Anarchy Gumbo Podcast

Info for guests

So you’ve been asked to be on Anarchy Gumbo. Here are some questions that guests commonly ask:

WHAT WILL WE TALK ABOUT ON ANARCHY GUMBO?
Anything and everything. War. Freedom. Anarchy. Square-ass government folks. Current events. Timeless universal truths. This & that but basically it’s free-form and fun. It’s a CONVERSATION, NOT an interview. Check out any of our episodes if you want an inkling of the feel or “format.” (Though “feel” is more accurate.)

It’s free-form, but solid. You’ve been chosen as a guest because you’re a good talker. I’m a good talker too. It’ll be majestic. But lemme know ahead of time if there’s a particular subject you’d like to discuss…maybe anything you’d love to talk about online but don’t get time to discuss in your own show.

Also: cussin’ on th’ Gumbo is fine.

HOW DO WE RECORD ACROSS THE MILES?
I’m into high audio quality. Many podcasts, especially interviews with people who aren’t in the same town, sound like dog doo doo. I try to avoid that. I have high audio standards for this podcast. I hate doing telephone call recordings, the sound horrible. But if that’s all we can do, I guess that would have to be it. I’d prefer Skype, especially if you have a good mic. I try to get the best sound I can. There are plenty of crappy sounding podcasts out there, the world doesn’t need another one. There are two even better ways though, double-enders, and Mumble.

In order of how I like to record, from most favorable to least favorable, here are the choices:
1. Good mics on your end, through a mixer, double-ender cast where you record your voice then send me the files to mix with my recording of my end. We’d talk on the phone or Skype, but not record it.
2. Good mics on your end, through a mixer, through Mumble.
3. Good headset on your end, via Skype
4. Over the telephone, with you on a non-internet land line.
5. Over the telephone, with you on a cell phone (which sounds HORRIBLE.)

PREFERABLE: We could talk by Skype or phone (to my Skype number), but double-ender it, where we just talk on Skype, isolate the headphones so the mics don’t pick it up, then we each record JUST OUR END on mics. That is, we don’t RECORD the Skype or phone, we just TALK on the Skype or phone, and each record just our end of the conversation with a mic in front of our mouth.

For me to be able to sync us up later, recordings should be done at 44.1 kHz 16 bit (stereo or mono, doesn’t matter, and doesn’t make a difference in the file size of the MP3s you’ll send me). Then you use FTP or uSendit to send me your 320k, 44.1 kHz MP3s. I’ll mix your recording of you with my recording of me. That’s how Neema and I do Freedom Feens, and it gives better quality than Mumble, and MUCH better quality than just recording Skype or a phone call, which I don’t do, because it sounds like crap.

If you can’t do that, if you use (or are willing to set up and use) Mumble, I have a Mumble server we can talk over. And the Mumble program can record both sides of our chat at the same time with reasonable audio quality (especially if you have a good mic and a USB computer input, rather than just a telemarketer-type headset mic. But in a pinch, a good headset mic will work).

If you can’t do the first two, we can just do Skype, or (shudder) telephone. But I like encouraging people to do double-enders, or at least Mumble, because I like to try to improve not just the quality of my podcast, but of all liberty media. I’m willing to walk you through setup of a double ender, or of Mumble. Especially Mumble, because I want to encourage more liberty people to use it. It has good audio quality, and it’s encrypted and much better than Skype or the telephone for private conversations. Which will become more important as governments try to spy on us more and more. And it’s good to use encrypted conversations not just for secrets, but for everyday talk. It makes using encryption stand out less, which is a good thing for everybody.

I do about an hour of chatting with a guest for an episode. Three 20-minute chunks, with shortish three-minute or so breaks to stretch, and to save the files. (And to listen to a few seconds to check them, at least for the first file.) If it’s going really well, and you have the time and want to keep going, we can do a fourth chunk.

Studio phone: (307)-215-5171. Or via Skype to user name kittyfeet1

Mumble configuration post, HERE.
Mumble info:

(You go server/connect, then ignore the long list and click “add new” in the window that pops up.):

I’ll give you the log-in info once we’ve confirmed a time to a talk.

Thanks!
–Michael W. Dean

(more info coming later.)