Odds and Ends

24 June 2006

Our limited forray into podcasting via the Stanford Itunes experiment has been a great success. Lots and lots of folks, though, have expressed the wish that we would podcast all of our episodes. Well, we're about to make those wishes come true. We're currently in negotiations with two podcasting services. We will probably sign a contract with one or the other in the next week or two. Once we do, we will immediately start converting all of our files to the relevant format. For a modest fee, listeners will be able to subscribe to a service that will give them access to all future episodes of Philosophy Talk. We will make our entire archive of past episodes available as well. We may even make available via the podcast service material not otherwise available. As always, we will continue to stream our episodes for free.

Though the fees for our new podcasting service will be quite modest on an individual basis, we hope to generate enough traffic to defray some not insignificant fraction of our production costs. We still struggle to make ends meet. The powers that be at Stanford have generously agreed to to keep us afloat for another year. Hooray!! But it was also made clear that we have to find a way to be self-sustaining in the pretty near term.

我们一定努力。我们已经向不同的基金会进行了申请,但目前收效甚微。我们曾向个人乞求礼物——同样收效甚微。

We do have a nascent "Friends of Philosophy Talk" organization headed up by our good friend,Jack Barry.我们需要更多像杰克这样的朋友。If you too are interested in becoming aFriend of Philosophy Talk, please by all means get in touch. You can do so by sending an e-mail tofriends@philosophytalk.org.

Finding money to keep Philosophy Talk going, even in the very modest fashion to which we are accustomed, remains a serious struggle. So now we're going to try to raise a few pennies via our podcast. Let's hope it works.

On another front, we're about to hit the road. We're headed to Capitol Hill, July 12th. We'll do a show on Separation of Powers, withKathleen Sullivan, former dean of the Stanford Law School, and a woman who may someday end up on the Supreme Court, as our guest. We're taking most of the crew this time. It shold be great fun. We are extremely grateful toCongresswoman Anna Eshoofor the invitation and opportunity.

我们原本希望在华盛顿特区的国会大厦和史密森尼博物馆能在同一周内做到一举两得。但事实证明,我们必须在9月份回去。On Tuesday, September 12, we will record an episode in front of a live audience at the Smithsonian, in collaboration with theSmithsonian Resident Associates Program.Our guest will be famed scientist and entrepreneurJ. Craig Venter, founder and former CEO ofCelera Genomics, founder and current director of theJ. Craig Venter Institute, founder, chairman and CEO ofSynthetic Genomics.If you would like more information or to purchase tickets for the evening, click on thisSmithsonian website.我们再次非常感谢史密森尼博物院的同仁们的邀请和机会。如果这次活动进展顺利,这可能是与史密森尼常驻协会项目一系列合作的第一次。

When I tell folks about all the cool things happening with Philosophy Talk, they think our show is a great success. And by one measure, it certainly is. We get people listening from all over the world and all over the US via the internet.

But we still struggle to get past the gatekeepers of Public Radio. Program Directors still have a hard time believing that there is an audience out there for the kind of stuff we do. We constantly prove them wrong, but they constantly refuse to believe. KUOW, in Seattle, for example, put us on their second channel, KUOW2 for just one week and then unceremoniously dropped us, without even telling us and without an explanation. We didn't find out until weeks later.

We need your help to get by these very conservative and risk-averse gatekeepers. If there's a public radio station in your area, write them, call them, tell them to put Philosophy Talk on the air. Tell them what you like about the program and be passionate in doing so. Get your friends to write or call or e-mail too!

Comments(4)


Guest's picture

Guest

Monday, June 26, 2006 -- 5:00 PM

This might sound like a hokey idea, and it probabl

This might sound like a hokey idea, and it probably is, but how about a weekly contest to win some kind of Philosophy Talk souvenir, such as a book autographed by your guest(s) for that week? Maybe y'all could get a deal on one of the better dictionaries, histories, companions or introductions to philosophy out there. It could also attract more traffic for the website and podcasts. (Like I said, it's a hokey idea, but hey....)
-paul

Guest's picture

Guest

Monday, June 26, 2006 -- 5:00 PM

PS -- I would also like to urge everyone who reads

PS -- I would also like to urge everyone who reads this to contact the FCC regarding proposed changes to local media ownership rules. FCC Chairman Kevin Martin has tabled a Notice of Proposed Rule Making, which if passed will eliminate anti-monopoly safeguards on local media. This could mean trouble for shows like Philosophy Talk, and the stations that carry it. We have until October 21, 2006, to contact the FCC as part of their public input process. More info is available athttp://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-266033A1.pdf
而且,美国参议院正在讨论拟议的电信法案(S. 2686)。正如众议院提交给参议院的电信法案,电信法将特别允许电信公司对谁的数据可以通过网络进行歧视。这就像美国电话电报公司(AT&T)告诉你可以打电话给谁,或者拨打一个本地电话号码要收取更多费用,或者干脆拒绝给你电话号码——只不过这是网络电话。对于像哲学谈话这样的节目,世界杯赛程2022赛程表欧洲区或者像旧金山KALW这中国伊朗亚洲杯比赛直播样依靠互联网来接触更广泛观众的公共广播电台来说,这并不好。
幸运的是,奥林匹亚·斯诺(缅因州共和党)和拜伦·多根(北达科他州民主党)已经对电信法案提出了两党修正案,即2006年互联网自由保护法案(S. 2917),该法案保证了网络的中立性。你可以联系你所在州的参议员,请求他们支持这项重要的立法。参议院预计将在未来几天内就此事进行投票,因此及时采取行动至关重要!

Guest's picture

Guest

Thursday, July 6, 2006 -- 5:00 PM

Each month lots of people visit http://www.Alcwin.

Each month lots of people visithttp://www.Alcwin.orgWhether it is Chemistry, geology, mathematics or a whole range of topics

anastasiahall's picture

anastasiahall

Tuesday, April 26, 2016 -- 5:00 PM

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