E59: The State of the Podcast

**Bryan Buchanan** (0:21)
Well, as you may have heard, we've finished season two with Nauvoo now, and it's on to greener pastures. So we thought we'd do something we haven't done before. We're gonna do something called a State of the Podcast episode. We're gonna kinda step back, we're gonna talk about some things that we've noticed, and just kind of what the experience is like. So here you go, a new experience.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (0:42)
Yeah, we thought we would talk, check in, not regale you with all our nerdy historical facts, although we can't help ourselves.
It will come out in this podcast anyway. But talk about the state of the podcast. So first of all, we got our numbers back for 2021, and we're just shy of one million downloads, which is unbelievable.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:00)
That's a lot of zeros.
Thanks, friends. Honestly, that blows my mind to hear that.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:06)
Me too, because Year of Polygamy was a huge success as far as downloads go, but I thought it was because of polygamy, right? Everyone wants to know about that. But Mormon history is a little bit more niche, yet people are listening like crazy. And you said every week people, or every day people are coming in this door.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:24)
That's wild. Yeah, thanks for coming in to Benchmark and saying hi. That's so much fun to hear from people.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:29)
We actually love it. We eat up the praise. We're supposed to, as Mormons, we're supposed to be like, no, no, no.
We don't want your praise and adoration, but we do, we really do, especially on iTunes.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:41)
We have fun putting this together, and it sounds like that's coming through, and we're glad to hear it.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (1:45)
Oh, let's be 100% clear. We are doing this even if two people listened.

**Bryan Buchanan** (1:49)
That's the thing is we message each other about this and that and stupid things we find and dumb jokes, and to know that you're enjoying it, that's just gravy.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (2:15)
Watching. Hi this is Lindsay Hansen Park.

**Bryan Buchanan** (2:17)
And this is Bryan Buchanan.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (2:19)
Bringing you the story of Mormonism from the shadow of the everlasting hills, straight out of Zion, this isn't your grandpa's Mormon history.

**Bryan Buchanan** (2:46)
This is the tale of Mormon saints and sinners from our roots until present day.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (2:51)
Gird your loins, lock your hearts and pay your tithing, because we're bringing you the story of Mormonism in all its paradisiacal glory.

**Bryan Buchanan** (2:59)
It's the Sunstone History Podcast.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:21)
I believe I read a comment where they called you, okay, they called us ridiculously nerdy. I'll take it.
We have nerd hats, it's fine.

**Bryan Buchanan** (3:29)
I can't argue. I will not argue.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (3:31)
No, I mean, it was really fun because I met Bryan podcasting through Year of Polygamy. So I was podcasting, you know, if anyone out there doesn't know, I have another podcast, Year of Polygamy, where I as a little Mormon housewife decide to go into the history of polygamy. My little girl was a baby. At the time, you can sometimes hear her on my lap. And it's kind of embarrassing to me now to like when people say they listen to the whole thing, I was like, oh, that was years ago. What stupid thing did I say that I forgot? And I met Bryan through the podcast. What was our very first episode? Do you even remember?

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:01)
The we did together?

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:02)
Yeah.

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:03)
Oh yes, I can remember it very clearly. So I had just discovered these, the records of the first guys that start to get disciplined for post-Second Manifesto marriages. And I had met you through the store, through Sunstone and all that. And I thought, you know what, this is a fun story. And I asked you, would you be interested in doing an episode on this?
And of course, Lindsay's like, anyone who ever wants to do an episode, yes, please.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:30)
I used to think like, that's how we hang out, right? That's what's fun. And some people are like, can we do something that's not Mormon history? I'm like, what?
Like what?

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:38)
Like what else is fun beyond Mormon history? Come on, people.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:41)
Like go to a cemetery and look up names? Does that count?

**Bryan Buchanan** (4:44)
There we go. Now that's what I like.

**Lindsay Hansen Park** (4:45)
Yeah, Bryan likes to hang out at cemeteries like a weirdo.