Show News & Updates: Very Important

[00:00:00] Hello, I'm Frank, creator and host of Empires Podcast Ottomans.

[00:00:26] I am recording today's episode for a few reasons.

[00:00:30] The very first thing is that I wanted to take this time as 2023 nears its conclusion

[00:00:37] to renew the promises that I made to everyone back in 2018.

[00:00:44] If you're an old time listener and I know that there's at least 95 of you floating around

[00:00:49] out there, then you'll recall that I made a promise back then.

[00:00:53] And that promise was to bring the story of the Ottoman Empire to everyone in continuous

[00:01:00] historical narration form.

[00:01:04] There was plenty of shows on the Ottoman Empire back when it was called iTunes.

[00:01:10] But there really wasn't any kind of show out there that began with, hey, here was the dream

[00:01:15] of Osman.

[00:01:17] Here's Sultan after Sultan, the Empire expanding and expanding all the way up until the establishment

[00:01:24] of the Turkish Republic in 1923.

[00:01:28] In other words, there wasn't a show out there that covered the Ottoman Empire, the way

[00:01:34] in which Mike Duncan covered the history of Rome.

[00:01:39] And so I wanted to set out and correct all of that.

[00:01:43] The Ottomans were a powerful, if mixed bag, full of both good and evil, a powerful force

[00:01:52] that forever influenced the course of Western history.

[00:01:56] I could go on and on about how different our world would be had the Ottoman Empire

[00:02:01] ended in 1403 after Bayezid's disastrous defeat at the hands of Timur.

[00:02:09] Or I could go on and talk about how different France, Germany, and Italy would be today

[00:02:15] have madmed failed to take the city of Constantinople in 1453.

[00:02:21] But all of that is in the podcast and those are topics I'll cover later.

[00:02:26] In short guys, nobody was covering the Ottoman Empire.

[00:02:30] Now there was another and they are still a very popular podcast on the Ottoman Empire.

[00:02:36] However, as rich as this podcast is and I am a supporter of it, they mainly have academics

[00:02:42] on there who are talking about their papers.

[00:02:45] Now I find this to be personally very fascinating and I've purchased some of those authors

[00:02:50] and historians works but for my coworkers, for my family, and for my friends who

[00:02:57] just wanted a bird's eye view of the Ottoman Empire.

[00:02:59] Well, I wanted to offer them something and so this is how the podcast was born in 2018.

[00:03:08] A lot of people ask me, hey Frank, why are you so interested in the Ottoman Empire?

[00:03:14] And I've given my Pat story about a show that came on the History Channel and from there

[00:03:19] it kind of led me down rabbit hole after rabbit hole.

[00:03:23] But if I'm being honest with you, the Ottomans just scratched the itch that

[00:03:28] I have in the back of my skull.

[00:03:31] My life would not be the same if it wasn't for the book by Jason Goodwin, a history of the

[00:03:37] Ottoman Empire and also Caroline Finkel's work, Lord Ken Ross, the book on the Janissaries,

[00:03:44] I could go on and on and on.

[00:03:47] The Sultans have lived with me and in my heart ever since I've been in high school.

[00:03:53] It has also led to a lifelong fascination with Turkish society and culture.

[00:03:59] Now with all of that said, what exactly does all this have to do with today's episode?

[00:04:04] Well, in trying to fulfill my promise I have failed on at least two occasions.

[00:04:13] The first occasion was in 2019 when I ghosted everyone and for that I'm sorry.

[00:04:20] However, I had life events that kind of popped up beyond my control and to be honest with

[00:04:27] you guys, I was getting kind of bummed out about the podcast.

[00:04:31] The downloads weren't very well and there weren't a whole lot of reviews coming in.

[00:04:36] But from 2019 to about 2022, I did some soul searching.

[00:04:43] I found myself returning to my initial love of the Ottoman Empire, the pages of history

[00:04:49] and how much they've enlightened my life.

[00:04:52] And I made the decision to return and not go back and check downloads anymore.

[00:04:58] And it seems like when I returned from the center, a center of innocence

[00:05:04] and true love of history is when the downloads finally began to come in.

[00:05:10] So I'd like to thank all of my listeners up till now that have downloaded an episode

[00:05:15] or shared it with a friend.

[00:05:17] The reviews on Apple iTunes, well, I think it's called Apple Podcast now.

[00:05:23] They really, really help.

