Launched: KCB Boiler Room Podcast
For years we’ve been wanting to start a podcast. You can imagine how many discussions happened where we posed different scenarios of what this would look like. Eventually, the solution, as they say, started to present itself: what did we want to do a deep dive on? This list grew very quickly, starting with panel discussions and other events in the Boiler Room.
What we call the “Boiler Room Breakfast Club” happens in the mornings. These are often presentations by an individual and have included topics such as stone installation and maintenance, lighting, metal work, and even artificial intelligence. Evening events are part of a series called “Boiler Room After Hours” and are always panels involving four people. Each series includes Q and A, but even then, there are always moments leaving us wanting to hear and ask more. What a perfect opportunity to do so with a podcast.
This line of thinking also invited us to also start looking at our Instagram feed differently. From posts that go viral to the comments that deserve attention, the podcast can be a place where we “go there.” And then there’s our mill shop, our projects, our team—so much potential fodder for the medium.
We also had to decide about production value. In the end we decided that because the Boiler Room events were what first felt podcast worthy, we’d showcase this space, transforming it into our recording studio. We already record all the panels and presentations that happen here. This makes it almost too easy to replay the moments worth revisiting.
One afternoon while discussing this aspect of the episodes, Kevin had a vision. I wish I could say it involved a supernatural element—visitation of an angel, perhaps. Or classic foreshadowing—like the thunderclap in The Lost Ark or the Goonies. “What if we replayed the recordings on a boombox?” went the question.
Now this deserves some explanation. Kevin grew up in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston. And in the 80's when he was a teen, hip hop and boombox culture was, well, booming. The music of that time, especially rap and punk, was foundational to him. It even carries through to our soundtrack choices for our Instagram posts. And so, if you’ve ever been curious as to why all the hip hop, there it is.
And so, by the end of the day, a boombox was ordered, elevating each episode with some fun and meaningful analogue recordings to reference. It's also a great conversation starter, as we now ask our guests to share their own "boombox” or “mixtape story" as a way of getting into the flow.
As a writer-storyteller, I’m naturally drawn to podcasting. I was lucky enough to work with Amy Krouse Rosenthal at WBEZ Chicago for a time. She was a NYT’s best-selling author, who also made quirky, amazing videos. I learned so much during this time. This also allowed me to be in the place where one of my favorite podcasts, This American Life, was…born. Every day I’d walk past this little nook in a hallway where their Peabody’s and other awards collected dust. It was sacred to me. While I left there to join a magazine, I knew at some point, I’d be making podcasts, utilizing all that I’ve learned along the way to jump into this space and side-kick my way into each episode, along with the production, and when needed, hair and makeup.
The coming months will see more episodes involving former panel guests and presenters. But you’ll also see us going deep into our shop and the woodworking that happens in there, something that harkens back to Kevin’s beginnings as a woodworker and furniture maker. And with almost thirty years of history, there’s a lot of material. Thanks for taking the time to give the KCB Boiler Room Podcast a listen.