Author Topic: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing  (Read 17869 times)

mtnrider

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Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« on: February 01, 2017, 07:53:41 PM »
I really wanted to like RPF.  I really did.  I’ve listened to it since it started.  But I’m going to unsubscribe now. 

TL;DR - The best part of RPF is the format - it’s one of the few personal finance podcasts focused on financial independence.  The worst part is the quality of the content.  It has a low signal to noise ratio.


Why?

The advice is kinda OK.   And I appreciate that he came in from the dark side of the financial planning and insurance sales businesses.  And while much of his advice isn’t applicable to me (as a white collar employee), I recognize that there may be some who find pieces of it useful.

Alas, almost all of the advice is better explored on the MMM, Bogleheads, or FIRE forums.  And the usable advice comes shoehorned between hours and hours of 1) Joshua’s stream of consciousness, 2) endless talk about equations, and 3) heapings of religious commentary.

#1 - It seems like Joshua goes off on tangents, or doesn’t stay on target for a podcast.  He desperately needs an editor.

#2 Verbalized numbers are boring.  To be clear, I’m an engineer.  Equations and procedures are second nature to me.  But “technical” talk is almost useless without seeing the technical bits, and there’s no visual component to those podcasts.  I’d suggest that he create a Kahn Academy-like video to discuss these technical points, the podcast format doesn’t work.

#3 The religious talk is merely irritating and time-wasting.  Religion obviously plays a big part in Joshua’s life, and I don’t begrudge him that.  But I don’t want to have to listen to him talk about his religion on a financial podcast any more than I’d want to hear about the details of how his grass happens to be growing.  I would have liked if he had marked the more religious episodes as “religious content” so I could skip them.  Or if he had just created a different podcast for the religious content.

As an example, late last year he published an episode where he droned on about how alcohol is morally and religiously repugnant.  That was pretty bad, but worse are the episodes with some financial content, some religious content, some conservative talking points, and some questionable healthcare advice.

If I had wanted to listen to Dave Ramsey, I’d have downloaded /his/ podcast!

I feel really bad that he quit his job in insurance sales and I listened for a couple years without supporting him, despite wanting to.  And now I'm leaving a negative review.  But having given it some thought, I'd say that RPF could be better renamed "Religious and Rambling Personal Finance" and is better off skipped unless you have quite a bit of time and patience, as well as similar religious views.

I'm going to switch my FIRE feed to The Mad Fientist for now.  Any other suggestions?

« Last Edit: February 01, 2017, 07:58:49 PM by mtnrider »

MightyAl

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #1 on: February 01, 2017, 08:00:27 PM »
I just started listening to him and am finding him repetitive after a few weeks. The religious stuff is a bit annoying but his interviewing skills are the worst. He talks more then the people he is interviewing half the time. He is a smart guy but he is fairly smug about it.

I have been digging around in his past podcasts trying to find a gem and haven't had much luck.

Is the mad fientist podcast any good?  I just saw that he had one but haven't bothered to give it a listen yet.

mtnrider

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #2 on: February 01, 2017, 08:07:46 PM »

I've listened to a few Mad Fientist episodes.  They were all interviews, and he's not a professional interviewer either, but he does stay on point. 


mtnrider

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #3 on: February 01, 2017, 08:23:04 PM »
Gems - he's had some episodes about dumpster divers.  Those were fun.  The guy who talked about student loans was kinda interesting. 

Telecaster

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #4 on: February 01, 2017, 08:40:21 PM »

Is the mad fientist podcast any good?  I just saw that he had one but haven't bothered to give it a listen yet.

I've listened to a few, and they actually are pretty good.  Knows his subject matter, asks good questions, etc.

Paul der Krake

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #5 on: February 01, 2017, 08:45:26 PM »
I used to listen about two years ago and found it long-winded, but the occasional religious stuff didn't bother me. Maybe he has ratcheted it up since?

Eventually I unsubscribed because I could read the show notes, do 10 minutes of reading on my own, and come out better informed than if I had listened to the whole 2 hours. It doesn't fit my learning style at all.

aceyou

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #6 on: February 02, 2017, 04:23:43 AM »
I'm torn. 

Pros:
- He's trying to fill a needed and very interesting niche.
- Seems like a genuinely good person.
- Is obviously very intelligent and knows his stuff.
- Hard worker, he puts out tons of content. 

