Over the course of 2017, I made ten episodes of a podcast called Labels Of Love under the aegis of my Metaphysics of Love Project (which is funded by SSRHC, my Canada Research Chair, and UBC). In two of the episodes I talk about my own ideas, and in the remaining eight I interview a series of guest experts (some of whom, but not all, are also philosophers) on a range of philosophically important topics related to love, romance, and relationships.
I decided at the outset that I wanted the podcast to sound as good as I could make it sound, which required learning a variety of new things, like which non-bank-breaking mic would sound best (answer: a Blue Yeti), how to make a passable “recording studio” in a very small space, how to find music suitable for use in podcasts (I made my own jingle at home, but I used creative commons license in the background), how to mix sound levels so that both music and speech are audible but neither is overwhelming the other, and more generally just shedloads about audio editing. One thing I don’t think is obvious about a podcast like this is that editing is about 90% of the work, both in terms of time and of creative effort, and certainly for me that was the steep learning curve involved.
I originally intended to make a second season for the podcast, and I recorded a first interview with sexuality researcher Dr. Meredith Chivers for the first episode. Ultimately, however, the planned second season lost out to other parts of the project that demanded significant time (including an unplanned co-authored poetry collection responding to Plato’s Symposium – life can take you to strange places sometimes)!
The recorded interview was far too good to waste, though, so I have made it into a bonus episode 11, which has just gone live. Enjoy!
Carrie Jenkins
Carrie Jenkins is a writer and philosopher. She is working towards an MFA in creative writing at the University of British Columbia. Her latest book is What Love Is and What it Could Be (2017). She lives in Vancouver.
