Speaker 1: Text with technology with tech stuff from how stuff works
Speaker 1: dot com. Hey there, and welcome to tex Stuff. I
Speaker 1: am your host, Jonathan Strickland, executive producer here at how
Speaker 1: stuff Works. And our previous episode was number nine hundred,
Speaker 1: which by my math makes this one and one. And
Speaker 1: in episode nine I talked about the founding of how
Speaker 1: stuff works and how it changed since it first started.
Speaker 1: Back is the first part of the how stuff Works story.
Speaker 1: So if you've not heard that, go here that and
Speaker 1: then come back here and I will I will make
Speaker 1: you hear other things about how stuff works because in
Speaker 1: that other episode I focus mostly on the website side
Speaker 1: of the story. That is the older part of the business,
Speaker 1: the thousands and thousands of articles about all sorts of subjects,
Speaker 1: heavily researched and expertly written. So if you're not familiar
Speaker 1: with how stupworks dot com, I recommend you go check
Speaker 1: it out. But in this episode I'm going to focus
Speaker 1: more on the podcast side of the business. How stupp
Speaker 1: works podcasts got their start in two thousand eight, so
Speaker 1: ten years after the founding of the website itself. The
Speaker 1: original idea is that we would launch our shows to
Speaker 1: complement that website, so episodes were meant to be very
Speaker 1: short and to cover an article that you could find
Speaker 1: over at how stupp works dot com. This was thought
Speaker 1: of as a brand extension, right. It wasn't a way
Speaker 1: to make money. It wasn't like an article where we
Speaker 1: would serve up web advertising against the article. There was
Speaker 1: no plan to monetize the podcast when they first began,
Speaker 1: and there was not really an easy way to do
Speaker 1: it if we wanted to. So in other words, this
Speaker 1: was essentially a marketing expense. We were operating the podcasts
Speaker 1: at a loss. It costs money to host podcasts, so
Speaker 1: we were spending on the shows, but there was no
Speaker 1: way to directly make that money back at the time.
Speaker 1: The fact that we were allow to launch the shows
Speaker 1: and choose what to put on there and keep making
Speaker 1: them for years it's pretty amazing now. Conal Byrne, who
Speaker 1: was the managing director at how stuff Works at the time,
Speaker 1: was the guy who said, hey, we should be doing this,
Speaker 1: and he approached several of us about starting shows in
Speaker 1: two thousand and eight. I was eager to jump on board.
Speaker 1: I had been listening to podcasts for a couple of
Speaker 1: years and one of my favorites was c nets Buzz
Speaker 1: Out Loud, which was a show that hasn't existed for
Speaker 1: several years now. I miss it a lot. Molly Wood
Speaker 1: and tom Merritt and lots of other hosts have been
Speaker 1: part of that, and they were phenomenal. They gave tech
Speaker 1: news really cool context and commentary, and I loved their delivery.
Speaker 1: So I was eager to give this a try myself,
Speaker 1: and I jumped at the chance to be in on
Speaker 1: the launch of a technology themed podcast. Now, out of
Speaker 1: all the folks who started podcasting at that time, there
Speaker 1: are only a few of us who had a background
Speaker 1: in performance. Most of the people who started podcasts were
Speaker 1: coming at it from a researcher and writer perspective, but
Speaker 1: not someone who would typically perform on microphone. They were
Speaker 1: not I mean, they had personalities, but they were not personalities.
Speaker 1: There is a difference. Also, there's a term that is
Speaker 1: frequently used in the industry to describe people who are
Speaker 1: podcasters besides jerks. It's the term is talent. And boy
Speaker 1: does that feel pretentious to be called the talent, as
Speaker 1: if everybody else who works on this isn't talented, That
Speaker 1: is patent lee untrue. I have had a sweet, a
Speaker 1: veritable army of talented people who have made my show
Speaker 1: and the other shows at How Stuff Works possible and
Speaker 1: sound great and go out on time. So I object
Speaker 1: to being called the talent, but that is another common
Speaker 1: term for it. At any rate, none of us at
Speaker 1: that time were the talent. We were talented, just not
Speaker 1: We weren't meant for for performing in on top of microphones.
Speaker 1: We would instead do research and write an article and
Speaker 1: submit it and get edits back, and then work on
Speaker 1: those edits and submit it again. That's that's how we worked.
