In 2017 I started a podcast, like almost everyone else.

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Optimistically, I thought I'd do an episode every two weeks. This was quickly revealed to be a BONKERS idea and I readjusted my expectations to one episode a month, with frequent breaks when I was too busy to record or couldn't line up guests who had any free time.

 

Then 2020 happened, and having strangers or casual acquaintances in a small room in my basement started to seem like a bad idea. There were some missed months and also some fun and creative work-arounds, including an extended series with my daughter Emma Cole. Honestly, it's been a journey. 

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The premise of the podcast for the first few seasons was simple: I invited a guest or two in for a face-to-face, in-person conversation about books. The books we've loved, the books that have shaped us, even a few books we've hated. If the guest was a writer, as many of them were, we talked about how their reading shaped their writing, but the main focus was always on talking among ourselves as readers.

 

In Summer 2021, Emma and I started a series called "Bookswap" in which a fifty-something mom and her twenty-something daughter recommend a book for each other and then discuss the books. This was so much fun we kept doing it occasionally, and I started adding Bookswaps with other guests too.

 

​The podcast theme music is composed and performed by my son Chris Cole, who also did production work on most of the episodes to make them sound as good as my inexpensive mic and at-home setup could sound. As of 2024 I started recording in Chris's studio, Bad Times Club, with the help of Chris and his sound wizard-slash-business partner James Benoit, so big thanks to Chris and James for their help!

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All episodes of the podcast are archived on SoundCloud, and are available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and most any other place podcasts happen. You can, and should, subscribe to Shelf Esteem on your favourite podcast app. I've also created show notes for every episode, including links to all books and media discussed in that episode, at this Shelf Esteem podcast page. 

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As I approach the end of 2024 -- six years of podcasting, approaching 60 episodes -- I'm looking back at a project I've enjoyed so much, all these great conversations I'm glad to have archived where people can listen to them. I have taken more and longer hiatuses from the pod in the past couple of years, and I feel like this phase of the project may be winding down, but I'm definitely not giving up on podcasting because I love being behind a microphone! Watch this space, as they say, for further developments with Shelf Esteem in 2025 and beyond ....