WORKING HOURS VOLUME 2:2021
Posted on April 15, 2021
Episode 13 now available – Help me in my mission
Episode 13 – Working Hours
Help me in my mission to find 1000 Loiners over this decade and ask them the 2nd question everybody asks me – what do you do?
Episode 13 was published on Monday and is already the most popular episode (so far). In this episode I speak to a Loiner based in Manchester and working as a freelance TV researcher.
Support this show:
- Help me improve my production quality
- Advertise the project in Leeds to Loiners
- Help me find new listeners and guests
For just a pound a month you’ll get exclusive bonus episodes and material as you help me to find new Loiners – more potential guests, listeners and subscribers. If you are from outside Leeds and you find the show interesting and would also like to hear more of it, then you too can support this show for £5 a month. (Consider it a tourist tax – it’s unfair but, you can also cheat it.)
The 2020s is a pivotal decade for our species and our home. So, I want to interview 1000 people from my home over this decade to record their thoughts and feelings around “WORK” and I want to show how their opinions change over this time; along with their ways of working and the sorts of work they are doing.
#tellmeaboutitleeds Leeds, what do you do? #bemyguestleeds Leeds, be on Working Hours #workinghoursleeds get in touch to be on the show #helpmyquestleeds support the shows historic civic mission.
URRGH! WEBSITE
Posted on April 12, 2021
Please excuse the website. I’m working on the next version but it may take me some time. In the meantime please email makemypodcast@western-studios.com for any podcast production enquiries and follow Western-Studios on LinkedIn, Instagram and Twitter for news about Working Hours and other Western Studios, Leeds Ltd productions. Thanks!
LEEDS: SUPPORT WORKING HOURS
Posted on April 8, 2021
#workinghoursleeds
#tellmeaboutitleeds #leedsbemyguest
Leeds, please support this show and help me grow my reach to new listeners and guests and to improve my production quality – I need at least £1k for a new laptop and mixer in the immediate term for example.
How can you help?
For just a pound a month you’ll get exclusive bonus episodes and material as you help me to access new people through paying for advertising – more potential guests, listeners and subscribers. If you are from outside Leeds and you find the show interesting and would also like to support you can do so for five pounds a month. Consider it a tourist tax – it’s unfair but, you can always cheat it.
What are you doing, when is it happening and why?
The 2020s is a pivotal decade for our species and our home. So, I want to interview 1000 Loiners over this decade to record their thoughts and feelings around “WORK” and I want to show how their opinions change over this time; along with their ways of working and the sorts of work they are doing.
Working Hours wants to ask 1000 Loiners over the 2020s the second question that everybody asks everybody – What do you do? That is its mission and I can’t achieve that on my own. I need a hundred Loiners are year on average and I’m 90 behind on last year. Help me catch up.
#tellmeaboutitleeds Leeds, what do you do? #workinghoursleeds Leeds, be on Working Hours #bemyguestleeds get in touch to be on the show
Leeds, be on Working Hours #bemyguestleeds get in touch to be on the show. #helpmyquestleeds If you are in Leeds or from Leeds then help me to reach my target of interviewing 1000 Loiners over the 2020s asking them the 2nd question that everybody asks everybody. What do you do?
Working Hours is the Leeds podcast
2 Episodes for this year are up now! So, get to it! Have a listen and support this project. Help it to flower and grow. Build our reach into new audiences, guests and donors. And hopefully enjoy them and find them as interesting as I do. Leeds, listen to Working Hours #workinghoursleeds available free wherever you get your podcasts. Leeds, what do you do? #tellmeaboutitleeds
Leeds, help me make Working Hours. Like, share, follow, subscribe and help to grow my listeners and our ability to reach guests and to improve production quality. You can do this for just a pound a month via Patreon and you’ll get access to exclusive bonus episodes and material from Working Hours included #helpmyquestleeds
Steph Varley recorded 03/02/2021
Steph is a social entrepreneur building an inclusive experience service for children. We discuss setting up a Community Interest Company (CIC); working with various stakeholders, testing technology and working with vulnerable groups. We also touch upon fundraising and Steph’s other job where she now works part time while building up and developing out her CIC.
You can find out more about INC360 at inc360.org
Anonymous male recorded 02/02/2021
My guest this episode worked for 20 years for a firm of stock brokers. Through a personal project of trying to maximise what he could achieved within his lunch hour he has now found himself working within the area of work based well-being. We discuss a number of topics from my guest’s time working at a stockbrokers, looking at some of the myriad things he was able to achieve within those lunch hours and we discuss some of his thinking around the ways that we might raise awareness of well-being at work and also how we might, perhaps, embed some well-being practices in to our workplaces or into our ways of working.
WeBsITE REFRESH TIMe
Posted on April 7, 2021
Spring clean for websites in West Riding! It’s time to refresh this thing again! To redevelop. To regenerate. Hopefully for something much fresher better and bolder. I can’t give you a date for this yet but it’s in the works.
