Mur stepping down from Editor position

[Unblinking]

(Quoting from the Escape Pod main page, for anyone who haven't seen the post or listened to the most recent episode)

If you haven’t listened to last week’s episode, this may come as news, but I’m stepping down as editor of Escape Pod. I am very sad to do so, but all of my projects are spreading me too thin, and I don’t feel as if I can give any project my best effort. I don’t want EP to suffer because of this, so I’m stepping down.

I’m delighted to announce, however, that Norm Sherman, our part-time host, has agreed to take over editor duties. I love Norm’s intros, and his sense of humor, and I know he can keep up the vision Steve Eley had of Escape Pod allowing science fiction fans to “have fun.”

I will officially step down on December 31, and Alasdair Stuart of Pseudopod fame will be taking over as interim editor for a few weeks, then Norm will take over. I’m excited to see what he does with the podcast, and assure you that you’re in excellent hands.

Happy holidays, and have a fun and mighty new year.

~Mur

[Bdoomed]

Sad to see Mur go!  EP remains with a great staff though, so I'm not at all worried!

[Fenrix]

"I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread."

It's a shame she has to step down, but it has seemed like volunteer editor burnout has been building for a while. Is Norm doubling up responsibilities on a semi-permanent basis, or is there a plan to go to more of a split host/editor responsibility, or are y'all looking towards recruiting a whole new editor/host combo? I really like Norm and would hate to see him burn out as well from too much responsibility.

[eytanz]

I don't know if anyone who knows the answers to those questions actually reads the forums (I know neither Mur nor Norm visits here except very rarely).

[luka datas]

o snap

[Devoted135]

"I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread."

It's a shame she has to step down, but it has seemed like volunteer editor burnout has been building for a while. Is Norm doubling up responsibilities on a semi-permanent basis, or is there a plan to go to more of a split host/editor responsibility, or are y'all looking towards recruiting a whole new editor/host combo? I really like Norm and would hate to see him burn out as well from too much responsibility.

I have similar questions/concerns. I would hate to see yet another awesome editor get burned out. Not to mention that while I have every expectation that Norm and Nathan are fully capable of choosing different stories for different flavors of podcasts, it does feel a little strange.

[matweller]

Al from EP is editoring for a couple episodes, then Norm takes the helm. He's very excited about the opportunity and I think the plan is for me to help him more with a lot of the things Mur had been taking upon herself, which I will be happy to do.

I feel so fortunate to be a part of this organization and get to work with such amazing talents. Working is so much better and easier when you can look up to those above you and that's how it is with everybody here. If everyone's second and third stringers were as good as here, the Steelers would be in the Super Bowl again. But I digress.

I'd let you know if I felt nervous about any of this, but all of the lights on my panel are green. And no, we're not always good about reading the forum. At least in my case, that's to everybody's benefit, trust me. However, you're welcome to contact me directly any time by IM here or email or Twitter or whatever. I take a lot of pride in this Pod, and I want to make sure it's traveling along as smoothly as possible, so I want to know when it's not.

[Alasdair5000]

What Mat said? About covers it:)

I'm in the big chair for a few episodes, and Mur, being the genius she is, ensured there was plenty of buffer room before stepping down. I've got some great stories to work with and I actually recorded my first two intros today, which was ace despite my cold:)

[Scattercat]

Actually, it's just that Norm and I are the Illuminati and we have to start taking over the world somewhere.

[Wilson Fowlie]

I don't know if anyone who knows the answers to those questions actually reads the forums (I know neither Mur nor Norm visits here except very rarely).

So, it's not so much 'feedback' here as 'feed-back-and-forth'. 

[Norm Sherman]

Hey folks, Norm here.

Honored to be taking over for Mur.  I've loved this podcast for a long long time-- Steve's work here was the single biggest inspiration for the Drabbecast, Mur has been a total mentor-- and I shall do my darndest to keep it thrashing about playfully in viscous meaty pools of warm and fetid awesomesauce.  

For those Escapepod fans that are also subscribers to the Drabblecast, please sit back and continue to enjoy your regularly tentacled programming over yonder.  Nothing is changing.

For those worried about Escapepod starting to feel like another Drabblecast, you should know that I worry about that too.  Meaning I'm aware of that issue and pretty keen on not letting it happen.  There are two very different brands here at work and I'm confident this won't be something for anyone to worry about.  Unless you just like worrying.  And then you should go ponder the implications of Singularity, or those tiny catfish that swim up and get stuck in your peehole.

Alasdair Stuart is also now the official co-host of Escapepod and will be hosting stories twice a month.  Escapepod will begin its playful thrashings under my reign the first week of February.

