knowing it was going to be something that I turned into my art form. And so I already had those years. And so now I just look at the world as stories.
Perfect
and I can make that happen. Yeah.
ok
keep me on track.
This one's Grace from New York. Her question is, who's your favorite storyteller?
So many, a sorry I just blew right into the mic there! So many storytellers. Rapid-fire. Jean Shepherd, originator of the Christmas story. Amazing radio storyteller.
So good.
Paul Harvey, you know, I love Paul Harvey ... Spalding Gray out of New York, pure monologist, great live performer, rest in peace. But I loved his storytelling. Garrison Keillor. I love the Lake Wobegon. I didn't like Prairie Home Companion with all the fiddles and like that. Sorry, I didn't like the whole show, but his storytelling was amazing.
Very good.
Yeah. So those are probably the four that I really liked growing up.
OK, I'm going to make you guess who this one's from,
OK.
Hey, goat
Anthony.
This is Anthony Vondran. Hey goat!, how do you get the energy and inspiration to tell so many stories?
Yeah. So Anthony's one of my longest friendships I've ever had since preschool. We've collaborated on this podcast. He's been a guest storyteller. And we're going to keep collaborating on episodes and stuff. So he knows firsthand that it takes a ton of energy. But his question is great, because sometimes even like your passion, your art form, it takes things from you because you put so much time into it. I think just knowing first that the audience is receiving something that's valuable or of value to them, it moves them. It makes them feel good or makes them reflect or emotional or it kind of inspires them to think about their own stories. Knowing that that's happening on a weekly basis fuels me.
Yeah
I mean, that connection between me and the audience using this form is amazing because it's a way of connecting with people. And I love the act of creation, taking something with an idea and then executing it, sharing it and then repeating. So, yeah, it fuels my energy.
OK, yeah. Good answer.
Thanks.
OK, next is C.J. from Cleveland.
Okay.
Goodfellows or Godfather.
Oh coming strong with that question. I'll just right off the bat. I love both Scorsese ,Coppola. I got to say Godfather read the books, love the movie. s. All three.
I know you this.
Three not so much. One and two but... Godfather two. Unbelievable. Pacino, De Niro in the same film. Can't get better than that.
OK!
This one is from Andre in Ohio.
Represent Ohio
I know.
How do you start a podcast?
I couldn't answer that in like an hour, but because it's a really complex thing. But I can tell you where you may want to start. And I've done this. I've made mistakes in the past where you. Think you, have you have an idea, but what you're thinking about is the result, and you don't focus on the pre-production part of idea and strategy. So I just think coming up with a meaningful idea, does it resonate with your heart? Do you think it brings value to people? Does it satiate a curiosity that you have? Does it have implicit meaning in it? And once you feel that, then you can build around that form, what does that look like? Is it a long form podcast? Is it a storytelling, is a documentary? Whatever.. You have to come up with a great idea that moves you enough to create something, a structure and then stick with it. So, I think a lot of times it's like, oh, I'm going to come of this great podcast. Then you start getting all the equipment and you start doing all the things. You start releasing episodes. You're like, well, wait, why am I doing this again? And what's the real root reason? And so establishing that mission, that will then lead to great execution.
Good answer.
Thanks.
OK, I have one question left. OK, ready.
Yeah. Yep.
This question comes from Cori in the dining room.
You took the last question?
I sure did.
We got about a minute and 30 seconds. All right. Just to keep it within seven minutes. OK, go!
So you are actually a very private person. You know, a lot of stuff you hold very close and don't share with the world. But then you also share a story every single week, a true story about your life or our lives with the world. How do you decide what to share and what to keep for you and us and not everyone?
It's a great question. So I think about protecting people. So you can tell a story or select a story that reveals a lot all at the same time. Not exploiting someone. You can you can be honest about it or share something about the world or around that world or that subject matter without revealing something so vulnerable that would hurt someone or make them feel bad. So I'm always thinking about how can I protect others? How can I protect myself in a in a good way. Right.
Yeah, yeah,
I try not to be exploitive with my stories and those people I try to be careful with them. So that's the that's the qualification. That's how I vet it. And if it is something sensitive, I do it, but I try to do it as carefully as possible while maintaining integrity. And I think the audience feels that. And I think that makes a great storyteller. Can you do it artfully without being careless?
Yeah.
And so I'm working on that every week.
It's really good.
We did it.
We did it. Victory!
Wow wow! We did it so great. One hundred episodes.
One hundred episodes. That's crazy.
All right.
OK,
we better end before we run out of time.
Well, we technically ended at like seven twenty, which is fine because when I do the seven minute stories.
Oh yeah. The intro the outro
But even the story itself, I still do it around. If it's within seven to 740, I give myself that it has to say seven on it.
Wiggle room,
little wiggle room. But this is not you know..
I think when we get to 150 episodes you should ask me questions.
I think it'd be a great idea. So 150. I'm asking you seven questions.
Yeah.
Book it! See you in fifty episodes.
Oh, boy.
Thanks for all you do. I love you.
I love you. All right.
Bye
bye.
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