I am putting the finishing touches to Episode 21 of my Colombia Calling online radio show, who would have thought we would have been going for five months? I admit to being incredibly flattered by the offer from the editor of the Overseas Radio Network in offering me a slot in which to discuss Colombia. Was it vanity that led me to take the position and create Colombia Calling? Most probably, but now, the playing field is changing and each podcast receives more downloads than the last and I am in the enviable position of now receiving requests for interviews.
Graffiti on the Carrera Septima in Bogota
None of this would have been possible of course without the high caliber of guests agreeing to be interviewed on Colombia Calling. We have hosted a Business Trainer, Travel Agents, Bloggers, Political Commentators, Hostel owners and members of the Colombian diaspora in the United States amongst others. It’s been a blast and has put me into contact with some incredibly interesting people who, as I frequently mention on the show, “are making it happen here in Colombia”.
Growth is frequent and the editor in Costa Rica has informed me that the numbers of listeners for Colombia Calling is increasing 40 per cent month on month.
Originally, I believed perhaps naively that one of the main challenges would be to find enough people here in Colombia who would be able to talk and be interviewed. I clearly did not understand the draw of radio, even online radio and podcasts. Having never really worked in this journalistic field before everything is new, exciting and revealing. But, I like to think that show is finding its groove and now proving an attractive proposition to those wishing to promote a worthy cause.
So, this is a heartfelt thank you to those of you out there that have diligently tuned in and downloaded any shows. Without you, we would not still be here recording in Bogota or Mompós.
A derelict building in Bogota
What does the future hold for Colombia Calling? I guess I should find some businesses prepared to offer advertising, but, being a salesman is not really my scene. Personally and editorially I just hope we continue to grow and draw a wide catchment of listeners wishing to learn the truth about Colombia.
Additionally, on the strength of Colombia Calling, I have been offered a monthly column in the City Paper, Colombia’s most successful and longest running anglophone newspaper. So keep an eye out for the “Colombia Calling” opinion pieces appearing there from November.
Who are the future interviewees? At the moment I have some very interesting personalities lined up for interview. Next week we’ll be having a debate on Colombia Calling about the graffiti or “urban art” scene here in Bogota which will see a young documentary maker Sophie Trew from the UK joined by graffiti artist Crisp discussing the relevance of the art-form here. Then I hope to step up in editorial quality and interview an expert Colombianist about the political situation here before interviewing an expat wife and learning of how it is to have and raise a child in Colombia. So, as always, we jump around but always with one constant…Colombia!
Tune in here on Monday’s at 2pm Colombia time, 3pm US EST or download the podcasts from iTunes.
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