Helen Zaltzman

Helen Zaltzman is the host of The Allusionist, an entertainment show about language; co-host of Answer Me This!, where she and Olly Mann answer questions from listeners across all kinds of topics; and Veronica Mars Investigations, which recaps every episode of the TV show Veronica Mars from the beginning. She also runs a Facebook group for podcasters, Podcasters' Support Group, which has more than 20,000 people. Follow her on Twitter here. Follow The Allusionist on Twitter here. Follow Answer Me This! on Twitter here.

What has your podcast journey been like?
Long! I feel like a relic from a different era. For context, I started podcasting before the iPhone launched, and MySpace was still a relevant service. For the first eight years I was podcasting, if I said that I was a podcaster, the response would be, "What's a podcast?" Then for a couple of years after that, it was "Oh yeah, I love podcasts, I listened to Serial," then in recent years it's "I'm thinking of starting a podcast." That's the evolution! 

Anyway, my podcast journey has been a pretty happy and lucky one; I started a show in my living room, knowing nothing - I learned how to edit audio and run a website by doing those things. There wasn't much podcasting information or support around at the time, so we just had to figure it out as we went along, and I'm really glad of that because now, there is SO much information that it can be so overwhelming that some people never actually start their show. I would have been such a person too, but fortunately I didn't know what I didn't know.

Off the back of Answer Me This, I got nicer and nicer jobs, then eight years in I got the nicest job of all, which was becoming a full-time podcaster with the Allusionist. That was absolutely life-changing - and it was incredibly empowering, for Roman Mars and PRX to say, "We trust you to make something, go do whatever you want." Opportunities like that don't come up often, so I wanted to make the most of it, and the show has forced me to discover neighbourhoods of my brain that I didn't know existed. As soon as I master one part of making the show, something else becomes more challenging. It's the hardest job of my life, but the most rewarding. Productionwise, I'm still as amateurish as when I started, self-taught and doing nine different jobs, usually sitting in bed. 

Women are criticized for their voices on podcasts all the time. What is your relationship to yours? 
Most of the criticism for my voice comes from me - like most people, I hated hearing my own voice, but got over that after about eight years of podcasting. I don't receive all that much criticism for my voice, and I think that might be because it's quite low - the Voice Police particularly seem to go after higher voices, ie young-sounding and female-sounding - and because I have an English accent. I think most of the Voice Police are American, and they are more critical of American-sounding young-sounding female-sounding voices. Do they only hear vocal fry in American voices, or is it the British accent privilege at work again? (Which I don't approve of, by the way! I'm sure I've benefitted from it, being an English-accented person making podcasts that Americans listen to, but how many times does Britain need to prove that it is NOT smarter than other countries??) 

Wow, I just had to explain why I think people don't hate my voice even though it's female! The Voice Police sure waste a lot of time for female-sounding broadcasters!

We've been conditioned to feel like only certain kinds of voices should be on air, and those reinforce certain paradigms of what power and authority sound like - and I'm ready for those to be smashed. So: examine your voice prejudices, people. Why do you think you don't like the way a particular person sounds? Why do you think voices should sound certain ways? Consider these things using the time you might have spent sending rude messages to people whose voices you didn't like. 

What do you hope The Allusionist does for people?
I hope that the Allusionist makes listeners think a little differently about language, this tool pretty much everyone alive has to use in some way but may not have thought much about before. I hope it's inclusive, because there's way too much language snobbery in the world. And I hope it makes them cry, sometimes. I'm a clown, so the main use of me is to amuse people while they're listening on their commutes or doing chores or whatnot; but fewer things make me feel prouder of myself than a listener telling me they cried. Is that bad?

What’s something that most podcasters don’t understand about podcasting, all the behind-the-scenes stuff?
People often assume I just turn up, talk into a mic and swan off, then Some Man does the production. I've spent the majority of my time over the past thirteen years producing my podcasts, so Some Man getting the credit for that really pisses me off!  

I think a lot of podcasters don't realise the value of editing - I see so many people equating editing with dishonesty, which is way off the mark in my opinion; good editing is to clarify honesty, really. Plus every other form of media or art involves some form of editing, if not in post-production then pre-, so why should podcasting not have it? People also often miss what a creative job it can be. But anything that I've ever made that has been good has been good because of the choices I've made about what to remove. 

Why is the podcasting community so great?
I think because - until very recently - there was no reason to be a part of it unless you loved it. And even in the current podcasting gold rush, there's something very sincere about it. There's a lot of kinship between podcasters because it can be quite an isolated pastime, so when we meet we form friendships quickly because we really need each other. I've met many of my favourite people thanks to podcasting.  

What show would you love to be a guest on?
Gilmore Guys was the dream. But, it's too late! Desert Island Discs is the Lifetime Achievement Award of guest spots.

Thanks, Helen!