Cons:
- Needs to cut the podcasts down in time significantly.  He rephrases things too many times that should just be mentioned once and then move on.  (This is the con that prevents me from listening anymore.  It's good content, but too inefficiently presented, maybe I should just do what Paul der Krake does and read his notes.)
- Injection of religion.  This isn't my thing, but I'd happily overlook it if his podcasts were a third of the length. 

TorontoDeveloper

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #7 on: February 02, 2017, 06:37:29 AM »
I used to listen more than a year ago. I listened to dozens of his episodes, if not more than a hundred. I liked it at first, but I stopped listening for almost the exact same reasons you posted. I would listen at 1.5x speed (I listen to every other podcast at regular speed), and I STILL felt like a lot of my time was being wasted. And there was a very noticeable shift where he started to talk religion a lot. That was really the final straw for me - I grew up with American evangelicism and that focus on inserting religion into every conversation and self-righteously judging everyone is decidedly not something I need in my life.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2017, 06:39:30 AM by TorontoDeveloper »

Spicolli

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #8 on: February 02, 2017, 07:31:09 AM »
His podcast was what started me thinking about FI. I think he does a very good job with his interviews, has a good variety of topics, and obviously knows what he's talking about. He sometimes gets a little too much into religion and think he'd be more successful if he left most of that to his other podcast (Encouraging Christian Fathers) but I think he's more skilled than the Madfientist and less annoying than Afford Anything.

aceyou

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #9 on: February 02, 2017, 07:38:30 AM »
His podcast was what started me thinking about FI. I think he does a very good job with his interviews, has a good variety of topics, and obviously knows what he's talking about. He sometimes gets a little too much into religion and think he'd be more successful if he left most of that to his other podcast (Encouraging Christian Fathers) but I think he's more skilled than the Madfientist and less annoying than Afford Anything.

Yes, agree 100%, except Brandon and Paula get quickly to the point when they write and talk.  If Joshua did that, then he'd grow his support base a ton IMO.  He's very smart and he has identified a niche that needs filling. 

hunt2eat

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #10 on: February 02, 2017, 08:02:54 AM »
He does have good knowledge and some of his stuff is interesting.  I've been not listening more than listening.  I've set it to manual download instead of automatic download.  I do like the Mad Fientest.  Afford Anything podcast is hit or miss for me.  She gets to giggly and girly for my tastes.  Are there any other podcasts that would be good for FI?

wenchsenior

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #11 on: February 02, 2017, 09:07:14 AM »
I listened to a few dozen of his podcasts, but gave it up for all the reasons you mentioned.  To be honest, I think basic personal finance can be covered in just a few dozen podcasts by anyone with the knowledge to do so. After that, you have to either get repetitive, or start doing 'case studies' to have much new to say. 

sailinlight

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #12 on: February 02, 2017, 09:13:07 AM »
Ha, I too unsubscribed after the alcohol episode, it was way too preachy.  I liked the format, I think there are a lot of posters here who could do something similar and it would be successful.

J Boogie

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #13 on: February 02, 2017, 12:33:57 PM »
My sense is that a podcast cannot be "about" personal finance.

I think the hose must simply apply the mentality when discussing the various interesting topics that arise.

I think the case study approach would have success, very similar to Dave Ramsey's show in that way.  We naturally want to see others in their financial underpants so to speak.  Otherwise, we need guests who have lived pretty interesting lives.  Otherwise the material lends itself far better to the written rather than spoken format.

RadicalPersonalFinance

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #14 on: February 02, 2017, 12:44:05 PM »
@mtnrider I'm going to steal your moniker for the RPF acronym: "Religious and Rambling Personal Finance." Very creative!

I appreciate all the feedback amigos! Sorry to lose you all as listeners, but I totally understand.

If you're interested in the inside perspective on creating a podcast, I shared some of the personal challenges of what it's like here in an episode titled: "379 – The Perils of Success (and Why I’m Taking the Filter off the Content of RPF in Order to Maintain and Grow my own Success)" https://radicalpersonalfinance.com/perils-of-success/

That podcast will give you an unfiltered, inside viewpoint of what it's like as a content creator.

I've found it very, very challenging!

It will also explain why I don't filter political or religious content out of the show.

I think it's fairly obvious (even from this list of reviews/comments here in the thread and also from my private email inbox) that I lose listeners because I discuss politics/religion.

