Latest / The Kevin Stone Podcast / Episode #44 "Welcome Back"

Transcript

Episode #44 "Welcome Back" · The Kevin Stone Podcast

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Some podcasts have experts. This is not one of those podcasts.
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  Speaker 1: This is one guy, a microphone, a cup of coffee,
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  Speaker 1: and absolutely no guarantee where any of this is going.
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  Speaker 1: From small town Arkansas to Washington, D.C., from politics and
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  Speaker 1: current events to history, space, faith, and whatever else happens
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  Speaker 1: to get under his skin. He'll ask the questions. He'll
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  Speaker 1: give you his opinion. And every once in a while,
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  Speaker 1: he might even know what he's talking about. No fancy degree,
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  Speaker 1: no corporate talking points, just an ordinary guy trying to
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  Speaker 1: make sense of an increasingly strange world. Ladies and gentlemen,
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  Speaker 1: this is the Kevin Stone Podcast.
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: Hello, everybody. Kevin Stone here. Welcome back to the Kevin
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Stone Podcast. Yeah, I know. It's been quiet around here lately.
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  Speaker 2: A couple of weeks without hearing from me, and some
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  Speaker 2: of you may have thought I finally ran out of
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  Speaker 2: things to talk about. Well, trust me, that's not the problem.
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  Speaker 2: I've still got plenty to talk about, probably more than
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  Speaker 2: anybody actually wants to hear. But there's been a lot
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  Speaker 2: going on behind the scenes, and I figured it was
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  Speaker 2: time to sit down, turn on the microphone, and explain
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  Speaker 2: what's happening with the podcast. First of all, we're not
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  Speaker 2: going anywhere. The Kevin Stone Podcast is still here, and
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  Speaker 2: I'm still planning on talking about the things we've always
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  Speaker 2: talked about. Local issues, politics, government, current events, history, and
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  Speaker 2: whatever else happens to catch my attention. And yes, we're
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  Speaker 2: still going to have a little fun along the way,
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  Speaker 2: but I've been making some changes. One of the biggest
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  Speaker 2: changes is that I've been putting together a small studio
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  Speaker 2: here at the house. Now when I say studio, don't
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  Speaker 2: picture some fancy television network with a whole bunch of
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  Speaker 2: people running around wearing headsets. We're talking about a spare bedroom,
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  Speaker 2: a desk, some lights, a camera, a microphone, and a
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  Speaker 2: fellow trying to figure out how to make it all
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  Speaker 2: work without losing his mind. And I'll tell you something.
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  Speaker 2: I've learned more about cameras, lighting, computer softwares, and teleprompters
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  Speaker 2: in the last couple of weeks than I ever wanted
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  Speaker 2: to know. I've also learned that sticking acoustic foam to
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  Speaker 2: a wall is apparently more complicated than it ought to be.
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  Speaker 2: But we're getting there. And there's a reason I've been
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: doing all this. I want to take the Kevin Stone
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  Speaker 2: podcast beyond just sitting down and recording an audio episode.
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  Speaker 2: I want to start doing video episodes on YouTube. Now
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  Speaker 2: don't worry, we're not abandoning the audio podcast. As a
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  Speaker 2: matter of fact, my goal is to get right back
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  Speaker 2: to releasing audio episodes Monday through Friday, five days a week,
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  Speaker 2: just like we were doing before. Those episodes will continue
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  Speaker 2: to go out through Spreaker, and you'll still be able
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  Speaker 2: to find them on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio,
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  Speaker 2: and the other platforms you were listening to. The audio
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  Speaker 2: podcast is still the foundation of what we're doing. But
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  Speaker 2: now we're adding something else. Every Friday, I'm planning to
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  Speaker 2: release one video episode on YouTube. And these aren't necessarily
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  Speaker 2: going to be the same kind of episodes every week.
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  Speaker 2: Sometimes we might take a closer look at a local issue.
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  Speaker 2: Sometimes it might be politics, history, or something happening around
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  Speaker 2: the country. And I want to be able to show
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  Speaker 2: you what I'm talking about. If we're discussing a city budget,
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  Speaker 2: I want to put the numbers on the screen. If
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  Speaker 2: we're talking about a local government proposal, I want to
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  Speaker 2: show you the documents. If we're discussing something happening here
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  Speaker 2: in the Arkansas River Valley, I want to be able
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  Speaker 2: to show you pictures of the places involved. Because sometimes
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  Speaker 2: it's a whole lot easier to understand something when you
