News! Update! and *Podcast ProTips* (Patreon)

WOW, what a wild week it's been. A month ago there were only rumors and murmurs, and now there's tens of thousands of us rolling around like happy pigs in the endless sonic possibilities of a whole new world. We're extremely grateful and happy that you're here and along for the ride! Oink oink!

We've been getting lots of questions about how podcasting in general, and our podcast specifically work, so we wanted to answer them. And even better: we got scheduling and release updates that we thought you might like to hear, ergo:

***NEWSFLASH***

Henceforth, release day will be [drumroll] Tuesday.* So our first Fireside Chat this will drop this Tuesday, and then, on the Tuesday after that, the next episode on the main feed will come out.

*It's fun to get a drumroll and then just say a normal plain thing without an exclamation point. You should [drumroll] try it.

***NEWSFLASH 2: BACK IN THE HABIT***

Episode 2 of the Children's Adventure was initially released MISSING a very lovely scene at the top of the episode. We (noble, brave, yet somehow, still humble?) fixed it very quickly, but if you downloaded it soon after release you might have gotten the abbreviated version (the wrong version starts with them feeding the animals). To hear the correct one, download it fresh and give a listen.

***PodcastProTips***

WOW, we've heard a lot of Q's about how podcasting works and what's on what feed where. You want THE JUICE. And we wanna give you THE JUICE. Here's some A's to the Q's we've been seeing a lot, and we're updating our FAQ with this, so you can always find these answers and more on the front page of our Patreon.

I'm Completely New to Podcasts. How Do I Listen?

Well, you could listen to the Fireside feed simply by opening the post with the audio you'd like to hear and pressing play right here on the Patreon website, but you don't want that, you want a proper podcast. To listen to a podcast on a mobile device, you'll need an app called a "podcatcher." Your phone probably came with one installed. If not, or if you'd like to step up into a better class of podcatchers, we recommend Overcast for iOS and Pocket Casts or Podcast Addict for Android. Once you have your podcatcher, you'll want to find its directory of shows within the app, and search for Worlds Beyond Number. There we are. Add us. Great, now you've got the main show. To get your Patron-exclusive content, a bonus podcast we call The Fireside, keep reading:

Do I Need to Subscribe to the Public Feed and the Fireside Feed?

Yes. Episodes of the main show are sent out over the main, public feed. That’s the feed you see on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other podcast apps and directories. Patrons however, get access to an exclusive bonus feed called the Fireside Feed. To get the main show and your premium content on your podcatcher, you’ll need to subscribe to both. We sincerely appreciate you taking the time (should only be a few seconds!) to subscribe to both feeds, as it’s the best way for us to grow the show, keep it sustainable, and make sure you get all your awesome bonus content.

How Do I Get the Fireside Feed Onto My Device, Yes I Mean My Phone, I Don't Know Why I Said "Device."

That's okay, we're all doing our best, and we are called upon by our own conscience to be gracious to each other and ourselves. Or not I don't know. Either way you're fine!

—Once you've joined our patreon, make sure you're logged into Patreon, and go to patreon.com/worldsbeyondnumber

—just under the title of the page, you'll see three headings that say HOME - ABOUT - MEMBERSHIP.

—Click on MEMBERSHIP.

—Scroll down a bit and you'll see a section that says "Listen on other podcast apps."

—Click on the button labeled "Copy Link" and boom, ya got yr link.

—Your podcatcher app should have a way to add RSS feeds. Just add that RSS feed address that you copied from Patreon into your podcatcher (if there's not an obviously marked spot, just paste it into the search bar, that'll usually do it). Boom. You're "in."

—If those instructions don't work for you, take a look at Patreon's official How To Guide.

Can I Add the Fireside Feed to Spotify?

No. Spotify is a "walled garden" that doesn't allow the addition of RSS feeds. Their business model vis a vis podcasts is threatened by the amazing, generative, democratizing nature of free, open source RSS technology. Still though, their Discover Weekly playlists are pretty good, right?

All the patron-only Fireside eps disappeared from my feed!

This is almost certainly due to your credit card not going through when you were charged for Patreon this month. Make sure your account is in good standing, try adding the RSS feed to your podcatcher again, and it should be [drumroll] fine.

-t