Where the Podcast Went

What happened, and what's happening today

the siren call of gesso and Stabilo pencils

In the afternoon, I rest from the day’s work for an hour or so. I stop rotating laundry, let the kitchen lay as it is, set up Ruby’s audio book, and retreat. Sometimes, I nap. Sometimes, I answer the siren call of gesso and Stabilo pencils. But most often what I want to do is use my pencil or keyboard and play with words. I might scribble out a poem, or revise a paragraph, or answer a pen pal’s letter, or flip through various books and find new words (galluptious! insuperable!). My notebooks have long been friends, comforting depositories for teasing out the multitude of thoughts within me.

I think about this as I visit my blog, this newsletter, this Substack, this whatever-we-call-it nowadays. Over eighteen years in, A Happy Home has been a blessing to me, where I have imagined tea with my readers, hoping to connect with others who also love God, love their families, and treasure the home and its importance in society. A Happy Home got its name from Psalm 144:15: Happy is that people, that is in such a case: yea, happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.

Today, I reread the pinned first article here on Substack, curious about what led me to this platform and what I wrote:

Face to the Son, Feet on the Ground

Only thirteen months later, it needed editing. I initially thought I might be able to provide more value to my readers by offering various challenges or podcasts in exchange for their support, but I realize—or perhaps remember—that I am at my best a writer, and I cannot begin to guess what people may “value” in any setting at all. I simply write, and hope my words find resonance in a reader’s heart. My writing thus may have to be enough, as it initially began all those lifetimes ago, as I find I cannot promise more.

Many of you know of our podcast; it ran for ten years. You can still find it HERE, though the photo mysteriously disappeared and we have yet to discover why or how to fix it. I do think, however, that I owe an explanation of what happened to the podcast, especially if you are a paid subscriber and have patiently been waiting for the next one.

Why it Started

This is an easy question to answer. It began because I wanted to spend more time with my husband. In those days, I was reading many, many (many!) books on homemaking, child raising, and on becoming that excellent wife. At one point, I read that if my husband had a love of say, fishing, I ought to don my hat and learn to love fishing. Because my husband was incredibly involved in podcasting (if he wasn’t working, he was podcasting!), I donned my hat and asked if I could join him. He was thrilled and set me up with my own podcast, using all of the great equipment he had aquired.

How it Started

The podcasts began with myself reading a copy I had prepared. I never considered myself a speaker, so I needed that format to keep me on track. My husband ran all of the sound boards and took care of everything related to editing (and there is a lot of editing with an amateur speaker), equipment and online tech and publishing issues. Basically, I just showed up, recorded, and went back to changing diapers, homeschooling, goat milking, and washing dishes.

Tom Joins In

At some point, it felt a little awkward for me to not be in conversation with my husband who was right there, which was the initial point of my spending time with him, and also, I wanted to get his take on what I had shared. So he began to pipe in at the end, giving his thoughts and whatnot. Of course, he was (and is) a natural in the audio world, and sounded (and still sounds) great. We evolved to more of a conversation, back and forth, with him generating the questions and my reacting to them. This was my favorite! I got exactly what I wanted: time with my husband in a hobby he loved.

How it Did

It did great! I can’t even remember the numbers but I do recall that I had far more listeners than readers at one point. This was crazy to me, because I really did not have much confidence in my speaking abilities, nor did I like the sound of my own voice (I think this is a common podcaster complaint). After a time, our podcast even surpassed my husband’s, and we were having a lot of fun in the early days of the podcasting world. We changed the name of my blog, A Happy Home, to A Happy Home Media to reflect the growth.

The Big Downsize

The big downsize we did from our Big House to the Tiny Cabin put a bit of a wrench in things. Suddenly, we didn’t have a room or enough quiet for a studio, and although outside noises and such didn’t bother me, my “audio snob” husband (a label he can appreciate) really struggled. Furthermore, he now had a commute to work, and whatever down time he had now was given to working on our primary business. On top of that, we then had another three babies, and moved three more times!

Why the Podcast Faded

We didn’t really want it to, and though we tried a number of different ideas, nothing seemed to stick. It’s not that we were out of ideas; I recently found four lined pages of topics. But my husband honestly does not have the time or energy to do this right now.

Why I’m Not Podcasting

Of course, plenty of people (I’m guessing the majority of them) prepare, record, edit, and publish their podcast all alone. I am obviously not one of them, though you may still find the odd recording now and again from me, such as this one:

Keep Open

I am truly not an audiophile. I have never even listened to an audiobook, and have zero interest in doing so. Furthermore, there is a learning curve to podcasting just like anything else, and I currently don’t have a smidge of curiousity to tease it all out. And another reason: there are so many mothers running social media accounts, making videos, and recording podcasts that are indeed so beautifully done and wildly popular….but they also have family or hired help for the tech, and/or children either attending outside schools or under the care of a babysitter in the meanwhile. I have none of those options, nor do I desire in the least to have those options. I’d rather read another rendition of Frog and Toad and go make another supper from scratch. Choices.

Moving Forward

My plan is to continue what I do best, which is to serve my family. I do want to continue writing as the Lord allows, and have many projects on hand. I have no idea if the podcast will ever come back, but on the other hand, none of the equipment has been shipped off to charity so one never knows.

If you desire to support my writing, I am deeply appreciative and promise to you that I am continuing to hone my skills and practice in the moments I have. The best support I have ever had are the people whose names I know and remember, because those readers have touched my life with their comments, their feedback, their letters, their love, and yes even financial support at times (you know who you are!). My readers remind me I am not alone, I am doing a good work, and the pilgrimage we are taking in our homes IS a worthy undertaking and a stronghold in the battle for truth.

Thank you all for your encouragement; every reader has been a real blessing to me, and I hope I can continue to do likewise for you, even if only with the written word.