The coronavirus pandemic brought about changes in people’s habits and their habitats as they adapted to a new normal. Not only did we work and school from home, but we also sought new pastimes, ways to connect with each other and new sources of information and entertainment.

During the pandemic, the number of podcasters and listeners grew to an all-time high. As of November 2021, podcasthosting.org says there are more than 2,000,000 podcasts with more than 104 million monthly podcast listeners in the US. With this boom came the trend of the home podcast studio.

Build it, and they will listen

A home-based recording room can be simple – say a few sound-proofing foam tiles glued onto walls. It can also be an inspiring, creative, multi-purpose place that makes you feel excited about being shut into a confined, windowless room to conversate with an audience in the ether, and that’s what I built in my basement.

The unfinished basement of my home had become a catch-all storage area for junk. After several runs to Salvation Army, I cleared out the area. With the help of my neighbor, friend and hobbyist carpenter extraordinaire, Craig Smith, and my son, Stephen, I began framing out the studio.

Sounding boards

Across the largest, longest wall, we installed sound-absorbing Vant wall panels. These stylish upholstered panels are easy to install on a track that we measured and cut for a custom fit of five panels in height and four panels across. The panels not only significantly reduced echo in the room but served as an aesthetic backdrop for videotaping. We lit the room with small spotlights, cleverly shaped like min-Fresnel lamps, from Lowes.

Color me chic

We painted the walls with a plum shade of Sherwin-Williams top-of-the-line Emerald Interior Acrylic Latex paint, appropriately called Soulmate (SW 6270), for a chic and modern look. Because the room was small, measuring approximately 10’ x 13’, we used ProMAr Ceiling Bright White (SW 7007) above, to create the effect of higher overhead space, except for the boxes we built to cover the air ducts, which we painted to match the walls. To seal out moisture from the unfinished concrete floor, we applied Sher-Crete Flexible Waterproofer.

Next step: get floored

While I loved the look of polished concrete, it is not ideal for sound dampening, so we covered the floor with FLOR rug tiles, cut to fit like wall-to-wall carpeting. The handy thing about these tiles is that they can be applied to any surface, and when – not if – someone spills coffee, you can replace just the stained tiles. We chose a contemporary dark grey and white pattern that complemented the wall color and Vant panels.

Budget décor  

Most furnishings and décor came from HomeGoods and its sister store TJ Maxx, such as the faux leather mid-century modern stools, artificial plants, salt lamp, end-table (with a built-in USB charging port), decorative pillows, knick-knacks for the bookshelf, which was from Amazon.  The round table, custom cut to counter height was from Wayfair, as was the sofa, ottoman and artwork.

Essential AV

Now, for the most crucial part of the studio: the electronics. A host mic is the most important item, so I researched the best option for my needs, which was a Blue Yeti X ($139) multi-pattern USB mic that came with Blue Voice software.  I envisioned my initial podcasts as call-in interviews, but post-pandemic I planned on having in-studio guests, so I added an Audio-Technical streaming/podcasting kit (AT2005USBPK, $129), which includes a USB AT2005USB cardioid mic – with both USB and XLR connections, ATHM20x headphones and boom arm.

Because the most successful podcasts are not just heard but seen, I wanted a changeable backdrop in the form of a digital image for videotaping. To accomplish this, we mounted a TCL – 55” Class 5 Series 4K UHD Smart Roku TV – controlled remotely by voice using Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant and featuring private listening through the Roku app. As we intended the studio to be a multi-use space, the TV transformed the room into an intimate viewing lounge.

Stand-up studio

Finally, all put together, the new studio was a quiet, visually appealing and imaginative space. All elements, selected for form and function, created an inviting environment that was suitable for podcasting from both an audio and visual perspective, ideal for ideating in a feng shui space surrounded by calming colors and textures, and ready for recreation and unwinding.

