Summer Bod is almost over!🏋️
2 Recs + Updates and My New Pod! + Top 5
Hey Poddy People!
Sidequest alert: My friends and I launched a rewatch podcast! It’s centered around South Asian stories in the media and entertainment space as we see it. We’re starting with Indian Matchmaking from Netflix, Season 1 Episode 1! Of course, I’m nervous about it. Aren’t we all when we hit publish? I dropped the links in the Round-Up and the current podcast tech stack at the end of the newsletter for those interested!
Next week it’s DC time for Podcast Movement! Get your tickets with our code “GP50”. I will report right back here. So… LET’S GOOOOO!
The Round-Up
Actress Emma Roberts shared that she was listening to Dan Taberski’s Hysterical the other day. H/T
One of my new pod buddies I met at The Podcast Show - London, Lara Adekoya, will be a guest on a live podcast for Building Black Podcast, on August 20th in LA. Sign up here. It’s Free!
Podcast Movement in DC is around the corner! You know me now if you’re still thinking about it or won’t know anyone! Discount code: GP50.
Some friends were visiting LA and we spent time in the neighborhood of Silver Lake. Little did I know podcast studio, Headgum (Doughboys, We're Here to Help, Newcomers) is right there.
Podcast Tourist? Personal podcast: As mentioned above, I launched a South Asian centered rewatch/recap podcast with my friends called . 1st episode is out and it’s light with comedy and commentary. We’re learning how we vibe with each other and are having a good time doing it. Hopefully, it translates to your ears. Trailer and listen here. Tech stack at the end.
Podcast critic Nick Quah from Vulture.com will no longer have a weekly critic column. The writing has been on the wall as I have not seen a consistent review from him in the last two months. The last one was in July. Sad. I would link to it, but it was in the email and they haven’t posted on the website yet.
From the email: An announcement! After four years, I’m winding down the weekly podcast column here in 1.5x Speed. The reason for this is perfectly banal: While I’d like to tell you it’s because I’m getting older (true) and my hearing is not what it used to be (also true), the reality is more boring than that. Your boy just needs a change in scenery!
What left the Coming Soon section: Play On Podcasts (Season: As You Like It), Conspiracy, She Wrote, Dream Sequence, Flashpoint, Violence Week
What is currently on the Coming Soon section: Chai After Dark Podcast (wink wink), Dungeon Masters, Game Plan: The Wendell Brown Story, Assembly Required with Stacey Abrams, Didn't I Just Feed You?, Law & Order: Criminal Justice System
On Jeopardy’s Tourney of Champions this week:
On To My Picks This Week…
Podcast: Extreme: Muscle Men
Genre: Fitness, History
Publisher: BBC
About: 1980s Los Angeles. A young, amateur bodybuilder named William Dillon comes to California in search of the supersized American dream - to get absolutely jacked. But beneath the smell of sweat, pulsing disco beats, and the rhythmic clank of weights, there's a secret. Many of the bodybuilders and gym rats he meets are using steroids to achieve their pumped up physique. And if that's what it takes to make it big, Dillon's willing to do it too. Historian, podcaster and fitness expert Natalia Mehlman Petrzela, presenter of hit podcast Welcome To Your Fantasy, reveals how the rise of America's fitness and gym-culture through the 20th century collided with the unregulated availability of steroids in the 1980s, transforming the way we see our bodies, and the lengths to which we'll go to in the pursuit of perfection.
Hans and Frans won’t pump you up in this podcast, as the subject line hinted at. Natalia is just too good on Welcome To Your Fantasy which the critics agreed is a great podcast. And the Muscle Men podcast structure, between music, interviews, and narration feels like a Welcome To Your Fantasy sequel. Where one discussed the 80s heartthrob dancers and the murder of the Chippendale’s founder, this one takes the 80s steroid craze of the gym bros. She knows her strengths and we’re better listeners for it. I’m always gravitating to entertaining history. Natalia does it justice as Miranda Sawyer writes below. It’s a minor but interesting note for me, that Gold’s Gym started in Santa Monica. I didn’t know that before. Next Tuesday’s Trivia night I’ll win those wings if they ask that question.
