Podcast Breakdown: BibleProject Podcast

Tim Mackie was the pastor of my church during high school. After a church split in 8th grade, we started going to Blackhawk Church in Middleton, WI. Tim was a pastor there while studying Hebrew at UW Madison. As a growing teen, Tim’s approach to teaching scripture made it click for me unlike any pastor I’d had prior. He always preached with a humble demeanor, filled with wonder, with language that was scholarly yet approachable.

That’s why today I’m so thankful for Tim and Jon on BibleProject. They are making scholarly theology accessible to everyone through videos, online classes, reading, and my personal favorite, their podcast. I love it. The guided study of the Torah last year was mind blowing for me. They’ve helped draw me closer to Jesus and their podcast is a great case study for non-profit podcasts. This week, I’m going to breakdown BibleProject podcast with seven things that sets them apart from other pods.

Here are seven things the BibleProject does great:

1. Dynamic Insertion Announcements: They use pre-roll dynamic insertion on old and new episodes, not for ads but to ask for questions on their current theme. This is smart because people are either not caught up (like me) or listen to the back log again.
2. Summary & Soundbites: Every episode starts out with a short 2-3 minute hook for the conversation to follow. It includes key questions and sound bites teasing responses to those questions.
3. Scholarly theology, conversationally explain: When we get into the conversation between Tim and Jon, it’s a delight. Jon is always curious and plays the role of the listener, asking probing questions and summarizing how he understands the topic. Tim never lofts his intelligence above anyone and makes complex topics approachable.
4. Good sound quality: They sound good. No plosives. Even levels. Front and center. If they are sick or were remote recording, they’re honest about it at the top of the episode.
5. Meditative Music Interludes: After a bomb of knowledge gets dropped, they like to take a 30 second musical interlude. It makes Ebbs the stream of conversation just enough to make you mull the last sentence over a bit more.
6. What’s Next?: It requires a bit more planning, but they end most episodes with more summary and sound bites from the next episode to get listeners excited for next week. I’m sure they are bulk recording and editorially planning a year in advance which makes this possible.
7. Listener Read Credits: Listeners, or more recently BibleProject staff, get to share their story and then read the mission statement and credits for the project. As a listener supported non-profit, this is so smart. Its different every time, gets listeners engaged, and gives them buy-in beyond their financial support. There’s no “DONATE HERE” hard sell. Just an awareness to join them in making this content free for everyone.

While we’re speaking of credits, the podcast wouldn’t happen without the BibleProject team. Shout out to Dan Gummel, Cooper Pelts, Lindsay Ponder, and more. Oddly, I didn’t have to look up those names to write that. Take note, my friend, because BibleProject manages to be completely listener supported for ALL they do, from animations to podcasts. If you’re looking for a blueprint for your church’s podcast, go listen to a few episodes. To get you started, here’s a playlist of my five favorite episodes I’ve listened to!

My Five Favorite Bible Project Episodes

https://www.podchaser.com/lists/my-five-favorite-episodes-of-bibleproject-11SKBvRk4g