[luka datas]

norm u iz de elefant in the kornfield. luk 4wud 2 bean shunned an amneoticised 4 many ye-haas 2 cum.... and yet

[Devoted135]

For those worried about Escapepod starting to feel like another Drabblecast, you should know that I worry about that too.  Meaning I'm aware of that issue and pretty keen on not letting it happen.  There are two very different brands here at work and I'm confident this won't be something for anyone to worry about.  Unless you just like worrying.  And then you should go ponder the implications of Singularity, or those tiny catfish that swim up and get stuck in your peehole.

Aww, I liked your screenname! Though going with your real name does seem to make sense here.

Anyway, I just wanted to say again that I do have every confidence of your abilities as editor to run two different flavors of podcasts. Looking forward to hearing the stories you choose!

[Scattercat]

I, for one, pass up stories at the DC that I wouldn't at EP, and vice versa, even leaving aside the massively different pools of submissions each podcast receives.

[south.to.alaska]

Phew. Where to start. THis is my first time posting on this forum. I fell in love (quite literally) with Escape Artists three years ago and am quite honest about saying that EscapePod and PodCastle kept me sane when I was staying at home with our three children under three. You are/were my lifeline!

I am saddened to hear that Mur is leaving because she is wonderful, witty, honest, real and sincere. I created this account and joined the discussion to say that I'm sad to see her go....and very unhappy with the choice of her replacement. I am worried that we are going to have another Drabblecast. I tried to listen to Drabblecast, I really, really did. But found that the consistently over-the-top intros/outros were just too much for my "just get to the fiction!" brain to handle. Even Norm's post in this feed falls into the "over-the-top-too-much-info" theme that I worry about. REally, I neither want nor need to know about the "tiny catfish that swim up and get stuck in your peehole."  Norm, please accept with my respect, some feedback that I would be quite happy to hear you turn down the volume on the strange-meter when you are hosting. Please don't mess with the great product that is EscapePod.

[Talia]

Phew. Where to start. THis is my first time posting on this forum. I fell in love (quite literally) with Escape Artists three years ago and am quite honest about saying that EscapePod and PodCastle kept me sane when I was staying at home with our three children under three. You are/were my lifeline!

I am saddened to hear that Mur is leaving because she is wonderful, witty, honest, real and sincere. I created this account and joined the discussion to say that I'm sad to see her go....and very unhappy with the choice of her replacement. I am worried that we are going to have another Drabblecast. I tried to listen to Drabblecast, I really, really did. But found that the consistently over-the-top intros/outros were just too much for my "just get to the fiction!" brain to handle. Even Norm's post in this feed falls into the "over-the-top-too-much-info" theme that I worry about. REally, I neither want nor need to know about the "tiny catfish that swim up and get stuck in your peehole."  Norm, please accept with my respect, some feedback that I would be quite happy to hear you turn down the volume on the strange-meter when you are hosting. Please don't mess with the great product that is EscapePod.

Hey South,

I forget which episode it's attached to, but Norm does say in one intro or outro that he's aware EP and Drabblecast have audiences that don't entirely overlap.  Don't worry, EP will remain EP and Drabblecast it's own thing (no need to duplicate his own show, after all... heh). 

He's already hosted EP a bunch of times, at the most recent lot, at least, aren't nearly as deliciously silly as DC.

(I love DC personally, but I understand it's not everyone's style).

[Swamp]

I am worried that we are going to have another Drabblecast.

He's already hosted EP a bunch of times, at the most recent lot, at least, aren't nearly as deliciously silly as DC.

First of all, it is normal to be apprehensive when a podcast changes hands.  Talia already covered my main point above, but Norm has been co-hosting EP for nearly two years now (maybe more).  Have you seen many crazy over-the-top inapropriate intros/outros?  I haven't.  I do enjoy Drabblecast, but I also agree that EP has a different audience and different expectations.

However, you can't take the personality out of an editor/host.  Otherwise, you'd have someone coming on every week saying.  "This is a Librovox recording."  Yes, Norm can tone it down for EP, because he already has done that.  This ain't his first time in the pool.

As for story selection, I think we will be just fine there as well.  I'm looking forward to following with EP for years to come.

[Alasdair5000]

Phew. Where to start. THis is my first time posting on this forum. I fell in love (quite literally) with Escape Artists three years ago and am quite honest about saying that EscapePod and PodCastle kept me sane when I was staying at home with our three children under three. You are/were my lifeline!

I am saddened to hear that Mur is leaving because she is wonderful, witty, honest, real and sincere. I created this account and joined the discussion to say that I'm sad to see her go....and very unhappy with the choice of her replacement. I am worried that we are going to have another Drabblecast. I tried to listen to Drabblecast, I really, really did. But found that the consistently over-the-top intros/outros were just too much for my "just get to the fiction!" brain to handle. Even Norm's post in this feed falls into the "over-the-top-too-much-info" theme that I worry about. REally, I neither want nor need to know about the "tiny catfish that swim up and get stuck in your peehole."  Norm, please accept with my respect, some feedback that I would be quite happy to hear you turn down the volume on the strange-meter when you are hosting. Please don't mess with the great product that is EscapePod.

