Exactly a year ago I won my first Apple Award from the Guides Association of New York City for my book World War I New York: A Guide to the City’s Enduring Ties to the Great War. So I was not expecting to win this year, in a new category, Outstanding Achievement in Radio Program/Podcast (Audio/Spoken Word), for our podcast. I was not trying to encourage Joanna Holliday, my partner in pod, to invite more people to attend the show, in case we lost. I thought we would lose, but have fun anyway (the GANYC Awards are a blast, and are the only all-NYC awards in the city). Jo invited seven friends, all folks we know from Doc Holliday’s, where she has worked for 25 years. It ended up being even more fun because we did win the award.

It’s a big honor. We started the podcast last May and do everything ourselves. We have no producers or budget, and not sponsors (yet). So far we’ve put out 25 shows with a wide range of guests. It has been really fun to work on. Jo said that doing the podcast has helped her reconnect to parts of life in New York that she was letting slip past, and I agree with that sentiment. We go through life kind of on fumes a lot of the time. But by use being on a schedule to try and have a new show almost weekly, it has allowed us the opportunity to talk to and explore all kinds of New York.

Winning the award was nice. Hopefully it gets more attention for the podcast. Here’s our post-show podcast recorded at the after party.