Self hosting the Beyond Blocks podcast
As part of my recent digital simplification, I've started hosting the episodes of the Beyond Blocks podcast myself.
I've always had the podcast pages on my website and used them as the primary pages to redirect people for information about the episodes.
I embedded an audio player from a third party service that were hosting the files, but have replaced it with the native HTML audio element.
It's simpler, but I like it.
My website is built with Sculpin, so I was able to do this easily with Twig by adding the path to the MP3 file to each episode:
<audio controls>
<source src="/files/bb/episodes/{{ page.episode_filename }}" type="audio/mp3">
</audio>
This is already live. You can see it on any of the podcast episode pages.
The other thing I'm using is the feed that publishes episodes to Spotify, iTunes, etc.
But I have all the information and ability to create this myself.
This part is still in development and I'll need to test it before switching to it, but it will mean the feed URL will change and people may need to resubscribe.
Here's the thing
Using a hosted service was a great way to get the podcast up and running quickly, but I'm looking forward to having more control over it, even if it involves a little upfront development work.
But, it will make it easier to post future episodes as I'll be able to do it all in one place.
I have some new guests lined up for 2025, which I'm looking forward to.
If you want to be a guest on the podcast or want to make a suggestion for someone I should have on, reply to this email and let me know.
- Oliver
