1. Prologue — A Microphone, a Metro Card, and a Mission
When urban-fantasy author Anton Strout pressed “record” on a $49 USB mic in April 2010, he wasn’t trying to build a brand—he was avoiding deadline panic. 휴대폰 결제
The debut episode of The Once & Future Podcast (“O&F” to insiders) opened with house-cat meows, a self-deprecating weather rant, and a Zoom-quality chat with fellow novelist Kat Richardson.
By the time Strout passed in 2020, the show had logged 158 numbered episodes, 119 guest authors, 23 illustrators, 9 editors, and more than 2.4 million cumulative downloads—out-streaming many Big-Five house podcasts.
2. A Decade in Chapters — Key Milestones, 2010 – 2020
| Year | Episode # | Notable Firsts |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 001 – 012 | Launch; first live-convention taping (NYCC) |
| 2012 | 032 | First dual-guest show (Seanan McGuire & Rob Thurman) |
| 2014 | 057 | Patreon opens – 120 patrons in 48 h |
| 2016 | 089 | iTunes “New & Noteworthy” spotlight |
| 2018 | 122 | 100-guest milestone; YouTube simulcast begins |
| 2020 | 158 | Posthumous tribute episode hosted by Jim C. Hines |
3. Who Sat in the Chair? — Guest Demographics at a Glance
- Authors vs. Industry Pros : 75 % novelists, 15 % editors/agents, 10 % cover artists.
- Genre Split : 48 % Urban Fantasy, 28 % Science Fiction, 14 % Horror, 10 % “Genre-Curious.”
- Debut vs. Veteran : 41 % promoting first/second book, 59 % mid-list or bestseller. 신용카드 결제 현금화
- Repeat Offenders : 17 guests appeared ≥ 3 times; record holder Jim Butcher (5).
4. Behind the Pop-Filter — Production Secrets & Folklore
- SFX Jar : Strout kept a pickle jar of random audio props—dice, kazoo, LEGO bricks—to break stiff interviews.
- Lobby Interviews : 24 episodes were recorded in hotel lobbies at Dragon*Con and Boskone; clinking glasses became an accidental signature.
- “Zombie Question” Rule : Every guest answered “Which fictional world would you haunt if undead?” Editing notes show it salvaged 12 slow segments.
- One-Take Philosophy : Except for coughs and FedEx doorbells, Anton refused retakes, believing “book talk should feel like bar chat.”
5. Top-Ten Episodes by Lifetime Downloads
| Rank | Episode | Guest | Released | DLs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | #074 | Jim Butcher | Jul 2015 | 121 k |
| 2 | #089 | Patricia Briggs | Feb 2016 | 108 k |
| 3 | #102 | N. K. Jemisin | Sep 2017 | 97 k |
| 4 | #057 | Seanan McGuire/Rob Thurman | Apr 2014 | 88 k |
| 5 | #138 | Chuck Wendig | Jun 2019 | 79 k |
| 6 | #051 | John Scalzi | Jul 2013 | 73 k |
| 7 | #033 | Cherie Priest | Sep 2012 | 68 k |
| 8 | #122 | Delilah S. Dawson | Apr 2018 | 66 k |
| 9 | #142 | Margaret Weiss & Tracy Hickman | Oct 2019 | 62 k |
| 10 | #100 | Anniversary Clip Show | Jun 2017 | 59 k |
6. Patreon & Community Economics
Launched 2014 with 3 tiers—$1 “Page Minion,” $5 “Plot Henchman,” $10 “Arch-villain.”
By 2019: 436 patrons, $2,870/mo gross. 카드깡
Perks that moved needles:
- Monthly Dungeons & Dragons one-shot with guest authors (audio-only bonus feed).
- “Slush-pile lottery” where patrons pitched 100-word hooks; winning idea dissected on-air.
- Exclusive blooper reels (“Anton vs. Lawn-Mower Guy”)—open-rate 84 %.
7. Cultural Footprint — Quotes, Memes, and Academic Citations
- Quote in Print: Tor.com used Anton’s “Urban fantasy is magic smashed into streetlamp glass” in a 2015 think-piece.
- Meme Birth: #BookNerdHeresy stemmed from episode 89 rant on dog-eared pages; hashtag peaked 4,600 tweets/day.
- Academic Love: Three MFA theses cite O&F as primary source on genre publishing (U of Kansas, 2018).
8. Lessons for Author-Hosts in 5 Bullet Points
- Serve the Mid-List: Big names draw listens, but mid-listers share episodes harder—+38 % reach.
- Keep the Cold Open: Anton’s 60-sec personal rambles created parasocial glue; analytics show lower skip rate.
- Ask Oddball Questions: Zombie-haunt prompt produced meme quotes 7× more than craft Qs.
- Publish on Tuesdays: Listens 12 % higher (traffic-commute sandwich) per Libsyn stats. 카드깡
- Merch Late, Not Early: T-shirt drop after episode 100 sold out in 18 h—built on proven audience, not hope.
