Geocaching Podcasts / Videocasts

A place for those misc Geocaching related discussions that do not have their own topic.
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Starkacher
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Joined: Wed 2012-01-25, 19:25:17

Geocaching Podcasts / Videocasts

Post by Starkacher »

I thought I would start a Topic on Geocaching Podcasts and Videocasts. With winter coming, you may not be getting out and caching as much as you want, but still need a caching fix. I have found that Geocaching Podcasts and Videocasts help provide some relief to those withdraw symptoms. I listen to many, many podcasts. Basically every time I am doing household chores (other than noisy ones like mowing the grass and vacuuming) or whenever I am driving more than a couple of minutes, I am listening to geocaching related podcasts. I know that many of you also listen to some as I have occasionally discussed this at both the Findlay and Maumee Meet & Eats and at the GeoBash A51. But some of you may not know about these, or not know just how many there are. I thought I would occasionally add a post here picking one of the podcasts/videocasts series (providing links where appropriate) and give my thoughts on it and invite your opinions as well. As I said earlier, I enjoy many podcasts/videocasts series. Some are still ongoing and some are no longer making new episodes. Most have archives of past episodes and it has been fun listening to episodes from past years (some back to 2005 or earlier) and hearing what's "new" at that time. I am, or have, listened to podcasts based out of San Diego California, Detroit Michigan, Northern Indiana, Chicago, Minneapolis, St. Louis, Southern Ohio, Washington State, North Carolina, various parts of Florida, Western/Eastern/other parts of Canada, England, and Australia. I have a few more on my list from the New England area and other places that I have not had the time to start enjoying yet. It is interesting hearing about geocaching in all these places. My current ongoing podcast listening includes: Podcacher, GeoGearHeads, Geocaching Podcast, UK Geocaching Podcast, and The Oh Beep! Geocaching Podcast. I am still catching up on Cache&Release Geocaching, Cacher's Corner, Caching in the NorthWest, and GeoSnippits Reboot Podcast. I will eventually post about these and others. What podcasts do you listen to or watch? Maybe I will find some new ones that I can add to my list. :D
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Swing Dancer
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Re: Geocaching Podcasts / Videocasts

Post by Swing Dancer »

When are you going to start your own podcast?? I'd listen to that. :D
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Starkacher
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Podcacher

Post by Starkacher »

I will start the geocaching podcast reviews with the most famous one, Podcacher. www.podcacher.com
=== If you are only going to listen to one geocaching related podcast, it should be this one. This is a family friendly podcast that stars Sonny and Sandy Portacio (current caching name "Team Podcacher"). They are a couple from San Diego, California and have been doing this "weekly" podcast since July of 2005. This is a globally focused podcast and have listeners from all parts of the world. When Sonny and Sandy discuss their weekly caching experiences, it is usually focused on the San Diego county area. But, they have travelled extensively over the years and have shared the adventures. Fellow listeners will often call in or email their adventures. Annually, Podcacher organizes the WWFM (World Wide Flash Mob). This now annual event has groups of people doing flash mob geocaching events in all parts of the world simultaneously (or at least the same day). In 2015, there were 389 events in 40 countries, attended by 13,000 participants.
=== In general, each Podcacher episode lasts about 50 minutes. The latest episode is #537 (12-13-15). Most of their past episodes are available for download on the website. There are actually many more episodes than is indicated by the episode number. They often had mini shows mid-week to cover extra material or special travel/caching trips that they counted by appending decimals to the weekly number. These trips include caching on cruises to the Caribbean, trips to France, Spain, Germany, and other foreign countries, and many trips to Mega Events throughout the US (including one of the early MidWest Geobashes). While most of the episodes are free, Podcacher also has special "MAPP" shows (31 to date) that were create only for people that support the show financially. These used to be a few extra shows scattered throughout the year. But starting this year, the last "weekly" show each month is only available to the paying members.
=== This was the first podcast I listened to starting back in January of 2013. I started listening at about episode 400 and have listened to each episode within a few days of their release (usually released in the early hours of Monday morning). While, I kept current with the latest episodes, I quickly decided to go back and listen to the entire archive starting with the first episode. This took me about 2.25 years (to May 2015) to catch up on the 400+ previous episodes. I had the pleasure of meeting Sonny and Sandy and their son Sean when I went to GeoWoodstock in May.
=== The show usually follows a typical format with many segments. However, they will occasionally have special shows that stray from the usual format/segments. The typical show starts off with Sonny and Sandy discussing what they have done since the last episode. This often include details from their personal lives/events, but mostly focuses on what they did related to geocaching. The next segment is the "News" segment where they discuss any recent Geocaching related news, events or announcements. The next segment is their "Email/Feedback" segment where they read emails that they have received or play audio from feedback sent in by listeners. This may lead to involved discussions about the topics mentioned. The main segment of the show is where they discuss the "Main Topic" (or topics) of that episode. This might include special guests. If an interview with a particular guest runs long, they might take a short break and go to some other segments or discuss other topics and then return to the conclusion of the interview later in the show. A popular segment that they often have on the show will follow First-to-Find attempts called in by Podcast listeners during the attempt. They usually play the recording of the start of the search near the beginning of the show and play the results near the end of the show. If the caller was successful in the FTF attempt, we hear the Hallelujah Chorus sung. The next segment of the show is the "Games and Contests" segment. Often, Podcacher will have a game or contest, where the listeners may win various prizes. This is not a live show, so we usually have a couple of weeks to enter/qualify for the prizes. The next segment is the "Milestones" segment that celebrates listeners reaching milestones. These may be emailed in and read by Sonny or Sandy or they may play audio sent in from the listeners. If you listen to past episodes, you will hear me call in my 2000 (ep500) and 3000 (ep532) find milestones. The final segment of each show for the past 6 years (or so) is a Quick Sean Update. They started having this segment when Sean was born & adopted. This is a segment where the proud parents talk about anything interesting that happened involving their son Sean recently. The online show notes has links for most of the things discussed on the show, so if you want to follow up on something, you can (however, the older the episode, the more likely that the links are no longer valid). There also is usually a Flicker Set of pictures that show the pictures (if any) that go with the stuff discussed during the episode.
=== Other facts about the show... Sonny plays many various musical instruments. Most of the transition music between segments are Sonny originals and through the years Sonny (as various characters) have written and performed geocaching related songs. He also occasionally does some voice characters during the show. Sonny used to be an IT professional, but now he is a professional Photographer. In the past, he occasionally has given some photography tips on the show. Now, he has a separate podcast dealing with photography (www.pocketlenses.com).
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