Tuesday, 24 January 2023

Joint Session Bonus Show | The Soul Trap, Mysterious Flesh Pit National Park, & The Monkey Bear Lady Update

Technical overhauls and feed synchronization take center stage as the community-driven Joint Session transitions into a more robust digital architecture for long-term stability.

RSS restructuringPlus membershipGreg CarlwoodPodcast techJoint SessionArchive sync
By The Higherside Chats Free Show | 7m listen | 3 chapters
Joint Session Bonus Show | The Soul Trap, Mysterious Flesh Pit National Park, & The Monkey Bear Lady Update cover

About this episode

The HigherSide Chats initiates a significant restructuring of its RSS feed to resolve persistent technical failures affecting the website's audio player and archive synchronization. Host Greg Carlwood details how the previous separation of free and Plus feeds caused broken links for non-subscribers, leading to the implementation of new placeholder episodes. These updates ensure that the digital architecture remains stable while providing a clear path for listeners to access the extended second hour of content.

Technical adjustments to the THC forum and mobile delivery systems now allow for a more streamlined listener experience across various podcasting platforms. The Joint Session format, which transitioned from a Zoom-based call-in show to a dedicated audio feed, serves as the primary vehicle for community interaction through listener voicemails and trip reports. Carlwood addresses specific queries regarding recent guest interviews and behind-the-scenes production hurdles encountered during the January 2023 recording cycle. The new feed logic aims to eliminate the friction between the public archive and the subscriber-only repository.

A custom musical montage signals the shift into the subscriber-focused segment, featuring lyrics that celebrate the diverse contributions of the THC community. Greg Carlwood engages directly with the most provocative theories and queries submitted by forum members, maintaining the show's reputation for candid and unfiltered dialogue. This session marks a pivotal moment in the show's evolution as it balances technical stability with the growing demands of its dedicated Plus membership base.


CHAPTER 01 / 3 Discussion

HigherSide Chats Joint Session Bonus Show Overview

The HigherSide Chats host introduces the Joint Session, a monthly bonus show designed for Plus members to facilitate candid community interaction. This segment features responses to questions from the THC forum, listener voicemails, and behind-the-scenes updates regarding recent interviews. The format originated as a Zoom-based call-in show before transitioning into a dedicated podcast feed to accommodate mobile listeners.

higherside chats· joint session· plus members· thc forum· community feedback

00:01 Hello, Hireside Chatter! Serenity now. How the hell are ya? You know I hate to do this sort of thing but what i call the monthly joint session bonus show for plus members is a fun little extra where I can talk a little bit more candidly to the inner circle. I can read and respond to questions and comments left in the THC forum. Forum access being a lifetime bonus for plus people by the way even if you cancel your membership And I can play the audio messages people leave for me at TheHigherSideChats.com slash voicemail Always open if you have a cool story or weird experience, or want to sing us a song which oddly has happened a couple of times already

00:43 I also get to talk about THC news and updates that don't really fit on the end of a random interview. I get to talk about the feedback i've gotten for the latest round of shows, which is usually interesting and sometimes pretty surprising based on people's reactions to the guests and topics of the month Sometimes things you wouldn't want just floating around out there if you were in my shoes especially when reading the harsh negative stuff And I also sometimes get to bring up parts of a guest's work that we didn't get into in the actual interview. Or stuff that was maybe sent to me afterwards, that relates to something in a particular episode So it really is just an all-around community driven hour or so of behind-the-scenes stuff

01:26 It's called the Joint Session not only because it is a coming together of me and the THC audience, but it's also actually a triple entendre. And that's sort of what I built the brand on around here and all that We actually started doing the joint sessions as a Zoom room, open line sort of call-in thing. But it wasn't in the RSS feed at all! So many Plus members were like hey man I listen to the show on a podcast app on my phone... ...I don't want to have to go to the website just to get this other thing is there way you can just put it in the feed with the rest of the stuff? so I changed the format for that reason and a couple others and made into another podcast

CHAPTER 02 / 3 Discussion

RSS Feed Restructuring and Free Listener Experience

Technical challenges regarding the organization of the podcast archive led to a restructuring of how bonus content appears in the RSS feed. The host explains that maintaining separate feeds for free and Plus listeners caused synchronization issues and broken audio players on the website for non-subscribers. To resolve this, placeholder episodes now appear in the free feed to maintain alignment while reminding listeners of the additional hour of content available in the full version.

rss feed· podcast archive· user experience· subscription model· digital organization

02:06 But after doing a few of them this way, it's become pretty obvious that it throws things off for me on the back end. It disorganizes my archive and throws off the alignment of everything because for so many years I release something and there is a version that goes on each of the podcast feeds. That works very well when I'm looking at them side by side for stats or whatever even just my own organization. I want everything clean and easy But putting a monthly show in one feed that doesn't go into the other has thrown some things off for me and I get irked. I don't want to be irked, and it would only get worse as more and more months go by Not only that but the way the site is structured for these types of dual posts It leaves free listeners who visit the site with an audio player box That doesn't play anything! I don't like that either And it's proven difficult to remove

02:59 So now I have this placeholder that you're listening to now. It's not actually a joint session episode, but it goes in place of them on the free RSS feed But it comes with an offer for a free week of plus if you use the coupon code JOINT so it's not exactly nothing! It's another solution I've had mixed feelings about but I gamed out everything else and this seems like the long-term solution that will work out best Five episodes Joint Session Another five episodes Joint Session And free listeners who click on any one of these will then know that they're just to be skipped once you've heard it. But it's also a reminder that you're leaving a lot on the table. Free listeners don't see the bonus content page, and I structure the interviews in a way that is not super noticeable if there isn't extra hour

03:44 I don't tease you with that kind of, and we'll get your answer to that question right after the break sort of stuff that you hear on other shows. So i'm thinking some of this is out-of-sight out-of-mind and it might be easy to forget that as much as you like The First Hour The Second Hour is at least that but usually more because we've already laid the conversational base for whatever the guest is about this week So I guess just know that this would be a joint session show if you were a plus member. I love what i do, but can I really do it forever? Honestly... If you were me wouldn't you feel a little uneasy about the way things are going lately and being a public figure in this kind of space? Look! I made my bed and I'll lay in it but I'd be stupid not to try to insulate myself a bit and take the opportunity to try to turn more people on to the full show while my platform is still fully operational

CHAPTER 03 / 3 Discussion

Joint Session Musical Intro and Listener Contribution Theme

A musical montage introduces the start of the Joint Session, highlighting the show's reliance on listener-submitted content. The lyrics reference the various types of contributions expected, including forum posts, voicemails, theories, queries, and trip reports. This transition marks the end of the promotional segment and the beginning of the subscriber-focused community discussion.

theme song· listener feedback· trip reports· voicemail· community content

06:21 Welcome to the monthly joint session on THC. Yes! Where Greg will find some foreign posts and stuff that he can read And there's that voicemail too. On here to write something this show depends on you More lead message Theories, queries, trip reports Weird thoughts and bad reviews I bought this song out of order Straight stuff Insides you've got scabs that you fall down in the joint cessure. Strange stuff, you see? Insides you've got scabs that you fall down in the joint cessure