Podcastex is a “not necessarily nostalgic podcast about the 90s and 00s”, successfully run by Bartek Przybyszewski (blog “Liczne rany stab”) and Mateusz Witkowski (Popmoderna.pl, blog “Popland”). They have been recording the program for three years and during this time they have produced 106 episodes, including: about Edyta Górniak, anime on Polonia 1, joke magazines, “Bravo” magazine, Michał Wiśniewski, Jerzy Urban, Kuba Wojewódzki (as many as three episodes totaling about six hours). The intro to the program was recorded for them by Tadeusz Drozda (he was a guest in one of the episodes), and their fan is Hubert Urbański, who even recorded the 100th anniversary episode with them, and everyone is extremely impressed by the in-depth and thorough research that Mateusz and Bartek do before every recording. The Podcastex school of riserchu can easily be called the opposite of the so-called “Ziemkiewczowski risercz” (i.e. extremely superficial).
They make a better podcast than Wojewódzki, Podsiadło and Paciorek combined. They have a reward for this
The program has its own, quite extensive entry on Wikipedia and an additional, suitably long schedule of subsequent episodes. We also know from these sources that the program has 100,000 subscribers on Spotify, and two million listens have been recorded in less than two years since the premiere of the first episode. A year later, this result doubled (but on all platforms). In addition, the authors received Best Stream Awards for the best cultural or pop culture program (here they beat Kubê Wojewódzki and Piotr Kędzierski, Karol Paciorek, the duo of Dawid Podsiadło and Radek Kotarski or Karolina Korwin Piotrowska), Influencers Live Awards and the Podcast of the Year award from EmpikGo. In September 2023, “Podcastex” entered the list of the 10 most popular Polish podcasts on Spotify. Shortly after its premiere, their book “Polish Millennium” was ranked fifth on the list of the hundred most popular books in the “non-fiction, reportage” category. And on the occasion of this premiere, we are talking to its authors. Full conversation here:
We asked whether they wrote the book for money or prestige? – You don’t do such things for money. There are much better things that can be done for money, which means that we are obviously left with prestige. Paper publishing is still more prestigious than online publishing. When an article is published online, parents usually ask: Will it also be available in a paper edition? It’s the same here. We can chat and so on, but a book has been published and we are only now being taken seriously by the elders – says Mateusz Witkowski in an interview with Gazeta.pl.
Why does the book cover different topics than those covered so far in “Podcastext”, even though it would probably be easier to rework old notes than to write something new? – We often make life difficult for ourselves. I don’t know about Mateusz, I personally don’t like printing the Internet. There are books that people actually buy and it turns out that what was inside is there, but the transcription is slightly edited. I don’t need such a podcast book to function – explains Bartek Przybyszewski. – It wouldn’t be entirely fair, I have the impression. We know that we don’t force this book down anyone’s throat, but the transcriptions of our conversations published on paper and the sudden announcement that this is a “Podcastex” book would be quite dark – adds Mateusz.
We also talked about their preparations for the program: – When it comes to such facilities, we probably spend a little more time in the library than, for example, Rafał Ziemkiewicz. It may be so – Przybyszewski laughs when asked about the risercz. – At the beginning, we had these very thin folders, like a few pages, a five-page document, and we put some found things there. But that’s how it worked for maybe the first dozen or so episodes, then we went into full-blown rebellion hell and the document always has several dozen pages, notes Witkowski. – The advantage is that we can cope with it. We are able to cooperate with each other despite our enthusiasm and attention to detail (…) We are both detail oriented – he continues.
“Podcastex”. What is the secret of success?
Bartek explains: – At the simplest level, it seems to me that people like to hear about various aspects of their youth and childhood. It’s even more fun for us to sometimes break the expectation that it will be a podcast, that we mention “oh, you ate Cocoa Flips” (…) And this is not a program in which we mention that we chewed Turbo gum, absolutely not. We try [do tych czasów – przyp. red.] be a little critical. However, is it fully successful? Not always. As a rule, not even lately. But do we suffer a lot because of it? I don’t, he says.
Mateusz adds: – Because we don’t want to do it by force, it naturally follows from the topic. When it comes to nostalgia, this is the first glue, the first connection of the listener. Then they either stay, when they realize that we won’t melt over bubble gum made of asbestos, maybe someone will run away, but I think usually not. It seems to me, although it is awkward to evaluate something that is co-created, that on the one hand our formula is very loose: we talk as we simply talk, and when it comes to vocals, it is different than now, because now we are elegant (. ..) – At the same time, it is a loose, humorous formula, and on the other hand, we try to work hard to make it make sense and be prepared. Let’s say that from these combined powers of sarcasm and loose talk “Podcastex” is created. Perhaps there are a few people who like this formula – concluded Mateusz with endearing modesty.
– If our writers were to create a report or an article that would be published somewhere, it would be treated as an article and we would be treated as journalists. Because we talk about it using bad words, both beginning with “F” and “P”, it is difficult for some people to treat us as serious researchers. Serious people don’t use such words, ma’am, notes Przybyszewski.
– We receive a lot of nice messages from listeners. One lady wrote that she laughed so much that she almost dropped the barbell on her leg. Another listener listened to us in the delivery room just before the happy delivery – they talk about an extensive and very active community of listeners. – We have learned a lot of interesting things about famous people from them over the last two years, but they are usually not “cancellable” – reveals Bartek, and Mateusz adds: – We are not obliged to report it to the prosecutor’s office, but at the same time it is it’s quite unpublishable – he clarified. Przybyszewski laughs: – We collect hooks, that’s what it was about from the very beginning.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
