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.

Being married to me has meant that Andrea Ross’ status in the Podcasting community has been overshadowed by my own. That’s a huge loss for the community because Andrea has done amazing things that have either gone unnoticed, or have been attributed to me.

Prior to developing the concept for Just One More Book!! — a Podcast about the children’s books we love and why we love them, recorded in our favourite coffee shop — Andrea was not interested in being a Podcaster. She attended Podcasters Across Borders and was impressed by the passion that filled the room and the genuine sense of community that rang clear that weekend. Less than a month later she had a concept for Just One More Book. We launched a few days later.

What happened over the next short while was impressive. Andrea immersed herself in the show and the online “Kidlit” community. She figured out, on her own, how to use the tools of Web 2.0 to become part of the community, promoting Just One More Book and creating her own, engaged, community. She even began IM’ing.

By November 2006 Andrea had garnered up significant media attention in the show. That same month, the publishing community began to take notice. A major UK periodical for librarians ran a feature on Just One More Book that month. Two months later, Just One More Book was featured in a major North American periodical for librarians (a second mention in that magazine followed in the February issue). At the end of January, interest in the Podcast tripled — overnight.

On top of everything else, Andrea is responsible for making the interviews happen. She finds the guests, schedules them, researches their contribution to the children’s literature community and preps me for the interview.

Just One More Book is celebrating its 100th episode, today, seven months after its launch on July 15, 2006.

I met Vivian Vasquez at Podcasters Across Borders. At the time, I thought that Vivian was there in loving support of her husband, Andy Bilodeau (AndyCast). Who knew that she was soon to be Podcasting?

Vivian started the CLIP (Critical Literacy in Practice) Podcast in July 2006. It’s a natural way to share her incredible knowledge about literacy as it is practiced in different spaces and places, and to strengthen an established community (I’m guessing that makes her a pioneer). What makes Vivian extraordinary among Podcasters is that she isn’t just Podcasting; Podcasting is becoming a central way for Vivian to both communicate and educate. That is, Vivian is using Podcasts — both her own and others — as part of the syllabus for a course she teaches at American University.

Podcasting offers amazing opportunities to make a difference and Vivian is definitely finding creative ways to make it work for her and the community to which she belongs.

As the Director of New Media at the National Arts Centre (NAC), Maurizio Ortolani is the force behind the organization’s Podcasting initiatives which began with event-specific Podcasts to promote the AlbertaScene festival and the NAC Orchestra’s 2005 tour of Alberta and Saskatchewan, and has expanded to include several regular programs (both english and french) including the NACOCast.

Maurizio’s approach to Podcasting as a business tool is brilliant. The NACOCast, for example, is designed to showcase talent, culture and NAC Orchestra events without putting the business agenda on the show. The focus is on education and discussion that, as a listener, inspires me to explore more about the topics and — if it weren’t for an over-scheduled life — buy tickets for concerts or subscribe to a performance series.

The hard-core Podcasters know that Podcasting isn’t just about hitting record and publish. Podcasting is a social media and Maurizio represents the NAC extremely well in this regard. Besides hosting and attending meetups and conferences, Maurizio donated decommissioned recording equipment for a giveaway in the Canadian Podcast community.

Maurizio has established a Podcasting strategy that is truly in the spirit of social media and proves that some businesses “get it”.

A few weeks ago, Julien Smith made a post called Podcasting’s 10 most under rated. I am flattered to have made the list, particulary given the company.

After posting the list, Julien sent an email to his top 10 to challenge us to do the same. I have decided to take Julien up on his challenge. In an effort to increase the drama, I will present each of my top 10 in individual posts, in no particular order. This post is the first in the series and my selection has nothing to do with Julien’s list.

Scarborough Dude has been a favourite of mine since our brief meeting at a Podcast meetup in Montreal piqued my interest in his show, DicksnJanes. On my first listen, Scarborough Dude struck a chord with me (since you recently mentioned chords Dude, see the bottom of this post). This man from “Scarberia” has a unique and engaging style clearly rooted in honesty and sincerity. He isn’t afraid to share his many moods with his audience — a reflection of real life and its many ups and downs. Scarborough Dude comes across as being human and that reminds me that it’s okay to be human myself.

DicksnJanes is all about atmosphere — a combination of real life and everything that radio once prided itself on: great storytelling, personal explorations, pop culture, sharing of worldly and unworldly experiences, and the company of a genuine friend.

chord /kawrd/
–noun
1. a feeling or emotion: His story struck a chord of pity in the listeners.
2. a combination of usually three or more musical tones sounded simultaneously.