Dr. Chris Salierno, chief editor of Dental Economics, remembers listening to his first dental podcast. He was already a fan of regular podcasts for his commutes to the office. Find out how he became hooked on podcasts ... and if you aren't already, you just might find you like them too!
I can recall listening to my first dental podcast. I was already a fan of regular podcasts for my commutes to the office. The ability to listen to my favorite radio shows on demand was far superior, in my opinion, to flipping through stations and hoping something I liked was on the air. This was a technology as disruptive as TiVo or Netflix. No longer would I have to check the schedules for Radiolab, This American Life, or Freakonomics Radio; they were on-demand. And since I was playing these shows on my iPhone, I wasn’t just limited to my car or home radio. I could listen to them at the gym, while getting ready in the morning, or on an airplane. How liberating!
Another happy discovery was that anyone could produce a podcast. It wasn’t just a format for major productions. A guy or gal in their basement could record their thoughts on a laptop, and then broadcast them on the same platform as the big shows. Podcasters didn’t have to purchase fancy recording equipment or create a pilot episode that would hopefully get picked up by a major network. These folks were limited only by their own creativity. How democratic!
So, I was hooked on podcasts. Then a gentleman by the name of Dr. Alan Mead reached out to me on Facebook and asked to interview me. He and his cohost, Dr. Jason Lipscomb, had started a dental podcast called The Dental Hacks. I hadn’t realized that dentists had taken to the airwaves yet. I felt so far behind. Alan reassured me that dental podcasting was still in its infancy and that I wasn’t that far out of the loop.
I checked out my podcast app on my iPhone and found The Dental Hacks feed. They had only been on for less than a year at that point, but they already had more than 40 episodes in the bank. They had discovered a wonderful formula: part guest interview and part roundtable discussion on a controversial topic. It was like being at a local study club. I loved hearing dentists from around the country complain about the same problems I was having and offer constructive solutions.
The Dental Hacks has been plugging along since the summer of 2014, which makes it old in dental podcasting years. Since the mid-2010s, we’ve seen an explosion of shows created by the dental community. Some are heavy on clinical, some are more focused on practice management, and some just like to goof off and laugh. (I’m looking at you, Drs. Joshua Austin and Mike DiTolla of AcciDental Geniuses.)
We’ve put together a list of some of the most popular dental podcasts on page 14. If you’re a fan of the format, I hope you find some new shows to check out. If you’re new to podcasting, then I urge you to discover this revolutionary new media channel.
Cheers,
Chris Salierno, DDS
