One final thing…I thought I’d share w/ you the download stats for each podcast episode reverse sorted for popularity (see table below after clicking “more”).
For those of you who have been gracious enough to come on the podcast — I (and my listeners) cannot thank you enough.
| Episode | Total |
| 005 — Masonry and Mormonism — An Interview with Greg Kearney | 5,261 |
| whytheyleave | 5,207 |
| 012 — An Introduction to Mormon Polygamy with Todd Compton Pt. 1 | 4,622 |
| 015 — Mormon Stages of Faith Pt. 1: An Introduction to Fowler’s "Stages of Faith" | 4,576 |
| 001 — Kiddie Baps — My Mission Experience in Guatemala | 4,568 |
| 018 — New Order Mormons Pt. 1: Ann’s Story | 4,517 |
| 033 — An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins Part 4 — Grant’s Trial and Disfellowship, Thoughts on the Church’s Future, and Closing Testimony | 4,504 |
| 036 — Solider Slaves Pt. 3 — Taking the Case to the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Congress | 4,251 |
| 019 — Mormon, Married, Gay and Facing Discipline — An Interview with Buckley Jeppson Pt. 1 | 3,864 |
| 017 — Tom and Dan’s Journey into Stage 4 | 3,779 |
| 014 — An Introduction to Mormon Polygamy with Todd Compton Pt. 3 | 3,590 |
| 007 — Inside the Mind of a Mormon Apologist Pt. 1 | 3,582 |
| 013 — An Introduction to Mormon Polygamy with Todd Compton Pt. 2 | 3,519 |
| 011 — "Finding our Way Back Home" Pt. 2 | 3,490 |
| 054 — Nate Oman — On Messiness, Harvard, the Bloggernacle and Thoughtful Faith | 3,482 |
| 024 — Black and Mormon — The Darron Smith Story Pt. 3 | 3,392 |
| 021 — Mormon, Married, Gay and Facing Discipline — An Interview with Buckley Jeppson Pt. 3 | 3,339 |
| 008 — Inside the Mind of a Mormon Apologist Pt. 2 | 3,330 |
| 026 — Blacks and the LDS Priesthood: An Interview with Darius Gray and Margaret Young | 3,251 |
| 032 — An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins Part 3 — An Overview of Mormon Origins by Grant Palmer | 3,144 |
| 016 — Mormon Stages of Faith Pt. 2: An LDS Perspective on Fowler’s Stages of Faith | 3,100 |
| 010 — "Finding our Way Back Home" Pt. 1 | 3,089 |
| 030 — An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins Part 1 — Grant Palmer’s Early Years | 3,047 |
| 009 — Inside the Mind of a Mormon Apologist Pt. 3 | 2,990 |
| 025 — New Order Mormons Pt. 2: Ann’s Story | 2,946 |
| 031 — An Insider’s View of Mormon Origins Part 2 — The Mark Hofman Bombings, and Grant’s Deep Dive into LDS History | 2,776 |
| 004 — Gregory Prince, David O. McKay and the Blacks/Priesthood Issue | 2,723 |
| 006 — A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Mormon Cybergalaxy | 2,695 |
| 022 — Black and Mormon — The Darron Smith Story Pt. 1 | 2,675 |
| 047 — Richard Bushman Part 1 — Experiences as a Faithful Mormon Historian | 2,652 |
| 002 — Gregory Prince and "David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism" | 2,643 |
| 048 — Richard Bushman Part 2 — The Art of History, Joseph Smith’s First Vision Stories, and Joseph’s Participation in Folk Magic and Treasure Digging | 2,552 |
| 023 — Black and Mormon — The Darron Smith Story Pt. 2 | 2,475 |
| 027 — My Story Part 1 — Mormon to the Bone | 2,446 |
| 020 — Mormon, Married, Gay and Facing Discipline — An Interview with Buckley Jeppson Pt. 2 | 2,444 |
| 028 — My Story Part 2 — Losing My Religion, and Finding it Again | 2,280 |
| 003 — Inside the Mind of an Anti-Mormon | 2,271 |
| 034 — Soldier Slaves Pt. 1 — James Parkinson: Mormon and High Profile Personal Injury Lawyer | 2,244 |
| 029 — My Story Part 3 — What I Do and Don’t Believe, and Why I Remain a Mormon | 2,204 |
| 051 — Richard Bushman Part 5 — Final Thoughts (For now) | 2,137 |
| 050 — Richard Bushman Part 4 — Book of Mormon Historicity and the 3 and 8 Witnesses to the Book of Mormon | 2,102 |
| 049 — Richard Bushman Part 3 — Joseph Smith and the Translation of the Book of Mormon Pt. 1 | 2,034 |
| 035 — Soldier Slaves Pt. 2 — Harold Poole: Mormon and Bataan Death March Survivor | 2,005 |
| 053 — The Trolley Square Murders — An Interview with Witness Matt Lund | 1,673 |
| 039 — Lowell Bennion — Mormon Educator and Humanitarian — Via Mary Lythgoe Bradford | 1,547 |
| 041 — Deseret Book’s Acquisition of Seagull and Covenant Pt. 4 — Christopher Bigelow Pt. 2 | 1,493 |
| 045 — Understanding Mormon Fundamentalist Polygamy Part 4 — Polygamy Gone Wrong and Right | 1,474 |
| 052 — J. Bonner Ritche — On Organizations, Individuals, and Pillars of Thoughtful Faith | 1,370 |
| 046 — Understanding Mormon Fundamentalist Polygamy Part 5 — Anne’s Beliefs and Testimony | 1,343 |
| 044 — Understanding Mormon Fundamentalist Polygamy Part 3 — Anne’s Story | 1,339 |
| 043 — Understanding Mormon Fundamentalist Polygamy Part 2 — The Rise of Mormon Fundamentalism | 1,327 |
| 038 — Deseret Book’s Acquisition of Seagull and Covenant Pt. 2 — A Conversation with Kent Larsen | 1,307 |
| 040 — Deseret Book’s Acquisition of Seagull and Covenant Pt. 3 — Christopher Bigelow Pt. 1 | 1,220 |
| 042 — Understanding Mormon Fundamentalist Polygamy Part 1 — The LDS Church’s Practice of Polygamy | 1,155 |
| 037 — Deseret Book’s Acquisition of Seagull and Covenant Pt. 1 — A Conversation with Kent Larsen | 1,142 |
very interesting. any thoughts, John, on why these stats are the way they are?
Wow. Bushman enters the chart at #30. Nate Oman, soldier slaves, and Ann’s story all rank higher. This is fairly surprising to me, though I think all your podcasts have been interesting (I’m fairly certain I’ve listened to them all). I would think that getting such a prominent scholar as Bushman to come on would have been more intriguing to all types who come here.
Bushman has also been available for less time than all of those. Given that these podcasts are not time sensitive, those that have been available longer should have significantly more downloads.
Yeah. Definitely. Some of those have been posted for 20 months longer than the others. That’s what makes Nate Oman’s so amazing, frankly.
But still — to compare apples to apples, freeze the numbers for the early episodes, and then compare them with Bushman’s numbers in 17 months or so.
I’ll download my own podcast a thousand times before I’ll let Oman overtake me! Eat my dust, Nate!
Not that I’m competitive or anything.
Nate Oman is a Bloggernacle Celeb. The podcast format is easily and accessible and within the realm of his flock. That’s how I would explain his numbers.
Ann,
I downloaded yours 10x tonight. We’ll get you to the top of the list soon enough! It’s almost like Mormon Stories is turning into American Idol!
:-)
I am wondering – do you use a plugin to keep track of how many downloads occur? How do you know the #s?