Look at the Beautiful is my first-ever street photography collection, which features street photography taken in the spring, summer, and fall of 2021 from my life and travels in New York City, Sag Harbor, Los Angeles, Boston, and Paris.

Order a PDF e-book of Look at the Beautiful

Order a copy of the limited print edition of Look at the Beautiful (signed and numbered)

I recently had the opportunity to share my life and career story with Drea Sandoval of the Unpopular Passion Podcast. We talked about how I weave together my various creative interests and projects and ways that listeners can find deeper meaning and magic in their own endeavors.

Lee-Sean is a multifaceted person with a passion for helping people find their own creative magic within themselves. He very much leads by example. From a podcast to a cooking show, to music, design and teaching. Lee-Sean has not fallen short of discovering his own creative magic. Hear us talk about his many projects and interests as well as the deeper meaning identifying with his heritage has had in his life.

Watch the video recording of the cooking livestream below and keep scrolling for the recipes for my Taiwanese sesame and peanut noodles and spicy cucumber pickles.

Sesame and Peanut Butter Noodles

My mom did most of the cooking growing up, but this is one of the few things that my dad would make consistently. There isn’t really an exact recipe for these noodles. They are highly versatile, and open to customization and experimentation. This dish is super quick. It only takes about the amount of time to boil water and cook noodles.  

We will start with the basic recipe, and then talk about variations. The portions below serve two people as a main dish. You could also skip the noodles altogether and use the sauce as a dressing for the vegetables or protein of your choice. 

• 1 package (~10 ounces/~280 grams) noodles –  If you are shopping online, I like the fresh/frozen Kaedama Ramen noodles Sun Noodles or the dried organic ramen noodles from Hakubaku. If you have an Asian market near you, you can also look for  “oil noodles,” which work great for this too. And honestly, you can also just use spaghetti or any Italian-style noodle of your choice. If you go with the spaghetti, just add about a tablespoon of baking soda in the cooking water to give them a consistency that approximates ramen noodles, which contain alkali to give them a springy texture. 
• 1 tablespoon each peanut butter and sesame paste. Look for an East Asian brand of sesame paste (suggested brand in the photo), which is made out of roasted sesame seeds, unlike Middle Eastern tahini, which uses raw sesame seeds. Tahini works in a pinch, but you might want to increase the amount of roasted sesame oil to compensate with that roasted sesame flavor. Also, feel free to play with the proportions or use all peanut butter or all sesame paste.

• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce. Or I sometimes use a mix of soy sauce and miso paste. 
• 1 tablespoon of vinegar. A Taiwanese or Chinese-style black vinegar is traditional, but I use apple cider vinegar at home. Rice vinegar works well too. So does balsamic vinegar.
• Roasted sesame oil to taste. Start with 1 teaspoon and add more if you like. A little of this stuff goes a long way. 
• Spices: You can play with the aromatics to suit your taste, but here are some ideas to start.
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger
  • Chili oil and/or a Sriracha-style hot sauce (to taste)
  • Freshly ground black pepper 
• Sugar to taste. Start with about a teaspoon and adjust accordingly. Or substitute with a sweetener of your choice: agave, maple syrup, honey, etc. The sugar helps balance the flavors, but the sauce shouldn’t taste distinctly sweet. Also adjust accordingly if you are using Sriracha sauce (which has sugar in it) or if the brand of peanut butter you are using is sweetened.  
• Warm water or stock to thin out the sauce. Start with a couple of tablespoons and go from there.  
• Garnishes: Here are some starter ideas below. 
  • Chopped scallion
  • Chopped cilantro
  • Chopped roasted peanuts
  • Roasted sesame seeds
  • More chili oil and/or hot sauce. I recommend the Sze Daddy chili oil from 886, a Taiwanese restaurant in New York City. 
  • Sliced cucumber or some spicy pickled cucumber pickles! (recipe below)

Or you can really make this into a full meal by topping with the vegetables and/or proteins of your choice. In the version pictured above, I mixed in some fresh arugula, which is not at all traditional, but tasted great. 

Instructions:

• Start boiling the water to cook the noodles. Meanwhile, make the sauce and prepare the garnishes.
• Stir together all of the sauce ingredients. The sauce should be the consistency of a creamy salad dressing. 
• Once the noodles are cooked according to the instructions, drain and mix in with the sauce. Add more water or stock if necessary. Then add desired garnishes and enjoy! 

Variations: 

• If you don’t like the taste of raw garlic and ginger, sauté them in a bit of oil before adding to the sauce. My partner also likes a version with caramelized onions.
• If you don’t want to mess with fresh aromatics, I have used dried powdered garlic, ginger, and onions in a pinch and they taste good too. The dried powder is a lot less intense compared to the fresh aromatics.   
• You can also play with some other spices. For example: add a bit of five spice powder, ground Szechuan peppercorns, or white pepper.
• For more of a Southeast Asian flavor, leave out the sesame and increase the peanut butter amount, then add some curry powder and coconut milk to the sauce. Maybe a dash of fish sauce and a bit less soy sauce. And lime juice instead of vinegar. 
• For more of a Japanese sesame cold noodle sauce, add more sesame and less peanut butter. You might need more water (or dashi stock) if you are serving the dish cold, so a squirt of Japanese Kewpie mayonnaise will help keep things creamy and emulsified. Leaving out the chili oil and substituting a squirt of mustard also takes this in a more Japanese direction.  

