When a stranger asks what I do for a living, I tell them I run a storytelling podcast. How curious. After the requisite blinks, they typically repeat their question.
To be fair, writing and editing a podcast hardly pays the rent. Not yet. Like much of my generation of artists, I was raised to be a dreamer. My family comes from a long line of working hard to pay the bills… so that they may work harder to pay the bills to continue to work hard. They wanted to make absolutely sure that their children had the freedom to be as broke and creative as they dared.
Growing up, I was a Goosebumps kid. I wanted to be like my hero, R.L. Stine. I wanted to write blood and guts and monsters, things that scared people, things that scared me. Truth was, my life sort of shaped its own little horror movie. Up until 2012, I was barely cognizant that my own stories – true stories – made up the best material I had.
Since 2014, I’ve been writing, producing, and editing The Lapse Storytelling Podcast. The format gives a voice to both storytellers and amateurs alike. I believe that everyone has a story worth sharing. But not everyone knows how to tell it. With a few effects, a dash of music, and a dreadnought’s worth of editing, The Lapse snagged iTunes Best New Podcasts of 2014. As sincerely a proud moment as I’m like to have. It’s been kicking ever since.
The Lapse debuts a true story every third Sunday. You can find it on iTunes, Stitcher, or your local Android podcatcher.
Kyle’s Favourite Podcasts
Radiolab
This podcast features some of the most consistently fascinating, well-edited stories of any show out there. One moment we’re learning how scientists can slow down light to walking speed, the next we’re knee-deep in the Worldwide Wrestling Federation. A hugely inspirational show that I always look up to.
Welcome to Nightvale
On the fiction front, this podcast feels like something plucked directly from my cerebrum. It is exactly the sort of show I’d love to write for. Like if Lovecraft had a funny bone and worked at NPR. That it’s written by one guy is that much more impressive.
This American Life
You can’t have a list of storytelling podcasts and not mention This American Life. It’s everything journalism should be without the boredom.
Follow Kyle
Website: http://thelapse.org
