20 Years of FIR: A Podcasting Journey

Neville Hobson

05 Jan 2025 — 5 min read

Two decades ago, podcasting was a nascent experiment. Today, it’s a mainstream medium that shapes conversations, elections, and industries. For Shel Holtz and me, our For Immediate Release podcast has been both a witness to and a driver of that transformation.

Our anniversary episode – aptly titled From RSS to ChatGPT: FIR’s 20-Year Tech Communications Chronicle – was both a look back and a nod to what’s ahead. It reminded me how FIR has evolved, thrived, and adapted since we launched our first episode on 3 January 2005.

As we marked this milestone in episode 443, we took the opportunity to reflect on two decades of podcasting and the journey that brought us here.

How It All Began

Podcasting in 2005 was uncharted territory. Inspired by the potential of this new medium, Shel and I decided to create a co-hosted podcast to explore its possibilities for professional communicators.

A challenge for us was that we were physically separate, so the idea of sitting down together to routinely record a conversation would not fly. Shel was in Concord, California, USA, and I was in Amsterdam in The Netherlands then – 8 time zones and 5,425 miles (8,730 km) apart. The idea of recording over a phone call was unappealing. Apart from the high cost of international phone calls, there was the reality of figuring out how to record such phone calls without resorting to expensive and technical solutions.

Luckily for us, Skype had arrived on the scene in 2003. It disrupted telecommunications globally and enabled people like Shel and me to talk over the Internet and record the conversation at zero cost.

Our beginnings were anything but polished. The first episode in 2005, recorded over Skype, was riddled with technical imperfections and, listening today, the audio quality was pretty awful. Yet, it laid the foundation for a podcast that would go on to serve communicators with insights into technology and communication trends for two decades.

Milestones On the Journey

Throughout FIR’s history, we’ve experienced many defining moments:

Notable Interviews: From Richard Edelman to Helio Fred Garcia, William Beutler to Jeremiah Owyang, our conversations with leaders in the communication, business and technology fields provided rare insights and often sparked industry discussions.

A Book on Podcasting: In 2007, Shel and I co-authored How to Do Everything with Podcasting, one of the first business-focused podcasting books. While much of its technology advice is now outdated, the principles of storytelling and audience engagement remain timeless.

Accessible Tech: In our first years, we had a podcast app for iOS, thanks to Libsyn, our file-hosting service, who we’ve been using since the very beginning. The app was for more than just listening to episodes – you could also send in comments via the app, a highly proactive method of engagement.

Community Contributions: Listener engagement has been a hallmark of FIR, from correspondents like Dan York (still actively engaged today) to the many listener comments that shaped our conversations.

We also reflected on early experiments like hosting episodes in Second Life, collaborating on live shows, and producing comprehensive listener surveys. Each milestone has been a testament to the evolving ways podcasts can connect with audiences.

A huge personal milestone for me was when I stepped down from co-hosting FIR in the autumn of 2015. It was the right thing at the time, as I explained in a post. But I came back in April 2017! And that was the right thing, too.

The Technology That Shaped Us

Podcasting’s technological evolution has been extraordinary. From the early days of virtual cables and mix-minus setups to today’s AI-driven tools in Riverside.fm and Adobe podcasts, the medium has become more accessible and sophisticated.

FIR podcasting live! — *One of the rare times when Shel and I recorded in person. This was in 2007, when Shel and his wife Michele visited the UK. We had quite some hardware!*

As Shel noted during our anniversary conversation, today’s tools don’t just simplify production – they also elevate the listening experience to meet professional standards once reserved for traditional broadcast media. Features like filler-word removal and audio normalisation were unimaginable when we started.

The Changing Role of Podcasts

One of the most fascinating shifts over the years has been the growing influence of podcasts. Once a niche medium, podcasting has become a platform where news is broken, elections are influenced, and audiences are engaged at a deeply personal level.

FIR podcast business card — *For a thoroughly professional touch, we had business cards in the early days*

Despite this mainstream adoption, podcasting remains a space for niche voices like FIR to thrive. Whether reaching thousands of communicators or millions of mainstream listeners, podcasts have proven their enduring relevance.

FIR has thrived as a niche podcast, reaching communicators worldwide with insights that combine emerging technologies with timeless communication principles.

What Lies Ahead

As we step into our third decade, Shel and I remain committed to exploring the intersection of communication and technology. We’re excited to see where this journey takes us – and we’re grateful to have you with us on the journey.

The past 20 years have been extraordinary. Shel and I are immensely grateful for the listeners and sponsors who’ve supported us along the way.

Today, the possibilities for podcasting seem boundless. AI, video integration, and personalised content delivery will continue to transform the medium. Whether you’ve been with us since episode 1, or joined more recently, thank you for being part of FIR’s story.

Listen to FIR 443

You can listen to or download our 52-minute conversation right here; or, if you don’t see the embedded audio player below, listen with your favourite podcast app or on the episode 443 show notes page on the podcast website.

You can find links there to the source material we used in this episode, along with the verbatim transcript of our conversation.