Speaker 1: So if you listen to some of those old episodes,
Speaker 1: those first few of any given show, you might notice
Speaker 1: some hesitancy, some uncertainty of how to talk into a
Speaker 1: microphone and how to relate to an audience that isn't there.
Speaker 1: But most of us, in fact, I would say, everybody
Speaker 1: who's still around, picked up on it pretty well and
Speaker 1: now does an amazing job of it. Myself excluded, I've
Speaker 1: always done an amazing job. Now. Four shows launched that
Speaker 1: summer of two thousand and eight to extend the presence
Speaker 1: of How Stuff Works into podcast land. Those four shows
Speaker 1: where Stuff You Should Know Factor Fiction, which would later
Speaker 1: become Stuff You Missed in History Class, Brain Stuff, which
Speaker 1: was hosted by the site founder, Marshall brain and Tech Stuff.
Speaker 1: All four of those shows still exist, though brain Stuff
Speaker 1: has changed the most in format since it started. Stuff
Speaker 1: You Missed In History Class has had several hosts throughout
Speaker 1: its own history. Only two people have remained co hosts
Speaker 1: or hosts of their respective shows since the launch of
Speaker 1: those first four shows. Those two people are Josh Clark,
Speaker 1: the co host of Stuff You Should Know, and me,
Speaker 1: host of Tech Stuff. We are the only two original
Speaker 1: hosts from that original slate of shows who are still
Speaker 1: hosting those shows, and I will have Josh Clark on
Speaker 1: this episode a little bit later. Now. Over time, the
Speaker 1: podcast transformed from brand extension marketing to revenue generating shows,
Speaker 1: so in other words, we started selling ad spots and
Speaker 1: getting sponsorships. These days, the podcas ask business is a
Speaker 1: big one, so much so that were now considered a
Speaker 1: podcast network company. And this change was a gradual one,
Speaker 1: but it's also a really big one. It's kind of
Speaker 1: hard to communicate to anyone outside of how stuff works.
Speaker 1: How enormous a change this was. When I first started
Speaker 1: at the company, we didn't even have podcasts, not at
Speaker 1: How Stuff Works. I mean they existed, but we didn't
Speaker 1: have any. Later, we were considered a website that also
Speaker 1: did podcasts these days were a podcast company. So I
Speaker 1: started off as a staff writer, I became a senior writer,
Speaker 1: and now I'm a podcast executive producer and host. It's
Speaker 1: kind of an interesting journey because there was no career
Speaker 1: ladder that way when I started, because there was no department,
Speaker 1: there was no podcasting. And a bit will u we'll
Speaker 1: touch in with a Josh and talk about his perspective
Speaker 1: on the podcast business of How Stuff Works. But first
Speaker 1: I thought would be fun to run down a list
Speaker 1: of shows we've done over the years, a podcasts, not
Speaker 1: episodes of tech Stuff. And some of these podcasts are
Speaker 1: still in production. Others have been phased out, which is
Speaker 1: a nice way of saying canceled. Sometimes shows are canceled
Speaker 1: because we failed to get a good, strong audience. Sometimes
Speaker 1: we have to cancel them when we realize the amount
Speaker 1: of work it takes to put into the show is
Speaker 1: so much that we cannot do other things that we
Speaker 1: need to do. Sometimes it's because people who are working
Speaker 1: on the show move on to go work somewhere else.
Speaker 1: There are a lot of different reasons, so it's not
Speaker 1: like we have a cruel taskmaster who is watching a
Speaker 1: needle and if the needle doesn't get out of the
Speaker 1: red in a certain amount of time, they just say
Speaker 1: out the door with you. I want to make sure
Speaker 1: that you guys realize that. So we're gonna start with
Speaker 1: the big one, the first of all the podcasts to
Speaker 1: launch in two thousand and eight, that would be Stuff
Speaker 1: You should Know. It's still our most popular show by far.
