Ben Franklin's World is an award-winning podcast produced by Colonial Williamsburg Innovation Studios.
Founded in 1926, The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation conducts ongoing historical, architectural, and archaeological research that underpins all exhibitions and programs in the Historic Area, in the art museums, and online. The Foundation maintains the world’s largest American history museum, where visitors can engage in immersive, authentic 18th-century experiences. The historic campus includes 89 original buildings and more than 500 meticulous re-creations of lost structures as well as two world-class art museums.
A lot of work goes into producing this podcast.
This page provides a behind-the-scenes look at Ben Franklin's World and it is dedicated to giving credit to those who help make the podcast possible.
Sound Editing and Engineering
Darrell Darnell and his team at Pro Podcast Solutions edit Ben Franklin's World.
Music
Breakmaster Cylinder composed the music you in hear in Ben Franklin's World.
Prior to Episode 228, the show used musical pieces by Bach.
Ben Franklin's World Around the Web
Since 2014, you can find regular posts about Ben Franklin's World on The New York History Blog: News & Views From The Empire State.
Podcast Tech
Liz recorded episodes 0-14 using a Zoom H2n Handy Recorder and Audio Hijack Pro recording software.
Between episodes 14 and 140, she recorded on a Heil PR-40 Dynamic Studio Recording Microphone. Today she records on an Electro Voice RE-320 microphone that she connects to her 13″ Macbook Pro via a Sound Devices MixPre-6 II USB audio interface and recorder. She edits each episode using Adobe Audition and engineers audio with Izotope RX and FabFilter plugin software.
Podcast Hosting and Website
Ben Franklin's World proudly hosts and distributes its episodes with Libsyn. This website is built on WordPress using the Megaphone Theme by Meks.
How to Start a Podcast
Liz spent 18 months researching podcasts before she launched Ben Franklin's World. In addition to using Google Search to find information about podcasts and how to produce them, she listened to a lot of podcasts about podcasting. Her favorites still include Libsyn's The Feed, The School of Podcasting, The Audacity to Podcast, Podcast Junkies, and Podcasters' Roundtable. Liz took a how to podcast course with Jeff Brown, a 26-year radio veteran who has leveraged his background to produce the successful Read to Lead Podcast.
You may find these blog posts over on Liz's blog helpful:
- “How To Start A Podcast in Grad School: A Primer“
- “6 Podcast Interview Tips That Will Make You Shine“
- “How To Pitch A Podcaster“