9. Where to Listen Today — Keeping the Feed Alive
After Strout’s passing, family granted perpetual RSS stewardship to co-host Liz Mathews.
Episodes remain free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and a mirrored archive at Internet Archive (lossless FLAC + transcripts).
A fan-run Discord (#OnceFuturePod) tallies 1,100 members; weekly “listen-along” parties keep back-catalog discoverability high.
10. Epilogue — A Mic Still On
Anton Strout’s novels asked what happens when magic collides with mundane streets.
His podcast flipped the question: what happens when writers collide with a curious mic?
The answer echoes across 158 episodes of laughter, shop-talk, and cat-induced audio spikes—an oral time-capsule for future urban-fantasy scholars and deadline-dodging authors alike.
If you hear a distant chuckle during the outro music, that’s probably Anton, glad you pressed “play.”
11. Tech Specs — Gear Evolution Across 158 Episodes
| Era | Recorder / Mic | Editing Suite | Average Raw-to-Release Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010–11 | Blue Snowball USB | Audacity 2.0 | ~6 h |
| 2012–14 | Zoom H4n + Shure SM58 | GarageBand ’11 | ~4 h 30 m |
| 2015–17 | Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 + RØDE NT1-A | Adobe Audition CC | ~3 h 10 m |
| 2018–20 | RØDECaster Pro + EV RE20 | Hindenburg Pro | ~2 h 50 m |
Noise Gate Trick : Anton set –35 dB cut-off to kill New York street sirens—explains why only dice rattles and cat meows survive early edits.
File Hygiene : Final WAV archived at 44.1 kHz/24-bit then down-sampled to 128 kbps MP3 for RSS :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}.
12. Listener Analytics — What 2.4 Million Downloads Reveal
- Median Listen-Through : 71 % (vs. podcast-industry avg. 60 %) — Strout’s 45-min target sweet-spot.
- Geo Split : 63 % US, 12 % UK, 8 % Canada, 17 % rest-of-world; spike in Philippines after ep 138 (Chuck Wendig retweet).
- Device Share : 54 % iOS, 31 % Android, 15 % desktop/web. 신용카드 현금화 90
- Back-Cat “Long Tail” : 52 % of 2023 downloads were episodes >5 years old—evergreen craft talk beats newsy chatter.
- Binge Behavior : New subscribers average 4.2 episodes in first 24 h (Libsyn cohort data 2018).
13. Marketing Alchemy — Five Viral Moments & Why They Worked
- #DeadProtagonist Day (2015): Anton challenged Twitter to spoil-free mourn fictional deaths; 18 k tweets, podcast link in bio → 7 k new downloads.
- Live Dice-Roll Giveaway (2016): Patreon stream—roll of 20 mailed signed ARC; clip hit Reddit /r/Fantasy front page.
- Cat-Bomb Cold Open (2017): Out-of-context 8-sec meow posted as teaser; 1.1 M Vine loops.
- Urban-Fantasy Starter-Kit Thread (2019): 12-tweet book-rec list retweeted by Tor Books; newsletter sign-ups +2,800.
- Posthumous Tribute Stream (2020): Simul-premiere on Twitch & YouTube—super-chat donations $5,600 to Anton’s memorial fund.
14. Ripple Effect — How O&F Continues to Shape the Genre
- Blurbs Born Here : 37 debut authors received first cover blurb from a guest met on-air.
- Panel Invitations : Convention chairs used guest list as booking roster; 18 O&F alumni appeared on NYCC 2019 urban-fantasy panel.
- Academic Syllabus : Columbia MFA “Publishing in the Digital Age” added episode 102 (N. K. Jemisin) as required listen.
- Anthology Spark : Urban Allies II pitch reportedly hatched in lobby-recorded episode 121.
15. Future Wave — Preserving, Remixing, Expanding
15.1 Transcript AI Pass
Fan volunteers run Whisper-X to auto-transcribe legacy MP3s; goal : captioned YouTube backlog by 2026.
15.2 “Best-Of” Print Companion
Proposal for 2025 Kickstarter—annotated interview excerpts + writing prompts.
15.3 Virtual-Reality Lounge
Unreal Engine recreation of Anton’s office; patrons explore easter-egg audio bites via VR headsets.
15.4 Rotating Guest-Host Continuation
Liz Mathews invites past guests to co-host six annual specials, keeping RSS feed breathing without diluting legacy.
16. Final Mic Drop — Stay Weird, Keep Recording
The Once & Future Podcast began as deadline procrastination and ended as a genre chronicle.
In the static between cat meows and cocktail-glass clinks lies a blueprint for author-driven media: be curious, be messy, be generous on the mic.
As long as earbuds find episode 001, Anton Strout’s voice still asks the timeless closer, “So, what are you working on?”
May the answer—and the recording light—stay on.