Have you listened to the Dela Darling podcast yet? The one hour(ish) episodes launched in April and come out twice a month – and they’re all about Delaware.

Founded and hosted by Emily Guillen and Dara McBride, the podcast has featured topics ranging from the Delaware Shakespeare Festival to Miss Hockessin, with special guests stopping in now and again. You can listen to the podcast on the official Dela Darling website, or stream from your fave podcast app.

Want to know more about the Dela Darling duo? We gave each five identical questions, which they answered separately.  Here’s what they said:

1. How did Dela Darling get started?

Emily: I left Delaware for college and, after returning and starting a full time job in the engineering field, I found myself less busy and less creatively fulfilled than I had been, so I started the Dela Darling blog. After a few years of rarely writing, I had the idea for the podcast as something that would help me to focus on my passion for Delaware while also interacting with the community.  When Dara moved back to Delaware after grad school with two communications degrees, it seemed like the perfect time to start pursuing the podcast.

Dara: I don’t think I hesitated when Emily asked about doing a podcast. We both feel strongly that people should be informed about the communities in which they live, and having worked in local news I am often delighted and surprised by the stories that are right under your nose. Whether we’re talking about our own experiences attending an event, interviewing a local artist or activist, or sharing an article about Delaware from a news site, it’s all about encouraging people to pay attention to what’s happening around them.

2. Do you have a favorite episode or guest?

Emily: My favorite episode is one of the early ones where we actually had two guests, Ryan Catalani and Katrina Medoff. Ryan is a native Hawaiian who has landed in Delaware and is working with Family Promise of Northern New Castle County to end family homelessness in Delaware. Katrina is a “Delawarean in the Wild,” someone who grew up here and is now making an impact in the short film community by creating and organizing the Women’s Weekend Film Challenge, the first all women short film challenge.  I loved juxtaposing their perspectives on Delaware and in different professional communities.

Dara: Scheduling the time to record an episode can be stressful, but luckily once we sit down, hit record and start talking, whatever else is happening outside of that hour melts away. My favorite is often the last episode we did.

3. Any fun stories about making the podcast?

Emily: We always make the joke that podcasting isn’t always glamorous, but it’s always fun! We’ve been lucky enough that most of our mishaps are just my dog barking or deciding it’s time to play fetch. We were recording over the phone once and I completely forgot to hit record before our 15 minute conversation, so we had to repeat it.

Dara: Comical mishaps aside, I’m glad at how the podcast has pushed us to try new experiences. Since starting, we ran on a relay team in the Delaware Marathon, volunteered at the Delaware Shakespeare box office, attended a reading with Hope Never Dies author Andrew Shaffer at Hockessin Book Shelf, and I saw my first-ever Blue Rocks game. We’ve been able to strike up conversations with total strangers.

4. What’s your podcast setup?

Emily: We typically record in my living room on the couch or at my dining room table and we just use a mic plugged in to my laptop.  Honestly, nothing glamorous!  It has been handy as we’ve been able to record remotely with guests.  The strangest place we’ve recorded was in a Subaru; we needed to record a segment together and couldn’t find another time or place to meet up, so Dara hopped in the car with me and we recorded in the car in a parking lot.  We got a lot of strange looks from people heading into a karate class and seeing us talking with our microphone on the dashboard!

Dara: It’s been a lot of fun to play with technology and media, and this truly is an exploration of the world of podcasting. We are learning as we go. We’ve made some investments in basic tools (and will probably make more in the future) but simply being determined and creative should never be underestimated! I think being friends for as long as we have is also incredibly important. We inherently know how to play off and signal each other, and that’s way more important than having a fully equipped studio.

5. Dream guest?

Emily: I have a few!  I’d love to eventually grow our following and engagement to a point where we can have Joe Biden, Aubrey Plaza, or Valerie Bertinelli on the show.

Dara: Definitely. I’d love to bring a mix of nationally and locally famous Delawareans to the podcast. Sometimes by living in a place that’s not a major city, it can be easy to underestimate the talents and stories already here. Artist Terrance Vann and author Marisa de los Santos are two people creating in Delaware and having a bigger moment, but I’m also thinking about the people doing interesting work who we just haven’t met yet. I love going behind-the-scenes and revealing how things work. We’ve talked about doing more recording field trips or adding short how-to videos where we learn something from a guest. We’re open to suggestions.

Know an awesome Delaware podcast, channel or blog we haven’t covered? Let us know about it via holly@technical.ly.