Support Let's Get Busy

"Hey there podcast listeners." 

I've been listening to This American Life for years and there's something that deeply reassures me whenever I hear Ira Glass speak those words. In part, I think it represents a reliability that this weekly radio show I've come to love will, simply put, be there each week. Its content, that I look forward to. Its stories, that change me and challenge my views of the world. Its ability to entertain and inspire me by talking to real people about those things we've all come to wonder over or, perhaps, didn't yet know a thing about.

Last year at the ALA annual conference in Chicago I mentioned to my friend Travis that I'd been toying with the idea of starting a podcast in which I interview kidlit notables and education change makers. Informal and unstructured, garnered from listening to the Nerdist podcasts, and allowing opportunity for authentic connections with the guests.

A year later, I'd like to think that's exactly what Let's Get Busy has become.

For over a year now I’ve been your host of the Let’s Get Busy podcast, bringing you interviews with kidlit notables and education changemakers. People like teacher librarian Jennifer LaGarde, who spoke about how libraries very literally saved her life. And author Seymour Simon, who has devoted his life to studying science and helping bring the wonders of the world into the hands of children. Teacher and reading engagement innovator Lindsey Hill, whose work at Evanced Games is helping to connect students’ interests with directly to books and content that will engage and inspire them. And cartoonist Raina Telgemeier, who is not only an incredible advocate for comics, but also for the kids who read them. Through your enthusiasm and your support this podcast has been able to reach new audiences and, in some cases, new guests that make it feel less like an interview and more like a dinner party with several hundred of my best friends.

And so many of you have asked if there’s anything you can do to support the podcast and, it turns out, there is. I’ve installed a donate tab on the podcast homepage and this month I want to challenge you to consider what this podcast and these conversations have meant to you, and then I want you to think about donating a dollar or two dollars. Because of bandwidth and monthly subscription fees, it cost me about $5.00 per episode to put Let’s Get Busy on the air. Beyond that there’s the time involved in recording and editing and getting the content ready to post.

And I love doing it all.

I love this podcast.

And there are days when I pinch myself because it’s so hard to believe that I get to do this on a weekly basis.

So, here’s your opportunity to help out if you feel like that’s the right thing for you to do. And if it is the right time or it’s not, well, let me just say thank you again for listening.

So... thank you.

- Matthew

Donate to the Let's Get Busy podcast by clicking HERE.