I'm Gonna Start a Podcast

I've been considering the idea of a podcast for some time now. I was originally inspired to start a human rights podcast after Amnesty International's national conference in Brooklyn in March. There was a lot of discussion about building human rights awareness and education and in efforts to encourage young people (like myself) to join and/or to stay with the organization after high school or college. I see all these older folks talking about these issues and I thought, "Why don't I start a podcast? That's a great way to educate people and to encourage them to join Amnesty International." Plus, podcasts span across generations and are only growing in popularity. I can do a podcast. So, why not?

At First It Was So Overwhelming!

Once I started planning for the human rights podcast, I was overwhelmed quickly. Which topics should I talk about? How much research do I need to do for each episode? How am I going to balance this with my full-time job? It became too much in about a week and I abandoned the idea. However, with the changes going on at work and the overall direction of the company, I see new possibility and opportunity with the podcast. I want to include human rights, yes, but I doesn't have to be such a big deal. I don't have to overthink it so much. I just need to start small, start easy and just get things going. So, I'm going to resurrect the idea and see where I can take it. Plus, I found this handy guide to starting a podcast that helped a great deal while also showing me to start one without having to spend a lot of money.

This Podcast is Going to Be News Show + Human Rights + Fun

Right now, I'm reaching out to some friends of mine to see if they would be interested in appearing on the podcast. I figure if I start with friends, then it'll be much easier (and much more fun) to get things going. If something goes wrong, or if I don't really like podcasting after all, or if the episode is just a total disaster, then it's not a huge problem because the guest was just a friend and we were just having a fun conversation. I also need to get a few episodes together anyway before I can think about promoting the app or submitting the feed to iTunes. No one's going to be interested if I only have one episode done. By reaching out to several people, I can get a few dates organized and then put together four or five podcasts. Afterward, I can officially announce the podcast, promote it on social media, encourage people to download and see where else I can take it from there.

My podcast is going to be a mix of news, human rights (which is news oftentimes) and fun. I really like the conversational style that Joe Rogan employs for his podcast, but I like the level of discussion and the topic focus that Cara Santa Maria has for her podcasts. I don't know if I can do a podcast as long as Rogan's but I think an hour or a 90-minute podcast would work just fine. Eventually, it would be super cool to have folks contributing to the podcast via Patreon and maybe even appearing on other people's podcasts because of the work that I do and the content that I put out.

But, One Step at a Time

Yep, as I still need to get a few more people lined up and then upgrade my Skype account so that I can record the interviews. I have an awesome headphone/microphone set up already, and I got a new computer about two months ago so I know my hardware can handle it. I'm not sure what I'm going to call the podcast yet, but I'll get to that once I start recording and getting folks lined up. After I record a few episodes, or perhaps right before I record the first episode, I'll figure out what the podcast is called and will start on a logo and other design aspects so that all the promotional material is lined up.

Overall, I'm excited and I definitely need to start making a few things happen for my personal brand. I don't know if I can juggle writing for other publications or freelancing on the side. With podcasting, I can spend one weekend on one episode and then find time throughout the week to write blog posts, tweet links, post things on Facebook, do research etc. I think podcasting will be easier with my schedule (and I get to own all the content) than freelancing and writing for publications and other online websites.

How I Can Be a Better Half the Sky Ambassador

I FINALLY have a private screening for Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide scheduled for this weekend. Granted, it's only a partial screening of the economic empowerment section, but it's a chance to educate people and to engage them in discussion and action on a very critical women's rights issue. I wouldn't be able to do this without the help of the St. Louis chapter of the Young Ambassadors for Opportunity. They're an organization that promotes micro-lending and insurance for small business owners in developing countries. Partnerships are critical to being a good Half the Sky Ambassador or in any other activism and non-profit work. However, much more than partnerships are needed to effect change for women around the world or in any other issue. Here's a few things I could do to accomplish more and to be a better ambassador for women's rights and equality:

Write More Articles on the Subject

Writing is one of my best and biggest assets and one that I need to leverage more in my ambassadorship. I haven't written any articles yet on the issues, at least not as a Half the Sky Ambassador, and I certainly have the ability to do so. Outlets such as International Political Forum, Daily Globe, my personal blog, Technorati, and the Amnesty St. Louis blog are all perfect places to cover the many issues addressed in the book and film and to encourage action. I just need to make the time to do the necessary research, to come up with good topics, to pitch the articles, and to get them done. Easier said than done, sure, but I can do it. What I should do is connect these issues with current events where possible, bringing attention to them because there's demand to learn about the current event while offering a different angle to these stories that hasn't been covered before.

