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VOL.30, NO.10
A local podcasting pioneer
OCTOBER 2018
I N S I D E …
PHOTO BY GRETCHEN VOGELZANG
By Barbara Ruben In 2014, Paul Vogelzang found himself packing up his desk at computer technology company Oracle as part of a company layoff. “That was a shock to the system in every way,” said Vogelzang, who lives in Reston, Va. “At 58, it was tough to get a job, particularly in the technology sector, which apparently wants to have a younger workforce. It was a rough kind of divorce, in the sense I had never gone through something like that.” He proceeded to interview for 75 to 100 jobs without an offer, despite his years of experience in digital marketing and podcasting. The interviews were often conducted by managers half his age, some asking inscrutable questions, unlike ones he recalled when he applied to jobs in the past. “For example, I was asked, ‘What’s your favorite cake?’ I answered that I liked chocolate cake, but I think I was supposed to answer in some other, deeper way. Perhaps make connections between how cake is a good tool with which to engage people and…I really don’t know...,” he trailed off. But not one to become bitter, Vogelzang (whose name means “birdsong” by the way) decided to parlay that experience into amusing posts on LinkedIn about his forays into the job market. “It was a time I felt I needed to pivot. I wasn’t getting any jobs, and writing about this unpleasant job search experience was exciting to me. People were beginning to pay attention to the problems facing older workers. “I thought, ‘I have this background in podcasting. Why don’t I start my own one?’” he recalled. Podcasts are audio or video interviews and lectures that can be accessed via computer or mobile devices, usually for free, and often as part of a series. The name is derived from the Apple iPod, which first enabled millions of people to lis-
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SEE SPECIAL INSERT Housing & Homecare Options following page 26
LEISURE & TRAVEL
Paul Vogelzang records his popular podcast, the “Not Old — Better” show, from a studio in his home in Reston, Va. He’s interviewed such celebrities as Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise, and produces regular segments on fitness and aging, with some garnering more than 300,000 listeners.
ten to music and a variety of interesting programs through a digital device. The name “podcast” (short for iPod broadcast) stuck and is now used for any such digital file.
cast, the “Not Old — Better Show,” which now has hundreds of thousands of listeners. He typically produces two or three episodes a week, all geared toward older adults. Recent episodes touch on such diverse
Delaware’s mansions, gardens and more; plus, shopping and dining in Israel’s ancient port city of Jaffa page 36 TECHNOLOGY 6 k Are electric cars in your future? FITNESS & HEALTH 10 k A broad genetic risk test k The coffee and cancer question
A show for “better” adults Thus began the idea for Vogelzang’s pod-
See PODCASTER, page 44
LAW & MONEY k Weathering a downturn k Pull these out of your wallet
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SPOTLIGHT ON AGING k Newsletter for D.C. seniors
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ARTS & STYLE k Rocking with Rod Stewart
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ADVERTISER DIRECTORY
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