Spicy Cucumber Pickles

Variations of these spicy pickles are popular as an appetizer/side dish to help stimulate the appetite during the hot sticky weather that lasts for most of the year in Taiwan. They are also great as a side dish or topping for peanut sesame noodles. When I make these for parties, they usually don’t last very long.  

• ~1 pound of Persian or Japanese cucumbers, cut into irregular chunks or lightly smashed/pulled apart (I demonstrate the technique in the video). This technique allows the marinade to permeate more quickly. Plus, it’s fun. 
• ~1 teaspoon salt
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• ~2 teaspoons sugar
• ¼ cup apple cider or rice vinegar
• ~2 teaspoons soy sauce 
• ~1 tablespoon miso paste
• 1 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper (or a mix of black pepper and Szechuan pepper)
• A squirt of Sriracha sauce (optional)
• A pinch of five spice powder (optional)
• ~1 teaspoon roasted sesame oil
• Chili oil to taste – start with a teaspoon and go from there. I like to use Sze Daddy from 886 or Lao Gan Ma, a Chinese brand. 
• Roasted sesame seeds and cilantro (optional – for garnish)

Substitution: If you don’t want to mess with fresh garlic or find raw garlic too intense, just leave it out. There is already garlic cooked into the Sriracha.   

Instructions:

• Breakdown the cucumbers into bite size pieces. Then toss with the salt and leave to drain in a colander or strainer for 15-30 minutes. 
• In the meantime, mix together the rest of the ingredients to make the marinade. Adjust the seasoning according to your tastes. The marinade should taste intensely salty and sour. The flavor will mellow out when water is released from the cucumber. 
• Gently press any additional water out of the cucumber, then mix with the marinade and transfer to a non-reactive container. 
• Cover and refrigerate. Ideally, you give these a few hours to marinate or ideally overnight. They last about a week in the fridge, but they never last that long in my house. 
• When ready to serve, garnish with some roasted sesame seeds and cilantro if you like.

Sometimes when I have leftover marinade, I’ll add some to my peanut sesame noodle sauce (adjusting other ingredients accordingly).

The marinade also works great as a sauce for boiled shredded chicken. Shred the chicken while it’s still warm, then pour over the marinade and serve at room temperature or slightly chilled. 

Sail my ship on the Seven Seas
Stuck in the Suez! Stuck in the Suez!

Ship gets stuck. Trade falls to its knees.
Stuck in the Suez! Stuck in the Suez!

Help me out now, won’t you please?
Stuck in the Suez! Stuck in the Suez!

Things are always weird when you’re Taiwanese
Stuck in the Suez! Stuck in the Suez!

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven
Stuck in the Suez! Stuck in the Suez!

Nothing in Life is Ever Given
Stuck in the Suez! Stuck in the Suez!

Escape from Egypt without any Leaven
Stuck in the Suez! Stuck in the Suez!

Get me out of Hell and into Heaven
Stuck in the Suez! Stuck in the Suez!

And here is the original acapella version that started it all:

After seeing my original video, the manufacturers reached out and informed me that my lavalier mic and Tula unit might have been defective, which explains the high noise levels in the original video. I have since made a follow-up video using the replacement equipment that they sent me.

I have been really impressed by the proactiveness and responsiveness of their customer support team. The Tula itself has been a great complement to my existing gear, and has become one of my go-to mics to use for podcasting, streaming, and video production. And the built-in noise cancellation is simply amazing for my makeshift work from home studio setup.

Listen and subscribe to Easy Cook Bear on Anchor.fm or on your favorite podcast platform.

Jaime Sunwoo wrote a play about SPAM. Yes, the canned meat product that brings out all kinds of conflicted, polarizing reactions in people. Specially Processed American Me, Jaime’s play, helped open up conversations about her own family’s escape from North Korea during the Korea War. Jaime also talks to Lee-Sean abut her new audio piece about Q-Anon, shares her simple family recipe for spicy soy chicken, and more.

Jaime Sunwoo is a Korean American multidisciplinary artist from Brooklyn, New York. She creates multimedia performances in galleries, theaters, and public spaces. Her works connect personal narratives to global histories through surreal storytelling. She studied art at Yale University, and is an alumni of The Laundromat Project for socially engaged art. She is currently a Ping Chong & Company Creative Fellow.

Dylan Uscher is a UX designer based in Boston, who previously ran a fashion business. He’s also a baker, stand-up comedian, and cancer survivor. Dylan opened up about how he turned his passions into a decade-long career, which he ultimately left to pursue a new career in UX design. Besides cooking, baking, and career transition stuff, Dylan also shared his trick for chocolate chip cookies and opened up about his love for Maangchi, Margaret Cho, and Helena Bonham Carter.