March UPDATE
Posted on March 29, 2021
I have a locked script for Season 1 of Doorways and it’s good! Well, I like it. I have begun pre-production so if you’re a voice actor, sound effects guru or musician reading this and you’re interested in getting involved in a creative endeavour during some downtime then give me a shout asap. Unfortunately, we have no budget so we’re putting this show together with love and favours. I can tell you one thing about the show though; the plan is to make the show completely open source. What does that mean? Well, we will be releasing all the files, scripts, voice, music, and FX for anyone to play around with after it’s done. It’s sort of a fan fiction project to start with so both the writer and I feel that this is the appropriate approach for this project and more importantly think that it could be really great to see what other people can make out of the same building blocks that we used.
I need to sit down and write myself actually, there’s two more shows of my own that I want to produce in the near term but they do need at least some scripting. I so can’t be bothered with writing right now. I will, I’ll get down to it and I do need to do it sooner rather than later. These two shows, like everything so far, are in part to build up a portfolio of work for my potential clients to engage with (and to hopefully generate some revenue for themselves too). I want these shows to be both business and to create business.
I’ll also be doing some fiction writing for the forthcoming show Muck 4 Brass. Here again this is something I have to do in part for lack of a better option. Like with Working Hours it’s easier for someone to understand something when it actually exists.
This is why the best thing to do about your podcast idea is to just make it! Don’t know where to start? Well, you already have if you’re reading this, now take that next step, get in touch with me and let’s make your podcast.
Simon
March 2021
WORKING HOURS VOLUME 2
Posted on March 22, 2021
2021
Volume 2: 2021 of Working Hours is well underway and I’m hoping to post episode 1 before the end of the month. I only have 6 interviews in the bag at the moment, so I may have to publish the podcast irregularly this year as it might take me quite awhile to secure any new guests. 😦 If you are reading this and you are in Leeds or from Leeds and you have an opinion about work and you’re up for being on a podcast then go to my contact page right now, cheers!
I have a 50/50 gender balance in interviews and episodes so far but all my guests have been white and of similar-ish class. I know this is in no way representative of Leeds or Loiners or of a city the size and means of Leeds in the 21st century. Even though I am only a few episodes in I DO NOT want this year to again be represented just by a narrow sample. I need everyone from every community and background in Leeds. Obviously, if I have the interviews I’ll publish them. So, right now I’m more than happy to be inundated with guest offers. I need you Leeds. I don’t care if you listen to or like the show (in fact that’s probably better) I just need to hear from everyday people in everyday roles and to capture as much of the conformity and diversity, the general and particular that makes all that up.
I am very eager to hear and learn from you. What is work to you? What is it for? Where is it going? Why do you do it? What do you do? What have you done? What would you rather be doing?
I have a lot of aims with this podcast. I want to use it to meet people, I want interrogate my ideas and perceptions about work and working and I want to challenge my listeners ideas too. I want to create a broader discussion about work. I want to us to really think about what that idea means right now. I want us to examine where those ideas come from and where they lead us.
At this stage in the process I can’t currently speak or write about “work” with any authority outside of my own ideas and experiences but, as this project progresses (and it is a project, a historical and ethnographic one) as the dialogue broadens and our knowledge expands around this subject I’m hoping to glean valuable insights and ideally have some influence on how “work” is performed and thought of in future. That is not to say that capturing the present moment is any less important. The present, before it becomes past, is a valuable resource. The past is arguably our greatest resource.
I really think this is a valuable endeavour at a critical time. I mean, what a time to start doing this!! “Yeah, works going to change” I thought, “we’ll have to work differently in the future” I thought. “It’ll be interesting to capture some of that change” I thought, “the 2020s are going to be a key time and only see an acceleration of all the madness that we have seen accelerating since the start of this terrible century” I thought. Then 2020 started and I thought, “well, I can’t even do that anymore”. But, I was wrong and daft for there was video phone with pretty decent quality.
I also think that if the worst should happen then at least I’ll have chatted to some interesting characters in and from my home town and that’s not a bad thing. I have it all planned out, see! Meticulous! Flawless! Well, except the no money, no guests, no listeners thing – BUT EVERYTHING ELSE IS PERFECT! (I’m not stressed, you’re stressed!)
Oh! Yes, while I remember. I need feedback about everything – tone, music, aesthetic – the whole thing! I have no real idea how this is coming across to anyone. So, yeah. That would be good – unless it’s all bad and then that would be bad. Obviously.
Simon Treen, host, editor, creator and producer of Working Hours podcast.