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  Speaker 2: can actually see it. And that's really the whole point.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not trying to turn this into Fox News or CNN.
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  Speaker 2: I don't have a newsroom. I don't have a production crew.
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  Speaker 2: It's still just me. And Charlie, of course, helping me
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  Speaker 2: keep this stuff organized. But I want to put together
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  Speaker 2: something that looks respectable and gives people information they can
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  Speaker 2: actually use. Now, another thing I need to explain is
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  Speaker 2: my work schedule. I still have a regular job. I
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  Speaker 2: work 12-hour shifts on a rotating schedule of three days on,
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  Speaker 2: three days off. And those 12-hour days don't leave a
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  Speaker 2: whole lot of time to sit down and produce a podcast.
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  Speaker 2: So we're going to have to get a little more organized.
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  Speaker 2: The plan is to use my days off to record
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  Speaker 2: episodes ahead of time, get them ready, and schedule them
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  Speaker 2: for release. That way, even when I'm at work, the
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  Speaker 2: podcast can still keep going. At least that's the plan.
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  Speaker 2: And if there's one thing I've learned since starting this
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  Speaker 2: podcast is that plans and reality don't always agree with
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  Speaker 2: each other. But we're going to give it a shot. Now,
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  Speaker 2: speaking of things happening around here, we've already got a
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  Speaker 2: subject lined up for the very first YouTube video. The
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  Speaker 2: city of Ozark has a proposal on the November ballot
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  Speaker 2: involving the existing 1% sales and use tax and improvements
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  Speaker 2: to the city's water system. And I'm going to tell
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  Speaker 2: you something. I've been looking through the information, reading about
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  Speaker 2: bond financing, estimated project costs, and how the tax money
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  Speaker 2: would be divided. And some of it can get confusing
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  Speaker 2: pretty quickly. So I want to put together an episode
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  Speaker 2: where we take those numbers, put them on the screen,
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  Speaker 2: and explain them in a way that regular people can understand.
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  Speaker 2: Because I'm one of those regular people. I'm not an accountant.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not a city finance director. And I don't pretend
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  Speaker 2: to be. I'm a homeowner and voter here in Ozark.
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  Speaker 2: And I want to understand what we're being asked to
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  Speaker 2: vote on. And if I can figure out how to
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  Speaker 2: explain it in plain English, maybe it'll help somebody else
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  Speaker 2: understand it too. That's what I want this podcast to do.
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  Speaker 2: Not tell people what they're supposed to think. Give them information,
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  Speaker 2: ask questions, offer my perspective, and let them make up
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  Speaker 2: their own minds. And we'll still have our lighter episodes too.
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  Speaker 2: We're not getting rid of the top 10 list or
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  Speaker 2: the occasional ridiculous things that make you wonder what in
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  Speaker 2: the world people are thinking. Because if all we ever
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  Speaker 2: do is talk about serious problems, we're all going to
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  Speaker 2: need a vacation. So to wrap this up, here's what
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  Speaker 2: you can expect going forward. Audio episodes Monday through Friday.
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  Speaker 2: At least one YouTube video episode every Friday. More coverage
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  Speaker 2: of things happening in Ozark, Franklin County, Russellville, and the
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  Speaker 2: Arkansas River Valley. And hopefully, a little more organization behind
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  Speaker 2: the scenes. I appreciate everybody who's listened. followed, shared an episode,
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  Speaker 2: or taken a few minutes to see what this podcast
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  Speaker 2: is all about. I know we've been quiet for a
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  Speaker 2: little while, but we've been working on making things better,
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  Speaker 2: and I'm looking forward to getting back into it. You
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  Speaker 2: can find the Kevin Stone Podcast on YouTube, Amazon Music, iHeartRadio, Spotify,
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  Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, and Spreaker. And if you haven't subscribed to
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: the YouTube channel yet, come on over and check it out.
• 5:52
  Speaker 2: Just don't expect me to look like a professional television
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  Speaker 2: anchor right out the gate. I'm still trying to get
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  Speaker 2: used to looking at a camera without wondering if I've
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  Speaker 2: got something stuck in my teeth. Anyway, that's what's happening
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  Speaker 2: around here. Thanks for sticking with me. I'm Kevin Stone,
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  Speaker 2: and this is the Kevin Stone Podcast. I'll talk to
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  Speaker 2: you again soon.