Speaker 1: It is the the flagship, the rock star of the
Speaker 1: house stuff Works Network, and it's helmed by Josh Clark
Speaker 1: and Chuck Bryant. At least it is today. Back in
Speaker 1: the day, Josh Clark hosted with a couple of other
Speaker 1: folks on early episodes. He'll talk about that a little
Speaker 1: bit later. And typically they choose an article and how
Speaker 1: stuff works, and they each do some supplemental research looking
Speaker 1: into other sources on their own, and then they meet
Speaker 1: up to have a conversation about the subject matter. They
Speaker 1: don't share their notes, they don't share their research. They
Speaker 1: just sit down at the table and what you hear
Speaker 1: on the podcast is their conversation it's a really effective
Speaker 1: and engaging approach. Their chemistry is undeniable. They've posted more
Speaker 1: than a thousand episodes of their show since it launched
Speaker 1: in two thousand and eight, and they covered pretty much
Speaker 1: any topic imaginable, though they tend to leave the technological
Speaker 1: ones to me. We published several episodes of stuff you
Speaker 1: Should Know at once so that people would have multiple
Speaker 1: episodes to listen to right out of the gate. So
Speaker 1: on April two thousand eight, the first three episodes to
Speaker 1: come out were how grass Aline Works, How lame Ducks Work,
Speaker 1: and how Altruism Works. Stuff You Missed in History Class
Speaker 1: Today is hosted by Tracy V. Wilson and Holly Fry,
Speaker 1: though numerous other hosts have helmed the show in the past,
Speaker 1: and they take a deep dive on interesting, obscure, or
Speaker 1: otherwise overlooked historical events and give them real context and explanation.
Speaker 1: We guess, out of all of our shows that we
Speaker 1: produce here at the company, that's the one that requires
Speaker 1: the most in depth research. And my hat is off
Speaker 1: to them, because I do about eight hours of research
Speaker 1: per hour of tech stuff that you hear. I think
Speaker 1: they do even more than that because it requires it
Speaker 1: to to find out as many sources about these historical
Speaker 1: events as possible and corroborate with other sources to make
Speaker 1: sure that they are communicating the most accurate information. The
Speaker 1: first episode of Stuff You Missed in his Street Class
Speaker 1: was did Genghis Khan really kill one million, seven forty
Speaker 1: eight thousand people in one hour? And that it published
Speaker 1: on June nine, two eight. Now you know all about
Speaker 1: tech Stuff. It's the show you're listening to right now.
Speaker 1: But originally tech Stuff was a two person show and
Speaker 1: my editor, Chris Pallette was my co host and the
Speaker 1: purveyor of puns. If you think my puns are bad,
Speaker 1: you need to listen to some old shows. Our first
Speaker 1: episode was and I'm embarrassed to say this, how the
Speaker 1: Google Apple Cloud computer will work? Yeah. I published on
Speaker 1: June tenth, two thousand eight. So our show is one
Speaker 1: day younger than Stuff You Missed Industry Class. There show
Speaker 1: came out the day before ours. Brain Stuff was originally
Speaker 1: hosted by Marshall Brain that is his real name, and
Speaker 1: the episodes were really really short, like a couple of
Speaker 1: minutes each When it first came out. Each one would
Speaker 1: answer a question and a quick overviews such as how
Speaker 1: Nano Solar Works. That shows still around, and I hear
Speaker 1: that there are some interesting ideas that might be happening
Speaker 1: with brain Stuff in the near future. So if you
Speaker 1: haven't listened for a while, you may want to go
Speaker 1: and subscribe. I have a feeling there's going to be
Speaker 1: some changes made in all sorts of interesting ways, a
Speaker 1: lot of experimentation. Um, but that's all I can say
Speaker 1: about it because it's still in flux at the moment.
Speaker 1: But the first episode of the show was How Stealth
Speaker 1: Technology Works, and it published on July four, two thousand
Speaker 1: and eight. Best Deal Day. Car Stuff is a show
Speaker 1: with Ben Bolan and Scott Benjamin used to be called
Speaker 1: High Speed Stuff and then they changed it eventually as
Speaker 1: a show about vehicles, and it's really incredibly entertaining. Scott
Speaker 1: is a treasure trove of car information. If you've heard
Speaker 1: any of the episodes where he's been a host here
Speaker 1: on tech Stuff, he has phenomenally informed about vehicles and
Speaker 1: it's also fun to break his heart by talking about
Speaker 1: autonomous vehicles. And then Ben, well, he's he's pretty smart.
