Voices in the Dark: Learning How to Human

I am currently swamped with homework and when I am swamped with homework I sometimes forget things. Things like reading up on a podcast before I interview them. The upside is that the interviews can survive without a ton of pre-research, but I never know what I’m walking into. The title Voices in the Dark didn’t give me much to go off of either, but I was in for quite a pleasant surprise. So me and Andrea, the show’s creator and co-host, are here to tell you all the things you didn’t know about Voices in the Dark.

Andrea actually began his career in podcasting before Voices in the Dark. “I worked with or in collaboration with a different podcast for a few years. A podcast that’s quite large in the UK called London Real. I became associated with the founder of the show and produced it and was sort of the man-behind-the-scenes,” Andrea explained. When that working relationship ended, Andrea decided he wanted to have his own project. Andrea loved that podcasting functioned from this “idea of helping other people through your ideas and your personal journey through life, so I wanted to recreate that,” Andrea said. Not long after he found his co-host, Jon, and they started Voices in the Dark together not long after.

The show’s tagline is “learning how to human” and covers “any idea or topic that [Andrea and Jon] feel is enriching and makes [them] better human beings.” The show began on a series that covered a book called The Forty-Eight Laws of Power, making one episode for every law and discussing the tips usefulness. From there, the duo “branched out into some other stuff.” From sex and relationships to other books and unrelated episodes, the show covers ideas. “To me, it was always very important that the show is about ideas rather than people,” Andrea said, explaining why the show only has guests on to discuss those ideas rather than themselves or the hosts.

When I asked, Andrea said that “trying to make it work with everything else you have in your life” has been the hardest part of making his show. He then said it gets even harder when you add in a co-host because “making sure you’re both available and you’re both happy to do it and you’re both motivated and that it gets done on time and published on time and promoted on time. All these moving cogs that you have to keep running smoothly and you’re coordinating between two people gets really hard.” Luckily, a lot of these things Andrea had some level of experience with because of his previous work in the industry, but alongside the new challenges comes new benefits.

“Exploring ideas. Just having some kind of forum or channel in which to express myself and the thoughts that I have,” Andrea answered when I asked about his favorite part of making his show. He went on to explain that this is why listeners come to podcasts as well: “people were looking for conversations they couldn’t necessarily have on their own or with their friends.” Voices in the Dark provides those conversations to people who can’t normally have them, and Andrea is excited to continue to cultivate that space.

Andrea is working toward hosting a guest-based, video show alongside the podcast that will be posted in batches and allows him to explore subjects that only experts can answer. He is also excited to release some short-form content for his listeners as well that will compliment the podcast. So if you love good conversations about being human, philosophy, psychology, great books, and life advice, listen to Voices in the Dark and be sure to leave a rating and review to let Andrea and Jon know what you think!

Chasing Pods is a Podchaser blog series dedicated to letting our readers know about podcasts they may not have heard of or provide a sneak peek into the making of their favorite podcast. We talk to podcast creators about their journey into podcasting, the creation of their shows, the ups and downs of the work, and what they’re looking forward to for their podcast

Do you love or make a cool podcast? Do you want to be featured on our blog? Email Morgan (morgan@podchaser.com) to tell her why your favorite show should be featured next.