Unfortunately, I simply don't believe that it's possible to be religiously or politically neutral.

MMM chooses to talk about global warming, funding Planned Parenthood as a charitable organization, the pursuit of happiness being the only logical life pursuit, etc. He does it because he believes these things are deeply important and they flow from his worldview. These are all political and religious topics. They flow from his worldview.

Depending on your perspective, you'll either agree or disagree with him.

Depending on how he prevents his viewpoint (tone, evidence, logic, etc.) you'll either find them helpful to you in your understanding of the world (whether you agree or not) or you'll grow frustrated and eventually check out.

I believe that every dollar you spend is a moral judgement. The ways we earn our money, the things we buy with our money, and the way we give our money away all reflect our values. Most of the culture seems to have some agreement with me: that's why the whole #deleteUber, #boycottStarbucks, stuff from the last few days has relevance.

Anyway, I've simply had to choose to do the best podcast I'm able and let things fall where they may. The listeners are in charge.

For those of you who are looking for something different, thankfully there are a bunch of great new shows. When I started podcasting I was only aware of Mad Fientist's podcast in the FI space. Now there are a bunch more. I've helped a few of them get off the ground.

I think there's still room for more unique voices, backgrounds, approaches and styles of content delivery in this space.

If any of you would like to get involved and contribute your vision, I'll help you get going. I can teach you how to set up a really high quality podcast for about $100 of gear and I'll help you publicize the show on my platform.

We need lots more approaches and styles in order to appeal to people with different learning styles.

We also need some new video creators. There are a ton of awesome blogs. I see very little need in that area.

But we need more podcasts and we definitely need more video creators. Feel free to email me if I can help: joshua at radical personal finance dot com.
« Last Edit: February 02, 2017, 01:58:46 PM by RadicalPersonalFinance »

RadicalPersonalFinance

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #15 on: February 02, 2017, 12:51:23 PM »
My sense is that a podcast cannot be "about" personal finance.

I think the hose must simply apply the mentality when discussing the various interesting topics that arise.

I think the case study approach would have success, very similar to Dave Ramsey's show in that way.  We naturally want to see others in their financial underpants so to speak.  Otherwise, we need guests who have lived pretty interesting lives.  Otherwise the material lends itself far better to the written rather than spoken format.

@JBoogie This analysis is absolutely correct. When I started podcasting I thought I would do it topically, in the same way that a blog does. I quickly learned that simply doesn't work with audio.

Audio--especially podcasting--needs to have more of an entertainment value. More story. More spice.

You can only do so many interviews where people say, "I worked harder and cut my expenses and bought index funds." It's really hard to keep that interesting.

Case studies are hard because they involve a lot of numbers and numbers don't translate well in audio to listeners who are often driving/working out/etc. while listening.

Helvegen

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #16 on: February 02, 2017, 01:06:19 PM »
I think he is OK. I guess I must be lucky and have avoided all the preachy podcasts. I definitely have not listened to everything he has ever done.

I think one of his better interviews wasn't even about PF/FIRE per se: 157-Raising Six Kids On The Road: A Long-Term Travel Lifestyle Interview With Greg Denning

Right now, I basically listen to Scott Allen Turner and Optimal Living Daily. Occasionally DoughRoller will have something interesting, but he needs to work on editing his podcasts better.

FiguringItOut

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #17 on: February 02, 2017, 02:29:42 PM »
I wanted to like RPF after listening to his interview on Paula Pant's podcast from Afford Anything.  But I only made it through 2 or 3 podcasts.  Just too much rambling.  The Title topic of the podcast is barely covered during the actual podcasts.  And after an hour and a half I was wondering why I listened to it.  I didn't get religious talk, but probably only because I listened to 2-3 episodes.

I like Mad Fientists interviews/podcasts a lot.  Also, Paula Pant's podcasts/interviews are ok.  They took a bit getting used to for me.

I'm also listening to Bigger Pockets podcasts for real estate investors and I like them too.

What else do you guys listen to?  I need to expand a bit.


SEOlsen

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #18 on: February 02, 2017, 02:49:12 PM »
For a good PF podcast with some decidedly anti-religion thrown in, check out the cleverly titled Phil Ferguson show.  He's one-third finance, two-thirds atheism.  I find it quite refreshing!

