We are all many things. Among the many things I am:

• A podcaster
• A Deadhead

Everyone knows what a podcaster is. For the uninitiated, a Deadhead is a hardcore fan of the legendary band The Grateful Dead. I saw my first show, a Day on the Green, at UC Santa Barbara in 1974, the year the band toured with their iconic Wall of Sound. (A photo from that show appears above.)

By the time Jerry Garcia’s passing in August 1995 brought it all to an end, I had seen over 100 shows, not to mention The Jerry Garcia Band, Ratdog, and other band members’ side projects. I continue to partake in post-Grateful Dead iterations: Dead & Company, Phil Lesh & Friends, Bobby Weir and Wolf Brothers, Planet Drum, Further, The Dead, the Terrapin Family Band, etc.

As a Deadhead, listening to The Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast, the band’s official podcast, was a no-brainer. I expected to be entertained. I did not expect a podcasting clinic. As a podcaster, it didn’t take listening to many episodes before I slipped halfway out of Deadhead mode and began paying attention to the dazzling demonstration of podcast excellence.

Many podcasters or wannabe podcasters will unlikely turn to the Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast for inspiration. More’s the pity. Even if you never cared for the band, you can get more out of this show than from taking classes or reading a shelf-full of podcasting books (which is confessing a lot since I wrote one).

Not Just Another Interview Podcast

Each episode is a full-fledged documentary. There is no meandering conversation, no interview-of-the-week, no random playing of songs. Episodes are deep, rich explorations of a single theme. One season, for example, was dedicated to the band’s Europe tour in 1972. The first episode looks at how the tour came about. Each subsequent episode takes a deep dive into each concert. Not just the songs played but the planning that went into securing the venue, the logistical issues faced, the struggles to achieve optimum audio quality, and more.

The show devotes other seasons to studio albums, with each episode digging into one song. In other seasons, we are introduced to topics like the band’s business acumen, its focus on music technology, members of the band, and others in their circle. Donna Godchaux is the subject of one episode; she was the former wife of the band’s keyboardist from 1972 to 1981, the late Keith Godchaux; she also sang harmonies after a career as a backup singer in the recording studios of Mussel Shoals, Alabama, where she sang with the likes of Elvis Presley, Joe Tex, and Cher (and hadn’t yet heard of the Dead). Owsley “Bear” Stanley—the creative force behind the Wall of Sound and the chemist behind the legendary Owsley acid of the 1960s Bay Area psychedelic scene—also gets his own bonus episodes, like this one.

Clips for interviews conducted for the show and archival audio pepper each episode. When dissecting a song, interviews include university music professors, studio engineers, the Dead’s archivist, and fans (ranging from otherwise anonymous Deadheads to Elvis Costello and Vampire Weekend’s Chris Thomson). They also play studio overdub tracks (with commentary), then samples of the song’s evolution over the years of live performances.

An Authoritative Resource

I have read a dozen books on the Dead. None have provided the depth and insight hosts Rich Mahan and Jesse Jarnow deliver in the podcast. (These aren’t just fans putting out a show. Jarnow is a radio DJ and an author specializing in the music scene; one of his books is a biography of the band Yo La Tengo). Mahan is a guitarist and singer/songwriter.)

The show notes are a lesson of their own, a wealth of material resources, and links to materials referenced in the episode.

As the producer of “For Immediate Release,” the communications-focused podcast I have co-hosted with Neville Hobson since early January 2005, I know what goes into producing an episode. Our show is nothing more than a conversation between Neville and me, but getting from the raw recordings to the finished episode takes hours. I can’t wrap my head around how much work and planning must go into each Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast episode, each of which clocks in at around 90 minutes (all of which flies by).

I have long said that if I ever embarked on a new podcast, it would not be just another interview show. Nor would it be the kind of cost-prohibitive podcast journalism we see with shows like Serial and Invisibilia. (Invisibilia was recently canceled because of its cost, which podcast advertising fees could never cover. The Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast has no advertising besides announcements of new album releases.)

Now I know when I spin up a new show, I want to take Mahan and Jarnow’s documentary approach.

Even if you have no taste for the Grateful Dead, if you are a current or future podcaster, do yourself a favor. Kick back and soak in a few random Good Ol’ Grateful Deadcast episodes. Your podcast will be better for it.