The idea of doing a podcast is something that has tickled my [STRIKEOUT:curiosity] fancy for quite some time. As a matter of fact, I am already the survivor of 2 other mildly successful attempts, which sadly, died prematurely due to commitment issues from my partners and my inability to record and edit audio using Linux.
About 6 months ago the need to scratch this itch came back in full power, and thanks to the support of my friend Evandro Pastor, Castálio Podcast was born! Instead of getting together with a couple of friends and discussing about technology and current events, I wanted to do something a bit more different and avoid the typical routine by turning it into a talk show-like interview program. Every other week I’d invite someone from the Brazilian Free and Open Source world and have a chat about their childhood, upbringing, and the tv shows, movies, books and music that shaped them into who they are now. To quote my good friend Kurt, it would be “the equivalent to opening a friend’s MP3 collection and seeing what that person was like”! :)
Shortly after we recorded our second or third episode, Evandro who not only served as the host (while I chatted with our guest) but also recorded and edited the audio, had a severe case of tendinitis and was not able to participate anymore. Once again I was faced with the old dilema of not having anyone else to run a podcast or to record and edit it… but this time I didn’t want to see another attempt of creating a podcast die a premature death… I had too much vested already on it!
So for the last 6 months I’ve been interviewing, editing, publishing and maintaining the podcast during my free time and having a blast! So far all of my guests are Brazilians and the podcast itself caters for the Brazilian and/or Hispanic audience, but an episode in English is in the works for the very near future. Through the 12 episodes I’ve recorded so far I had a chance to chat with some really interesting, fun and exciting people, such as Igor Soares (Fedora Embassador), Lucas Rocha (GNOME and new Mozillian), Johan Dahlin (Stoq), Diego Zacarão (Transifex) and many others who totally opened up themselves to me (and our followers). I learned a lot from these chats and was inspired by their stories of success, failure, innovation and adventures!
Did you know that Johan is a Swede but lives in Brazil and speaks fluent Brazilian Portuguese? That Lucas used to be part of a Guns and Roses, Metallica, Iron Maiden and *Nirvana* cover band when he was only 13-years-old? During the many hours spent talking to my guests I learned about their likes and dislikes, what books and music they enjoy, and indirectly became more acquainted with the real person behind the IRC nick/email address!
I’m really glad I decided to continue with this project and didn’t give up early on. You’ll be glad to know that Evandro is recovering from his tendinitis and may be able to drop by one of these days. The next 2 episodes are already recorded and more guests are scheduled to talk about their passions and projects on different topics, including arduino and writing books! If you know someone whom you’d like to learn a bit more about their story, drop me a line or a comment and hopefully I’ll be able to schedule something.
Here’s to the next 6 months!