Ingredients

This recipe serves 2 people as the main protein in a meal, or about 4 people as a shared appetizer.

• 400 grams (14 ounces) of chicken, cut into roughly uniform chunks, about the size of a McNugget (I don’t know how else to describe it). In Nakatsu, skin-on chicken thigh is usually used, but I used boneless skinless chicken breast for the batch in the picture and they came out great.
• King Arthur’s Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour, for dredging – the mix of tapioca, rice, and potato starch make for a light and crispy crust. Traditional recipes often call for katakuriko (Japanese potato starch)
• Canola or vegetable oil for shallow-frying
• 1 fresh lemon, lime, or kabosu

For the marinade:

• 1 scallion, minced
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, grated or pounded with a mortar and pestle
• 2-3 cm (~inch) piece of peeled fresh ginger, grated or pounded
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon shichimi togarashi, Japanese mixed chili pepper powder – optional
• 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce, Kikkoman organic is my go-to brand; Use tamari instead soy sauce and the whole recipe is gluten-free
• 1/2 tablespoon sake, cooking sake or the cheap stuff is fine
• 1 teaspoon mirin, I prefer the all-natural traditional method mirin from Eden Foods. The mirin is optional, you could substitute half a teaspoon of sugar instead.
• 1/2 tablespoon Kewpie Mayonnaise, What is this mayonnaise madness you ask? It helps the marinade adhere to the chicken, helps keep the chicken moist (important if you are using breast), and adds a bit of sweetness and umami as well.

Instructions

Finely mince or pound the solid marinade ingredients in a mortar and pestle. Combine with all of the liquid marinade ingredients in a bowl and add the chicken pieces.

Coat the chicken with the marinade and let sit for 30 minutes.

Then dredge each piece of chicken in the all-purpose gluten-free flour. There is enough seasoning in the marinade itself, so there is no need to season the flour. Each piece of chicken should be lightly coated in flour.

Heat your oil in a cast iron or other sturdy pan. You only need enough oil for each chicken piece to be halfway submerged in oil. On my electric stove, I do this on medium heat. You will know when the oil is ready when you insert a wooden chopstick or skewer and it bubbles.

Fry three or four piece of chicken at a time until golden brown. Mine took about a minute and a half on each side. Be careful not to fry too many piece at a time, or you will cool down your oil too much.

Drain the chicken on a paper towel or cooling rack. Then serve with a squeeze of the lemon, lime, or kabosu. I also like to dip mine in some more Kewpie Mayo and a sprinkle of the shichimi togarashi.

To give you an idea of how serious Nakatsu is about karaage, here is a video (in Japanese) about how Nakatsu broke the Guinness World Record in 2019 for the largest serving of fried chicken made in a single day.

Ingredients

• 200 grams all-purpose wheat flour
• 5 grams baking soda
• 10 grams miso
• 5 grams vanilla extract
• 120 grams of sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 100 grams creme fraiche (or sour cream)
• 120 grams of Perfect Puree Yuzu Luxe Sour (defrosted)
• 150 grams melted butter (warm, not hot)

If you are making this boozy, you will need a bit more of the Yuzu Luxe Sour and some mezcal or rum.

Instructions

Sift the flour and baking soda together in a bowl and set aside.

In a large bowl, dissolve the miso in the vanilla extract and stir into a paste. Then add the sugar and incorporate. Next, whisk in the eggs until combined, followed by the creme fraiche and yuzu. Then fold in the flour and baking soda and mix until combined. Be sure not to overmix.

Transfer to a loaf pan and bake for 50 to 60 minutes at 175 C / 350 F. Check to test doneness with a toothpick or skewer, which should come out clean.

You can serve the cake as is, or liven it up with some yuzu mezcal syrup, which is two parts of the defrosted Perfect Puree Yuzu Sour mix and 1 part of mezcal (or rum). Poke holes in the loaf cake with a toothpick to help the syrup permit, then drizzle the mixture onto the cake to absorb. Start with a few tablespoons of the syrup to start, you can always drizzle some extra on to make it boozier and yuzu-ier when you serve the cake. 

The common essentials are daikon radish (also known as Chinese radish or Chinese turnip; the closely-related Korean mu radish also works here) and rice flour, which is made into a batter, steamed in a mold, and then pan fried. On the simple end of the spectrum, they are simply made with just the daikon and rice flour batter. Or you can make it fancy with all sorts of umami-laden bits.   

This recipe is my own personal take. The recipe works best made one day of ahead of when you want to eat it, since it really benefits from a night in the fridge. Now here’s the recipe:

Turnip/Daikon Cake Ingredients

Note that I use grams for my weight measurements and US cups and tea/tablespoons for liquid volume. Using a kitchen scale has been game-changing for my cooking. Refer to the ingredient notes at the bottom of the post for additional context and explanation.

