Podcasts have been around for a while, and I’ve been listening to them for quite a few years. Mostly it’s BBC and ABC (Australia) radio programmes that I appreciate, but lately I’ve added some actual podcasts—i.e. specifically made for the medium. Alan Alda’s “Clear + Vivid” is one of the very best.

And now, I find that I’ve become a Podcaster myself! It started in January with a 10 minute radio play which I wrote and recorded myself, playing all 4 characters. It was so much fun, I didn’t wait to find out if anybody wanted to hear it before I wrote another one. I posted them on my personal website www.flloydkennedy.com and told my friends and relatives about it. After I’d written and released Episode 3 I started to investigate the various podcasting hosting websites, and hit on Buzzsprout.com, who offer a 90 day free trial. The service was excellent so I paid up.

Creating the characters and coming up with different voices for them, giving them attitudes and relationships with the central character was more fun than chocolate. But having the freedom to rant on anything in the news, or in my own life, via the character of Helen Docherty was the best thing, as they say, since sliced bread. Helen is my age, lives alone in a large city, has a daughter and a granddaughter who live not too far away and is still working. So not a hundred miles from my own experience. But unlike me, she is able to come up with quick quips and putdowns at a speed I have never been able to manage.

It makes a change for me, from talking about the voice to actually using it in the most creative way I can!

The podcast is called “Am I Old Yet?” , and it is now up to Episode 13. It’s gleaned some 5* ratings on Apple Podcasts, and some stonking good reviews, which you can read on the podcast website. Totally unfunded by anyone but me, and I hate listening to adverts on a podcast, so I’ve added a “Buy Me a Coffee” link, just in case anyone would like to help me keep it ad-free.