Work on That Fundraiser

After the St. Louis Amnesty International chapter read the book and watched the film, we were inspired to do something. Women's rights are human rights and many of the issues portrayed in both are issues that Amnesty is also working on. Our plan was to have a fundraiser and raise money for one of the organizations in the film. However, as an Amnesty International chapter, we learned that we couldn't raise funds for anyone other than Amnesty International. It's part of the organization's rules. So, we couldn't do the fundraiser under the organization's name, although our group leader offered the opportunity for someone to take the reins and to manage the project on their own.

This is something that I should work on and plan a fundraiser for April or May when the weather is nicer and people aren't hung over from the holidays and all that spending. I think it would be fun to do a silent auction/trivia night, where it's a cheap entry fee of $5 but most of the fundraising money come from purchasing entries for the silent auction. The hard part will then be getting enough prizes for the silent auction and getting prizes that are good enough to auction off. But, I think if I start now and plan for an April or May event, it could be a really awesome fundraiser and something that I could at least get the Amnesty International group to attend or to set up a table to collect signatures.

Make Time for Strategy

The main reason why I'm not all that good an ambassador is because I don't make time for it. I just hope that I have time for it eventually, somewhere during the day. But, I never do because the time always goes toward things that I make time for, which is usually work stuff and video games. I think what I should do is plan for one screening for one-half of the documentary while preparing for this really awesome fundraiser.

5 Top Priorities in Life Right Now

For today's SuperBetter quest, I am to list the three to five top priorities in my life right now. There are things that, today, are the most important to me in the world. So, I'm doing that, and here are my top five life priorities right now, in no particular order.

My Business

This is a top priority (and the top time suck) in my life right now, if not the number one priority. Every day, I am doing one thing to continue moving Stirring Media into the direction of a digital media company. I finally ordered a few roasts from my affiliate partners yesterday, so once those come in and are reviewed, I can finally open up that avenue for income. My goal is to be ready for August 22. There's an amazing networking event happening that night, and I've already bought my ticket, so my plan is to make that the first night that I network and present Stirring Media in person as a digital media company.

Eating Healthy

Naturally, this is a huge priority right now since I am doing my daily quests to get better at eating healthier and to knock two things off of my life goals/bucket list. I am currently focusing on abstaining from eating out for an entire month (eating out includes restaurants and fast food as well as frozen dinners. It does not include buying a coffee). I am a week into that one and still going strong. I have tons of food ready to be made into meals, and it's going to be delicious and exciting. Once this month is over, I'm going to then focus on going vegan for an entire year. Part of the reason why I didn't commit to both at the same time is that I needed to eat all sorts of meat and dairy products that were already in the house. Since they will be gone by the time the month is over, going vegan will be easier and I won't have to waste food to do it.

Human Rights Activism

Twice a month, I meet with the St. Louis Amnesty International chapter to plan events, to write letters on issues, and to build awareness for human rights issues. Three times a week, I write a blog post for the chapter's blog covering chapter activities, the latest human rights news, and tips and tricks on how other human rights activists can be more effective activists. I am also currently reading the book Pathologies of Power: Health, Human Rights, and the New War on the Poor (It's a good read, but not an easy one). My human rights activism is my way of helping others and giving back to the community. It also can be very marginalized and stigmatized work, which means that it's work that needs to be done but that few people want to take the initiative to do.

Poker

Poker is a definite life priority, as once I finish my current goals in SuperBetter I'm going to set a few quests, bad guys, and power ups to help me get better at poker and to commit to building my bankroll. Once I finish the healthy eating bucket list goals, I'm going to work on the poker ones on the list. I think these goals will take the longest and the most work to accomplish, as no one gets to play in Bobby's Room or win a World Series of Poker bracelet over night. That level of skill takes a lot of time and discipline.

Reading Books

I'm making it a point to finish my summer reading list and to continue reading books on topics that interest me. It's been a LONG time since I've read for fun regularly. I am pushing myself to finish Pathologies of Power, since it is a long book that's very dense and somewhat long-winded. The content is interesting, but the book is designed to be a college textbook and not a good old non-fiction book that you can get through in a few days. I have tons of books waiting for me, and I'm pushing myself to get through this book so I can read all my other books. There are so many things I need to learn!

Bonus Priority: Playing Rogue Legacy!

As I've been saying this whole week, I finally purchased Rogue Legacy today! I redeemed my points and was able to get it, as well as The Cave and the Grand Theft Auto pack. I was able to get three games instead of two (well seven games instead of five since the pack came with five games) because the pack had an additional discount today on Steam. This made enough room in the budget for one more game. I have enough gaming to last me the rest of the year. So, I'm going to get to work on that gaming and play more Rogue Legacy!