WEBVTT 00:00:00.480 --> 00:00:04.559 Todd Cochrane, a great podcasting pioneer, advocate for 00:00:04.559 --> 00:00:11.679 independent podcasters, and 1 of my good friends, died Monday 00:00:11.679 --> 00:00:14.160 morning, September eighth 20 25. 00:00:17.484 --> 00:00:21.191 Todd was among the first 50 podcasters launching Geek News 00:00:21.191 --> 00:00:24.204 Central on October '4. 00:00:24.605 --> 00:00:28.149 And he wrote 1 of the first books about podcasting, the 00:00:28.149 --> 00:00:34.229 podcasting do it yourself guide, published on June '5, nearly 3 00:00:34.229 --> 00:00:39.109 weeks before Apple launched support for podcasts in iTunes, and 00:00:39.109 --> 00:00:40.789 before I even heard of podcasting. 00:00:43.664 --> 00:00:47.024 You may never know how you touch the lives around you. 00:00:47.664 --> 00:00:51.744 And while I certainly can't tell you of everything Todd has done 00:00:51.744 --> 00:01:05.150 and given to others, I would like to share how I knew Todd. 00:01:09.484 --> 00:01:11.405 And I'll try to make it through this. 00:01:15.885 --> 00:01:19.645 Although I'd learned about Todd's company Blueberry sometime in 00:01:19.645 --> 00:01:26.060 20 o 6 or 20 o 7, I didn't meet Todd until June '8 at PodCamp 00:01:26.060 --> 00:01:28.500 Ohio in Columbus, Ohio. 00:01:29.140 --> 00:01:32.340 Todd was speaking on podcast sponsorships. 00:01:33.060 --> 00:01:36.020 I remember it well because of his answer to 1 of my questions 00:01:36.020 --> 00:01:39.814 back then when I knew nothing about podcast sponsorships. 00:01:40.055 --> 00:01:44.534 I asked something like, I play video games with the marketing 00:01:44.534 --> 00:01:46.614 director from this major company. 00:01:47.415 --> 00:01:51.094 What should I do to approach him about a sponsorship of my 00:01:51.094 --> 00:01:55.040 podcast? And Todd said, why haven't you talked to him yet? 00:01:55.840 --> 00:02:00.319 And the other thing that happened, I still remember this. 00:02:00.319 --> 00:02:02.879 This was it's just so funny. 00:02:04.240 --> 00:02:07.545 During his presentation, at 1 moment, he said something. 00:02:07.545 --> 00:02:11.784 I don't remember exactly what he said, but it was he spoke badly 00:02:11.784 --> 00:02:12.985 about Google. 00:02:13.384 --> 00:02:18.185 And right after he said that, lightning struck right outside the 00:02:18.185 --> 00:02:19.144 window where we were. 00:02:19.449 --> 00:02:22.489 And we didn't even know there was a thunderstorm coming yet. 00:02:22.489 --> 00:02:24.729 It was was perfect. 00:02:24.729 --> 00:02:28.489 It was as if, you know, the voice of God was like, how dare you 00:02:28.489 --> 00:02:32.409 insult Google? But Todd wouldn't have minded. 00:02:33.514 --> 00:02:36.955 Todd created the People's Choice Podcast Awards, the first 00:02:36.955 --> 00:02:38.314 podcast awards. 00:02:38.875 --> 00:02:42.155 Todd was also the founder of the Tech Podcast Network of which I 00:02:42.155 --> 00:02:43.675 was a member for many years. 00:02:44.155 --> 00:02:47.594 In January 2013, I had the opportunity to attend the Consumer 00:02:47.594 --> 00:02:52.050 Electronics Show or CES in Las Vegas with Todd Cochrane and a 00:02:52.050 --> 00:02:54.930 team of other podcasters from Tech Podcast Network. 00:02:55.730 --> 00:02:57.970 I was a bit hesitant to go. 00:02:58.129 --> 00:03:02.530 For 1 thing, it was Las Vegas and also just the expense of it and 00:03:02.530 --> 00:03:02.930 the time. 00:03:03.314 --> 00:03:07.794 It overlapped with New Media Expo or NMX, which was also in Las 00:03:07.794 --> 00:03:10.915 Vegas at that time, so I could do both at the same time. 00:03:10.915 --> 00:03:14.594 But I just wasn't sure that even both events together were worth 00:03:14.594 --> 00:03:15.395 the trip for me. 00:03:16.259 --> 00:03:22.340 But Todd very kindly pressured me to commit to attending CES with 00:03:22.340 --> 00:03:22.819 me. 00:03:22.979 --> 