Something that Dillon said I would use on my entrepreneurial journey now. I already printed it.
“If I’m going to work hard, I wanna make money” - Dillon
I didn’t print it. I tattooed it.
Miranda Sawyer • The Guardian
"...a couple of episodes in and it’s certainly pumping iron....it’s a fun, campy listen...Petrzela knows how to entertain – her interviews are wry without being mean-spirited – and there are some hilarious moments..."
Podcast: You Probably Think This Story’s About You
Genre: True Crime
Publisher: Larj Media
About: "You Probably Think This Story's About You" is an exploration of love, betrayal, and the far-reaching consequences of one man's deceit, told through the eyes of the women whose lives were irrevocably changed by it. Brittani Ard is on a quest for the truth. She wants to understand how Kanon — the man she once believed to be her soulmate — could have deceived her so deeply. As the devastating revelations unfold, exposing the depths of his lies, Brittani embarks on a journey to uncover the truth. The road to understanding is paved with Brittani’s complex childhood, marked by addiction, sisterhood, and the deep family ties that shaped her. But there’s one question left: who is this story really about? One thing's for sure – it's not him anymore.
It’s not really True Crime, but a story of manipulation and contextual family history which I appreciated. This reminded me a little of Sweet Bobby because you go through the first 3 episodes of the catfishing and we find out who it is. In YPTTSAY, a similar journey takes place, because after the manipulation of the ex-boyfriend, Kanon, the rest of the series dives into the family and its deeper meaning. Brittani isn’t sugarcoating it, and we are better off for it. Here you have Brittani build a richer history of her family and upbringing, that is pre and post-Kanon.
The full season is out to binge with some bonus Q&A episodes.
• Ear Worthy
"Ard's powerful storytelling weaves a tapestry of resilience, empowerment, and the unwavering strength of the human spirit”
'Top of the Pods' the week before Podcast Movement on greatpods.co with Ed Helms seemingly coming out of nowhere.
5. Dangerous Memories - Tortoise
4. To Die For - Tenderfoot TV
3. You Probably Think This Story's About You - Larj Media
2. SNAFU w/ Ed Helms - FilmNation, iHeart
1. Maddow presents: Ultra - MSNBC
CHAI AFTER DARK TECH STACK!
What are we using to create Chai After Dark?
I wanted to take you through the journey of creating this new podcast and what we are using so you know how an amateur podcast can be started. Even you can do it!
Here’s the current podcast tech stack we are using:
Trello - Managing all the tasks board (Free)
Descript with Squadcast for recording and easy editing via the transcript (Paid Yearly)
*My only issue is Squadcast doesn’t allow sound to be played via screen sharing when recording. (They just Announced an integration with ZOOM!! I’m going to test it out on the next recording.)
Microphones - Ranging from Shure MV7 (Mine) to FiFine (Friends)
Canva - Logo, Social Media artwork, Audiograms (Free Trial, but now paid since we all can work on it together)
Additional audio editing, Sound Forge (Paid) I’m using an old version a long time ago that I bought which still works on Windows for simple level audio and cuts.
Substack - Homepage, Subscriptions, Newsletter, Podcast hosting (Free - Substack does give instructions on how to add the RSS feed to popular podcast apps)
Headliner - Static image audiograms for YouTube and socials (Free)
In addition to all that, we set up an LLC because we never know what the future holds, and even as friends we want to be protected.
We are not publishing video versions of ourselves yet. It’s an added layer of editing we don’t want to do just yet. However, we will publish the audio on YouTube after we release a couple of episodes.
Stay safe, be kind, and do something nice to your neighbor…if you have one.
Listening with you,
Captain Ron
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