It's #NationalPodcastDay

Seems there's "day" for everything these days. Today it's #NationalPodcastDay. Seems fitting to fall on the last day of the month that my article on the topic is on the newsstands in Columbia Metropolitan Magazine. Read it here if you've missed it in your mailbox or in the grocery store line.

This article gave me the chance to interview lots of interesting folks who are jumping on the podcast trend. From real life public radio podcasters Gavin Jackson and AT Shire to Laura Smith, a UofSC journalism professor who teaches a podcasting class, readers can learn about some of the really well-done local podcasts and find out more about what it takes to get a podcast launched. I also dig into music and lifestyle podcasts with interviews with Anne Smith of the But Not All at Once podcast and John Furr who hosts Cola Town Underground about the local music scene. who Read the article here.

And as a bonus for my RCP readers - I'm sharing one interview below that got cut for space in the magazine's editing process. Read on to see what two former state senators, Vincent Sheheen and Joel Lourie, had to say about their podcast, Bourbon in the Backroom. 

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While Gavin and AT have the resources and support of South Carolina Public Radio behind them, Joel Lourie and Vincent Sheheen are working toward the same goal of disseminating news, but from the conference room table in Joel’s Forest Acres office.

Joel and Vincent come from a legacy of Democratic political families, and they served together in the SC Senate as desk mates for 12 years. They launched Bourbon in the Backroom in January 2021 with the goal of giving listeners news in an easily consumable format. They rely on a pair of USC law students for technical expertise to produce the podcast.

“We’re not looking to do gotcha journalism,” Joel says. “We want a chance to give listeners an inside view of politicians and politics in South Carolina from different political perspectives. For being a small state - next to football, beer and BBQ - people love politics in South Carolina.”

Guests to date have included political leaders from both sides of the aisle including Attorney General Alan Wilson, Secretary of Education Molly Spearman, Mayor Steve Benjamin, former Congressman Mick Mulvaney and Senator Darrell Jackson.

Access to guests from their years of political work and making the podcast guests feel comfortable in a recorded conversation help make the chemistry of the podcast work. “A lot of these people might be hesitant to sit down for 45 minutes and talk like this,” says Vincent. “But they trust us. That’s something I didn’t realize would be as important.”

Bourbon in the Backroom hit its ten-thousandth download in early May with numbers that increase with each episode. Their download statistics show listeners in seven countries and 12 states. “We think we’re in the top ten percent of listener downloads,” Vincent says.

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