• ~900 grams fresh daikon or mu, peeled, and julienned  

Dry Ingredients

• 150 grams plain white rice flour 
• 30 grams tapioca flour (or corn starch)
• 3 grams finely ground white pepper
• 3 grams fine sea salt
• 5 grams white sugar
• 20 grams fried shallots (optional) 
• 10 grams fried garlic (optional) 
• 4 scallions, finely chopped (optional) 

Umami Ingredients

• 150 grams bacon, chopped into small bits 
• 4-6 small or medium dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in warm water, then chopped into small bits. Be sure to save the soaking water!
• 100 grams chai bo, a salted, preserved radish product, rinsed, soaked, and chopped (optional)

Liquid Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce (optional)
• 2.5-3 cups of water

Cooking Instructions

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl and set aside. 

Put the bacon into a cold pan or wok, and bring up the heat to medium-high.  If your bacon is lean, you might need to add some oil, but I rarely do. Stir fry until browned and crispy, then add the shiitake mushrooms and chai bo, and stir fry on medium heat for 3 minutes. Next, add the scallions (if using) and stir fry for 1 more minute. Scoop out the solid umami ingredients and set aside for later. You can leave some bacon grease in the pan. There is no need to clean out the pan before the next step.

Add the julienned daikon and enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender and translucent. This usually takes about 15 minutes. Add more water if it gets a little dry. 

Once cool enough to handle, scoop out and drain the daikon, saving the cooking liquid. Add more water to the cooking liquid if needed to get to 2 and a half cups. 

Add the strained daikon and previously pan fried umami ingredients back into your pan or wok (with the stove turned off). Stir in the oyster sauce now if you are using it.

Whisk the cooking liquid into the bowl of dry ingredients until incorporated. Pour the batter into your pan or work. Turn the stove to medium-low and stir the mixture together until it thickens. If it thickens too much, add an additional half cup of water. The batter should have the consistency of mashed potatoes.

Transfer the mixture into a greased heat-proof casserole or loaf pan. Cover with foil and steam for 1 hour. I don’t actually own a steamer large enough to make this recipe, so I put the foil-covered casserole in the oven along with another casserole full of boiling water, and baked at 300 F / 150 C for 1 hour. 

Check for doneness after one hour. Insert a toothpick or skewer. It won’t come out clean like a dessert cake, but the batter that sticks should be milky white rather than translucent. 

Allow everything to cool completely. Then put in the fridge for a few hours or preferably overnight. 

Remove the chilled daikon cake, slice, pan fry, and serve.

There are many different regional and local variations for serving this dish, but I divide them roughly into the “dim sum style” and the “street food style.” 

In the dim sum style, you cut the daikon cake into slices, pan fry in some oil until browned on two sides. Using a non-stick pan or griddle for this helps a lot. Garnish with some chopped scallions or chives if you like, then serve with the dipping sauce(s) of your choice. I like soy sauce, Sriracha sauce, and a tiny dab of mustard. XO sauce also works well, and some people use oyster sauce or a thick sweet soy sauce (a product known as soy paste in Taiwan or kecap manis (alternately spelled ketjap manis) in Malay and Indonesian. 

In the street food style, you cut the chilled daikon cake into cubes, and pan fry until brown. Then scramble in an egg or two, and add chopped scallions. Some variations also add bean sprouts or other vegetables at this point. When I make these street food style, I squeeze some soy sauce, Sriracha, and ketchup on top, which is reminiscent of my favorite Taiwanese street food breakfast version of the dish. The mixture of ketchup and Sriracha is a good approximation for Taiwanese sweet chili sauce.    

Ingredient Notes

To make a vegetarian version of this, leave out the bacon and oyster sauce. And perhaps increase the amount of fried shallot and garlic.

I used two small Korean mu for the recipe in the pictures. Mu are shorter and rounder than Japanese daikon, but the two are interchangeable in this recipe. After cleaning, peeling, and julienning, it came out to 710 grams.

Despite the name, I don’t recommend using Western turnips or radishes for this, as they taste quite different from daikon or mu. Some people prefer to grate the daikon, which is even easier if you have a food processor. I prefer a chunkier texture (and couldn’t find my grater) so I just julienned the daikon with a knife.

Be sure to use plain white rice flour and NOT glutinous rice flour or “mochiko” in Japanese. They are different products. Plain white rice flour is softer and more tender, which is more appropriate for this dish. 

Traditional recipes call for Cantonese laap cheong sausage and sometimes Chinese ham, but those require a trip to the Asian market, and I always have bacon at home. 

Some recipes also add dried shrimp and dried scallops that have been reconstituted by soaking for a few hours in water and then finely chopped. These make the dish more luxurious for sure, but also usually require a trip to the Asian market or an online order. 

The fried shallots and garlic are optional. A lot of recipes don’t call for them at all, but they add flavor and texture, and I always have them on hand in my pantry. You can buy jars of fried shallots and fried garlic at an Asian market or online. 

The scallions are also optional, but I like adding them to liven things up a bit.

Chai bo is a salted, preserved radish product. In some versions of the dish, they are stir fried with the daikon cake, but I think they are nice mixed into the batter as well. They provide a salty, funky, umami and crunch. 

