Dogpatch Press

(Patch:) Welcome to a guest article about a furry podcast that rocks! 

I’m a frequent podcast listener, and almost everything I follow is scripted, not unproduced/free-form. My list has documentary, history, arts & culture, tech, journalism, interview shows, and true crime. Some have playful concepts. Timesuck has history and true crime told by a comedian. Excuse Me, That’s Illegal is a delightful snack instead of a deep dark murder show, with absurd little stories of softcore crime. Radio Rental has creepy true stories that are like the Twilight Zone with a “crytpkeeper” host. 

Most furry podcasts didn’t do it for me by using unproduced style, and rarely in fursona. Then I heard Bearly Furcasting Feat. Taebyn. It’s playful yet produced, with great curation. Every show is a treat because of a different notable guest from the fandom. They have hosted two pettable guests from this site: Summercat and Moi. 

Bearly Furcasting is up for the Ursa Major Award nomination (for the Magazine category, and if you nominate them we all win!) Go nominate NOW, the deadline is February 13. Now here’s Taebyn and Bearly’s own story!

In 2017 Taebyn and Bearly began a collaboration to make entertaining YouTube videos for Taebyn’s channel. Their very first YouTube together was a Storytime with Taebyn where Taebyn read the story Playful Puppies. Story Time With Taebyn #1 – Playful Puppies.

They were pretty successful in putting out content on a regular basis. They produced Storytime videos, Cooking videos, Helpful Hints, Math Vids, Product Reviews, Poetry, Songs/Drumming, and con vids.  Then COVID struck, and they were unable to get together due to the various quarantines. So while video production is on hold for now, they hope to get back to them as well as the podcast once the restrictions are lifted. In January 2020, at Further Confusion, (the last con they attended before the pandemic), they had talked about doing a podcast and so they felt the time was right to get it rolling.

Funny thing is, neither of them had done any podcasting before, and while videography is fairly straight forward, podcasting takes an entirely different skillset.

With all the best intentions in the world, they plunked down the money for hosting and equipment and jumped in the deep end with both paws.  At the time of this writing they have published 40 episodes.  New episodes of the podcast are published every Saturday.

Furry podcasting, it turns out, isn’t that unique. Much like furry YouTube videographers, there are many furry podcasters out there.  Each has their own style, their own spin, and their own niche.  Bearly and Taebyn have talked to several other podcasters and most don’t do a ‘produced’ show like ours.  A ‘produced’ show means it is pre-recorded and the content edited to make it flow and ensure some consistency. Pre-recording allows for moving the audio around if something is forgotten or needs to be added later.

Like many podcasters, episode #1 was short, tinny, and not very polished. When they started they just chatted with each other, talked about their lives, and shared a few jokes, and the episodes were only about 30 minutes long. After a few episodes, they started inviting guests on the show. They thought they would never get any real high power guests, but were gladly mistaken. They have had well known authors, artists, Con chairs, fursuit makers, musicians, entertainers, and more than a few notable furs.  With guests, and all the regular segments, the podcast episodes run between an hour and an hour and a half.

Around episode 5 they decided to give a section to any fur that could log in to chat with them.  It is called; Five Minute Furs for Fun!  It has seen a limited success because they only put the link out on their Fan chat on Telegram: BFFT Chat.  It is open to anyone in the chat, and that chat is open to anyone to join. They invite the readers to join them there.

The format for the show seems to be working for them and they hear good things from those who listen. Taebyn and Bearly are serious punsters and bad joke aficionado’s so they spend a lot of time sharing really bad jokes, and in fact there is a section of the show devoted solely for those jokes.   There are other on-going segments in each episode, such as “Furries in the News” and either a “Storytime” or “Math With Taebyn”. Early episodes saw Bearly asking Taebyn some This or That questions, but over time Bearly ran out of choices, and now will ask Taebyn Trivia Questions.  The format is evolving and it is hard to say what the podcast will sound like a year from now, or even a few weeks from now.  They are constantly coming up with new ideas!

