diff --git a/Configuration.cs b/Configuration.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6bbf878
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Configuration.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+namespace podcast_agent
+{
+    using System.Xml.Linq;
+    public class Configuration
+    {
+        public string OutputDir { get; set; } = "../";
+        public string UserAgent { get; set; } = "secret-chinese-spy-drone/0.1";
+        public List<string> PodcastUrls { get; set; }
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/Program.cs b/Program.cs
index 10bd3d0..fe127cc 100644
--- a/Program.cs
+++ b/Program.cs
@@ -1,34 +1,73 @@
 namespace podcast_agent
 {
     using System.Xml.Linq;
+    using Newtonsoft.Json;
 
     class Program
     {
         static async Task Main(string[] args)
         {
+            var conf = Configure();
             var downloader = new HttpClient();
-            downloader.DefaultRequestHeaders.UserAgent.ParseAdd("wget-is-not-a-crime");
-
-            var xml = XDocument.Load("https://feeds.npr.org/500005/podcast.xml");
+            downloader.DefaultRequestHeaders.UserAgent.ParseAdd(conf.UserAgent);
 
             XNamespace ns = "http://www.itunes.com/dtds/podcast-1.0.dtd";
-            foreach (var item in xml.Descendants("item"))
+            foreach (var feed in conf.PodcastUrls)
             {
-                var title = item.Element("title")?.Value;
-                var ext=".wav";
-                var attachmentLink = item.Element("enclosure")?.Attribute("url")?.Value.ToString();
-                var probableFilename = attachmentLink.Substring(0, attachmentLink.IndexOf('?'));
-                if(probableFilename.LastIndexOf('.') > 0)
+                try
                 {
-                    ext = probableFilename.Substring(probableFilename.LastIndexOf('.'));
-                }
+                    var xml = XDocument.Load(feed);
 
-                Console.WriteLine($"{title}, {attachmentLink}");
-                var downloadPath = title + ext;
-                var dlResult = (await downloader.GetAsync(attachmentLink));
-                File.WriteAllBytes(downloadPath, await dlResult.Content.ReadAsByteArrayAsync());
+                    foreach (var item in xml.Descendants("item"))
+                    {
+                        var title = item.Element("title")?.Value;
+                        var ext = ".wav";
+                        var attachmentLink = item.Element("enclosure")?.Attribute("url")?.Value.ToString();
+                        var probableFilename = attachmentLink.Substring(0, attachmentLink.IndexOf('?'));
+                        if (probableFilename.LastIndexOf('.') > 0)
+                        {
+                            ext = probableFilename.Substring(probableFilename.LastIndexOf('.'));
+                        }
+
+                        Console.WriteLine($"{title}, {attachmentLink}");
+                        var downloadPath = Path.Combine(conf.OutputDir, title + ext);
+                        var dlResult = (await downloader.GetAsync(attachmentLink));
+                        File.WriteAllBytes(downloadPath, await dlResult.Content.ReadAsByteArrayAsync());
+                    }
+                }
+                catch (Exception e)
+                {
+                    Console.Error.WriteLine($"failed attempting to dl {feed} -");
+                    Console.Error.WriteLine(e);
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        static Configuration Configure(string configurationPath = "appsettings.json")
+        {
+            if (!File.Exists(configurationPath))
+            {
+                Console.Error.WriteLine($"could not find configuration at {configurationPath}! copying sample to that spot.");
+                File.Copy("sample-appsettings.json", configurationPath); //and you know what, if that explodes at the OS level, the OS should give you an error
+                return null;
+            }
+            var fileContents = File.ReadAllText(configurationPath);
+            if (string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(fileContents))
+            {
+                Console.Error.WriteLine($"configuration file at {configurationPath} was empty! overwriting with sample settings.");
+                File.Copy("sample-appsettings.json", configurationPath, true);
+                return null;
             }
 
+            var conf = JsonConvert.DeserializeObject<Configuration>(fileContents);
+
+            if (conf == null)
+            {
+                Console.Error.WriteLine($"configuration file at {configurationPath} was empty! overwriting with sample settings.");
+                File.Copy("sample-appsettings.json", configurationPath, true);
+                return null;
+            }
+
+            return conf;
         }
     }
 }