00:03:25.939 He told me about all the relationships that he had built from 00:03:25.939 --> 00:03:30.085 going to CES year after year and how much fun it was, and the 00:03:30.085 --> 00:03:33.764 opportunities there would be to network and to discover new 00:03:33.764 --> 00:03:35.125 products and all of this. 00:03:35.844 --> 00:03:41.044 It turned out that he also wanted me there to be there live at 00:03:41.044 --> 00:03:45.669 New Media Expo because Leo Laporte was hosting the Podcast Awards 00:03:45.669 --> 00:03:50.789 ceremony, and that's when the Audacity to Podcast won its first 00:03:50.789 --> 00:03:51.590 award. 00:03:52.549 --> 00:03:57.685 Of course, Todd couldn't reveal that I had won, but he was clever 00:03:57.685 --> 00:04:00.805 in convincing me to be there so that I could have the joy of 00:04:00.805 --> 00:04:05.604 receiving the award in person from 1 of my podcasting heroes. 00:04:06.405 --> 00:04:09.924 It was at that same conference that Steve Lee and Dave Lee shared 00:04:09.924 --> 00:04:14.300 the idea of International Podcast Day and asked me to help and be 00:04:14.300 --> 00:04:15.819 1 of the cofounders. 00:04:16.220 --> 00:04:20.540 And I would not have been there if it wasn't for Todd Cochrane. 00:04:21.660 --> 00:04:25.500 Those years of covering at CES provided great memories too. 00:04:25.884 --> 00:04:28.045 Todd and I partnered up several times. 00:04:28.045 --> 00:04:31.245 He would run the camera while I interviewed a company I found 00:04:31.245 --> 00:04:35.324 interesting, and I would run the camera for him when he would 00:04:35.324 --> 00:04:36.365 interview someone. 00:04:36.605 --> 00:04:40.300 We would also livestream coverage throughout the day from our 00:04:40.300 --> 00:04:43.259 Tech Podcasts Network booth outside the North Hall of the Las 00:04:43.259 --> 00:04:44.779 Vegas Convention Center. 00:04:44.939 --> 00:04:48.379 I remember a funny time during the live coverage that someone 00:04:48.379 --> 00:04:51.339 brought up a water based eye massager. 00:04:51.339 --> 00:04:54.925 It looked like a VR headset, but it was for massaging your eyes, 00:04:54.925 --> 00:04:58.045 and it had water in these little pockets or bubbles or something 00:04:58.045 --> 00:04:59.245 like that on the inside. 00:04:59.324 --> 00:05:03.084 I thought it was kind of weird, and we'd seen plenty of weird 00:05:03.084 --> 00:05:06.444 gimmicks during our time there both on the floor and people that 00:05:06.444 --> 00:05:09.439 came to the booth, but we would interview anyone who had 00:05:09.439 --> 00:05:13.600 scheduled the time at the booth. So I wore contacts at that time. 00:05:13.600 --> 00:05:16.800 And while Todd continued interviewing the representative from the 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:21.120 country or from the the company there, who was from a different 00:05:21.120 --> 00:05:25.125 country, but while Todd was interviewing him, I decided to go 00:05:25.125 --> 00:05:28.405 ahead and slip on this headset because I thought, well, yeah, I 00:05:28.405 --> 00:05:30.725 wear contacts, so I'm not sure if it's a good idea. 00:05:30.725 --> 00:05:34.004 But then again, I wear contacts. My eyes are kinda stressed. 00:05:34.870 --> 00:05:40.629 And when I slip that on and turned it on, I actually let out a 00:05:40.629 --> 00:05:47.955 sort of sigh and moan, like, because of the relief that it 00:05:47.955 --> 00:05:49.555 brought on my stressed eyes. 00:05:49.555 --> 00:05:54.595 And Todd burst out laughing saying, I don't think we've ever had 00:05:54.595 --> 00:06:00.514 someone moan live in our coverage before. And Todd was like that. 00:06:00.514 --> 00:06:02.035 He would just roll with things. 00:06:02.035 --> 00:06:05.879 He was popular for saying that don't edit your podcast. 