Nov 26 2019 4 mins 191
https://www.gofundme.com/f/history-of-pirates-podcast-new-computer-fund
Good morning Crew,
Today we’re here to talk about the future of the History of Pirates Podcast, but first…how did we get here?
In 2013, My love of History, Pirates and Podcasting all came together and with absolutely no idea what I was doing, and using an old Dell computer from 2008, I decided to write, record and edit a podcast on Pirates.
In November 2014, I released the first 2 episodes of the History of Pirates Podcast and over 700 people listened to it that first month.
Then things got Crazy!
By the 3rd episode HoPP had won the runner up spot on Zugme’s Next Big Podcast competition.
By the 6th – 8th episode we had to move the podcast off of the private server it was on, since our loyal crew had downloaded the episodes a lot!
Around May of 2015, we hit the 29th spot on US itunes for ALL podcasts and was given a Banner spot on the front page of the US itunes.
In June of that year, in a span of 15 days, we had half a terabyte of downloads of the podcast’s first 8 episodes.
Around that time we were in the New and Noteworthy section and by 2016 we were nominated for the Academy of Podcaster awards. ( We didn’t win, but we only had 10 episodes at the time, so its understandable)
http://www.historyofpiratespodcast.com/?p=177
Early 2017 HoPP was featured along side Dan Carlin in the best-history-podcasts-right-now-to-listen-to article on Uproxx.com ! Very cool stuff.
http://www.historyofpiratespodcast.com/?p=197
Then the hammer fell…and the Dell computer died. It was a long time coming as it was insanely laggy, the fan sounded like a jet engine and it took me hours to edit 1 episode of HoPP and a few hours more to upload it. ( It was so old the IP address was 1 )
I was given an old computer from my Brother, but it too wasn’t up to the task of Audio Recording and Editing, and I was unable to use it very long before it died.
That brings us to 2016 when i was without a computer and had no way of getting one. Since then i kept the podcast up and running as best i could, and always kept an eye out for a computer.
Also around then i became engaged to the love of my life Sarah and our new goal was saving every penny we had (or didn’t have) towards a wedding. We were married this October, on the 19th, it was a great day!
Now it’s 2019 and with the wedding over, I realized I was no closer to a computer and had no way of getting one to restart HoPP and continue our journey together.
I felt ashamed about this and didn’t want to give up HoPP, but i had no way to continue it.
I didn’t mention it to the crew, however over the last few years I’ve received emails, messages and letters from countless Crew members asking where it was and if it was coming back.
My answer was always the same ” Once i can find a computer that won’t catch on fire ” , to which most replied to me that I should start a Go Fund Me Page to get a new computer.
It’s taken me a while to decide if I wanted to put that request out to the crew, as I felt weird asking for help.
But it comes down to fortune favoring the bold. As of now I can’t record an episode, but with your help, I can!
Together we can sail again and learn more about Pirates, and see how big we can get this Podcast. What we’ve done in the first 16 episodes is impressive, but I’m sure we have plenty more to do.
With a new computer, I’ll be able to record new episodes, more often, following the chronological story line we are used to.
Also I’d be able to record some special episodes including a few secret Super Omnibus episodes that I can’t speak too much about but the writing is already done, its just a matter of recording it.
If you want to donate to the go fund me and help HoPP reach its goal and sail once again, i humbly Thank you. If you can’t, HoPP will still return one day, but it won’t be as soon.
Thank you for being the most loyal crew a Captain can ask for….
Until next time, keep your hands inside the boat, and keep an eye out for the Navy!
– Captain Craigbuddy
