Radar: What is purrcast?

J: Purrcast is a weekly podcast consisting of cats purring and a little ambient music to bring you back out.

A: Purrcast is a way to relax, to take a few minutes to sit down and be soothed.

Radar: How many hits did you get after it appeared on Boing Boing? Have there been other mentions that brought you a lot of site traffic?

J: Over that weekend there were 12,000 + downloads but only 9000 some page loads of the front page. Last week our hits from England had a big bump, I'm not sure what that was about.

A: I enjoyed Justin's daily updates on our stats. From our friends and family listening, to people all over the world! It was also a little intimidating; "Uh oh, now we REALLY have to keep it up!"

Radar: Were you surprised at any reactions to purrcast? For example did anyone manage to get angry about it?

J: I was expecting to be called crazy. We were, but in a not unkind way. It's really easy to keep track of what people are saying on the web and I was surprised at how enthusiastic people are about it. In particular a lot of college students miss their cats. The negative feedback was that my voice was kind of annoying. Lawyers commented about not liking to hear the creative commons license, because they get enough of that language at work. One lawyer hated my voice, oh well...

A: I expected to hear a lot more "This is just a fad" or "This is banking on the success of things like LOL cats, Stuff on My Cat, Daily Kitten" and similar internet phenomenon. What we hear instead is that people think the podcast is great, that they love it, that it makes people and cats happy. I'm sure there are some naysayers out there, but we have received mostly positive feedback.

Radar: Are you going to branch out to other cats now that each of your feline trio has attained fame and glory?

J: I want to find an easy way to get other people to get quality recordings of their cats. Soon I will be recording some friends' cats that are comfortable with me. For now there is an abundant supply of purring in my house.

A: I would love to have guest purrers or purrs on location. A lot of our friends and many purrcast listeners have volunteered their cats help for future episodes. One thing we've talked about is using Odeo for submitting purrclips.

Radar: What other audio projects have you been involved with?

J: Most recently I did the Tuba Christmas (all tuba Christmas concerts in the Baltimore Harbor and DC's Kennedy Center) and the Unsilent Night boombox parade is this Friday. Before that I was in (the band) Ego Likeness playing keytar and toured the US and Germany. And before that several ambient, improv and noisy things. I'm also on call for when Amy's belly dance troupe (Kallisti Tribal) needs to cut a few measures out or add a fade to a song for a performance.

A: Um, I sang on a song for a friends band in high school? And did a one time sound project for a tribute compilation for a band I love? Other than that my audio projects extend to singing showtunes to the cats (changing lyrics to reflect the cats' experiences) and learning how to use Audacity to edit music for my belly dance troupe.

Radar: What podcasts do you listen to?

J: Escape Pod, Pseudo Pod, Craphound (Cory Doctorow's podcast), Make Magazine, 60 Second Science, This American Life, Tipsy Gypsy, Savage Love, Kick Ass Mystic Ninjas. I miss Ze Frank. There is no reason not to try out listening to a podcast, so when ever I see one that looks interesting I take a few minutes to take a sample.

A: I started listening to podcasts while working in my office, when I could hear them from Justin's room across the hall. Then my favorite was http://www.kickassmysticninjas.com/. Now I credit podcasts with saving my interest in knitting last fall. Justin was on tour and I was enjoying the time home alone working on projects, but was having trouble jumpstarting my fall knitting. Then I found Cast-On and really fell in love with the medium. I still hold Brenda's model as a good standard for podcasts. Quirky Nomads is another favorite, and when I need background sound I often listen to Radio Bastet, which is vintage bellydance music. I am unfortunately picky, if I don't connect with the podcaster's voice, I can't listen. I also don't like the sound of phone calls that are recorded for audio, so interview-heavy podcasts are right out.

Radar: Why do cats purr?

J: Scientifically the frequencies are related to bone growth and muscle tone. One theory I like is that because cats lay about most of the time it is how they keep in shape. Mostly cats don't purr alone so it seems to be communication of some sort. They purr when they are happy and content or sometimes under stress. I think it is kind of like laughing.

A: To lull us into a sense of false security. To reward us so we keep opening the cans or doling out the crunchies.