Speaker 1: Ben's a very funny, smart guy. He's also my arch
Speaker 1: nemesis here at How Stuff Works. I declared that pretty
Speaker 1: much my first month of working here, because I wanted
Speaker 1: to have an arch nemesis who was actually very courteous
Speaker 1: and friendly and would sometimes bring me lunch. One of
Speaker 1: the hardest working folks here at the company would be
Speaker 1: Mr Ben Bolan. Their first episode was How kar Theft Works,
Speaker 1: which honestly does not surprise me at all because Ben
Speaker 1: is also a bit shifty. It published November eight. They
Speaker 1: had a second episode go live that same day titled
Speaker 1: what will Luxury Car Mean? And twenty thirty so we
Speaker 1: still have a few years to find out if they
Speaker 1: were right about it. Chuck Bryant and John Fuller. They
Speaker 1: launched a show for a while. It was called Stuff
Speaker 1: from the B Side, which was all about music. I
Speaker 1: miss that show a lot. You'll hear me and Josh
Speaker 1: talk about that a little bit later. The podcast was
Speaker 1: an interesting look at music and music product action and
Speaker 1: related topics. The first episode was called How Debut Albums Work,
Speaker 1: which is pretty clever when your first episodes about debut albums.
Speaker 1: It published on December thirteenth, two thousand and eight. The
Speaker 1: final episode was titled Before They Were Robots, early craft
Speaker 1: Work and it published on December tenth, two thousand nine.
Speaker 1: So this show lasted about a year, and it's when
Speaker 1: I really wish we could bring back, and maybe someday
Speaker 1: we will in some format. Then we have Stuff Mom
Speaker 1: Never Told You, which was originally hosted by Kristen Conger
Speaker 1: and Molly Edmonds. And I remember when Kristen and Molly
Speaker 1: first pitched this show because I got to sit in
Speaker 1: on some of those early recordings and I could tell
Speaker 1: right away that they had an incredible idea. Molly would
Speaker 1: leave the company in two eleven, with Caroline Irvin joining
Speaker 1: the show, and then Kristen and Caroline did an amazing
Speaker 1: job evolving the show into a strong feminist voice. Caroline
Speaker 1: and Kristen left How Stuff Works in late The show
Speaker 1: itself has returned and now has new hosts Emily Airies
Speaker 1: and Bridge Todd. The first episode of the show ever
Speaker 1: was Doo, Men and Women have different Brains. It published
Speaker 1: February four, two thousand nine. I suspect the answer is yes,
Speaker 1: because we can't all share the same one. On January
Speaker 1: we launched a new show called Stuff from the Science Lab,
Speaker 1: but we would rebrand this. This is sort of like
Speaker 1: Factor Fiction. We changed the name of it. Now it
Speaker 1: is known as Stuff to Blow Your Mind. This is
Speaker 1: a science based podcast. It's currently hosted by Robert Lamb,
Speaker 1: Joe McCormick, and Chris stout Sayer. Although our editor Alison
Speaker 1: louder Milk was an original co host with Robert. Julie
Speaker 1: Douglas would also host some of these episodes of the show,
Speaker 1: and the first episode ever was called Amazing Investations. In
Speaker 1: twenty eleven, we launched a short lived podcast called Stuff
Speaker 1: to Make You Smarter. This was hosted by Rob and Chris,
Speaker 1: who were not actually part of the editorial department, and
Speaker 1: this show explored all sorts of various topics but didn't
Speaker 1: quite last half a year. The first episode launched a
Speaker 1: May second, two thousand eleven and was called of Cinema
Speaker 1: and Sound The Story of Music and Film. The final
Speaker 1: episode was called Can We Teach Our Children to Be
Speaker 1: Bully Proof? And it published on September. So this was
Speaker 1: the time when we were actually opening up the ability
Speaker 1: to podcast beyond the editorial department. And it turns out
Speaker 1: that podcasting is it requires a lot of work, and
Speaker 1: sometimes it requires more work than you can put in
Speaker 1: and still do your regular job at the same time,
Speaker 1: So that I suspect was the reason why this podcast
Speaker 1: ended up being canceled about six months in from its launch.
Speaker 1: Um just imagining it was along those lines. It certainly
Speaker 1: wasn't anything about the quality of the show, which is
Speaker 1: quite good. You can still go back and listen to them.
Speaker 1: All of these, by the way, are still online, so
Speaker 1: you can go back and find them if you like.