Spicolli

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #19 on: February 02, 2017, 02:50:57 PM »
I've been listening to Clark Howard's podcast quite a bit lately. Maybe he's a bit more for the mainstream but he seems to know his stuff.

RadicalPersonalFinance

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #20 on: February 02, 2017, 03:33:47 PM »
If you're looking for atheism, try my buddy Philip Frey's podcast: http://www.valiantgrowth.com/

He's a hardcore minimalist and frugal living guy.

jackgopack4

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #21 on: February 02, 2017, 05:27:45 PM »
Hi all. I don't listen to Joshua anymore and don't want to get into reasons, but I joined the forum because I really appreciate that he can accept constructive criticism so gracefully.  Many people wouldn't be able to comment on a discussion like this without delving into ad hominem and making a big stink.

Keep up the great work, Joshua, and thanks all on the MMM forum for facilitating useful discussion.

2Birds1Stone

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #22 on: February 02, 2017, 05:41:06 PM »
I loved RPF for the first year and a half or so. It got very stale and he really allowed his religious/political/social views to clout the content.

bacchi

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #23 on: February 02, 2017, 05:47:19 PM »
Hi all. I don't listen to Joshua anymore and don't want to get into reasons, but I joined the forum because I really appreciate that he can accept constructive criticism so gracefully.  Many people wouldn't be able to comment on a discussion like this without delving into ad hominem and making a big stink.

Keep up the great work, Joshua, and thanks all on the MMM forum for facilitating useful discussion.

Yeah, he handled the criticism very well. It's a sign of a confident and accepting person.

RadicalPersonalFinance

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #24 on: February 02, 2017, 07:06:48 PM »
Yeah, he handled the criticism very well. It's a sign of a confident and accepting person.

I appreciate the kind words @bacchi. I didn't come here to fish for compliments but I'll be happy to take them! :)

For anyone who is interested, I'll share why I do what I do, even as it pertains to a few of the comments/critiques here in this thread. I hope it may be helpful to a few.

I've been there myself.
I understand the frustration with content creators. When I started RPF almost 500 episodes ago, I was deeply, deeply frustrated with various financial radio hosts and podcast hosts. I would often find myself shaking my fist/head at my radio/earbuds just thinking, "Man! This guy doesn't get it!" I had tons of criticism of various hosts and ways they could/should do it better.

That was why I started RPF. To do it better.

Now, with a few years of experience, I understand the challenges of "doing it better."

These days, almost all of my criticism of other show hosts has melted away entirely because I understand why they do what they do from the inside. Usually they have a reason why they make the choices they make to say the things they say in the way they say it.

Criticism comes with the territory. The most effective people in the world are usually the most criticized. Just consider what Presidents Obama and Trump have to deal with every day.

If you desire to make a difference, it'll come with criticism.

I want to make a difference in the world. Since I do, I've got to be okay with the criticism.

And, since I used to dish plenty out to financial broadcasters, I'd be a total hypocrite if I were too delicate to handle it myself.

Why are my shows so long?
I do two different kinds of shows: solo shows and interview shows. Both tend to be long; often too long.

There's a very important reason why I don't edit interview shows to be shorter: I'm deeply, deeply concerned with increasing strictures on free speech in the United States. I'm also really concerned that peoples' views or opinions are not taken out of context.

It's easy to turn editing into deceptive editing. This happens regularly on the news. I don't want it to happen on my show.

I've worked hard to become a better interviewer but I still have a long way to go. Come back and listen in two years and I'll be way better than I am now.

For solo shows, there's no excuse for them to be long; that's due to a lack of skill as an interviewer and due to the problem of figuring out how much time is optimal to devote to a single episode.

There's an anecdote published about President Woodrow Wilson who was asked about the among of time he spent preparing speeches; his response was this:

"That depends on the speech. If it is a ten-minute speech it takes me all of two weeks to prepare it; if it is a half-hour speech it takes me a week; if I can talk as long as I want to it requires no preparation at all. I am ready now."

I have found that to be true in podcasting as well. It's simply a matter of how much time can I and should I devote to the preparation and polishing of a speech which I'm going to release to the world for free.

I find that a very difficult question to answer.

Why religion?
As I stated in the comment above, I discuss religion because I believe that your religious ideology is inseparable from how you spend your money. Thus, if I am going to responsibly discuss money, I have to reference religious ideology where appropriate.

