Alot has changed with this podcast…but then again, alot has changed with you and I. One thing that I can assure you that had changed, but has now changed back: is my running.
Yes, I’m Steve Runner again (not my real name)…and yes, you’ll be hearing alot more of that squeaky front door as I head outside to get my miles in.
I thought I was going to produce a podcast ABOUT running again, but…honestly, I just feel like I’ve squeezed out every drop of running material that I had remaining in my tiny little head. What I most certainly didn’t want to do is turn this into a “rant” show…although, now that I think of it, there may be some ranting now and then…but not angry ranting: that’s an important distinction.
Instead, I’ve decided to go back to the so called “roots” of the show…and the very meaning behind the title. Phedippidations: Phedipp…as in Phedippidees, derived from the latin “pes” or “ped” meaning foot…and “ations” a latin suffix denoting a result or production of action…and, in this case the suffix to the latin “conversari” as in the informal exchange of ideas by spoken words.
Our friend Adam Tinkoff….I say our friend, because any friend of mine ought to be a friend of yours…once said to me that “what we do in podcasting isn’t really a conversation…because a conversation requires two people”.
So, I thought that maybe I’d introduce a second host for this show…but that would never work…mostly because my schedule is a mess…my schedule is organized by someone throwing about a thousand index cards with meetings, activities, projects, and deadlines written on them, out the window of a thirty-eight story building in downtown Indianapolis…and expecting me to sleep on my own time usually in fifteen minute increments.
Planning a show with a co-host would be torture for said “Co”.
And so then I thought: “Hey, I’ll interview people.” But you know what? I really suck at interviewing people. I’ve tried it many times starting way back when I was a DeeJay on WJUL “Real Underground Radio” 91.5 FM in Lowell Massachusetts. I was terrible at it, and it wasn’t fun to listen to.
So, I was out of ideas…until it hit me. “What if, instead of interviewing people I don’t know…that instead, I had conversations with people I did”? "What if, I could demonstrate through a conversation how two friends, two relatives, two compadres could sometimes strongly disagree with each other yet still end the conversation still liking each other…sometimes alot?”
But there’s one little catch. Some (or most) of my friends and family members want nothing to do with my podcast. They’re concerned that all ten of you will pounce upon them in the dark or something….I don’t know, but I have an answer for that: anonymity. Many of my“guests” will use an alias to protect their fragile identity. Which is fine.
I mean, think about it. This corrosive environment that, like a swamp, is flooding my country with hatred isn’t the way it has to be. And you know what? I’m going to show you.
We’re going to go running together, on this podcast, and I’m going to have a chat…sometimes on the phone, sometimes in person…with people from my life that you may or may not have ever heard of….people who know me probably as much as or in some cases a little more than you do…and we can talk about anything.
I don’t know how it’ll end up…but I’m looking forward to giving it a try. Today’s episode was sort of a test run with my nephew Johnny…but I’ve got some really good conversations lined up with people you’ve never heard before…most of whom have Bah-stun ahk-sents …but I’ll translate every “wicked pissa” word for you that needs “translatin”.
So there you go. And here I am.
Me? Oh…
I’m Steve Runner, reminding you to run long and taper.
My nephew Johnny is my first "guest" on this new format of the podcast Phedippidations. As I move closer to my 13th year of podcasting, it's time to get back to the roots of this "show". Johnny was my absolute last choice to embark on this new venture. We're all doomed.
Check out this episode!