About

Hi everyone! If you don’t know by now, my name is Matt Vanderlist and I’m the host and creator of Matt’s Basement Workshop Podcast.

The very first episode of MBW posted on January 26th, 2006 and was recorded on a toy microphone. Chances are, if you’ve listened to the episode, probably explains a few things doesn’t it?

A lot has changed since then, but at the heart of the show, Matt’s Basement Workshop is still the same podcast as when it started – ME trying to share with YOU the audience my own experiences so far as a woodworker. I’m still an amateur woodworker in his basement workshop enjoying every moment in there I can.

Just like so many of you, I was bitten by the woodworking bug very early on in life. For me it started from hours of watching my grandfather working in his basement workshop. And also, like so many of you, it wasn’t until years later when I bought my first house that the bug resurfaced and bit even harder than before.

A big part of why I started Matt’s Basement Workshop Podcast was that I knew by sharing my own experiences in woodworking it would help me to understand more about what I already know. And in more ways than I can count it would inspire me, to learn more about what I still have yet to discover. Over the years it’s been am amazing opportunity to talk with so many of you and discover just how much we can truly learn about woodworking together.

A few facts to share with you about myself:

  1. I’m a lucky man who’s married to my best friend, the amazingly talented Photographer Samantha Vanderlist of Shutter Sam Photography.
  2. I have two equally great and amazing kids, Madison and Aiden. Whom I love and adore and am shocked at how much they’ve grown in the past few years!
  3. While I would love to make MBW Podcast my full-time job, for now, my “day job” is as a Cytotechnologist for a Hospital Pathology Department (basically I sit at a desk all day and stare into a microscope).

A few facts to share with you about the show:

  1. As much as I would love to come up with a premium content version of MBW Podcast I just don’t see it happening in the near future. So for now, it’s all free content until further notice. And even then, all that was free before, will stay free.
  2. Because MBW Podcast started out as an audio only show (in the days before the first video iPod was introduced) I still have an AUDIO ONLY feed available on all my content. And because not all that happens in a video translates well to audio-only I may talk a little more than some would care for. This is just the way it is and always will be! I’m catering to my audience, regardless of whether they’re watching or listening.
  3. While I own the rights to my content, I have always firmly believed in letting it be shared where ever it can be found. That’s why I have a “Creative Commons Attribution” License on it. In other words, you’re free to share it, to copy it, to redistribute and transmit the work, to remix and to adapt the work to make commercial use of it. BUT You must attribute the work in the manner specified by ME (but not in any way that suggests that I endorse you or your use of the work, unless I send you written permission).
  4. I do solicit sponsorships to help support the show financially, but it’s made clear to the sponsors that it doesn’t mean I set aside my unfavorable opinions of their products or services if it’s warranted.
  5. Sponsorships are in the form of advertising on the website or in the show directly.
  6. Sponsorships preferably are in the form of regular monthly payments to the show, but trade for products or services of equal value to a set advertising block is accepted too (so contrary to popular belief, I don’t receive products/services AND cash at the same time for advertising – unless they both equal the stated amount for the ad spot).
  7. Other means to help support the show financially include AFFILIATE PROGRAMS with retailers and websites that offer services and goods I know will be of interest to fellow woodworkers. All of the AFFILIATE PROGRAMS I belong to are found on the Help Support Matt’s Basement Workshop page. And also in the form of the occasional link in the shownotes.

One last thing to remind everyone. Safety in the woodshop is each and every person’s responsibility. Please realize that sometimes safety guards and devices may be removed in my shop when I’m attempting to demonstrate a technique or process, but that doesn’t EVER mean I endorse it as a regular practice for others to follow. If you choose to work unsafely in the woodshop you do it at your own risk.

If there’s ever anything I talk about on the show that you’d like to learn more about or something you feel needs correcting…please don’t ever hesitate to CLICK ON THIS LINK AND EMAIL ME with your questions or concerns.

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