My personal decision has been this: I will never bring religious conflict in to a money subject where it's irrelevant; I will never shy away from the religious conflict where it is relevant.

But, there's a second--and also fundamental--reason why I think it's important to discuss religion: I want to model the ways that adults can respectfully discuss difficult, sensitive subjects in a friendly and agreeable way.

I'm deeply concerned about the growing inability of modern US American citizens to disagree with one another without being disagreeable. We have chosen to sacrifice reasoned, amiable discussion of difficult topics at the altar of group ideology.

Throughout history philosophers have wrestled with the big questions of life and have done it respectfully. Today, we seem--as a culture--to care more about identity politics and only listening to people we agree with than to seriously wrestle with difficult questions.

I'm very concerned about this trend in society. It's destroying families, friendships, and communities. And there's no reason for it.

I want to lead by example and show how reasonable, thoughtful people can wrestle with difficult issues, even in the public square.

I've made mistakes. I regret some things I've said on the show. But I still care more about the dream of living in a respectful, peaceful society than I do about making a few more bucks because I have more mainstream appeal by avoiding difficult topics.

Conclusion
I do appreciate the comments and feedback. One thing I love about the internet is that our various publishing platforms give everyone a voice. This is the ultimate democratizing influence and it's a harbinger of ever-increasing freedom.

And I really meant what I said: there's room on the internet for many new financial podcasts and I'd love to be a part of helping any of you start your own show with your own unique ideas and your own unique approach.

Let us use the freedom we now enjoy to help as many other people as possible. There are a lot of broke people who are struggling through their day-to-day existence. They need our help.

Captain Cactus

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #25 on: February 02, 2017, 07:36:49 PM »
I would like to say that I really enjoy Joshua's podcast.  I drive for my work and I look forward to seeing RPF show up in my podcast feed.  I usually enjoy the subject and I consider his work to be a part of my "support group" as I strive towards FI.

One thing that I appreciate about Joshua is that he produces content.  There are some other good personal finance podcasts out there but nobody produces like Josh.  It is his business.  I like the Mad Fientist as well, but he simply doesn't produce the episodes, and he doesn't make much effort with his "radio voice".  Kind of sounds like he's just chatting on the phone.  Joshua has an overall better voice presentation. 

If I were to make a topic request of Joshua, I would like to hear more interviews of people living in unusual ways (i.e. families slow traveling around the world, living abroad, homesteading in Alaska, etc... how do they support themselves financially, in a radical sort of way?).  I got turned onto Family Adventure Podcast through RPF and it's changed my life, given me a reason to strive for FI beyond just having a large number in Vanguard.

Regarding the religious stuff, I don't let it get me down.  Jesus has done a lot for me, so I don't mind a comment here or there.  Regarding the alcohol episode, I thought it was a fascinating listen.  I don't think alcohol is inherently bad but it certainly can be a bad thing.  I thought it was bold of him to publish the episode.  By the way, anybody ever done the math to figure out how big their 'stach would be if they had invested every dollar they had ever spend on booze into VTSAX instead?

So anyway, thank you Joshua.  There's a lot to be said for the man who puts himself out there and tries.  Not everybody is courageous enough to try.  Keep up the good work and know that there are thousands that appreciate what you do.   

-CC

DocMcStuffins

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #26 on: February 02, 2017, 08:26:16 PM »
I have learned more from his shows than any other podcast and learned more from his show than from this blog because it has looked at wealth from so many perspectives not just certain rules that groups accumulate ( frugals, Ramsey's, FI's). LUCKILY there is good information in aundance !!!!!

rockorager

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #27 on: February 02, 2017, 08:50:56 PM »
Just adding on here. I listened for a long time but don't anymore. I think Joshua has a great podcast (and even reading the comments on this thread makes me want to give another listen). I just found that I have only limited time to listen to podcasts and he puts out so much content I can't possibly keep up...in addition to that was me learning on my own a lot more about the technical strategies for FI and - in my opinion - growing beyond the show.

But I will say - for new or intermediate FI/RE person - his technical shows are some of the best content out there. I have yet to see anyone touch the area of 529s and other college saving accounts like he has.

Keep on it, Joshua. I have no clue how far you are to the 1,000 shows but I admire that you made a goal and are sticking to it.

