Listen to the full interview.
Many of us have now listened to the over 45 available podcasts on the BackTable app created by one of the many “Aarons” in SIR—host Aaron Fritts, MD. Having participated in a couple of these podcasts and enjoyed many others, I thought it would be valuable to learn a bit about how Aaron began podcasting and how the society as a whole could benefit from his expertise. I recently turned the tables on him, asking him questions about podcasting just as he routinely asks his guests about issues important to IR. Here is just a taste of some of the topics we covered.
Aaron Shiloh, MD, FSIR
Aaron Shiloh, MD, FSIR: How did you get interested in podcasting?
Aaron Fritts, MD: Five years ago, I would’ve responded with, “Who listens to podcasts?” I was (still am) a big Howard Stern listener and I remember years back he was always making fun of comedians with podcasts because it wasn’t radio. So, actually the first podcast I ever listened to was the one that my partner Anish recorded and produced with Chris Beck and I as the guests. Chris and I weren’t really excited about doing it at first, but once we started talking and fell into a good discussion, we really enjoyed it. It wasn’t until we were in about 4 or 5 episodes that I started listening to other podcasts to learn more about format, sponsorship, audio quality, etc.
AS: What do you need to get started?
Aaron Fritts, MD
AF: It’s actually pretty easy. Get a decent microphone off Amazon—Blue Snowball mics are around $50 each. You can record directly on your computer using platforms like GarageBand or Audacity. To record a remote guest, we use UberConference, which records and stores all of our podcasts. The main thing is just the time required to edit it, but now I’ve got that down to a couple of hours per podcast. There are many YouTube videos out there that can help you easily create and edit your podcasts.
AS: How do you choose the topics to cover?
AF: A lot of them have been ideas thrown around between Chris, Michael and me, and feedback from colleagues. I also look at what’s being discussed and questioned by docs on social media and the SIR Connect Open Forum.
AS: What is most critical to a good podcast?
AF: Audio quality and guest engagement. If the guest is not engaged with the topic and host, and not relaxed and ready to talk, it makes for a pretty boring podcast. It def helps if at least two guests or a guest and the host already know each other so that guards are down and it’s a more comfortable discussion. That being said, you could have the most enthusiastic, engaging speaker, but if their Wi-Fi or microphone is spotty, it makes for a terrible podcast. I cringe listening to some of our earlier ones because we’d have people calling in on cell phones, etc.
AS: What are the greatest challenges?
AF: Scheduling! Finding a good time and day for two to four physicians to get together.
Listen to the full audio of the podcast interview between Aaron Shiloh, MD, FSIR, and BackTable host Aaron Fritts, MD.
