Podcasting About Podcasting

The Kill The Can Podcast
Recorded: February 9th, 2024

What’s up, folks. Just wanted to give you a brief intro on this particular podcast.

This was a conversation that Travis — also known as “Duathman” — and I had. He’s in the process of spinning up a podcast, and he had a couple questions for me. So we jumped onto a Zoom call, and I recorded our conversation to put it out as a podcast. I did get his permission prior to putting this out.

I just want to give you some context in terms of what you’re going to hear here. There are a couple times where we’re referring to things we’re sharing on a screen, which obviously, if you’re listening, you’re not going to be able to see that. I don’t even think I’m going to put this out as a video podcast.

So, again, that’s just some context for what you’re about to hear. Enjoy the podcast, folks. We’ll talk to you soon.

Chewie: Hey dude, what’s up? How you doing?

Travis: I’m doing good. I can’t believe this is the first time I got to talk to you. It’s crazy, isn’t it?

Chewie: I was thinking the same thing — I don’t think I’ve ever talked to Travis. How you doing, man?

Travis: I know. I live in Nashville now. I used to live in Birmingham for the longest time. That’s where I met FranPro one time. And I don’t know if Thomas Cornelius — Korn69 — yeah… and Gman. Is Birmingham Gman posting anymore?

Chewie: You know what, I don’t think so. I’d have to look. I kind of stick to my groups — go in, do my thing. Every once in a while I’ll get a Facebook message from him, or a GroupMe or something, but no, I can’t say I’ve seen him on roll lately. He was one of the gung-ho ones — like 10 times a day for the longest time.

Travis: Oh yeah. For the longest time. I had a really good group in Birmingham. Here in Nashville, I’ve met a guy named Auburn-something. And obviously… what’s the guy from Texas that goes to every damn meeting that exists? Seabird — yeah. He comes through like once a year, so I’ll meet him for dinner or something.

Chewie: That’s cool. When did you move to Nashville?

Travis: October of 2016. My quit date is June 5th, 2013. I’m a retread. I originally quit in 2011 — went 100 days and fell off. I stopped posting. Like you’re doing now — just going in, posting roll, and leaving. Brand new to quitting, and I was like, “Okay, 100 days, I’m done.” Stopped posting. I think I caved at like 180-something and came crawling back June 5th, posted day one.

Dude, I did not realize KTC would blow up like it did.

Chewie: Oh yeah.

Travis: I vowed from that moment to be the last person in my group posting roll. And I am. I’m the last one, and I’ll continue to be the last one because I’m not… I’m not “forever.” I’m one day at a time. That’s all I can do.

Chewie: Yeah. I’m about the only last one in my group too. Every once in a while I’ll get somebody who pops in — I know they’re still quit because I still talk to them — but most of them haven’t posted roll in years at this point. It’s a bummer, but it is what it is.

Travis: Not moving on, but the podcast… I’m going to do three things that have impacted my life more than anything. One of them is quitting — and the ability to suck it up, knuckle it. Nicotine has influenced my ability to correct my diet. I rely on that experience to do anything today.

Chewie: Dude, I’ll help you however I can. I have struggled so bad with weight, with drinking… I weigh 100 pounds more than I did when I graduated high school. And my wife says, “You flipped the switch when it came to nicotine — why can’t you do it with weight loss?” I’m beyond needing help.

Travis: When you quit dipping, you educated yourself. I’m not saying we’re not educated on diet and exercise, but what is health? Diet is like 95% of it. And it’s wild — I can’t eat like I did at 35 anymore. I’d be on blood pressure meds, almost diabetic. Doctors don’t learn nutrition in medical school — it’s not taught the way people think it is.

Chewie: Yeah. That’s why functional medicine makes sense — root cause, not just treating symptoms.

Travis: Exactly. So I started listening to podcasts years ago while walking, and that’s what I’m hoping for people — be active, listen, learn.

Chewie: So how can I help? What can I answer?

Travis: When you talked to Waist Panel, you sounded like you were in your car. How did you record that?

Chewie: When I’m talking to somebody, I use Zoom. This call is recording right now. Zoom spits out a video file and an audio file. Then I open the audio in GarageBand, add the intro and outro, export an MP3, and upload it to Podbean. If you want YouTube or Rumble, you need a video file — MP3 won’t upload. You can convert MP3 to MP4 and upload that.

Travis: That’s what I was trying — video files for Instagram, Twitter, all that — confusing. I prefer podcasting.

Chewie: Same. But you’d be surprised how many people listen on YouTube anyway — even when it’s just the podcast cover image.

