I am so very sad and shocked about the passing of Todd Cochrane, a friend to me and a friend to all of podcasting. James Cridland of Podnews collaborated with Todd’s longtime podcast co-host Rob Greenlee on this remembrance of Todd’s life, and it is a wonderful testament to a consequential person. I wanted to add a personal thought as I process this terrible news.
Earlier this year, I joined Todd (and Rob) as fellow inductees to the Podcasting Hall of Fame. In my induction speech, I noted that the very first podcast I ever listened to was Todd’s Geek News Central, nearly 20 years ago. I was primarily working in the radio industry back then, and there was nothing like Todd’s show in my world. It broke every “format” rule of radio. Todd didn’t sound like a DJ. He sounded like exactly what he was: a fellow geek, just as excited about new technology as I was. This, of course, was why it worked.
Todd referred to everyone who listened to the show as part of the ohana, a word for family that Todd incorporated from his time living in Hawaii. And I was part of that ohana almost from the beginning. Over the years, as I spent more and more of my time working in podcasting, Todd and I would become friends, and I got the chance to tell him that, which I know meant a lot to him because all of his listeners meant a lot to him. He, as much as anyone in podcasting, knew just how hard it is to grow and keep an audience. He did it for two decades.
He also did something else that we should celebrate: he built a sustainable business out of serving creators. No one was more passionate about helping people podcast (and keep podcasting) than Todd, and he poured that passion into a smartly-run business built with the health of creators as its north star. That passion was obvious in every episode of The New Media Show, his collaboration with Rob Greenlee that was required listening for me every week.
Todd and I didn’t always agree on things, but those disagreements never lasted very long and were always good-natured. He even had a sound effect he would play on the show whenever he was about to challenge any kind of research or data finding – an artificial voice saying “DON’T HATE ME TOM WEBSTER.” I not-so-secretly loved that. But as stubborn as Todd could seem, I also knew the truth about the man: he understood very clearly the shifts and changes in our industry, and he adapted to them constantly to serve his customers.
As we got to know each other better over the years, Todd became one of the very first people I would seek out when I attended conferences and events in our space. His candor delighted me. He was a real, genuine human who had done some living, and I have wonderful memories of being up far too late over a couple of cocktails talking about all manner of things, including the family that he loved so much. And always passion, passion, passion. You see that so rarely. Podcasting wasn’t a job for Todd. It wasn’t even a career. He knew the truth of it.
Todd worked tirelessly to keep podcasters going not because it was good for business, or so that he could “monetize.” Todd worked to keep podcasters podcasting because he understood the central truth of podcasting: it can change your life. It changed the life of a Senior Chief coming out of the Navy in the mid-2000s. It changed my life, too.
The ohana is greatly diminished today. Fair winds and following seas, Todd.
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