GreenSheep

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #28 on: February 02, 2017, 09:21:23 PM »
I enjoy RPF and have learned a lot from it. Sure, there is some rambling and repetition, but I suspect that making a podcast is probably a lot harder than it sounds, and I can only imagine how long it would take to not only prepare and record these things but also to edit them to perfection. I do appreciate the lack of "um"s and "uh"s.

Some of what I've learned isn't even financial. I like hearing Joshua's thought processes on things, and I like the fact that he doesn't just tell people what to do when they call him for advice; he helps them figure out how to think about their question so that they can arrive at their own answer.

No podcast is perfect, and for something that's completely free, and done by just one guy working by himself, I think it's great. I even listen to the topics that don't really apply to me (I have no plans to buy an RV, for example) because it's just interesting to explore something I know nothing about and learn how others live. I don't mind hearing the religious or political references, even though I'm not particularly religious or political, and it doesn't seem to me like there are really that many of them, nor do they seem to be an attempt to push anyone toward his beliefs. Maybe if you're more irritated by them, they seem more frequent? It seems like it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to produce a podcast without ever sharing a personal belief/opinion, and no one can please everyone. I even enjoyed the rant about alcohol!

tj

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #29 on: February 03, 2017, 08:56:39 AM »
I enjoy RPF and have learned a lot from it. Sure, there is some rambling and repetition, but I suspect that making a podcast is probably a lot harder than it sounds, and I can only imagine how long it would take to not only prepare and record these things but also to edit them to perfection. I do appreciate the lack of "um"s and "uh"s.

Some of what I've learned isn't even financial. I like hearing Joshua's thought processes on things, and I like the fact that he doesn't just tell people what to do when they call him for advice; he helps them figure out how to think about their question so that they can arrive at their own answer.

No podcast is perfect, and for something that's completely free, and done by just one guy working by himself, I think it's great. I even listen to the topics that don't really apply to me (I have no plans to buy an RV, for example) because it's just interesting to explore something I know nothing about and learn how others live. I don't mind hearing the religious or political references, even though I'm not particularly religious or political, and it doesn't seem to me like there are really that many of them, nor do they seem to be an attempt to push anyone toward his beliefs. Maybe if you're more irritated by them, they seem more frequent? It seems like it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to produce a podcast without ever sharing a personal belief/opinion, and no one can please everyone. I even enjoyed the rant about alcohol!

I agree with everything in this post. Having met Joshua a few weeks ago in FL, he's such a friendly guy and has an obvious authentic desire to help people. I'm not going to let differences of politics or religion get in the way of respect for him or enjoyment of his show. Plus, he has such an awesome natural "radio voice"...something I find missing in some of the podcasters.

Breadwinner

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #30 on: February 03, 2017, 12:19:58 PM »
I am still a listener of RPF. I am also an athiest and I support planned parenthood.

Most of the topics are well chosen and interesting, and I think Joshua has very rounded approach. He picks interesting people to interview.

It is important to me to respect people's religious expression. On otherhand, if he starts trash-talking athiest or pro-choicers, I will drop that podcast faster than you can say "my body my choice". 

mtnrider

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #31 on: February 03, 2017, 03:32:01 PM »
One thoughtful podcast on conservative economic values is econtalk.  I'd heartily recommend that.
« Last Edit: February 03, 2017, 03:54:59 PM by mtnrider »

mtnrider

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #32 on: February 03, 2017, 03:48:25 PM »

Joshua - You'll have to make the business and life choices that are best for you, of course.  You have followers - I've heard them on the Q and A Friday shows.  And despite me disagreeing with him (and also finding him much more repetitive than you!), Dave Ramsey has a lucrative market.  If you make inroads there, I'll smile inside.

To be clear, I left a review here to help people who, like me, kept hoping and wondering if the format would change (back), but would eventually have to leave feeling disappointed.  We just aren't your audience.


mtnrider

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #33 on: February 03, 2017, 03:52:48 PM »
More gems - the interview with Jacob Lund Fisker.

mtnrider

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #34 on: February 03, 2017, 04:24:24 PM »
No podcast is perfect, and for something that's completely free, and done by just one guy working by himself, I think it's great.

If you find it's worth listening, more power to you!  I'm glad Joshua has listeners.

Quote from:  RadicalPersonalFinance

I have found that to be true in podcasting as well. It's simply a matter of how much time can I and should I devote to the preparation and polishing of a speech which I'm going to release to the world for free.