If you leave out the oyster sauce, you can substitute fish sauce, or just double the amount of salt you add. 

I had the honor of hosting Richard Morgan on my new show, Easy Cook Bear, where he opened up about his food writing process and shared stories about surviving COVID-19, finding a complement for New York in San Francisco, why he doesn’t want to eat recipes from Rachel Ray, and more.

Listen/Subscribe

You can listen to the episode embedded from YouTube above, or subscribe on the podcast platform of your choice.

About Richard

Richard Morgan is the author of the memoir Born in Bedlam and a freelance writer whose work has been published by The New Yorker, The New York Times, New York magazine, AFAR, The Awl, BBC, Bloomberg Businessweek, Bon Appétit, CNN, Condé Nast Traveler, The Economist, ESPN The Magazine, Esquire, Fortune, GQ, Los Angeles magazine, National Geographic, NBC, NPR, Playboy, Rolling Stone, Smithsonian, Slate, Travel + Leisure, Vice, Vogue, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Wired, and others. His assignments have sent him to a research station in the Arctic, wool farms in Australia, gay bars in Cuba, pizza contests in Italy, the refugee camps of Palestine, a rainforest treehouse in Peru, the foodie capital of South Korea, the oldest magic shop in Spain, foraging forests in Sweden, olive oil wrestling matches in Turkey, the Royal Family’s hatters, and Brooklyn. As much as he can, he lives in New York.

Before journalism, he was a missionary in China, a ranch hand in Colorado, and a hitchhiker in Costa Rica.

source: charmandrigor.com

Links to things referenced in the show

• Gather Journal
• Why are we so bad at imagining the food of the future? 
• Tomato Ramen Is the Noodle Innovation We Need Now
• David Chang’s Domino’s Pizza Order
• Inside New York City’s Chinese restaurant crisis
• In This Dinner Series, Chinese Food Is at Home Worldwide
• New York City’s First Cheesecake Factory Is the Slice of Suburban Bliss We’ve Been Missing

In the video, I compare (1) my new Sony ZV-1 camera and trusty old Blue Yeti Pro microphone setup with (2) the iPhone 11 Pro and (3) the MacBook Pro’s built-in camera and mic.

Easy Cook Bear is a food and culture show about how we cook, connect, and create. My guests and I share stories, swap recipes, and explore the creative processes of people who make art, culture, food, music, and more.

I interview Antonius Wiriadjaja on the first episode of the show.

Antonius is an artist and educator. He cooks meals and turns them into face masks for his Instagram project @foodmasku.

Antonius was born in Jakarta, raised in Boston, and is currently based in New York City. He’s also a survivor of gun violence who blogged about his recovery.

Links to people and things referenced in the episode:

FoodMasku: https://www.instagram.com/foodmasku/

NY Times “5 Art Accounts to Follow on Instagram Now”: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/16/arts/design/instagram-art-accounts.html 

Antonius’s personal website: https://resume.antoni.us/

ITP (Interactive Telecommunications Program) at NYU: https://tisch.nyu.edu/itp

How I Survived a Gunshot to the Gut: https://gunsurvivor.antoni.us/

Merche Blasco: https://www.newmusicusa.org/profile/mercheblasco/

Gabriel Barcia-Colombo: https://www.gabebc.com/ 

Krewe de Fromage: https://www.instagram.com/krewedefromage/

Julie & Julia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julie_%26_Julia 

Baldor Food: https://www.baldorfood.com/

Seamore’s: https://www.seamores.com/

Here’s my ukulele cover version of Take Me Home, Country Road. My version is a bilingual mashup of the John Denver original and the Japanese version that appeared in the Studio Ghibli film Whisper of the Heart.

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Unboxing my advance copy of “The Best of Nest” by @toddoldham. I’ll be interviewing Todd for an upcoming event hosted by @aigadesign and @phaidonsnaps on Mon, Nov 9 at 3:30 pm Eastern. I have been a fan since his House of Style days in the 90s, so I’m really looking forward to this one. Learn more and get a special discount here: https://www.phaidon.com/partner/aiga/ #Design #interiordesign #BookTalk @designfuturenow

A post shared by leesean (@leesean) on Oct 26, 2020 at 11:23am PDT

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Our friends at @phaidonsnaps /@hachettebooks sent me some more books, and I made another unboxing video. @aigadesign is hosting a book event with @toddoldham on November 9. Learn more at designconference.aiga.org. #AIGADesignConf #Design #Books #Unboxing

A post shared by leesean (@leesean) on Oct 31, 2020 at 3:12pm PDT

I will be hosting two author events next Monday as part of the AIGA Design Conference.

And FWIW, if you would like my recommendation for a microphone, I use a Blue Yeti Pro for most of my audio work.

The most important step towards building a successful podcast with an engaged audience is creating interesting, compelling content. But somewhere along the way, every podcaster will come to the same inevitable realization: If I’m going to take this seriously, I need a better microphone. 