Travis: Can you send me the audio file of this conversation?

Chewie: Yeah, definitely.

Travis: I’ve used Audacity.

Chewie: I’ve heard of it. I’m on Mac, so GarageBand works. You just need something that exports an MP3.

Travis: If I’m traveling and I record on my phone through Zoom, how do I get it to my computer?

Chewie: Depends on your Zoom account. You can record locally on the phone and transfer the file, or you may be able to record to the cloud and grab it from your account on desktop. You might need to tweak settings, but it’s doable.

Travis: When you record solo episodes, what do you use?

Chewie: Voice Memos on my phone. I sit in my car, record, export it, add intro/outro, and upload.

Travis: Where’d you get the intro voice and music?

Chewie: The voice is a quitter — professional voice actor. I asked for a short intro, he sent it over. Music gets into licensing stuff if you’re using actual songs.

Travis: Do you think your standalone mic matters?

Chewie: In a quiet room, honestly, you can barely tell. In a noisy environment, it matters more. A clean room with no echo goes a long way too.

Travis: I’m waiting on Apple to approve my podcast. Google too. Podbean stuff felt instant.

Chewie: Yeah. I don’t really obsess over traction metrics. I put it out and let it grow organically. I do get more interaction off YouTube videos than Podbean itself, but that’s probably because the YouTube channel already existed.

Travis: I’m seeing Podbean wants me to upgrade to get on Spotify.

Chewie: I pay for Podbean, so that may be why. Spotify also has a free hosting option now — Spotify for Podcasters — might be worth checking out if you want to avoid paying Podbean for that feature. It’s an extra step, but it works.

Travis: Can you have two podcasts under one Podbean account?

Chewie: I don’t think so. I’d have to double-check, but that might be part of why I pay — I have two different shows.

Travis: I’m thinking every other week, 30 minutes max.

Chewie: That’s totally fine. You’ve got Joe Rogan on one end — 3 hours a day — and then you’ve got guys who do 3-minute episodes but do 40 a month. It’s whatever works for you. I should be more consistent. I’ve been doing once a week lately, but last summer I took 6–8 weeks off. That was terrible.

Travis: How’s your quit treating you? You’re like 3900 days?

Chewie: That’s amazing.

Travis: I’m at 3902. I post roll about 6.8 out of 7 days a week. Weekends I might forget. I used to never miss.

Chewie: How do you think about relapse? What would it take?

Travis: That’s what I go back to — “what would it take?” Prepare for that moment. What are you going to do?

Chewie: That’s real. The worst thing that can happen is losing a child. I can’t even fathom it.

Travis: Yeah.

Chewie: I’ve got three boys — 17, 15, and 9. And just last week, a coach near us… the whole family in a car accident, and the 9-year-old didn’t make it. It’s not supposed to be that way.

Travis: What’s your background on health stuff?

Travis: I was in construction. Got into endurance events — half Ironman, marathons. Around 40, I couldn’t lose weight anymore and my blood pressure and A1C were high. Doctor told me to exercise more and eat less salt, which made no sense. That’s when I changed my diet and saw improvements. Then COVID crushed retail, and I shifted again.

Chewie: I’m pumped for your podcast. I can’t wait to listen.

Travis: Something to think about is “fat threshold.” People hit a point where things start misfiring metabolically. Most folks aren’t the outliers who can carry extra weight and still have perfect labs.

Chewie: I agree. I’m done with this quit weight — this is the year I get rid of it.

Travis: It gets harder as we get older. Food and alcohol hit different.

Chewie: For sure.

Travis: One other thing — the migration from the website to Discord.

Chewie: We’ve been primarily on Discord for over two years now. Forums aren’t mobile friendly, and everybody’s on their phones. But I agree — the forums were awesome back in the day. We’ve talked about finding a more mobile-friendly forum option.

Travis: What do the new quitter group numbers look like now?

Chewie: Probably 40–50 range. I haven’t asked how they find us, but most links point to Discord, so I’d guess website/social to Discord.

Travis: I remember quitting in 2013 — late nights, laptop open, cruising the forums.

Chewie: Discord has an “Urgent” channel now — if someone is white-knuckling, they post and people jump in fast. That’s why it’s there.

Travis: I like that.

Chewie: Keep me posted on Podbean. I’ll amplify it however I can.

Travis: Everybody should be looking out for their health. Chronic disease is a massive problem.

Chewie: Yep. Time to tackle it.

Travis: Alright, man. I’ll talk to you soon.

Chewie: See you, brother.