[00:05:25] There's nothing like me waking up in the morning and finding a review on Apple podcast.

[00:05:30] Does that help the podcast be discovered?

[00:05:32] I don't think so.

[00:05:33] And if I had to guess with a glut of history podcast, I'd say no.

[00:05:38] But I want you guys to know that if you have left me a podcast review

[00:05:41] on Apple podcast, it's absolutely made my day.

[00:05:45] This made my week as well.

[00:05:49] So with that being said, I apologize for ghosting everyone in 2019

[00:05:54] and I will never, ever, ever do that again.

[00:05:58] Now the birth of my young daughter who is now two,

[00:06:03] which I gave her a Turkish last name of which, if you're curious,

[00:06:07] you can email me about with her birth.

[00:06:09] It kind of slowed me down a bit, but I jumped back into the saddle this

[00:06:13] July of 2023, wrote a bunch of episodes and began dropping them again in September.

[00:06:20] What this means for everyone is that I have a bunch of stuff scheduled out.

[00:06:24] So I'm not going to be ghosting anyone anytime soon.

[00:06:28] So looking back at the podcast, I feel like it is fulfilling that central mission.

[00:06:35] I have a strong narration.

[00:06:36] I've gotten great feedback on.

[00:06:39] I'm covering both the highlights of the Ottoman Empire, such as the battle at

[00:06:44] Nicopolis, the crusade at Varna.

[00:06:47] And I'm working on a multiple part series on the conquest of Constantinople.

[00:06:51] And I'm sorry my Byzantine history friends, but this is a podcast on the

[00:06:56] Ottoman Empire, so we will refer to it as the conquest.

[00:06:59] Much respect though towards you.

[00:07:03] However, as I plug away at this podcast, what I quickly was running into

[00:07:08] is a scheduling conflict.

[00:07:11] Let me rephrase that.

[00:07:13] What I'm running into is a time issue.

[00:07:16] And if I refine that even further, it's an attention issue.

[00:07:22] So while I have the time, most of the days to work on this podcast after hours,

[00:07:28] because it's 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time after my daughter's gone to bed,

[00:07:33] I'm often coming off of a full workday.

[00:07:35] After all, I work a full-time job.

[00:07:38] And so my attention just really isn't there in the evenings anymore.

[00:07:42] And what I certainly don't want to do is go back on any kind of promises

[00:07:47] that I've made my listeners.

[00:07:49] So what I'm going to do is make some changes that I feel will accommodate

[00:07:55] the needs of the podcast, me personally, as well as my listeners

[00:08:00] as we move forward into 2024.

[00:08:04] So the very first change that's coming on down the pipe is that you don't have to worry.

[00:08:10] The main historical narration of the podcast will continue.

[00:08:14] However, I'm going to be cutting back the release of those episodes

[00:08:18] to just twice a month.

[00:08:20] So maybe unlike the first Tuesday of every month, I'll drop an episode

[00:08:25] and then a week will go by another week will go by

[00:08:29] and I'll drop the second episode on the 15th or 16th of the month.

[00:08:35] So what this will do is enable me to be able to accomplish two things.

[00:08:40] First of all, I'm not going to be working like a madman until midnight every single week,

[00:08:46] trying to get the narration podcast out.

[00:08:49] Because if somebody gets sick, if I get sick or I have to take a couple of days off,

[00:08:55] it tends to throw the entire schedule off-kilter.

[00:08:58] So cutting the episodes back to just twice a month,

[00:09:01] I think is really going to help things on my end.

[00:09:05] So that's going to be the first change that's coming.

[00:09:08] The second change that's going to be coming is in 2024,

[00:09:13] I will be releasing a Patreon only episodes.

[00:09:17] So what this is going to look like is still kind of up in the air,

[00:09:21] but here's what I'm thinking.

[00:09:24] The main part of the podcast, the narration will always be free.

[00:09:28] You're not going to have to sign up for anything.

[00:09:31] You're not going to have to pay anything.

[00:09:32] You're going to find out what happens to Sultan Mehmed.

[00:09:36] You're going to learn about the siege of Vienna,

[00:09:38] both the first and the second.

[00:09:40] We're going to get into all that and it will always

[00:09:43] and I promise be totally free.

[00:09:46] However, I'm going to take these extras

[00:09:49] and two things are going to happen.

