Monday, April 5, 2010

To the little potatoes all over this planet


The Famous Potatoes podcast has been out for one week. So far I've uploaded 6 episodes. There will be 18 in all. Most people wait until all episodes have been uploaded before they begin listening, but some people enjoy the weekly serialization.

Already about a thousand people are listening. Mostly in the USA, but also 55 in England, 30 in China, 20 in Australia, 18 in Ireland, 15 in Germany, 14 in Finland, 10 in Switzerland, and a smattering in Belgium, Netherlands, Japan, Korea, Israel, Brazil, Austria, Vietnam, Italy, Colombia, and one lone listener in New Zealand.

Vietnam. Holy crap! Brazil. Hello! I'm thrilled that you're listening to my little podcast.

I describe Famous Potatoes as "a cockeyed love letter to the USA" but it is actually a love letter to the little people all over this planet. I wonder what they make of me in Korea or Colombia. Do they see themselves? Do they see the USA in a new way? I'm a little person myself, supporting my family with a hammer and a plumber's wrench, unknown in the arched-eyebrow book world of Manhattan or academia and yet reaching people all over the world. I love it. I love podcasting. I love storytelling. I love the human voice.

Okay, I'll stop now. Sorry. I just had to say that.

A neighbor, by the way, didn't agree with the "cockeyed" description. He said Famous Potatoes was "a dog's-eye view of the world." Meaning, people as viewed from below by a butt-sniffing, dirt-digging, playful, funky, drooling author. Yep . Guilty as charged.

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