Hi South:)

I understand your concerns completely and you're absolutely right to be a little apprehensive based on those concerns.But one of the fun things about working for EA is I get to see behind the curtain,and there are a couple of things that may not be immediately clear that shouldallay those fears some;

-The same slush reading team is in place.Which means half the entire editorial process is exactly the same as it was under Mur's leadership. The same kind of stories are coming through and are stillbeing treated with respect and enthuiasm.

-A bunch of stories were already accepted when I stepped in as temporary editor and we're not close to working through them. When we are,and start moving across to the stories Norm's selected, you won't see a sudden change, for the reasons above.

-I'm co hosting Escape Pod,full time,as of January. That means I'm hosting two weeks out of every four,just like Norm did with Mur. So if you don't get on with Norm's hosting style, but like mine,check in with the back two weeks of every month. If you don't like mine eiether, that's fine,and my apologies:)

And no,in case anyone's wondering, that won't affect Pseudopod in the slightest. Endcaps are recorded up to the end of February and I aim to stay that far ahead all the way along the year:)

[south.to.alaska]

THanks Swamp, Tallia and Alasdair. I appreciate your input and insights. I recognize that a program's tone must change a little with each successive host  -- I selfishly just dont' want that to happen to my EscapePod!  Fair enough, I shall skip the Norm intros/outros if they continue to make my skin crawl, and will listen bimonthly instead.
Thanks everyone! 

[Scattercat]

Alternately, you could play the intros from a series of cunningly placed speakers and get a free facelift when your skin crawls the other direction.

[south.to.alaska]

Wow. And there go my thoughts that it might not be so bumpy a transition afterall. Wow.

[Umbrageofsnow]

Wow. And there go my thoughts that it might not be so bumpy a transition afterall. Wow.

You know Scattercat has been the Assistant Editor under Mur for a while now, right? And he was a slush reader before that.

[Scattercat]

What are you talking about?  I've never worked for this here publication ever at all and am totally new, and thus will be completely reshaping the story selection due to my unprecedented influence.  Also I've never made weird jokes in the forums, not once.

Seriously, though, even if Norm and I somehow planned to convert Escape Pod into Drabblecast II, we'd have the problem that there is almost zero overlap in the stories submitted to each venue.  We get maybe one in fifty stories at EP that are even close to "weird" enough for the Drabblecast, and I think I could count the number of actual space'n'aliens'n'robots SF stories the Drabblecast has ever received on my fingers.  Maybe some toes, too, but definitely not both feet.

[El Barto]

Though grateful to Mur for all of her great and hard work while captaining the ship, I'm delighted that Norm is stepping up to command Escape Pod. 

It would be great to hear more of the incredible production values at the Drabblecast migrate over to Escape Pod, because sometimes great music and sound effects can turn a very good story into an incredible experience.

My greatest hope is that Norm (and the rest of the crew) run nothing but high quality science fiction here and resist the urge to unexpectedly drop fantasy stories on us listeners as has happened from time to time here, though not much lately. 

It would be interesting to see a chart of listeners and discover how much overlap is there between people who listen to Escape Pod, Clarkesworld, Starship Sofa, and The Drabblecast, which are my four favorite story podcasts.

[Wilson Fowlie]

My greatest hope is that Norm (and the rest of the crew) run nothing but high quality science fiction here and resist the urge to unexpectedly drop fantasy stories on us listeners as has happened from time to time here, though not much lately. 

I have no doubt that that's exactly what will happen.

However, please keep in mind that EP also traditionally publishes the Short Story nominees from the Hugos (as many as they can get rights for, anyway) and they - rightly - do so without regard to whether the stories are SF or fantasy. I, for one, hope that they continue this tradition (though I do urge Norm and other hosts to mention this fact in the story introductions when the time comes, if only to forestall the inevitable, and annoyingly clueless, "Waah, you got fantasy in my science fiction!" whining.)

[El Barto]

My greatest hope is that Norm (and the rest of the crew) run nothing but high quality science fiction here and resist the urge to unexpectedly drop fantasy stories on us listeners as has happened from time to time here, though not much lately. 

I have no doubt that that's exactly what will happen.

However, please keep in mind that EP also traditionally publishes the Short Story nominees from the Hugos (as many as they can get rights for, anyway) and they - rightly - do so without regard to whether the stories are SF or fantasy. I, for one, hope that they continue this tradition (though I do urge Norm and other hosts to mention this fact in the story introductions when the time comes, if only to forestall the inevitable, and annoyingly clueless, "Waah, you got fantasy in my science fiction!" whining.)

I am definitely aware of that tradition, fully support it, and hugely appreciate when the hosts give exactly such a heads-up when they introduce fantasy stories.