Speaker 1: Now I've got more to talk about with the podcasts
Speaker 1: that were and still are with the House Stuff Works Network.
Speaker 1: But before I do that, let's take a quick break
Speaker 1: to thank our sponsor. All Right, we're back. We got
Speaker 1: a few more shows to talk about before we get
Speaker 1: to the interview with Josh Clark of Stuff You Should Know.
Speaker 1: On August nine, we published a new show called Stuff
Speaker 1: for a Stylish Home, which was a d I Y
Speaker 1: and home decor show hosted by Christie and Sarah, and
Speaker 1: their first episode was the importance of having things unique
Speaker 1: to you in. The final episode, which published on February nine,
Speaker 1: two thousand twelve, was Move Away from the Carpet Flooring Alternatives.
Speaker 1: This was another one of those shows we launched and
Speaker 1: canceled in just a few months, and I never really
Speaker 1: got a chance to talk with Sarah or Christie, so
Speaker 1: I really wasn't in the realm where that show was
Speaker 1: launched and then canceled. I don't really know what the
Speaker 1: story is behind it, but this was during our days
Speaker 1: as part of Discovery Communications, and that may have had
Speaker 1: something to do with it. I honestly don't know what.
Speaker 1: It may have had something to do with our our
Speaker 1: relationship with TLC. Now. Before they became the hosts of
Speaker 1: of Stuff You Missed in History Class, Tracy V. Wilson
Speaker 1: and Holly Fry also hosted a show called Pop Stuff,
Speaker 1: which was all about pop culture. The first episode published
Speaker 1: on October It was about time traveling through Fall TV.
Speaker 1: It was actually all about the shows that the hosts
Speaker 1: were excited about. So if you want to hear which
Speaker 1: shows in two thousand eleven Holly and Tracy were really
Speaker 1: waiting to see, you can go and download that episode
Speaker 1: and find out it's like time traveling all over again.
Speaker 1: The final episode of Pop Stuff would air on June third,
Speaker 1: two thirteen. It was called Greatest Hits Perfume The Culture
Speaker 1: of Scent. I used to host a show called Forward Thinking.
Speaker 1: It was a video series, and it had a companion
Speaker 1: audio podcast. The focus of both shows was to take
Speaker 1: a speculative look at the future. Often this would center
Speaker 1: on technology, but we'd also take science, art, culture, and
Speaker 1: other topics into consideration. Joe McCormick and Lauren voege Obaum
Speaker 1: hosted this show with me, and our first episode was
Speaker 1: called The Internet of Things More Efficient than You and
Speaker 1: it published on February fi fun fact, that was my
Speaker 1: sixth year work anniversary the day that show went live.
Speaker 1: Later that same year, Ben Bolan and Matt Frederick launched
Speaker 1: a new series called Stuff They Don't Want You to Know,
Speaker 1: which focuses on strange stories and French theories. I actually
Speaker 1: gave the show that name. That name was my idea.
Speaker 1: It's one of like three good ones I've had since
Speaker 1: I started How Stuff Works. Noel Brown has since joined
Speaker 1: that show, and their first episode ever was called Edward
Speaker 1: Burnet's the Most Famous Man Man You've Never Heard of?
Speaker 1: That published on octobirteen. Julie Douglas, one of our editors
Speaker 1: actually she used to edit my articles, hosts a show
Speaker 1: called The Stuff of Life. Her show tends to publish
Speaker 1: in seasons and it requires a lot more work, both
Speaker 1: on the research side and the post production side, but
Speaker 1: it's a really cool show. You should check it out
Speaker 1: a few episodes if you're not familiar with it. The
Speaker 1: Stuff of Life had both a trailer and an episode zero,
Speaker 1: as did many of the other shows that I will
Speaker 1: talk about soon, but the first real episode was called
Speaker 1: The Power of Fear and published January two thousand sixteen.
Speaker 1: Lauren Vogelbaum hosted a show called How Stuff Works Now
Speaker 1: for a while that was based off the blog posts
Speaker 1: that folks like myself we're writing for the Now brand.
Speaker 1: We've since discontinued that brand and the series, but the
Speaker 1: first episode of that podcast published on April two thousand
Speaker 1: sixteen and was titled Microbots, Babies, trust, and lead contamination.
