When I wrote about the end of The Prompt and Directional last month, I noted that I was “thrilled about the future”. Today, Relay FM has officially launched, featuring the first episodes of our new podcasts: Connected and Virtual.

Relay FM is an independent network founded by my friends and co-hosts Myke Hurley and Stephen Hackett. They have put a lot of thought and care into assembling a team for Relay FM and ensuring we’d have a flexible platform for our shows, and I’m extremely grateful they gave me the opportunity to help them out during this process. I’m honored and excited to continue producing weekly shows with a system that gives us freedom to experiment, scale, and control our content as independent creators.

As you can imagine, Connected is the successor to The Prompt, and Virtual picks up where Directional left off.

You can find Connected here, or subscribe on iTunes. Here’s the official description:

Connected is a weekly panel discussion on Apple and the impact of technology on our lives. With each co-host having a unique background — and accent — Connected provides a perspective that no other show can.

Virtual is available here and on iTunes as well. Virtual has kept the same intro song of Directional, with a slightly tweaked description that reflects our renewed efforts:

A show about games, gamers, game makers and the surrounding culture. Virtual focuses on the titles that laid the foundations of gaming today and those that are paving the way as gaming continues to evolve.

Here’s what Stephen and Myke wrote for the launch of Relay:

Relay FM is our new home on the Internet, and where you can find all of our podcasts. The shows you have known and loved for years are being rebooted as part of the new network. Everything we have done so far in our podcasting careers has led us here, and we’re pouring all of our love, knowledge and attention into this thing.

It makes sense for us to have a single home for all of our work; starting a network is the right decision for us. At launch, we are featuring four returning shows and one new one. We have lots of plans for the future, and can’t wait to get to work making those dreams a reality.

On his personal blog, Myke elaborated on his background and what he wants to accomplish with Relay FM:

When I look back over my last five years of podcasting, I can see how all of the choices and decisions that I have made have equipped me to do this. Every success, every mistake and every failure have given me the knowledge and expertise to do this. I take a look at where I am now and where I have come from and I see how much I’ve progressed. It excites me to think where I could be in five years from now.

And:

We just want to become the place you think of when you want to listen to some cool, interesting and fun shows. I want you to be able to see a show on Relay FM and know that it’s going to be good. That’s what we strive for every day.

Here’s Stephen, writing at 512 Pixels:

We’ve spent lots of money, lots of time and lots of energy in creating Relay FM. It’s ours. We’ve molded it with our own hands; what it is and what it becomes is up to us and our amazing hosts. Relay is a labor of love, and I think it shows.

To celebrate the launch, we have posted the inaugural episodes of Connected and Virtual, and both are special ones. In Connected #1, we revisit the history of the iPod with clips from four different Apple keynotes and we consider the impact of Apple’s music player on the world of consumer technology, fashion, and more. in Virtual #1, we compare new & old as Myke gets a PS4 and I play with an old Nintendo DS again. You can find “Mindset of 2001” here, and “New and Old” here.

Also, don’t miss the first episodes of the other shows on Relay FM: Analogue #1 with Myke and Casey, Inquisitive #1 with Marco Arment, and The Pen Addict #116.

It feels good to be back in front of a mic, and I’m incredibly excited about the future of Relay FM. Check out today’s launch episodes here.

Note: If you’re an old subscriber of The Prompt and Directional, you’ll need to resubscribe to the new shows. You can find all the new feeds here.