Again in 2023, Rob Oliver broke the Guinness World Document for the longest podcast interview marathon ever. He managed to interview 137 podcast guests in just under 38 hours.
One other podcaster, Chizoba Clara Kronborg, has since taken the report. With an interview marathon beneath her belt that lasted over 55 hours, she nonetheless currently holds the title.
However a number of weeks in the past, I heard from the most recent podcaster to try a world report. After finishing a whopping 140 interviews in simply 16 hours with no breaks, host of The Martin Talk Show, Martin Colton, has tried to interrupt the world report for ‘essentially the most interview visitors in a single episode’.
I spoke to Martin about what it was prefer to podcast for 16 hours stable, and acquired some insights into the challenges and motivations of organising a podcast interview marathon with 140 visitors.
Interview with A Document-Chasing Podcaster
Q: Are you able to inform us about how your podcast journey started with The Martin Discuss Present?
A: It began about 18 months in the past throughout what I’d name a ‘midlife disaster second’. I used to be scuffling with my theater and performing profession, and feeling a bit misplaced. Initially, the podcast was going to be a option to promote a enterprise, however it shortly reworked into its personal factor, and one thing a lot greater.
My podcast is especially one-on-one interview conversations. However as a result of I’ve acquired this group theater that I run, it began to show right into a stay present. It began to remodel into group classes the place I acquired completely different parts of the city’s group concerned. It began to develop into this factor that folks wished to become involved with and I found I’m not the trainer, however the scholar. My curiosity grew to become the driving pressure, and it advanced into this dynamic speak present that explores creativity and group.
Q: What motivated you to try breaking the world report for many podcast visitors in a single episode?
A: I’ve all the time been fascinated by world information. As a child, I continuously seemed by the Guinness E-book of World Data. However I used to be by no means in a spot the place I might determine one thing out: What might an actor do as a world report? The longest play? All the pieces I considered, I simply felt prefer it was a bit naff, and nothing was connecting. After which a pal of mine, Leo Shepard, mentioned, “Why don’t you try a world report with the podcast?”
“In a means, that felt extra essential than the world report itself—having the ability to say thanks to the hospice.”
The precise push got here after I misplaced two shut pals who had been supported by the identical hospice. I noticed a chance to satisfy my childhood dream, but additionally give one thing again on the identical time by elevating some cash for Sinclair’s. I used to be pondering that I’d get £100 tops. However within the 16-hour podcast that we did, we raised £900. In a means, that felt extra essential than the world report itself—having the ability to say thanks to the hospice.
Q: 140 is quite a lot of interviews. How did you handle to get so many visitors for a single podcast episode?
A: I knew I couldn’t do it alone, so I requested my pal Leo Shepard to co-host with me. He’s the one who initially sparked the thought of trying the world report.
First, I reached out to earlier podcast visitors. Within the 18 months of working the present, I’ve printed over 300 episodes and interviewed greater than 500 folks, in order that was an excellent begin. I reached out to all of these folks individually, informed them what I used to be doing and the response was actually nice. Individuals wished to be concerned.
The primary half of the day, simply over 100 folks turned up in individual. As soon as I acquired by all of them, I had some telephone calls and video calls too.
Then we hit a wall close to the tip, the place we had been brief about 17 visitors, so I began calling everybody I knew. At midnight, I used to be reaching out to my finest pal from major college, outdated work colleagues—anybody who is perhaps prepared to hitch. Between me and Leo, we managed to seek out 20 folks in the course of the evening on a Sunday.
We additionally had folks watching the stay stream on YouTube they usually didn’t need us to fail in order that they had been sending folks our means. So we had a number of random folks on there in the direction of the tip.
Q: And logistically, how did you handle to organise all of it?
A: To be trustworthy, it was like herding cats! Attempting to get visitors to return into the group theatre at sure instances – that wasn’t straightforward.
I had a small group backstage as effectively, organizing folks and conserving them glad whereas they had been ready. It was fairly good backstage too – a few of them knew one another and there was an actual group factor occurring. At one level, I might hear singing occurring and a guitar being performed.
Individuals hold saying to me, “You have to have felt actually drained,” however I wasn’t. There was adrenaline pumping on a regular basis, and it was enjoyable—really, actually gratifying.
Q: Did you hit any technical obstacles alongside the way in which?
A: There have been a number of technical difficulties afterwards, yeah. I found that each Spotify and YouTube not enable podcasts longer than 12 hours! I searched in every single place and discovered that there’s no podcast platform that may enable a file previous 12 hours except you’ve acquired a whole lot of 1000’s of subscribers already and also you’re signed as much as their creator packages.
So, I needed to velocity up the audio and video by 1.3 instances to suit it inside platform limitations. I’ve saved the unique file for Guinness World Data verification, although.
And in case you look again on the video, the lighting was very good in individual, however sadly for the recording, the standard isn’t nice for the video. It’s fairly bleached and overexposed. I’m studying with this podcast as I’m going alongside.
Q: Do you could have any recommendation for podcasters seeking to do one thing comparable?
A: Begin with family and friends, and select a trigger greater than your self. If I used to be simply attempting to interrupt a report for myself, I don’t assume I’d have gotten 140 folks collectively. The fundraising and group side was actually essential.
Martin’s world report try is presently awaiting verification from Guinness World Data – a course of that may take as much as 20 weeks. You possibly can nonetheless donate to Sinclair’s Hospice on Martin’s donations page and watch the full live stream (in 2 parts!) over on YouTube.
What’s essentially the most visitors you’ve ever had on a podcast episode? You’ll want to tell us within the IndiePod Community – it’s free!
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