Welcome To My Virtual Memories
Maybe it's time for a new platform
Why Substack? Why Now?
I’m Gil Roth and I’ve been making The Virtual Memories Show podcast for more than 10 years, posting weekly conversations with cultural figures: writers, artists, cartoonists, critics, translators, musicians, publishers, and more. I’ve published a weekly e-mail most of that time, and tried to publicize it all via various social media platforms.
With the uncertainty & moral craziness of some (okay, most) of those platforms, I thought it’d be worthwhile to migrate my e-mail here, in hopes that Substack’s tools allow us to cultivate a sense of community and start more conversation. (I recognize that this platform isn’t free of uncertainty & moral craziness; don’t @ me.)
At present, readers/listeners reply directly to me about my e-mails or new episodes, or they (very rarely) leave a comment on my site or on social media. In the former case, it’s a one-to-one correspondence, and in the latter, well, everything just disappears in the firehose of our feeds.
As much as I enjoy the one-to-ones, I thought that this platform and its tools for comments, chat, etc. might help us talk together, the way blogs used to before social took over. I do still post every podcast episode in a blog-like setup, but no one reads comments that way. I’d love for you all to be able to converse more, and not just with me. (Although you can still reach out directly to me.)
What’s going to change?
I’ll still post the regular e-mail every week (usually Wednesdays), and that’ll remain free: my little sermonette-introductions, info about the latest episodes of The Virtual Memories Show, all sorts of links I’ve come across for your perusal, photos, some of my art, and a goofy update about my health regimen. I migrated my address list over from Mailchimp, so there shouldn’t be any disruption in “service.” We’ll also have occasional discussion threads, where you all can chime in the topic du jour.
There’ll also be a paid tier ($5/month), where I’ll post transcripts of past episodes (or links to them), behind-the-scenes anecdotes about the show, remembrances of guests we’ve lost, and other topics that would make for good “bonus material”. My goal is to make at least 2 posts a month for the paid tier.
Once I’m up-and-running with this setup, I hope we can foster a community that’s fun and engaging, and that fulfills the mission that I cite at the beginning of every episode of the podcast: “preserving and promoting culture in this benighted age (one conversation at a time).”
Thanks,
Gil Roth, Virtual Memories
Social: Mastodon • Instagram • Twitter
Postcard videos: YouTube
Drawings/Art: Flickr
Everydamnthing: Linktr.ee