Welcome to the next in the Podcast Showcase series, where we share podcasts with you in the words of the podcasters themselves. This time, we talk to The River Radius Podcast
Sum up your podcast in three sentences
The River Radius is a cultural nexus of rivers, people and boats. We publish episodes about river hydrology, conservation, wild river stories from this century and last, history of rivers, how people engage with rivers, international river runners, river films, authors of river books, whitewater stories. We travel to the river and our episodes are highly edited with layered production.
Who is your ideal listener? Who loves your show?
People who have their own relationship with rivers are the ideal listener because, at the core, all episodes are about a river, and from there the content extends outward.
People who love The River Radius are most often river runners, people who get on rivers with boats for day trips and longer overnight trips.
People who love this podcast are people who look at a river and feel the entire universe moving past them in the flow.
What made you start this podcast?
Originally this was a radio show on public radio. Eventually I quit that platform as podcasting was rising and I wanted to be able to have longer more in-depth conversations on river topics.
So I swapped over to the podcast lane and got serious about the structure of the podcast because I believed that it could grow enough to become financially stable.
I wanted that path because I want this podcast to support rivers and river culture, and to do that I didn’t want to be distracted by a “day job.”
I started this podcast because I love rivers, I wanted to have fun, and I believe that there are many people around the world who feel like I do about rivers and want to learn from river experts.
What have you learned about your subject thanks to this podcast?
My learning has been immense. I have learned that the vast majority of humans have always lived near rivers and that today, that is still true. I have learned that layers of river current move at different speeds, and that rivers flowing across the flat plains move faster than rivers running down mountains.
I’ve learned that an airplane pilot landed a float plane on a class 5 river 30 years ago to rescue someone. I’ve learned that there is a voluminous amount of river knowledge known today by thousands of modern river experts.
What has your experience of podcasting been? What do you love / hate about the process?
My experience podcast has been incredible. I love podcasting especially because I created my topic and niche and have created a following that supports and invigorates my work.
I love the research and interviews, I love being with new rivers and meeting rad river people. I struggle sometimes with the story editing because it can take so long, and sometimes I struggle with the audio and technical portion of the editing because I am still learning how to understand and complete that portion of podcasting.
If someone wants to start listening to your podcast, which episode would you recommend they start with? Why?
Depends who they are. If you like science, start with “What is a River” from 2021 and 2022. If you are a kayaker, “No Boat, No Paddle on the Big Susitna River”. If you wonder about water in the west, “Autopsy of a Post Reservoir River.” And if you love humans, “Dignity of Risk.”
Or just start at the beginning. “Highwater, Helicopters and Money” is a great story from 38 years ago.
Which other podcasts do you love listening to?
Ologies. Song Exploder. Spy Talk. Some news.
If people want to find you online, where can they do so?
- www.theriverradius.com
- https://www.instagram.com/riverradiuspodcast/
- https://www.facebook.com/theriverradius
- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-river-radius-podcast/id1463337469
- https://open.spotify.com/show/17mTp2T84nl27SSJcCCLyP?si=26704809b19841e3
- hello@theriverradius.com
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Image credit: Ewan Munro