State of the Podcast, October 2017
Possibly our favorite month of the year is finally here, dear listeners! It's the first day of October, and we have three new episodes slated for release on appropriately eerie religious movements that we can't wait to share with you. Additionally, we plan to be much more active on social media this month in keeping with our participation in an exciting new venture...
#2PodsADay is a social media campaign that we discovered back in August thanks to our friends at the Human Circus podcast. It aims to introduce podcast listeners to two independent podcasts every day in order to give visibility to some of the great indie podcasts that you likely don't know about (yet). As part of this campaign, we peer reviewed three other indie podcasts that we'll provide links to in our Sects Ed Recommends section for you to check out. In the meantime, be sure to follow #2PodsADay on Facebook and Twitter to learn about enthralling new podcasts through the entire month of October. With all that said, let's move onto...
Patreon Rewards
As we detailed in our last State of the Podcast post, we've launched a Patreon campaign so that we can hopefully become a self-sustaining show. If you haven't already, check out our page here and consider contributing at one of our four award tiers. Anyone who donates at the Credentes level (just $1 a month) will receive a shout out on Twitter along with access to patron-only polls and updates. Those who become a Filius Minor (by donating just $3 a month) will be named at the end of every episode of Sects Ed and Sectstra Credit for the duration of their patronage, and their name will be listed on the show notes pages of every episode that they help sponsor. Becoming a Filius Maior (by donating just $5 a month) will enter you into a quarterly drawing for Kindle books about some of the unorthodox faiths we've covered on Sects Ed. If you decide to leap up to the highest Perfecti tier (for $15 a month), we'll advertise your (SFW) project or website at the beginning of every episode of Sects Ed and Sectstra Credit for the duration of your patronage.
If you can't contribute to us monetarily, we completely understand. However, you can still support our podcast in a variety of ways that are absolutely free. Simply head over to iTunes or your preferred podcast platform and leave us a rating and review. We would also be incredibly appreciative if you told a friend or family member about Sects Ed today. Perhaps one thing you can share with them is our...
Upcoming Episodes
While the schedule can always be subject to change, here are the topics for the next four episodes that we have planned:
10/3 - Episode 17: Church of Satan
10/17 - Episode 18: Satanic Temple
10/31 - Episode 19: Spiritualism
11/14 - Episode 20: LeBaron Order
As we mentioned in our last State of the Podcast post, this month we'll be celebrating Helloween by analyzing both the Church of Satan and the Satanic Temple. These groups have adopted the figure of Satan from Christianity and utilized elements of demonology for religious and political reasons, and we're anxious to investigate the similarities and differences between the two. We'll also be releasing an episode about Spiritualism on Halloween. While we've certainly encountered instances of interactions with the spirit world on this show before (like in the episodes here, here, and here), this is the first time where we'll be exploring a religious tradition that considers communication with the afterlife to be a central tenant of faith.
In November, we'll begin by delving into the history of the LeBaron Order, an infamous cohort of Mormon fundamentalists also known as the Church of the Firstborn. This episode is actually quite special because it's our first listener request. If there are any unorthodox faiths that you'd like us to research and report on in the near future, you can always make your own requests by contacting us on social media or through the convenient contact form on our website. If you just can't wait for another podcast to listen to in the meantime, though, might we propose...
Sects Ed Recommends
We recently peer reviewed three other indie podcasts also taking part in #2PodsADay. STAT! (Shocking Traumas and Treatments) was featured on Day 1, and our review of the episode "Dr. Lobotomy" reads as follows:
"STAT! is a podcast that administers equally healthy doses of history and humor. In this episode in particular, you can detect host Karen Wickiam’s passion for dissecting medical history, and her excitement for her subject matter is downright contagious. We also enjoyed some of the stories that she shared about her experiences as an ER nurse which frankly left us in stitches. If the phrase “strange medicine” piques your curiosity, then STAT! is a show that you should definitely check out."
Indeed, if STAT! sounds like your kind of program, you can find the episode that we reviewed right here.
The other two podcasts that we reviewed were Semi-Intellectual Musings and Russia House. We won't give away all of our thoughts about them here (as you can read our full reviews later this month), but we wholeheartedly endorse the following episodes:
From Semi-Intellectual Musings: Revolutionary Forces of Change
From Russia House: Send in the Swans
With all that said, we come to the end of our third State of the Podcast. We wish you all a spooktacular month of October, and we look forward to teaching you more about sects.