I guess the point is that I do appreciate how hard it is to make a podcast and also appreciated some of the content.  That's why I feel sad.  I want you to succeed.  But in the end, it's my time that's most important.  A low signal:noise ratio is not free to me - I pay with my time.

A bit of constructive criticism, if I may - chop down the technical shows into smaller 20 or 30 minute blocks.  Cover the technical details fully, but more on point.  That would make it easier on you to create/outline shows, give examples, and release in bite sized chunks that are easier for listeners to digest. 

Yes - I know how hard this is.  I sometime give presentations at work.  For every hour of presentation, there's an order of magnitude more time that goes into it.

As others have said, Joshua's voice, and the production value of the show, is really good. 

As far as atheism-based podcasts.  Call me weird, but I don't want to listen to preachy atheists either.  I think the econtalk podcast is a good template.  It's a high quality podcast, and Russ Roberts doesn't hit the listener over the head with his values, but he does still present his values.

« Last Edit: February 03, 2017, 04:55:08 PM by mtnrider »

daymare

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #35 on: February 04, 2017, 07:59:42 AM »
I used to listed to Joshua's podcast - started not from the beginning, but pretty close to it.  I used to give $3/month via Patreon.  Stopped giving (but kept listening) after the episode where Joshua said atheists have no moral code & that he would rape, murder, and steal if it wasn't for the bible.  (I think that's disgusting and terribly inaccurate about atheists.  And yes, am an atheist.)  Several months down the line, I got tired of Joshua's rambling, religious commentary.  More than that, I felt that even though much of his content was good, I don't think I ever got anything actionable to take from the podcast and apply to my own life.

Nords

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #36 on: February 04, 2017, 10:54:53 AM »
I've been interviewed on both Joshua's and Brandon's podcasts, I've enjoyed them both, and I've hung out at FinCon with both of them.  I've also spent a Camp Mustache with Brandon, where last May he recorded his podcast with a live audience.  Best. Episode. Ever. 

I'm not a podcast listener (I'm a transcript scanner) and I tend to long-form blogging myself, so I enjoy both formats.  Both of them know exactly how they want to hone their craft, I've watched both of them in vigorous debates with entrepreneurs who have different opinions, and vive la difference.  There's plenty of room for everyone's content.  In fact we're way short of content.  When Joshua mentions video, we're starting to see video interviews with a separate audio podcast and a written transcript.  Three separate audiences (very little overlap) and three different revenue streams.

When we discuss content at FinCon, I'm that whiny little voice in the corner of the podcasting crowd who's always asking for more transcripts.  The transcript used to be an expensive luxury, but prices are dropping every month and advertisers are starting to catch on.  Podcasters are also using the transcript to generate even more ad revenue from a different audience that can't always listen to the audio.  If you can't listen to Joshua or Brandon (or the rest of the podcasting universe) then let them know how you feel about podcast transcripts.  Spending a buck a minute for a transcript can still attract profitable advertisers whether the transcription costs $30 or $180. 

I've heard from a tremendous number of new readers via both Joshua's and Brandon's podcasts.  I'm not sure that I would have connected with them through the usual military blogger or social-media channels.  I'll keep showing up as long as they need guests, and I can talk as long as they want to record...

mancityfan

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #37 on: February 04, 2017, 11:07:58 AM »
I did listen to RPF for a while and was working through the back catalogue. I think a couple of months back Joshua announced that he was going to be less concerned with political correctness. There was a greater amount of religious thoughts permeating the podcast. This is where I stepped away. Good for Joshua for following his heart, I respect that. The religious bent was too much for me. Recently been listening to the podcasts from the Dough Roller, pretty good thus far: http://www.doughroller.net/thepodcast/

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #38 on: February 04, 2017, 11:24:14 AM »
I have listened to a great many of Joshua's podcasts, nearly all (or a portion of each) up to November.

The number one terrific thing about his podcasts is his vocal quality.   The often rambling style is very relaxing, and completely eliminates any road rage I have when it is playing.     I also like to listen when on an airplane, shopping, standing in long lines, etc.  My all time favorite was the 3 hour book review he did, that took me from work, to thrift store, to trying on many items, to home.  Who would have thought that he could maintain new information / detail for three hours?  By sticking to the book's format for organization+ his insights / challenging of it without restraint = great show.   

I like more than half (most?) of the religious content in the shows.  Although I am also a Christian, it is from a very different take, so listening to his views challenges me to think why I disagree, and why I am glad there is room for variety.  I like podcasts that make me think.