Speaker 1: Three things you don't want to go together. Lauren and
Speaker 1: Annie launched a show this year in March called Food Stuff,
Speaker 1: in which they explore the amazing world of food. So
Speaker 1: if you like food, you should check it out. It's
Speaker 1: pretty awesome show. The first episode is titled Champagne and
Speaker 1: Sparkling Wine and it published on March first, two thousand seventeen.
Speaker 1: In twenty seventeen, our company also hired Will and Mangesh,
Speaker 1: who had co founded the magazine Mental Flass back in
Speaker 1: two thousand one. They joined our company and they launched
Speaker 1: a new podcast called Part Time Genius. Their first real episode,
Speaker 1: getting Past the Trailer in episode zero, published on June seven, seventeen,
Speaker 1: and it's called What Are the Sunniest Places to Hide
Speaker 1: My Taxes? Jack O'Brien, who was once an editor of Cracked,
Speaker 1: joined How Stuff Works in twenty seventeen as well, and
Speaker 1: in October of seventeen launched a news oriented comedy show
Speaker 1: called The Daily Zeitgeist. Now that show is particularly timely,
Speaker 1: so listing titles and launch dates doesn't really apply because
Speaker 1: it's dependent upon the news. But trust me, it's there.
Speaker 1: You should check it out if you haven't heard it already.
Speaker 1: On October nine, we launched the show Tech Stuff Daily.
Speaker 1: If you haven't heard of it, it's a short form
Speaker 1: show and yeah, it proves I can show it up
Speaker 1: if I have to covers tech stories that are part
Speaker 1: of the current conversation, and then I explained the context
Speaker 1: behind them all within seven ish minutes or less. The
Speaker 1: first episode was about augmented reality, and then we launched
Speaker 1: Ridiculous History with Noel Brown and Ben Bullen, which looks
Speaker 1: into really odd historical events. Their first episode is The
Speaker 1: Wild Hippos of Pablo Escobar and it went live on
Speaker 1: octob You should definitely tune into that show. I hear
Speaker 1: a rumor that a certain text stuff podcast host might
Speaker 1: be showing up regularly un ridiculous history to quiz people unfairly.
Speaker 1: I won't tell you where I heard that. One of
Speaker 1: the most recent shows that we launched is called Movie Crush.
Speaker 1: That's a show hosted by Chuck Bryant and which he
Speaker 1: interviews notable people about their favorite films. And the first
Speaker 1: episode featured Janet Varney and it's all about Tron. So
Speaker 1: you guys who heard my interview with Mr Listburger should
Speaker 1: definitely check that one out. The Movie Crush first episode
Speaker 1: published on November three. And we've had all sorts of
Speaker 1: interesting celebrities come in and out of our office. There
Speaker 1: are times when I'm recording and I'll look through the
Speaker 1: window and I'll see someone I recognize, and I just
Speaker 1: have to keep everything together and keep recording as if
Speaker 1: I didn't just see someone super cool walk by the window.
Speaker 1: It is a challenge. We've got a lot of other
Speaker 1: shows coming up soon. There's one called Atlanta Monster that
Speaker 1: is going to be all about the Atlanta child murders
Speaker 1: that happened in the early eighties here in Atlanta, and
Speaker 1: that that promises to be a very hard hitting, serious
Speaker 1: investigative piece. So if you are a fan of that style,
Speaker 1: that genre of podcast, you owe it to yourself to
Speaker 1: check it out. I've seen some of the early work
Speaker 1: and it is phenomenal, and we've got a lot more
Speaker 1: planned in the future. So if you are a fan
Speaker 1: of how Stuff works, you should be on the lookout
Speaker 1: for new podcast that will be coming out mostly through
Speaker 1: and beyond, so you never know what might pop up next. Now,
Speaker 1: let's go ahead and take a listen to an interview
Speaker 1: I did with a certain Mr Josh Clark of Stuff
Speaker 1: you should know Fame. Joining me in the studio today
Speaker 1: is my good buddy, my co worker, who I don't
Speaker 1: see nearly as frequently as I used to. Josh Clark,
Speaker 1: Welcome back. I think the last time you joined us
Speaker 1: for Tech Stuff, we talked about toilets we did. That
Speaker 1: was a good episode. Did you know that after that
Speaker 1: episode I actually got to visit one of the toilets
Speaker 1: we talked about in that episode. We talked about the
Speaker 1: toilets in Scara Bray, the little community in Ireland where
Speaker 1: or Scotland rather, I'm sorry, in Scotland, where they had
Speaker 1: dug out trenches underneath the seaside village of Scara Bray
Speaker 1: that would carry waste away into the ocean. And I
Speaker 1: actually visited the village of scare A Bray on my
Speaker 1: on my trip to Scotland and I it was fine. No,
Speaker 1: that was I was told specifically not to use those facilities,
Speaker 1: largely because there are no walls anymore, and apparently it's considered. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but that's not what we're here to talk about today.
