The heady days of podcasts: Part 1

How it came to be for me, and where have they gone now?

In the Rolling Wheel studios on a farm just outside of Orange, recording episode one of My Open Kitchen. Image: Pip Farquarson

I remember the moment when my world was opened up to podcasting. I was with my friend, Sarah at the Country Style Producers Lunch for Orange FOOD Week. We were there not for the food; there were two women we wanted to meet. Sarah had her plan and I told her mine, we found a seat together and puckered up our courage. It was the IRL version of a cold call. Sophie Hansen and her husband Tim were cooking their delicious Mandagery Creek venison on a BBQ out the back near the toilets.

“Hi Sophie, I’m Skye Shannon, I work for ABC radio here and I have a feeling you might be really busy at the moment as the finalist of the RIRDC Rural Woman of the Year, so I just wanted to say that if you would like a hand with anything, I would love to work with you.”

“Oh yes, Hi Skye!! That’s a such perfect idea, you can come and co-host my podcast with me!”

This was not the plan I had been harbouring. I merely wanted to work with Sophie, her farm kitchen days, her Local is Lovely blog, her energy - it too was heady. I hoped that I could absorb some of her wisdom just by helping her out occasionally. A podcast was not what I was thinking. But once I stated thinking about it. It made more than sense.