For audio folks (or really anyone interested in a peep behind the curtain), I'd like to share our adventures in long-distance audio storytelling for this week's ep:

We've wanted to do this for a while, and we got a special donation to report it this year. But we wanted to visit in person! How to do so from afar? So, we set to work figuring that out. Can't hire locals to tape folks in person, but wanted to recreate that warm, in-person feel -

I did a bunch of research on gamer headsets, gamers like good sound. Figured we'd mail everyone headsets with return labels. Also bought Blue Yeti USB mic. Hated the sound of the Blue Yeti, not great if you're not a pro. Went to MicroCenter to try out headsets....

Talked to a super helpful young guy there about the headsets, and then he pointed me to a really inexpensive mic made by a gaming company. He hadn't tried it, he said, but he heard great things. I bought it. Wouldn't have worked on its own with a laptop (rather for desktop) BUT

Luckily I had a small dongle to turn my pro mic into a USB mic, and it worked with that. And it was so much better than the headsets! SO I bought four of them, ordered four of the dongles. Planned to send them around to the interviewees. BUT