[00:09:51] Number one, as I'm going to start buying more source material

[00:09:55] to pour into them.

[00:09:56] And number two, I'm going to post these extras

[00:09:59] on the weeks where the narration is not being released,

[00:10:03] but it's only going to be the first five minutes or so.

[00:10:06] If you would like to listen to the rest,

[00:10:07] then you can head on over to the Patreon

[00:10:10] that I'll be setting up

[00:10:11] and you can listen to the rest of the episode.

[00:10:14] And also on the Patreon is I will be releasing episodes

[00:10:19] that are exclusive to the listeners, such as the extras.

[00:10:22] I have some other stuff in mind,

[00:10:24] but this will be a great starting point.

[00:10:27] So what your download feed will look like

[00:10:30] is the first Tuesday of the month, a narration,

[00:10:33] which is free and you can listen to in its fullness.

[00:10:36] And then the week off, you'll see a episode dropped.

[00:10:39] It will have a five minute teaser in it.

[00:10:42] And if you would like to hear more,

[00:10:43] there'll be a link in the show notes to my Patreon.

[00:10:47] Now I know that some of you are probably

[00:10:51] balking at the idea of a Patreon account.

[00:10:54] And I have to say, I don't blame you one bit.

[00:10:57] I understand.

[00:10:58] And that's why I'm keeping the main part of the show free.

[00:11:01] However, these extras,

[00:11:03] I have had to buy extra source material

[00:11:06] in addition to the main narration.

[00:11:08] And so on top of it costing me my time and attention,

[00:11:14] they're also kind of racking up a bill that I have to pay.

[00:11:17] If you do decide to go on ahead

[00:11:22] and support the show through Patreon,

[00:11:24] you will be immensely appreciated.

[00:11:27] For the small price of a coffee at Starbucks,

[00:11:31] you will be receiving premium content,

[00:11:34] exclusive blog post, messages from me personally.

[00:11:38] And most important, you will be receiving

[00:11:41] the extra episodes in their fullness.

[00:11:43] These aren't going to be the short 10 or 15 minute versions

[00:11:46] either.

[00:11:47] I plan on taking a deep dive into many personalities,

[00:11:51] subjects and aspects that touched on the world

[00:11:54] of the Ottomans.

[00:11:56] And I'm very, very excited to release those one day.

[00:12:01] Another thing that joining the Patreon will do

[00:12:04] is it will encourage me to keep on with this podcast.

[00:12:09] Now, whether zero people sign up or a thousand people sign up,

[00:12:14] the main show will always be free and I'm not giving up.

[00:12:17] Because in a lot of ways,

[00:12:19] Empire's podcast to Ottomans is going to be my legacy

[00:12:23] to the world.

[00:12:24] I would love for people to discover the joys of history.

[00:12:28] It's sorrows, it's happiness, it's downs, it's highs.

[00:12:32] And I would love to be the voice that brings them that.

[00:12:35] So don't worry if you don't want to join,

[00:12:38] I'm not going to compel anyone.

[00:12:40] But just know that if you do,

[00:12:41] you will be taking a financial pressure off of me

[00:12:45] and B, it's really not gonna be that much.

[00:12:48] I'm thinking about a $5 tier and that's it.

[00:12:53] So now that we've covered this, the Patreon

[00:12:55] that will be coming in 2024,

[00:12:57] I would like to talk about two other ways

[00:13:00] I'm going to ask my listeners to help support the show.

[00:13:04] First off, if the idea of a Patreon is not appealing to you,

[00:13:09] as I said before, I totally get it.

[00:13:11] There is another way that you will be able

[00:13:13] to financially help me and not just help me,

[00:13:16] but also bring joy to the rest of these listeners.

[00:13:20] I'm going to be posting an Amazon link

[00:13:23] in my show notes moving forward.

[00:13:25] And this link is gonna have a list of books

[00:13:28] that are going to be source material

[00:13:30] that will help build the show.

[00:13:32] And if you would like to,

[00:13:34] you can purchase these books for me

[00:13:35] and they'll ship to my house.

[00:13:37] Already guys, I've spent close to $3,000 in books

[00:13:41] on the Hanuman Empire.

[00:13:43] And as you can imagine with me being a family man

[00:13:47] and working a full-time job,

[00:13:49] it's becoming a little bit difficult for me.

[00:13:51] So this will be a way to take some

[00:13:53] of the pressure off of me

[00:13:55] and help the show move forward.