The best podcast microphone is the podcast microphone that’s right for you. For the uninitiated, differentiating one microphone apart from another is no easy task. We’re here to help, so you can get back to the important stuff: creating great content, knowing it sounds great all the while.

To choose the right microphones for podcasting, you’ll need to consider the following:

• How you’ll connect the microphone: USB (plug ‘n play) or XLR (requires additional hardware)
• The difference in sensitivity between condenser and dynamic microphones
• The space you usually record in
• The number of people you’ll usually be recording

USB (plug ‘n play) vs. XLR (additional hardware) input

There’s a lot to be said for something that just works, and that’s why USB microphones are popular. USB ports are ubiquitous, so there’s a very good chance whatever you’re using to record your podcast has a USB port built in. XLR microphones require additional hardware — an audio interface or mixer — to connect to your computer, but offer flexibility and versatility that USB mics can’t match. Audio interfaces, used widely in professional recording studios, will add additional audio routing and processing capabilities to your recording setup.

USB microphones are plug ‘n play, so all you’ll need to do to get them up and running is make sure that you’ve selected the right microphone in the “Input” panel of your podcasting software. For Alban Brooke, head of marketing at podcast host Buzzsprout, that simplicity and ease of use goes a long way. “Your time should be spent podcasting, not learning how to record, edit, or upload your podcast,” he says.

One key benefit XLR mics offer over USB mics is the lower noise floor provided by the audio interface or mixer, which essentially acts as an external sound card. “Audio interfaces are a must for good sound,” says Kate Astrakhan, an audio engineer at professional podcasting agency Podcast Network Solutions. “Get an Audio Technica ATR2100 and a Behringer interface, and for less than $200, you have something that will give you professional quality sound,” she says.

Dynamic microphones pick up less sound than condenser microphones, but that can be a good thing

As far as podcast microphones go, the choice is between dynamic microphones or condenser microphones. Each is built differently, and if you’re so inclined, you can read more about the science that separates these two kinds of mics. Practically speaking, dynamic microphones are less sensitive to sound and more physically durable than condenser microphones. 

Dynamic microphones are capable of recording at far higher volumes than condenser microphones, which is why you’ll see the Shure SM-58 on concert stages worldwide. That’s not a selling point for podcasters — unless you’re recording on stage at a concert, which actually does sound like a great idea for a podcast.

Because of their lower sensitivity, dynamic microphones roll off some higher frequencies and produce a “warmer” sound, akin to a classic “broadcast” or “radio” sound. Condenser microphones capture more nuance in vocal recordings than dynamic microphones, which can lead to a richer, more natural sound.

The increased sensitivity of condenser mics comes with a tradeoff: you run the risk of recording background noise alongside all that added nuance. “Condenser microphones pick up a lot more nuance than dynamic microphones, but for many people, that means a condenser will pick up a lot more unwanted background noise,” says Buzzsprout’s Alban Brooke.

A good way to mitigate unwanted background noise is to pay close attention to the space where you record your podcast.

Your recording space matters — even more than you might think

For quality audio, the space in which you’re recording is just as important as a good microphone. Not taking recording space into account is the most common mistake up-and-coming podcasters make, says Podcast Network Solutions’ Toby Goodman. 

“The number one thing podcasters don’t take into consideration is the room in which they’re recording,” he says. “You could buy a top-of-the-line microphone, put it in a bad room, and it would be like buying a sports car and trying to drive it off a mountain — it just doesn’t work.” His colleague Kate Astrakhan agrees. “The key to selecting a good microphone is first making sure your room is full of soft surfaces, not hard surfaces,” she says. “Then even if you buy the cheapest USB microphone available, your sound will be better than it would be otherwise.”

Soft surfaces are the key to dampening sound reflections. Buzzsprout’s Alban Brooke recommends a simple solution: “Record where there’s a lot of soft material to soak up the sound — for a lot of podcasters, this means a walk-in closet,” he says. 

Might not be glamorous, but it definitely gets the job done.

Consider how many speakers you plan to record

When it comes time to record more than one person at once, it’s helpful to understand a microphone’s polar pattern. These patterns illustrate the directions in which a microphone picks up sound: in front and from both sides, but not the back, for instance. 

Most podcasters should stick with cardioid mics, for solo speakers recording directly into a mic, and bi-directional mics, which records two speakers in front and in back. Some microphones allow you to choose from different polar patterns, so take that into consideration if you plan on recording multiple speakers with one microphone.

If you regularly record with additional speakers — if your podcast features a local co-host that records with you in person, for example — then investing in an audio interface is a must. Pick up an audio interface with 2 (or more) XLR ports and as many dynamic microphones as you need. With that setup, recording multiple people will be a breeze. 

Choose the podcast microphone that’s right for you

No microphone is a magic bullet, but this guide will help you determine which works best for your podcast. Now, go forth and record some great content!

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@theromanmars, host of @99percentinvisible chats with @leesean about his new book, coping with COVID and wildfires, the limits (and dangers) of storytelling, and more. Roman will be hosting the #AIGADesignConf November 9-14, 2020. Join us for Roman’s book talk, Monday, November 9, 6:30 pm Eastern: bit.ly/roman-mars

A post shared by AIGA Design (@aigadesign) on Oct 21, 2020 at 10:38am PDT

In the interview, we previewed Roman’s new book, talked about nerd identity, the limits and dangers of storytelling, and more.

