
”The Program” first results – how I used HN to launch a fiction podcast - I-M-S
https://programaudioseries.com/the-program-results/
======
jstanley
I've not heard of this before. The premise sounds incredibly appealing to me,
and I am going to try listening:

> For those who haven’t heard (of) The Program audio series before, imagine
> Black Mirror as a podcast. Every episode is a standalone story set in a
> future in which Money, State, and God have been fused into a single entity
> called the Program. The world of the Program is neither a utopia nor a
> dystopia, as the new system produced both winners and losers - ordinary men
> and women who are sometimes heroes and sometimes the villains of their own
> lives. And to them, it is not this future they find terrifying - but our
> present.

For what it's worth, describing it as a "fictional podcast" is quite
confusing. I think it would be better described as a _fiction_ podcast. A
"fictional podcast" makes it sound like you were promoting it as if it
existed, without actually having made any episodes, i.e. the podcast is
fictional rather than being a podcast of fiction.

~~~
donclark
I too was confused when I read the title. "Fictional podcast" meant that there
wasnt actually a podcast - which piqued my interest. I am still glad that I
clicked the link to find out more about this podcast!

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I-M-S
Hello HN! After unveiling The Program audio series on HN in June 2018 [1], and
officially launching in November 2019 [2], I wanted to give the community a
quick update how this unusual fictional podcast was doing. So I wrote a blog
post containing the numbers and the story of the show's reception so far.
Hopefully it helps someone (thinking of) undertaking a similar endeavour.

Please let me know if you have any questions or feedback, either regarding the
blog or the show itself. The discussions on this site are a constant source of
inspiration for my writing, and I would be especially curious to hear of any
submissions you think would make fertile fodder for future episodes (fun fact:
episodes 8 and 10 contain comments that have been incorporated into the show
almost verbatim!)

[1]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17425278](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=17425278)

[2]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21704417](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21704417)

~~~
feydaykyn
The first batch is really great, sound quality, narrative and voices are top
notch! The characters and the stories moved me a lot, I'm going to listen to
the others for sure. Many thanks!

Regarding ideas: \- I was wondering what HN would be like under the Program,
what transformations would occur? (related to the threads about moderation, or
the ones thanking the community) \- would the Program have "cognitive" biases
like the current machine learning models? \- would Apple still create iPhone
SE ? How would the company react to a Steve Jobs bot created from all the
digital content we has from him? (related to a thread about bots speaking like
dead people made from analyzing all digital content)

Thanks again!

~~~
I-M-S
> related to a thread about bots speaking like dead people made from analyzing
> all digital content

Could you please send me the link to this? It sounds like that Black Mirror
episode ("Be right back"), but I never liked how they treated the subject and
was thinking of giving it a go myself

~~~
feydaykyn
I cannot find the HN thread, but here is an article on the topic:
[https://www.theverge.com/a/luka-artificial-intelligence-
memo...](https://www.theverge.com/a/luka-artificial-intelligence-memorial-
roman-mazurenko-bot)

------
AnonC
Thank you for the detailed account of what you did and what worked. I had to
skim through some parts of the post, but I came off more informed than before
about podcast promotions. I will be checking out your podcast even though I’m
not a regular podcast listener.

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bberenberg
I really loved this podcast, but I had listened to it on your website and
thought it had concluded. Had I not read this post, I would not have known
there were 4 more episodes out, and 2 more on the way. Definitely subscribing
in a podcast app now.

~~~
I-M-S
Curious, why had you thought it concluded? I'm getting similar reactions from
some people now that I got to episode 10. I'm confused because the story was
never supposed to wrap up or anything

~~~
joshschreuder
Not the OP, but I mentioned this after your last relaunch post - IIRC your
initial post had one podcast feed and your relaunch had a new feed. I think
ideally you should have kept the same feed, or published a short clip episode
telling people to resubscribe. I came very close to missing the new eps myself
if your relaunch post missed me. Hindsight is 20/20 :)

Thanks for all the work you and your performers have put in. Can’t wait to
listen to the new eps.

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ornornor
I want to give this a shot but my podcast app on the iPhone has a bug: it
tells me I need to enable explicit content to subscribe. And whatever I do
(enable it or disable it, allow explicit content in iOS restrictions etc) it
will always tell me I have blocked explicit content.

Has anyone had this issue?? How to fix it?

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tantalor
fictional -> fiction

~~~
PaulDavisThe1st
indeed. my parsing of the title (and description on the site) was "a podcast
that does not actually exist"

which is a pretty cool concept all by itself.

