For website hosting I use WordPress and I purchased a domain name. I use the website for blogging, announcing events, and book recommendations. I have been posting on my Retrieval Philosophy website for a few years. If I can help others to streamline the process, that would make me happy.
Since I have relied on others to learn, and I also learned from painful trial and error, I want to pass on what I have inherited in order to spare others from undue struggle. He wanted details so that he could do something similar. Recently, a colleague asked me what I am doing to create my blog, podcast, vlog, and online teaching videos. This has provided a regular writing schedule and a means of sharing ideas with others for feedback before I publish, which has been a very fruitful process. I release the podcast each Saturday in both audio and video form. I am crafting each chapter into a public podcast as I write the text of the book. I will not stop writing just because people don’t read. Having become comfortable with the vlogging process, I scripted a book I was writing, Retrieving Reason: The Foundation for Epistemology, into a weekly podcast. I held to the schedule for the whole Spring 2020 college semester, then recently relaxed the schedule a bit to catch up on life during the pandemic. I publicized new posts using social media: Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, and sometimes Instagram.
I created a regular schedule for releasing the vlog posts (Monday and Thursday morning). I began the vlogging process by creating a list of topics on a subject that I was passionate about - thinking - and then I wrote short scripts for each vlog post. The iPhone 11 had an improved camera for video recording than previous generations, and using it simplified my recording process. I started creating videos with a borrowed DSLR camera, which turned out to be too complex for my liking and so I recently transitioned to the iPhone 11. I was going to become a content creator and not just a book publisher. I was resistant to the suggestion of making videos at first, but with enough encouragement, I decided to try it out. But what is their content? Could I deliver better content? Perhaps. They pointed to the rise of YouTube sensations such as Jordan Peterson and Sam Harris - talking heads with huge followings.
They said YouTube was more popular than books with their generation. Then, last November, my students asked me to create short videos ( vlogs) for them instead. This was a source of discouragement since they were my audience. Shortly after publishing, my college students repeatedly told me that they don’t enjoy reading. A year and a half ago I published my first book, Retrieving Knowledge: A Socratic Response to Skepticism.