Joshua often has very new / different content at times from the standard-
The shows on how to run a Financial planning business, in depth insurance (for first 4 or so of these), the creative interviews (wood gas trucks and the one with the woman from the futures exchange who is living off grid now) stand out in stark contrast to any other shows I have come across in other platforms.   

The "drinking alcohol is immoral" show  was easy to delete / pass over without much blinking.   I missed the "aethists are evil" show, apparently. 

But the one that really killed it for me was the show where he ended off talking about "baby murderers"[abortion].   Note, I was fine with the previous interview show, with Tim Yarborough Nov 17, that showcased someone with this same strong language and point of view.   That is what many of his interviews are about, showing off someone in all their spiky differences to challenge our set ways of thinking...   But using this term, himself, well,   that term is deliberately intended to shut down conversations and to polarize people.  The exact opposite of why I listen to RPF and what Josua professes to be about.  (for the record, it does not matter to me whether I agree or disagree, on this point, the same view / opinion can be expressed strongly with better word choices, and Joshua is smart enough to think of his own phrases).

After that show,  I stopped listening completely until this past week, where I listened to one... to while away the time... and no religion or obnoxious phrases were thrown about, so maybe I will have to listen to another...

tj

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #39 on: February 04, 2017, 02:05:28 PM »
Quote
after the episode where Joshua said atheists have no moral code & that he would rape, murder, and steal if it wasn't for the bible. 

Uh, yeah, that would have turned me off too! I guess with the frequency of podcasts, one can easily be ignorantly bliss to that sort of thing if they didn't happen to listen to that episode..

Grande

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #40 on: February 05, 2017, 07:17:12 AM »
I listened to a dozen or so shows. I picked them out by guest. The one thing that struck me immediately was this guy seems to really like to hear himself talk. He seemed to ask a question of the guest and then ramble on about his out thoughts and opinions for entirely too long. I cannot recall the person (maybe Charlie Rose?) but I remember one very well known and well regarded interviewer. He talked about how he interviewed people and interviewing techniques. He said something to the effect that you have to make it all about them and suggested that's the best way to get them open up and get a good interview. Might be something RPF should consider. Or maybe he just wants to sit on the other side of the table but just doesn't realize it.


alsoknownasDean

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #41 on: February 07, 2017, 06:57:34 PM »
I used to listen, but I found that there were simply too many episodes. A bit too quantity over quality.

One episode or two a week is plenty for a podcast IMO :)

Khan

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #42 on: February 07, 2017, 07:25:08 PM »
I think the biggest issue with RPF is more to do with the quality of podcast apps than his content. There are an incredible amount of gems, really, thoroughly good shows that RPF has done. There are also a ton of shows that don't apply to our specific situations and aren't for many of us to listen to, unless we're going to go into financial planning practice. Itunes podcasts on the iphone when I had one was great, in that it was very easy to search episode archives for titles, and using his website is also a better way of trying to look through his archives for specific topics then trying to scroll via podcast apps on a smartphone. The other thing is many of us are relatively financially literate, and the amount of tax vehicles and products that are really necessary for us isn't too many. I could get up to about 20 acronyms, maybe 10 webpages to link to, and if somebody thoroughly scours them they'd know "enough" to begin the journey to financial independence. Adding something like a Coverdell education account, though interesting in the ways it can be used, is just incredibly niche and barely swings the needle for most of our situations.

Joshua, great job taking the criticism in stride.

lemonlyman

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Re: Radical Personal Finance - a review - sad about unsubscribing
« Reply #43 on: February 08, 2017, 06:26:57 AM »
I like his podcast. The stories from Camp Mustache lately have been particularly interesting. I enjoy listening to people in the community who don't have a blog and aren't just marketing themselves. I do skip a lot of episodes though.

As far as the religion goes, I can take what I want from his podcast and leave the rest. If he thinks it's important to discuss, that's his decision. I don't care. I think it's nonsense, but people can disagree on some things and agree on others. Most of my family are conservative (nationalist now it seems) and religious. I'm libertarian and non religious. We get along great. Transformations in politics and religion always come internally after various experiences. Discussions RARELY change anyone's mind on anything. To me, it's a waste of time, but I don't begrudge people who want to. I just don't participate which usually gets them to stop quickly.


 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!