XaiJu
Decoding The Gurus
Decoding The Gurus

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Answering Q&As at the snowy ryokan

Here is the last piece of content we recorded on the DTG snowy mountain retreat. Do not anticipate insights... but do expect a lot of random waffle about Japanese food. Our editor Andy has tried to make things slightly more cohesive but he was working with difficult material. 

In any case, consider this *bonus* behind the scenes content with a special guest decoder, Matt's daughter Lana (who was probably most coherent throughout).

Regular broadcasting will resume soon but until then enjoy one last trip to the onsen.

Also, if we missed any important Qs, we can try to answer them in the comments. 

Answering Q&As at the snowy ryokan

Comments

完璧な人なんていないよね 😉 毎年日本?いいね、楽しんで!

Christopher Kavanagh

残念ながら私はイギリス人です(笑) 昔早稲田大学で勉強し、毎年日本に行くつもり

Riku

all of this is so adorable I cannot fucking stand it. But it's just what I needed today. Good medicine.

JustTheWorstEver

メッセージありがとう!日本人?うちのリスナーに日本人少ないんだよね。

Christopher Kavanagh

みんなさん本当にありがとうございました!日本食は最高ですね.. もっとパラソーシャルな動画を楽しみにしています^^

Riku

No that’s the exact kind of situation where it happens. 4 way call with video recorded. We often switch to Zoom for such episodes because there is way less lag. The problem with the original recordings I forget now but probably what you say and insane amounts of verbal tics/bad explanations.

Christopher Kavanagh

Now that you mention it, I do think there's more of a delay when you record with other people eg the nullius pod. Is that a false memory? I'd guess you do most interviews with video? So wrt the two buried recordings of the first episode, was the issue more that you were just going off on tangents, talking nonsense, not focusing on a given point, etc.?

Subodh Kafle

There is an option on Zencastr that is show video but do not record for bandwidth. That’s how we usually record, it drops down the quality of the video a lot at times but there are very rarely delays and if there are we usually have to stop and reset. There can be lag but almost always when recording video and/or with more than two people.

Christopher Kavanagh

I think you can have a good guess based off the ending where they both say sayonara. Matt sounds super Anglo, Chris sounds like someone who has to speak to Japanese people on a daily basis lol

Subodh Kafle

So normally when you record it's just a voice call with no video? I got the impression that you do video calls, there's some episodes where you mention the facial or body language reactions of each other.

Subodh Kafle

So they’re not gurus, they’re just normal men. They’re just innocent men

Mark K

He was under the influence of Neutonic.

Linda Sears

Did Matt misuse the word penultimate?!

Simon Patience

Love it. The chemistry of Roy & HG for those Aussies.

Peter

Not quite fluent enough I’m afraid! But I did do pretty well talking to my elderly FIL about shogi and politics and such. I think we achieved about 70% communication

Guruspod 2

Yes!

Guruspod 2

Dads get unfairly penalised in the cool dept I think

Guruspod 2

Yeah all these points are real and likely play a part except usually when recording the podcast (as opposed to something with video) there basically is no delay. Interruptions are normal, in person and online, and how much you keep them in will usually depend on how ‘natural’ you want a conversation to seem but over-talk is mostly an online phenomenon, mostly due to lag, and very rarely enjoyable for anyone listening. It’s edited out of most podcasts though it does depend on the tone.

Christopher Kavanagh

And specifically with remote recording from Japan and Australia, there's just a lag. So if eg Matt hears something Chris says and wants to interrupt for whatever reason, he might pick a good moment but Chris isn't going to hear it until a second or two later when he's midway into a new sentence. Worst of all you can get those moments where one person takes a pause for a second before carrying on, the other person thinks they've finished and says something in response, but both end up talking over each other. So the way you do it works really well considering the limitations you have to deal with (the speed of light) and the format/tone of the podcast, but if you ever have the opportunity to record a decoding episode while in the same room, I think you could definitely make it more conversational

Subodh Kafle

Re: the first two recordings of the first episode, it's not just that podcasts require alternating or setting each other up. I think a large part of it is that you're recording remotely from quite far away. You couldn't do this specific podcast with just randomly butting in, but if you recorded live with each other, you wouldn't need to take turns nearly as much. It's something I noticed with a lot of podcasts pre and post pandemic - they went from shows that were quite conversational to shows that felt more like TV talking heads segments where people deliver their takes sequentially and are instructed not to interrupt too much. That style works for dtg because you're trying to deconstruct rhetorical tricks or debunk complicated bits of misinformation, but lots of podcasts are fine with the hosts interrupting each other.

Subodh Kafle

Bruno Mars' Doo-Wops & Hooligans (2010) was good, Unorthodox Jukebox (2012) was ok, but his 24K Don't Vaccinate Magic (2016) was when he took a turn.

Ymirsdreams

This was great fun, and Lana was a good sport for saying Chris is cooler than Matt.

Linda Sears

Excellent video!! I’m aware who Bruno Mars is but have never heard his songs nor do I want to. I guess I’m half out of touch.

Julie

Very little reason to speak to Matt in Japanese, though I’m sure you’ve heard bits and pieces here and there.

Christopher Kavanagh

That’s strange. We uploaded to YouTube?

Christopher Kavanagh

This was hilarious

Jarod S

iirc, Bruno Mars did a Superbowl halftime show a few years back. I wasn't too impressed. As for being out of touch: I watched Taylor Swift's "Eras" movie and didn't recognise even one song. Does that make you feel better? 😄

Roland Weber

Video not working for me

Mark

The perfect question to ask you just sprung to my mind! Why have we not ever heard you speaking Japanese? It would be great to hear your recite a small poem or something, one each, and then have your wives grade your pronunciation? Or, if you're both fluent in Japanese, just have a normal conversation?

Lee Kebum


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