Leeds, 2021
2021: New SERIES Starting, NEW SHOWS coming, New COLLABORATORS wanted
Posted on February 2, 2021
WORKING HOURS Volume 2: 2021
So, these constant in/out lockdowns are very detrimental to me with regards to getting stuff done quickly. I am still working on the show notes and timecodes for Volume 1 of Working Hours and I have now started interviewing guests for Volume 2. I am hoping to get a lot more episodes out this year – I do want to hit 100 guests a year for this show but, I am still a good way off from getting to that many yet. Working Hours is showing steady growth but fortunately the current low numbers allow me to experiment, think and identify what I think are mistakes with the 1st volume.
New Shows for 2021
I’m working with a writer on developing what looks like it will be Western Studio’s 1st dramatic podcast. That’s coming along nicely and I am currently hoping to get that show out in spring or summer this year. I have another couple of podcasts that are in the early stages of development, one will be a film based show and the other a political one. Finally, there’s Muck 4 Brass, a new show that I have great hopes for but, I need to nail down a few more ideas around this one before I really tell you anymore about it.
Collaborators
I continue to be on the lookout for new Leeds based collaborators, clients, audiences, customers and patrons. (As well as guests for Working Hours – email workinghourspod@western-studios.com if you’d like to be on the show.) I would really love to hear from you if:
- You would like to get some content creation off the ground but you’re not really sure where to start with it
- You are a voice actor looking for working experiences and material for your voice reel
- You are a writer looking to have your work made
- You are a musician looking for new avenues to promote your work
- You are a sound FX genius in waiting – the next Ben Burtt, if only someone would give you a chance!
If you are any of the above then do please drop me a line at makemypodcast@western-studios.com to discuss ways in which we might collaborate to mutually beneficial ends.
AOB
The business still needs to cover its costs and show a profit. I have yet to receive any donations or patrons for the initial show (I believe these will come once series 2 starts and there is more content for patrons to actually shill out for). I am not currently working with any clients and have not, as yet, put out any other shows. I have started to put out more social media content specifically designed to attract podcast clients alongside my regular posts promoting Working Hours.
Once I have started to generate revenue and my overheads are covered any remaining funds will be immediately invested back in to the business. There is still a lot of equipment that I would like to get so that I can expand my offer to clients further. I am also planning on running some larger paid ad campaigns, if and when I can get hold of the funds.
I am excited about this year and who and what it will bring to the business. I am looking forward to getting to the point of getting (hopefully) positive feedback and constructive criticism for Working Hours. I look forward to getting our 1st Patreon supporter in the next few months and to getting our 1000th one shortly after that! I look forward to all my coming shows this year and to maybe even helping you to make your podcast.
LEEDS, BE MY GUEST ON WORKING HOURS VOLUME 2
Posted on December 14, 2020
Leeds, what do you do? Tell me about it
Apply now
I want to start publishing Volume 2 as soon as possible but I also want to make sure that I have at least 12 episodes set up before publishing the first episode of volume 2. I don’t want to release irregularly and sporadically as I want there to be consistency and regularity for the listeners. The original plan was to be recording 100 interviews a year so I’m 90 behind schedule after last year!!
I’m not too worried though. I had of course anticipated that I would have to build up to that level but, I had expected to be somewhat further ahead by now. Oh well! It is what it is. So this year it would be great to be able to go weekly with the show but we’ll have to see how it goes. If I don’t get any guests, listeners and/or Patreons (or even food, power or breathable air) then obviously things won’t get any easier for the show, but let’s see what does happen shall we?
Trailers Galore
Posted on November 25, 2020
So we have an audio trailer:
https://the-working-hours-podca.captivate.fm/episode/the-working-hours-podcast
A YouTube video:
And a Vimeo
NEW SHOWS COMING NEXT YEAR
Posted on October 1, 2020
Launching in SPRING 2021
Muck 4 Brass
Muck 4 Brass is a series of pulpy audio fictions from Leeds based creators. Whether it’s soppy or gruesome, fantastic or horrifying, thrilling or thought provoking it’s all genre based original fictions that are born and bred in Leeds. The intent is pulp but that doesn’t mean that your shiny artistic gem won’t shine out in the muck and perhaps even get you some brass!
If you’re from or you’re based in Leeds and you’ve got a short tale that you’d like to hear published in an audio format then get in touch now. You’ll need to be happy to have it appear in a series alongside other tales of varying quality and perhaps even taste.
Muck 4 Brass
If you would like to contribute stories or talent to this show click here
Or email :
makemypod@western-studios.com Using the subject line Muck 4 Brass
also in 2021
Doorways
Doorways is an original urban fairy story set in Leeds using popular genre characters and tropes and taking place during the great Lockdown of 2020. This series is currently in development.
Doorways is interested to hear from actors and musicians for this project
Kakistocracy
The inevitable doomwatch content podcast about our infuriating politics, stress inducing culture wars and general jaw dropping stupidity. You might laugh, you might cry, but hopefully you’ll be listening to it as you’re happily doing something worthwhile that you’ve been inspired to do more of by all this endless hideousness.
#makemypodcast
Have you got an idea for a podcast? Email makemypod@western-studios.com and let’s get it made!