[00:13:58] Now, if the idea of joining $5 a month Patreon

[00:14:02] is not appealing to you,

[00:14:04] if the idea of purchasing me a book

[00:14:06] on the Ottoman Empire is not appealing to you,

[00:14:08] there's a third way that you can help.

[00:14:10] And this doesn't cost you any money.

[00:14:13] And if I'm gonna be honest with everyone,

[00:14:15] this is probably the best compliment you could ever give me.

[00:14:19] And that would be if you shared

[00:14:22] Empires of History podcast with a friend.

[00:14:25] I'm sure you know someone out there.

[00:14:27] After all, us history buffs, we are a different bunch.

[00:14:32] We like oddball stuff in history

[00:14:34] and we tend to be very, very niche.

[00:14:37] So I'm sure there's someone out there

[00:14:39] who would love to hear a continuous narration history

[00:14:42] of the Ottoman Empire.

[00:14:43] So if you don't wanna give to the Patreon,

[00:14:46] hey, that's A-OK.

[00:14:47] I still appreciate you coming by.

[00:14:50] If you can't purchase me a book,

[00:14:52] I totally understand that.

[00:14:54] I'm rapidly reaching the end of my ability

[00:14:57] to budget for this stuff anyway.

[00:15:00] But you can always, always stop by

[00:15:03] and help out by sharing this with a friend.

[00:15:07] So now that we've covered some of the primary ways

[00:15:10] changes are coming, I just wanna recap really quick

[00:15:13] before you go.

[00:15:14] First of all, I'm cutting back the main narration release

[00:15:18] down to two episodes every month.

[00:15:21] And in between, I'll have Patreon exclusive content

[00:15:25] that's gonna be released on the off weeks.

[00:15:27] That's number one.

[00:15:29] Number two is there will be a link to Amazon books

[00:15:31] that you can purchase for me

[00:15:33] if you do not wanna join the Patreon.

[00:15:35] Number three, I would appreciate it

[00:15:37] if you share this with a friend.

[00:15:39] And number four change that's gonna be happening

[00:15:42] in 2024 is this, is if you were to go to my dashboard

[00:15:47] on Spotify and check the show's outreach,

[00:15:51] we are rapidly approaching a magical number

[00:15:53] of 1,000 listeners.

[00:15:56] When we approach that number,

[00:15:58] the podcast will be eligible for ads.

[00:16:01] Now, I wanna say something, I hate ads.

[00:16:04] I can't stand them.

[00:16:05] I know, gosh, what was it about?

[00:16:08] Two years ago, I did put some Spotify ads in the show.

[00:16:12] And although the feedback I got on the ads

[00:16:15] wasn't negative, I could tell that it kinda came

[00:16:17] out of the blue for you guys.

[00:16:19] So with that being said though,

[00:16:22] I do not want to put Spotify ads in this podcast.

[00:16:25] I really don't.

[00:16:27] I would much prefer to be able

[00:16:29] to financially justify my labors

[00:16:32] with you guys joining my Patreon.

[00:16:34] So what I'm going to ask is this,

[00:16:36] is bear with me until let's say June of 2024.

[00:16:42] I plan on releasing the Patreon in January.

[00:16:45] And if in January we have a good amount

[00:16:49] of people signed up, then I will kindly,

[00:16:53] man, I can't talk today,

[00:16:54] I will kindly tell Spotify to go and pack sand

[00:16:58] when they come over here trying to push ads on everyone.

[00:17:02] I would love to advertise this podcast as ad free.

[00:17:06] To me, that kinda puts every podcast that has zero ads

[00:17:10] into an almost elite level category.

[00:17:13] And I would love to join those ranks.

[00:17:15] So to recap again, to recap in 2024,

[00:17:19] there'll be a Patreon coming on.

[00:17:21] There will be a list on Amazon

[00:17:24] where you can purchase me some books.

[00:17:27] And there may or may not be ads by June of 2024.

[00:17:31] So that's what's coming on down the pipe.

[00:17:34] And I wanted to close out 2023

[00:17:37] by giving you guys a heads up.

[00:17:39] And also, I would like to let everyone know

[00:17:43] that the Empire's Podcast, The Ottomans

[00:17:45] will be carrying on.

[00:17:47] And I hope to see everyone in the future.

[00:17:50] Thank you.