Delanco resident's podcasts a huge success

Chris Goldstein didn't start the movement to legalize marijuana use in the United States, but during the last year he has become arguably the movement's best-known voice.

That in itself is quite a trip for the 31-year-old Delanco resident.

Now consider that Goldstein's daily podcast, the NORML Daily Audio Stash, is regularly downloaded by more computer and iPod users than podcasts produced by and for New York Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and President George W. Bush.

If you'd told Goldstein that was going to happen a year ago when the show first debuted on the Web site of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law, he likely would have thought you were, well, smoking something.

“It does feel good,” Goldstein said about the popularity of the Daily Audio Stash.

Goldstein is the host and producer of the podcast. For the uninitiated, a podcast is the digital equivalent of a radio show. The crucial difference is that instead of being broadcast over public airwaves or via satellite radio, podcasts are uploaded onto Web pages and then made available for listening on personal computers or portable media devices such as Apple's iPod and Microsoft's Zune.

It's a rapidly growing format for both music, news and political commentary that Goldstein said has proven uniquely suitable for NORML's goal of promoting marijuana reform.

“It's really the only way for an organization like (NORML) to present this issue,” Goldstein said last week while putting the finishing touches on a special 58-minute “best of” episode marking the show's one-year anniversary.

Goldstein had a lot to choose from for the special. During the past year, he has interviewed more than 300 people for the daily podcasts. The interviews include frank discussions with Texas Congressman and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul, noted poet and political activist John Sinclair, Chicago Tribune columnist Clarence Page and comedian Tommy Chong.

The interviews are edited together with news and commentary about marijuana reform and science.

Goldstein and NORML activists point to the popularity of the show as another example of the growing strength of the movement to legalize and regulate the marijuana. According to NORML, the podcasts were downloaded more than 2.2 million times during the last year and consistently ranked among the top 15 “most subscribed” podcasts in the government and organizations category of the Apple iTunes Music Store on the Internet. The rankings are based on the number of times the free podcasts are downloaded.

“I think it shows that people are as interested in marijuana policy and serious information about reform,” Goldstein said. “That's what we present. We're not some stoner show that makes fun of the issue. We talk to doctors, scientists and medical patients (who use the drug).”

Goldstein, a New Jersey native and 1994 graduate of Moorestown Friends School, described the work as surprisingly time-consuming. He said his typical day is spent surfing the Internet in search of marijuana-related news and scientific reports to discuss on the show. He also speaks to NORML senior policy officials daily, conducts phone interviews and looks for suitable music for inclusion on the podcast. He then edits everything he has accumulated into what is typically a 30- to 35-minute package.

Most days, the entire operation is done out of a tiny second-floor studio in Goldstein's Delanco home, although he occasionally pieces together shows elsewhere.

“All I really need is a microphone, a computer and an Internet connection,” Goldstein said.

In addition to his work with NORML, Goldstein hosts and produces a weekly radio show called Active Voice Radio based in Santa Fe, N.M.

Before working in radio and podcasts, Goldstein studied acting at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia. He also worked as an actor in the city.

The Daily Audio Stash podcasts are available for download at www.norml.org.