00:06:05.879 --> 00:06:09.319 Don't edit anything because he said if he ever edited his 00:06:09.319 --> 00:06:10.759 podcast, it would kill him. 00:06:10.759 --> 00:06:15.399 Just he wanted to get it out there and as raw and with whatever 00:06:15.399 --> 00:06:16.439 problems it had in it. 00:06:17.035 --> 00:06:24.235 And Todd was like that, very raw, very unfiltered, but yet he 00:06:24.235 --> 00:06:25.754 cared. Yeah. 00:06:25.754 --> 00:06:28.714 He could say some harsh things have been against companies and 00:06:28.714 --> 00:06:34.960 such, But then, like, at dinner or afterward or you'd see him 00:06:34.960 --> 00:06:37.920 sitting and talking to people, laughing with people, even people 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:41.120 that he might have ripped to shreds in some statement on x or 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:44.435 some other social network platform or at a conference, but he was 00:06:44.435 --> 00:06:45.555 still friendly. 00:06:45.555 --> 00:06:49.155 He still cared about people no matter their backgrounds. 00:06:50.115 --> 00:06:54.194 At the end of those CES events also, Todd would treat the whole 00:06:54.194 --> 00:06:59.000 team to dinner at Tony Roma's a restaurant in Fremont Hotel, and 00:06:59.000 --> 00:07:03.720 that's where many of us had the best cheesecake of our lives. 00:07:03.879 --> 00:07:07.639 I will not repeat what Todd had said when we all tasted that 00:07:07.639 --> 00:07:10.360 cheesecake. But Todd was always generous like that. 00:07:10.795 --> 00:07:13.835 When we would hang out in the evenings at podcasting conferences, 00:07:13.835 --> 00:07:17.035 he would frequently buy everyone's meals or drinks at the table. 00:07:17.275 --> 00:07:20.555 At the conversations or in the conversations at those 00:07:20.555 --> 00:07:25.035 conferences, it was always so fun hearing him tell all of these 00:07:24.709 --> 00:07:28.709 stories from his past in the navy, and he would do so without 00:07:28.709 --> 00:07:31.990 compromising national intelligence or any of his top secret 00:07:31.990 --> 00:07:33.990 clearance or anything like that that he still had. 00:07:34.069 --> 00:07:38.004 But he'd have all of these fun stories, And we would talk into 00:07:38.004 --> 00:07:43.285 the late hours about podcasting and how we could help podcasters 00:07:43.285 --> 00:07:49.204 and make the whole industry better because Todd cared. 00:07:50.490 --> 00:07:55.209 Indeed, he cared very much about independent podcasters 00:07:55.209 --> 00:07:58.649 especially, but also the whole podcasting industry. 00:07:58.970 --> 00:08:02.410 And he was a strong proponent for anyone to be able to speak 00:08:02.410 --> 00:08:03.689 freely in podcasting. 00:08:03.689 --> 00:08:06.805 I remember him often saying something like, I may not like what 00:08:06.805 --> 00:08:09.925 you have to say or I may not agree with it, but I will defend 00:08:09.925 --> 00:08:11.365 your right to say it. 00:08:12.245 --> 00:08:16.884 In fact, Todd was such a great supporter when I was inducted into 00:08:16.884 --> 00:08:18.245 the Podcast Hall of Fame too. 00:08:18.245 --> 00:08:21.589 And Todd was in the first group in 2015. 00:08:21.589 --> 00:08:24.470 I've been trying to find his speech from that. 00:08:24.629 --> 00:08:27.509 If I can find that, I'll put it in the chapters and in the notes 00:08:27.509 --> 00:08:31.670 for this episode along with several other things about Todd, 00:08:31.910 --> 00:08:37.495 special landmark or hallmark episodes that he has put out or 00:08:37.495 --> 00:08:39.095 certain pieces of content. 00:08:39.495 --> 00:08:42.054 And look in the notes and look in the chapters for this episode 00:08:42.054 --> 00:08:43.174 for those links to things. 00:08:43.174 --> 00:08:45.574 I I really recommend that you check it out, see some of the 00:08:45.574 --> 00:08:48.134 things he's done, he said, he's contributed. 00:08:48.375 --> 00:08:51.850 But when I was inducted into the Podcast Hall of Fame, I'd 00:08:51.850 --> 00:08:55.850 recently experienced an attack and defamation campaign. 