Updates & Such

Hey folks!

First off, let me thank each and every one of you for supporting this Patreon account. You really are the most generous, passionate fans, and I love that I get to create special things just for you.

In the world of Lore, things are steady and strong. The show's 7th (SEVENTH!!) birthday is on March 18th, and a couple months after that, Episode 200 will arrive. I'm always blown away by how far this little show has traveled over the years, and that it's still here, keeping up with all those new podcasts on the charts.

That's it for general news. 

Next, I have an idea to run by you.

Lore is on a lot of platforms. All the podcast places, plus (amazingly) tv and books. But I really feel like there's an audience out there I've unintentionally ignored: YouTube. And it's a massive audience, too. According to our friendly neighborhood Lore compose and my bestest of best friends, Chad Lawson, YouTube is the biggest music-listening platform in the world. Crazy, right?

So I want to start putting Lore on YouTube. But I don't want to do it in the typical podcast way: i.e. uploading the podcast audio with a static image. That feels cheap, and not true to the YouTube purpose.

So I want to lean into an idea that a lot of you, and other non-Patreon fans, have suggested over the years. "Hey Aaron, you should do a live show online where you read us your stories." Now, I've always said no because [1] I was touring the country doing exactly that for in-person audiences, and [2] online live-streaming makes it hard for everyone to watch on their own time when it works for them.

But then COVID hit, and touring stopped. And I purchased a bunch of camera equipment to start making fully-produced video versions of my typical podcast conference seminars. And that's when it hit me: I could record myself telling you stories, and put them on YouTube for you to enjoy whenever you want.

AND...to find new listeners on a brand new platform.

Here's what I'm not going to do, though: 

• I'm not going to race to do videos of all 190+ episodes
• I'm going to separate the Epilogues (post-ad stories) from the main episode
• I'm not going to NUMBER the videos on YouTube.

The first item is more practical than anything else. These are going to take a TON of time. And since it's ME on film, telling these stories, I can't outsource it. So...slow and steady.

The second item, about the Epilogues, is so that YouTube subscribers get a second, smaller video and the feed stays more "active". Apparently, YouTube is all about the algorithm, and channels that are more active perform better.

And the third item, about not numbering them, is aimed to help all those YouTube users who discover Lore for the first time not feel like they're missing something. I'll definitely tell folks that Lore has been a podcast for years, and that they can go listen on any app they want. But I don't want the video title to contain episode numbers that will confuse brand new people.

So...in the next day or so, I hope to post a link in here to the first video I make (Episode 189, the first episode of 2022), and give you all a chance to see if before anyone else. If you love it, I'll make it public, and continue catching up with 2022 episodes, and then slowly work backwards as well.

Fingers crossed that clone I ordered arrives sooner, rather than later.

Thanks everyone!

Aaron