One of the many things that Podcasting has going for it is the number of people who are speaking in an authentic voice. Sonia Brock represents this group well.

Sonia produces a Podcast called A Storied Life, and the title couldn’t be more perfect. She tells the stories of her life in an intimate and heartfelt way. The stories are many and varied — the nightlife in New York’s lower-east side, a bad experience in a shopping mall, and her “Stitch-and-Bitch” knitting group. Sonia sings the blues and tells you about the death of her beloved cat. Sometimes she’ll disappear for a few weeks and return with a show in which she apologizes for becoming engrossed in an online first-person-shooter. Then she’ll tell you about her sewing projects and reflect on her experiences playing Dungeons and Dragons.

Sonia is celebrating her 70th birthday this week and our virtual friendship makes me feel as though I’m celebrating with her. Have a very happy birthday, Sonia, and thank you for demonstrating what authentic voice really means.

People used to say “the pen is mightier than the sword”.  That was back in the days of inspired writing, fountain ink and sword-weilding maniacs.  Today, the written word is attacked with poor spelling and grammar, we write and speak in sound-bites, and first-person shooters are providing an alternative to real violence.  Is the power of the written word all but gone?

Apparently not.  I recently had an email exchange with Sonia Brock (A Storied Life) about the availability of transcripts of her Podcasts on her website.  This is what Sonia had to say:

…a young lady I met at my Stitch & Bitch knitting meetup has a Blog and in it she mentioned the cult movie “Beyond the Valley of the Dolls” as a favourite of hers.

Next thing she knew she was contacted by the distributor who offered her a free DVD of same for a full review and other DVDs for potential reviews.

It is the written word that seems to signify here and although you may not be fond of transcripts they do fit neatly into a Blog format.

I do a one take recording then transcribe and edit it.

I use this as a script for my actual podcast and since I have had a tiny bit of theatrical training this formula works for me.

This offers another strong argument for short Podcasts.