Ask the Podcast Coach

Ask the Podcast Coach is a live, long-running coaching show for people who make podcasts and want plain answers from people still doing the work. Its center of gravity is the Saturday-morning conversation between Dave Jackson and Jim Collison. The format is loose, but the advice is concrete. Questions from the live audience and voicemail line lead into platform changes, gear choices, editing habits, hosting headaches, website fixes, and the daily maintenance that never looks glamorous from the outside. One segment may weigh Apple video podcast costs and dynamic insertion questions. Another may turn a duplicate Spotify listing into a useful story about feeds, redirects, and human support. The show has a healthy suspicion of shiny new tools. It asks what a change actually solves, what it costs, and whether a working podcaster should move now or let others test the water first. That practical streak shows up in the hardware talk too. Conference setups get discussed in terms of microphones, earbuds, mixers, laptops, and backup power, not fantasy studio builds. Editing is treated as both craft and labor. Backup and sync are not waved away as the same thing. Monetization is framed around audience value, not magical podcast revenue. The live room matters. Chat comments, sound buttons, sponsor pivots, minor tech stumbles, and coffee jokes give the show its working-session feel. It can wander, but usually toward something usable. The result is not a slick industry briefing. It is closer to a standing shop meeting for independent podcasters who need perspective before changing platforms, buying gear, chasing video, or rebuilding a workflow. The show works best for creators who appreciate frank tradeoffs, lived examples, and a little dry patience with the latest podcasting panic.