00:08:56.250 --> 00:09:00.250 And there were actually some concerns about my safety at that 00:09:00.250 --> 00:09:04.009 ceremony and the behavior of the crowd as well. 00:09:04.649 --> 00:09:09.294 But Todd was very direct with me because at some moment, I was 00:09:09.294 --> 00:09:12.975 expressing some concern to him and even some some self doubt and 00:09:12.975 --> 00:09:16.975 saying, I I don't do I really deserve this? I don't think I do. 00:09:16.975 --> 00:09:21.000 I I help podcasters. Yeah. But I don't think I deserve this. 00:09:21.000 --> 00:09:26.279 And he told me, no. He said, Daniel, you deserve to be here. 00:09:27.559 --> 00:09:34.235 And he also said that if there were any hecklers during my speech 00:09:34.235 --> 00:09:38.475 and when I got the award, he would personally escort them out of 00:09:38.475 --> 00:09:44.154 the room and get them out of there. Because Todd was like that. 00:09:46.120 --> 00:09:52.840 He stood up for others. He he fought for our country too. 00:09:53.240 --> 00:09:58.200 He risked his life for our country, serving the navy in multiple 00:09:58.200 --> 00:09:58.759 aspects. 00:10:00.615 --> 00:10:03.975 And it was also because of Todd that I started listening to No 00:10:03.975 --> 00:10:07.975 Agenda with the pod father, Adam Curry and John c Devarak. 00:10:08.134 --> 00:10:12.215 And listening to that podcast is what helped start my friendship 00:10:12.215 --> 00:10:13.175 with Adam Curry. 00:10:13.610 --> 00:10:18.410 And then also how I first learned about podcasting 2 when Adam 00:10:18.410 --> 00:10:20.410 was just formulating the ideas. 00:10:22.009 --> 00:10:26.090 Todd was known for many things, but 1 of my favorites was that he 00:10:26.090 --> 00:10:28.170 would often say, getyourown.com. 00:10:28.825 --> 00:10:36.024 And ironically, he was the 1 who owned the domain cnnpodcast.com, 00:10:36.904 --> 00:10:40.504 which is now under the ownership of the actual CNN. 00:10:40.929 --> 00:10:43.970 And it was in a conversation with him that I was joking. 00:10:43.970 --> 00:10:46.450 I said, oh, you know, you could call it the Cochrane News 00:10:46.450 --> 00:10:51.410 Network, but that's when CNN was demanding the domain and he had 00:10:51.410 --> 00:10:52.210 to give it to them. 00:10:52.210 --> 00:10:57.985 But he's also the owner of what'sapodcast.com, for which he 00:10:57.985 --> 00:11:02.304 recently entrusted me to make the website for it to publicize a 00:11:02.304 --> 00:11:05.584 podcast definition. And I talked about that in a recent episode. 00:11:06.144 --> 00:11:10.200 And he just said, yeah. Go ahead. Make that site for it. 00:11:10.360 --> 00:11:14.679 He didn't critique anything I did on it. He didn't say, no. 00:11:14.679 --> 00:11:18.120 This is wrong or anything like that. He loved it. He shared it. 00:11:21.495 --> 00:11:25.254 Todd and I spoke many times, especially at podcasting events. 00:11:25.654 --> 00:11:29.735 He really stood up for the podcasting community countless times. 00:11:30.375 --> 00:11:34.295 He was making some enemies along the way because of his advocacy 00:11:34.295 --> 00:11:34.934 for others. 00:11:35.690 --> 00:11:40.809 But he cared more for the podcasters to build their own 00:11:40.809 --> 00:11:41.769 platforms. 00:11:43.529 --> 00:11:46.410 Todd was the 1 I would frequently think about when I would tell 00:11:46.410 --> 00:11:51.315 podcasters like you that you don't need the voice of angels to be 00:11:51.315 --> 00:11:51.875 successful. 