Order a copy of Roman’s book through AIGA to also get access to our online conversation on Monday, November 9, 6:30-7:30 pm ET.

You can listen to the episode on Soundcloud, or here on Spotify.

With the COVID-19 shutdowns, our recording process shifted from in-person to online. The team at Descript have developed this guide, published below as a guest post, to help you get your remote recording right the first time. I wish I had this back in March!

Remote interviews are a fact of life for every podcaster, and in todayâ€s era of social distancing, more so than ever. Since you rarely get the chance at an interview do-over, nailing down your remote recording workflow is essential. Weâ€ll show you how to prepare for and record a remote interview, so you get it right the first time — with some additional tips along the way to make sure all your bases are covered. 

Choose the right remote recording setup for your podcast

The first step is to determine the remote recording setup that best suits the format and content of your podcast and your production and editing workflow.

In most cases, your best solution will involve recording remote interviews on Zoom, Skype, Google Hangouts, or a similar online conferencing service. This low-friction setup makes it easy for guests or co-hosts to contribute, but youâ€ll need to make sure you have the right software to record these interviews.

Itâ€s also wise to make sure you can record phone calls. Phone interviews donâ€t offer great audio fidelity, but they make a great backup option in case of technical problems or schedule changes. Phone interviews probably wonâ€t be your first choice, but itâ€s a good idea to be able to record a phone call just in case you need to. 

If youâ€re recording with the same remote co-host on each episode of your podcast, consider a double-ender setup, in which you and your co-host record your own audio tracks locally and combine them in post-production. For most podcasters, this isnâ€t the most convenient solution, but it does translate into the highest audio fidelity for you and your co-host.

The best way to record an interview is to prepare for it

When it comes to interviewing — especially remote interviewing — a little preparation goes a long way.

Do some research into your guestâ€s background, expertise, and projects. Who are they? Why is their work notable? What do you (and in turn, your audience) hope to learn from them?

Putting together a rough outline of the questions youâ€d like to ask will come in very handy. Write down a handful of specific questions and key points, but keep your outline broad and high-level. Thatâ€ll allow you to more easily adapt to the flow of conversation.

Maintaining that conversational flow remotely can be substantially trickier than doing so person-to-person. Prime yourself to listen more than you speak — in particular, try not to interrupt your guest. Editing out awkward silences between speakers is much easier than dealing with too much crosstalk!

When itâ€s time to record the interview, take a couple final preparatory steps to ensure a clean recording. Close all unnecessary software and set your computer to “Do Not Disturb” mode to make sure unwanted distractions donâ€t pop up (or worse: end up in the recording).

How to record a Skype call, Zoom interview, or Google Hangout

For most remote recording situations, Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts are your platforms of choice. All three are easy to set up, simple for guests to use, and feature audio fidelity good enough for most podcasts. 

Both Zoom and Skype offer built-in call recording functionality, but Google Hangouts currently limits this offering to enterprise users. Thereâ€s an additional caveat: the file format (.MP4 or .M4A) that each platform outputs may not be what you want, depending on your podcast production and editing workflow.

For maximum control over your final product, youâ€re better off using third-party apps to record computer system audio directly into the recording software of your choice rather than relying on their recording functionality.

If youâ€re on a Mac, BlackHole is a great open-source tool that allows you to route audio between apps, which means you can record the audio output from Zoom (or Skype, or Google Hangouts) directly into your preferred recording software. On Windows, Virtual Audio Cable offers similar functionality. 

If youâ€re already using Descript to record, you wonâ€t need to use additional audio routing software. When recording audio into Descript, open the Record panel, choose Add a Track, select your input, and choose “Computer audio.” Click the Record button whenever youâ€re ready, and audio from Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts will be piped into Descript. 

No matter which remote recording setup you use, make sure you test it — and test it again — with a friend or colleague before youâ€re actually recording your podcast. Troubleshooting when you should be interviewing ranks near the top of everyoneâ€s Least Favorite Things To Deal With, so make sure everything is in order before your guest is on the line.

How to record a phone interview with Google Voice

Social distancing means nearly everyone has gotten used to handling calls and meetings on Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts. But maybe your podcast guest is really old-school, or their computer is on the fritz, or maybe theyâ€re simply only able to access a phone during your scheduled call time. Itâ€s likely phone interviews will never be your first choice, but being able to record an old-fashioned phone call will come in handy.

Recording phone calls can be tricky, but using Google Voice to make an outgoing phone call from your computer means you can use the same remote recording setup detailed above to record the call.

Follow Googleâ€s instructions to set up Google Voice and then learn how to make an outgoing call. Once everythingâ€s set up, youâ€ll be able to record phone calls with Google Voice just like youâ€d record an interview on Zoom or Skype. 

Again, make sure to test with a friend and then test again before your interview. 

