set up an episode one question at a time

setting up an episode used to be one dark box of rows: camera, kind, length, frame, about, and a button at the bottom. every row was a real choice, and every label was short. walk me through it. co-host. just talk. a founder opening it for the first time had one line of grey text under each to work out what any of them would actually be like to film. most picked whatever was already selected and pressed the button.

now it asks one thing at a time, and the first thing it asks is the one that matters most: what is this episode about.

what it is about, first

what you film matters more than how you film it, so it comes first. the first screen holds the list that used to sit on today: what to film, with the season and its goal at the top and every topic the series thinks is worth an episode, each with why it is there. press pick this on one, or on several. a picked topic lights up. today's context and ask the vault sit on the same dark screen, so everything that helps you choose is in one place, and there is a box for your own words when nothing on the list fits.

the topics you pick decide the length. each one becomes one question, written from the story behind it, not just its title, and you answer for as long as it takes. pick one and it is a short episode. pick four and it runs longer, up to ten minutes. pick nothing and it comes from your day, the way it always has. there is no length row to think about any more.

then how you show up

the second screen is two cards: on camera, or just your voice. press one and it lights up, then press next. if you have done this before, the shortcuts sit above them: same as last time, which sets everything the way your last episode was set up, and up to three setups you saved yourself. a shortcut takes you straight to the summary, one press from recording.

then the kind, with room to explain it

every kind of episode gets a card of its own, with a picture of a founder doing it and three plain lines: what happens, what you need, and what you get. the interview is first and marked the usual, because it is the ritual. the rest are there when the day calls for them: just chat, where nothing is asked and you talk to camera; the co-host, a live conversation that talks back; walk me through it, your screen with you in the corner; watch me work, hours of your screen sped up; talk about it, when you caught something earlier; and with a guest. on just your voice, the interview, the co-host, or a person in the room asking.

"just talk" is now "just chat". same thing: press record, say it, stop.

then only what that kind needs

the fourth screen asks only what is left. for an interview on camera that is the frame, shown as a phone held upright or on its side with the same picture in it, so you see what portrait and landscape mean rather than reading it. for a walk-through it is what you are showing and how you want to be led. for a guest it is their name and when the interview stops itself. your notes, the card for what you want in front of you while you record, is here too.

and a summary before anything starts

the last screen is the whole episode on one card: what it is about, camera, kind, frame. press change on any line to go back to it. then one button, the same one as before: write my questions and set up, start the walk-through, open the conversation. save this setup as a shortcut sits under it, if this is a shape you will use again.

the same on the phone

the app on your phone has the same five screens, the same cards and the same pictures. the kinds that need a computer, walk me through it, watch me work and with a guest, say so on the phone rather than disappearing.

why it changed

the hardest moment in a daily habit is the one before you start. a screen that asks five things at once makes that moment heavier. one question at a time, with the answer explained right there, makes it lighter: you know what you are about to do before you do it, and on a normal day it is a topic, same as last time, and the button.

start a series and film episode zero for free. start free.