The Podiverse is a strange collective. Podcasts are like the old radio shows of the golden age of radio, there are talk shows, scripted shows, game shows, and variety shows. The only difference is that now all is electronic, and anyone with a computer and a microphone can create content. One person can record themselves for a bit and publish it, and that is the most basic and simple aspect.  Other shows have full blown studio’s actors, and huge budgets, that is the other end of the spectrum. Bearly and Taebyn’s little BFFT podcast falls closer to the basic level, but has grown over the weeks. They now have a staff of two associate editors, a music associate, and a talent director.  BFFT is unique because of it’s format, being furry-centric with lots of notable furs in the fandom, and that Taebyn is on it – he’s quite a crazy puppy.

Behind the Mic:

Taebyn is a pup, a mere 4.5 years old, but he was born with an innate sense for math and humor. His timing is impeccable, but his lack of concentration often leaves co-host Bearly trying to corral him into the subject matters.  Taebyn is the epitome of a Friendly Fur and a wonderful ambassador for the Furry Fandom. He is always positive, always friendly, and will hug just about anyone, anyfur, or anything!

Bearly came to the fandom as the valet for Taebyn. After meeting him for the first time it was apparent he needed adult supervision at most events, and while Taebyn’s husband can sometimes do that, Bearly took up the reins and spends time ensuring Taebyn gets things done in a timely manner when at cons and when doing the podcast. Bearly has often joked he was going to run a panel on how to be a Fursuit Valet!

Bearly does most of the behind the scenes work for the podcast including editing, finalizing guests, directing the podcast, and producing the content, he does this with the minimal training in mass media and broadcasting that he learned at the local community access channel in Salem, Oregon, as well as tapping his experience in creating online training content for his full time employment in the Normy World.

Taebyn is, for lack of a better term, the face of the podcast.  He always refers to it as the Pupcast, and the episodes as Pupisodes, even though Bearly has never called it either of those. Many guests come to the show because they love Taebyn and his crazy antics.

Notable furs on the show:

All the guests they have had on the show have been marvelous, and they hate to single out any one fur, but they were both surprised at the number of downloads of Episode 8. That was the episode with Paco Panda. They had no idea just how popular he was and the downloads show it! That episode is still being downloaded today and the numbers keep going up, that episode is their most listened to. Paco even drew a picture of Taebyn and Bearly during the interview and that is what is on the banner of their Twitter.

Taebyn points out that all the guests have been great, though one unique moment was in episode #25 when he played Jeopardy with BuckTown Tiger.  BuckTown was a Jeopardy champion, so this was a great experience for Taebyn.  Checking out their WikiFur page, you will see the list of all the notable furs they have had on the show. Chatting with all of them has been an honor and a pleasure, they wouldn’t trade that for anything.

At first the guests were approached because they were well known to Taebyn and Bearly, or because they were fans of the guest.  As time has gone by, they have tried to get a mix of furry contributors that make up the fandom.  Past guests sometimes suggest others to be on the show, while other times they discover notable furs on various media and invite them to be on the podcast. As of this writing they have guest bookings 8 weeks in advance! They are trying to get some of the charities from the various Cons to come on the show and talk about their organizations, however this seems to be harder than getting furs on there.

To the Future:

Taebyn and Bearly are hoping to start video production soon after the pandemic is over and will continue to do the podcast as well. They really like being contributors to the furry community and love that so many furs find fun and friendship with their podcast.

While doing a podcast is a lot of work: two recording sessions a week, guest bookings, equipment maintenance, editing and all the other adjacent details that go along with it, Bearly and Taebyn wouldn’t give it up for anything!

If you would like to hear the episodes or know what was on every episode you can visit the Bearly Furcasting Wikifur page or their podcast’s website: http://bearlyfurcasting.buzzsprout.com/. The podcast is available on all major podcast platforms or can be downloaded through direct RSS from their webpage.  You can contact them at Bearlyfurcasting@gmail.com, on their Twitter: @Furcasting, or on their telegram at BFFT Chat. Find them on Youtube: Injured Nerves Productions and Taebyn.

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