If lossless audio quality is a must, record a “double-ender”

For most remote recording situations, Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts are your platforms of choice. All three are easy to set up, simple for guests to use, and feature audio fidelity good enough for most podcasts. 

But if you have a remote co-host that regularly appears on your podcast, and you want to maximize the quality of your audio, a “double-ender” is the way to go: Each host or guest records themselves locally, and audio tracks are combined in post-production. For an additional cost, you can use third-party recording platforms that simulate double-enders without each speaker managing their own recording software.

A traditional double-ender sees each speaker recording their own audio track using their recording software of choice (Descript, Audacity, Quicktime, etc.), and then the host or editor combines each speakerâ€s recording into a finished product. Each speaker should have a decent microphone — if theyâ€re using a laptop microphone to record, you probably wonâ€t hear a substantial advantage with a double-ender over a Zoom, Skype, or Google Hangouts recording.

Alternatively, you can simulate a double-ender by using a platform like SquadCast, Zencastr, or Cleanfeed. These services record lossless audio from each speaker, upload each track to the cloud, and combine them automatically. These platforms cost money, but theyâ€re a great alternative to a double-ender when guests or co-hosts donâ€t have the time or wherewithal to fiddle with recording themselves locally. Again, make sure each speaker has a decent microphone — otherwise you wonâ€t reap the full benefits of lossless audio.

Make remote recording hassles a thing of the past

Recording your podcast remotely isnâ€t painless, but once you get the hang of it — and nail down your workflow — itâ€ll become second nature.

I started a new podcast with AIGA called Design Future Now to explore these kinds of questions and more with creative leaders and practitioners. This also means that I will be taking a hiatus from FoossaPod, the podcast that David Colby Reed and I started back in 2017, to focus on Design Future Now. Check out the latest episode below:

Subscribe to Design Future Now on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, or Anchor.fm.

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#DESIGNFUTURENOW PODCAST 🎠How is design changing as a discipline and profession? And how do we face these challenges and opportunities as a community? We explore these questions and more on @AIGAdesign’s new podcast, Design Future Now. Hosted by @leesean. Listen now — link in profile. #AIGADesign #DesignFutureFriday

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U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
United States of America
United States of Amnesia
United States of Antithetical Extremes

Today we celebrate science and NASA landing on Mars 🚀
But sometimes science is not science
Even when the scientists say so

Even when California burns🔥
The Unpresidented President hides his own governmentâ€s climate change report in the hubbub of Black Friday
That annual classist and racist ritual where the privileged watch the less-fortunate trample each other for forty percent off on flat screen TVs
Made in China, of course
But All-American entertainment nonetheless

Today
Cyber Monday
The day we devote to the deity of almighty Dollar 💵
The day we land on Mars
We launch tear gas at asylum-seeking families

Just as when we landed on the Moon ðŸŒ
We dropped bombs on Vietnam and killed
Civil rights activists
Something that is still going on

We can send ships up into Space but we canâ€t get clean water for Flint
Or relief for Puerto Rico
Or the Subway to run on time

Well-meaning White people
Self-proclaimed progressives
Proclaim on Twitter:
“This is not my America”
“This is not who we are”

But it is who we have always been

America, blessed by Bezos with Amazon Prime
Same Day Shipping for the cost of a taxpayer-subsidized private helipad

America, where we are free to crowdfund our own treatment for cancer but where healthcare can never be free
(Silly socialist, socialism is for shareholders!)

America, where flavored vapes, Romaine lettuce, and exposed nipples are more dangerous than firearms

United States of America
United States of Amnesia
United States of Antithetical Extremes

Too vast for a single story
Too long for a tweet
Too great to make great again

We just released a new book.

Written by our friends and long-time collaborators Jeff Leitner and Andrew Benedict-Nelson, and designed by me and the Foossa team, See Think Solve is a simple guide to difficult problems.

Originally developed for a social work PhD program at the University of Southern California, it is written in an easy-to-read, jargon-free style for anyone interested in better understanding human behavior and how to design products, services, and programs that shift collective norms and culture. The ideas in the book have really shaped our consulting and teaching practice.

From the Introduction to See Think Solve:

The main reason problems are hard to solve is that they involve people. People are funny. They donâ€t always believe the things they say they believe or do the things they say they are going to do. They can act one way in one situation and act completely differently in another situation. No one has ever completely figured this out. We call this the ‘mystery of human behavior.â€

The mystery of human behavior shapes almost every problem worth solving.

Thatâ€s the bad news. But thereâ€s good news too. The mystery of human behavior also helps us see problems in new ways. By paying attention to people, we can discover new aspects of problems that help us solve them more effectively.

The nine steps in See Think Solve are designed to do just that. They will help you make sense of the mystery of human behavior that surrounds all tough problems.

– The first six steps are about seeing — each of them shows you a new thing to look for in human behavior.

– The next two steps are about thinking — each one is a tool you can use to better understand the human behaviors you have observed.

– The last step is about solving — it describes what you can accomplish with your newfound knowledge.”

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