A ride on the wild side

Like many ‘tween and teen boys, my son played a lot of Fortnite. Okay, too much Fortnite. Hours and hours of Fortnite, sometimes through the night. When he wasn’t playing Fortnite, he was on group chats with his friends or watching TikToks.  I tried to get him involved in other activities, from power tumbling to unicycling, but at the end of the day, nothing beat screen time, until he got a minibike.

His dad bought him a Monster Moto Classic 105cc. It looked like the same minibike our neighbors the Wireman’s used to ride around the campgrounds of Westmoreland, Virginia, in the 1970s. It sat low to the ground, so when his dad rode it, he looked like a Shriner clown in a parade. But when my son was on it, he was a king.

My son loved this minibike, despite the fact it had no suspension and shook him like a rag doll on the muddy ruts of the fields behind our home. After long rides he’d come into the house bent over like an old man, complaining of back pain, but he still loved riding, and he became the kid to know on the block, giving rides to the other kids on the back, or even letting them take a spin, if they were lucky, and their parents said it was okay.

Scream Time vs. Screen Time

With his new-found outdoor hobby, I thought my son would lose interest in technology, but actually, he just began to use it in a different way; and this is when I learned to stop worrying and love the web.

He learned on YouTube how to tweak the governor to make the bike run faster.  According to an odometer app he installed on his iPhone, he reached speeds of 35 mph, which seemed way too fast for this little bike, but as I watched him zip around the trails, he seemed to handle the pace deftly.

Since he was approaching 13 years old, he felt he had outgrown the Monster Moto, and he wanted a more powerful bike, with suspension. He searched for weeks on Facebook Marketplace and Craigslist until he found a pre-owned Coleman CT200U-EX CT200-EX Minibike with a camo paint job, and it seemed like a nice little bike. The seller offered to bring it on a trailer to us from Maryland, about an hour and a half away. When he arrived, I stood with my mouth agape looking at the size of this supposed minibike, which looked like a man-size motorcycle.

My son was jittery with excitement as the seller backed the bike down the trailer ramp onto the street. I hated that I hoped it wouldn’t start, so we’d have a good reason to not buy this enormous bike. With one kickstart, the motor roared, and then it purred. My son’s face shone like he had just won a Battle Royale.

Getting Geared Up and Plugged In

As I watched my son immerse himself in his new pastime, I realized how technology was not the enemy.  In fact, it was our friend.  My son learned about safety and basic maintenance by watching YouTube videos, and we looked up trails and the local ordinances and found where he could and couldn’t ride legally. He also read online reviews and shopped online for just about all the gear he needed.

Even the gear itself was high tech. After reading about smart helmets, we chose the Sena Momentum EVO; in fact, we got two of them. My son was thrilled with the idea that he could listen to music or talk on the phone or in real-time with a biking buddy over the built-in microphones.  It also has a mount for a Go-Pro, which he uses to make TikTok videos on his rides. His dad and I have even gotten into the action, as camera operator and on-camera comic relief, such as his dad’s whiskey throttle that rocketed him into my car bumper in the garage.

As with any diversion for the modern teen, an integration with tech keeps them from tiring of it. In my day, the putter of a minibike bumping along a woodsy trail was entertainment enough. Today’s teen rides fully loaded, with connected devices that enhance their enjoyment, and safety. By the same token, tech has made our lives as parents more stress-free, as the Life360 app I put on his phone allows me to track his whereabouts in real-time and even monitor his speed, and with Waze to help him navigate, he will never get lost.

My son still plays the occasional round of Fortnite, usually when the sun goes down, or it’s raining and he can’t ride. Then he entertains himself with YouTube videos of minibike racing and extreme minibike challenges, which we enjoy watching together.

In today’s connected age, parents must accept that banning tech is futile. The best solution is to embrace it in the most positive way. If you can beat it — which you can’t, join it, and go along for the ride. In fact, we just got a couple of road scooters for the adults. The family that rides – and connects by Bluetooth-enabled helmets – together, stays together.