I first began thinking about putting together a podcast about a year ago. I’d been listening to episodes of Wil Wheaton’s Memories of the Futurecast and Radio Free Burrito and had begun following Runner’s World podcasts especially Human Race. I loved being able to toss an episode on at the end of the day and lay in bed and just soak in a story or listen to someone else’s thoughts. An American in Durham had been defunct for two years at this point and I was missing having the ability to reflect on my own experiences in such a tangible way. When you are a PhD student, so much of your life is reading and writing that at the end of the day, the last thing you want to do is work to more writing deadlines. The wheels began to turn and the idea of putting out a monthly podcast began to take hold as an interesting alternative to blogging. It would let me take some of the pressure off of my writing brain and I’d be able to access some of my atrophying creative brain. So, I mentioned it to Jeremy one night and we talked through some ideas. That’s how You Say Toma(h)to was born.

I am so thrilled to have had such positive responses to the first episode. Some of it is rough around the edges and audiophiles will probably point out some of my noob-podcaster mistakes, but it seems that the content has been really well received. I’ve gotten a lot of comment especially about “boo-boo” and Jeremy’s hilarious pronunciation of same. I love knowing that people around the world are laughing with us. It makes everyone feel so much closer and it has made me really excited to record the second episode. (It is currently in the works!) So I want to send out big thank yous to everyone who listened and sent messages with feedback. I’m taking a lot of what folks have said on board and so You Say Toma(h)to will only get better from here. So be sure to tune in on 7 February for Episode 01.02. We’ve already got some great material lined up for you all.