00:11:51.875 --> 00:11:56.754 And Todd fully owned that he didn't have a radio voice, but that 00:11:56.754 --> 00:11:57.715 didn't stop him. 00:11:58.434 --> 00:12:03.340 In his own podcast, Todd was all about his ohana, which is a 00:12:03.340 --> 00:12:07.500 Hawaiian term for family, and he loved his reel and podcast 00:12:07.500 --> 00:12:09.019 family very much. 00:12:09.740 --> 00:12:13.820 It was while he was visiting family in Washington that a blood 00:12:13.820 --> 00:12:17.660 clot reached his lungs and the doctor's best efforts were not 00:12:17.660 --> 00:12:18.460 able to save him. 00:12:20.514 --> 00:12:24.115 Sadly, while Todd was always friendly toward Christians and 00:12:24.115 --> 00:12:28.595 people of any faith and any background, I don't believe he knew 00:12:28.595 --> 00:12:29.315 Jesus. 00:12:30.195 --> 00:12:36.289 But if you listening now want to know about Jesus, then I would 00:12:36.289 --> 00:12:37.570 be happy to talk with you. 00:12:37.970 --> 00:12:41.090 I know that's kind of weird for me to say in an episode like 00:12:41.090 --> 00:12:44.210 this, but please reach out if you want to know more. 00:12:45.504 --> 00:12:51.184 The podcasting industry lost a great pioneer who helped drive 00:12:51.184 --> 00:12:54.945 many innovations, many standards, and helped countless podcasters 00:12:54.945 --> 00:13:00.796 to launch and grow through his more than 2,000 episodes of Geek 00:13:00.796 --> 00:13:04.289 News Central, New Media Show, and Podcast Insider, and several 00:13:04.289 --> 00:13:07.490 other podcasts about podcasting that he's launched or been part 00:13:07.490 --> 00:13:10.929 of, through his podcasting companies, Raw Voice and Blueberry, 00:13:10.929 --> 00:13:14.625 through Blueberry's involvement in defining the IAB podcast 00:13:14.625 --> 00:13:18.465 measurement guidelines that so many companies use, thanks to a 00:13:18.465 --> 00:13:21.184 lot of the stuff that Blueberry had developed, and that was 00:13:21.184 --> 00:13:25.024 thanks to Todd's leadership, through his teaching, through his 00:13:25.024 --> 00:13:29.000 podcast, through conferences, through conversations, through his 00:13:29.000 --> 00:13:33.559 freely serving the community with PowerPress for WordPress, and 00:13:33.559 --> 00:13:37.480 through his leadership and advocacy in the podcasting industry. 00:13:41.815 --> 00:13:45.814 I will greatly miss my friend Todd Cochrane. 00:13:48.134 --> 00:13:55.990 All his laughter, all his insights, his leadership, and most of 00:13:55.990 --> 00:13:57.269 all his friendship. 00:14:00.230 --> 00:14:06.794 And I think it's very fitting to into this special with his own 00:14:06.794 --> 00:14:13.274 words that can inspire they inspire me, they can inspire you and 00:14:13.274 --> 00:14:14.875 other podcasters too. 00:14:15.595 --> 00:14:21.080 I am not the best orator. I still destroy the English language. 00:14:21.399 --> 00:14:23.080 I'm still a nerd. 00:14:23.320 --> 00:14:27.320 I'm still a techie, and I like giving my perspective. 00:14:28.039 --> 00:14:31.320 But I think 1 thing that we have to understand is that podcasting 00:14:31.320 --> 00:14:36.995 is today because of RSFs and no gatekeepers, which has allowed 00:14:36.995 --> 00:14:40.595 people like you and I to create content without asking anyone's 00:14:40.595 --> 00:14:42.355 permission and doing it our way. 00:14:42.834 --> 00:14:46.434 I I just think back to all the moments, and we've shared a lot 00:14:46.434 --> 00:14:48.034 together over all these years. 00:14:48.679 --> 00:14:52.679 And and I do say we because you are Ohana. 00:14:52.679 --> 00:14:54.039 You are our family here. 00:14:54.200 --> 00:14:57.559 And I am definitely not the best podcaster out there. 00:14:57.559 --> 00:14:59.879 I'm not a Joe Rogan nor will I ever be. 00:15:00.615 --> 00:15:05.095 But what I am is a guy that grew up in the country with humble 00:15:05.095 --> 00:15:08.695 beginnings, high school education followed by a bachelor's degree 00:15:08.695 --> 00:15:12.215 late in life on a field that I'm not even working in right now, 00:15:12.549 --> 00:15:16.309 and 1 that definitely destroys English words on a regular basis. 00:15:16.790 --> 00:15:24.865 And by god, if I can do it, If I can do this and succeed, anyone 00:15:24.865 --> 00:15:25.185 can.