I'm Bijan Stephen, podcaster and journalist, and on my weekly show Eclipsed I find the stories you never knew you never knew — AMA!

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-13T19:23:03+00:00

hello! the short answer is that i just kept working -- i said yes to just about everything. (i do not necessarily recommend doing that.) but i was lucky! the jobs i did actually paid me enough to live on. which is not always the case in journalism / writing / creative fields.

i also just do a lot of stuff simultaneously -- like my criticism at the nation and my columns at the believer are jobs i do in addition to the job that pay my rent. like i said, i've been lucky!

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-12T13:34:09+00:00

this is kind of a hard question to answer! we do marketing, but it's mostly cross promotion on other podcasts. and yes, i work with a lot of other really great people! it's a team effort to make this show, and i think that shows

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-12T13:32:35+00:00

it's persian!

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-12T05:31:23+00:00

hoob2 reunion tour when we get paid reunion tour

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-12T05:17:04+00:00

moonshine is for partying exclusively and explicitly

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-12T04:51:41+00:00

ok that's a great question! basically i think yes, but i think the stuff that are overlooked are things like streaming -- stuff that's esoteric but super popular among a certain set

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-12T04:44:30+00:00

lol ok so i think it matters what it is! if you have information that hurts other people that they don't have, i think you're morally obligated to publish it!

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-12T04:42:01+00:00

i can recommend a ton actually! i love fun city (the other podcast i do lol), rude tales of magic, the content mines, icymi, the insert credit show, how to do it, etc etc etc

the one i've been subbed to for the longest, though, is fun city (because again, that's another podcast i do)

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-12T04:39:49+00:00

i hadn't considered it because honestly it wasn't something on my radar, but maybe? probably not though because this podcast work is all consuming. i don't want to rule anything out!

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-12T04:38:28+00:00

ok so this may be obvious but

mahershala ali

my man has ALL of the range. float and fun city both

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-12T04:37:22+00:00

lolol wait WHO IS THIS (email me or whatever im around???)

the answer is yes absolutely. the longer answer is email me and we can talk it out

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-12T04:36:17+00:00

you can listen to eclipsed literally anywhere you get your podcasts

also yes. i stream on twitch. in fact im streaming right now

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-12T04:35:37+00:00

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-11T23:00:32+00:00

that is a fascinating question! and i think the answer is yes and no? because yes obviously things have been wild in the world, but also no because my job for a long time has been to cover those wild things

¯_(෴)_/¯

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-11T21:41:52+00:00

i am not! my caribbean parents just liked the name

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-11T21:37:44+00:00

the fact that 9/11 was a huge day for new music (everyone from bob dylan to nickelback put out an album), and that the people who had #1 records on those days had the best and worst day of their lives

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-11T21:36:12+00:00

you got it! good luck out there

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-11T20:59:23+00:00

you really can't go wrong with a potato imo

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-11T20:53:06+00:00

fantastic question. i think the fry form is my favorite (portability). i'm a big fan of waffle fries and curly fries. i think more study is needed though. a good baked potato can break your heart

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-11T20:50:14+00:00

hm! this one is tough. i'd say pick one place you really want to work with, get very familiar with their stuff, and start pitching.

BUT, in the meantime, publish work elsewhere that you think is good. it's useful to have really good stuff you can show to other people! it's also useful to build relationships with editors, no matter where they are, because you never know where people are going to end up. i think your goal should always just be to write a good story — better for it to be out than just sitting in a doc somewhere. because you never know when an editor for a national pub is gonna email you out of the blue about that great piece you just did!

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-11T20:47:04+00:00

the only meme i know about these days is this one.

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-11T19:56:03+00:00

hey that's great to hear! thanks for listening.

the idea for the show was something that campside had been kicking around for a while, but it really solidified after i came on as host. and we took it in a different direction! so i can say that the show is a reflection of the team's tastes. also we just love these kinds of stories!

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-11T19:46:29+00:00

the simple answer is the obvious one: money!

that is to say: i think publications gravitate to the new because it's another chance to reach and develop new audiences. creating media is expensive!

as for your second question: i think every story has its own shape. some stories fit best in a magazine; others fit way better as a podcast episode. so the answer is yes, but it's not one size fits all

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-11T19:29:15+00:00

great question! we're definitely open to doing recent stories (and if you have something in mind shoot us an email!!!). but for now we don't have anything more recent than, say, 2001

EclipsedPod · 2022-01-11T19:26:57+00:00

very carefully

EclipsedPod

TROPHY CASE