Shutterstock / Just dance©Have you heard our new podcast “Reading Between The Lines” yet?
The first episode, with Features Ed Alex, Mairi from the Features team, and Digital Ed Iain was great fun. The second . . . almost didn’t happen!
Well, it did, but it was touch and go whether I was going to make it to the mic, or to be more accurate, the mic was going to make it to me.
You see, as we’re all still working from home, and few of us have a studio-quality microphone with which to make a recording, a certain amount of technical equipment has to shuttle back and forth between us all.
In this case, Editor Angela packed up the mic she’d been using when she interviewed composer Neil Brand and sent it on its merry way from her home in Fife to mine in Perthshire, a journey we expected to take about an hour.
We “met” at the office Book Club Christmas party that evening, shortly after the courier had picked up the parcel from her for a same-day delivery.
I was expecting to be called away at some point during the festivities to receive it. But no, our discussion on “Where The Crawdads Sing”, our Book Club Secret Santa and our Christmas-book-themed quiz all passed without interruption.
So far so good, he must be taking the scenic route.
However, a couple of hours later, I began to be concerned. While I would have been disappointed not to be able to take part in the podcast, the prospect of the microphone (and the courier!) going astray was not a happy one.
All’s well that ends well
I sent a message to Digital Ed Iain, who co-ordinates these exchanges, and he undertook to do some sleuthing.
Both microphone and courier turned up at lunchtime the next day.
Luckily, we still had a day before the podcast recording. So there was time to set up and test the connection first.
And the outcome of Iain’s investigations? It turns out that “same day” doesn’t always mean on the same day, which was a surprise to us!
Still all’s well that ends well.
On the day of the recording, we enjoyed Judey’s reading of a 1906 Christmas story by A.P. Macdonald, followed by a lively discussion, including some additional archive discoveries by Barry.
We even played a fun festive game that you can try at home.
Just how many words can you make out of the letters in “Christmas”?
See if you can better our efforts!
With Features Ed Alex on paternity leave, Marion from the team has taken over his blogging duties. Click here to read more.
Iain McDonald I am the Digital Content Editor at the “Friend”, making me responsible for managing the flow of interesting and entertaining content on the magazine’s website and social media channels.