Speaker 1: We're not here to talk about my proclivities for dropping
Speaker 1: trout at the drop of a hat. The hats and
Speaker 1: trousers they just drop everywhere. We were talking about now,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, this is a surprise because this is your life. No,
Speaker 1: I'm just kidding. So we're talking about the how Stuff
Speaker 1: Works story, Josh, and a big part of that. Now.
Speaker 1: In our previous episode, I covered the sort of the
Speaker 1: evolution of the website site side of How Stuff Works
Speaker 1: because that was what we were known for for the
Speaker 1: majority of the time. That you and I have been here.
Speaker 1: It was mostly known as a website that also did
Speaker 1: some podcasts later on, and now we really think of
Speaker 1: ourselves as a podcast network, so we're kind of transitioning
Speaker 1: into that. And I want to talk to you a
Speaker 1: little bit. Let's let's you know, Stuff you Should Know
Speaker 1: are our most popular show, of which you are a
Speaker 1: co host half for third A third a third? Yeah,
Speaker 1: is another another thirty three point three repeated. Yeah, that's
Speaker 1: kind of sort of like the episodes, right. You guys
Speaker 1: just recently celebrated your one thousand episode. Yes, congratulations and
Speaker 1: congratulations to you at number nine hund thank you so much. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Who would have thought back in two thousand and eight
Speaker 1: when we were first talking about they so going into
Speaker 1: that mindset, Josh, can you and I know you've talked
Speaker 1: about this recently, but can you talk a little bit
Speaker 1: about how Stuff you Should Know even came about? So? Uh,
Speaker 1: the Stuff you should Know was the brainchiwl though this
Speaker 1: guy named Conald Burn, Yes, who used to run the site,
Speaker 1: as you know, and uh left and then actually came
Speaker 1: back and now runs the site again. Yeah, and he
Speaker 1: had this idea that they were on how stuff works
Speaker 1: that there were a lot of really really well researched,
Speaker 1: well written articles, but that not everybody sits around and
Speaker 1: reads articles on the web all day, right, So he
Speaker 1: wanted to get those articles out to people who don't
Speaker 1: read on the web, and he thought podcasts, we'll try that.
Speaker 1: So he he came to me and Jerry and said,
Speaker 1: you guys, just just try this, just give it a shot.
Speaker 1: There is no stakes to this whatsoever. Um. I overheard
Speaker 1: a conversation where the phrase low hanging fruit was used
Speaker 1: to explain why they were using writers as hosts, and um,
Speaker 1: it just kind of took off from there right like
Speaker 1: we were. There was nobody paying attention. We were totally
Speaker 1: figuring out as we went along, and I think because
Speaker 1: there was so little risk involved, we felt really free
Speaker 1: to just try whatever, and we were able to kind
Speaker 1: of find our footing without being under screw, which really helped. Right.
Speaker 1: We could stumble around a lot and no one was
Speaker 1: going to pull the rug out under us and make
Speaker 1: us fall flat. That's if I if I can continue
Speaker 1: my stumbling metaphor, right right, But I mean it was
Speaker 1: that that that's that's a lot of pressure, and that
Speaker 1: pressure wasn't there because we were all just having fun
Speaker 1: at the time. Yeah, we weren't. We weren't monetizing podcast.
Speaker 1: There were no ads, there were no sponsorships, no, and
Speaker 1: as a matter of fact, that the podcast program was
Speaker 1: you know, um under real scrutiny more than a few
Speaker 1: times of course of its lifetime. We'll get into that, Okay, alright,
Speaker 1: well I'm going to stop myself there. Yeah, when we
Speaker 1: we get into the realm after how Stuff Works left
Speaker 1: the umbrella of the Convex Group, right, So when we
Speaker 1: both started, it was part of of convex So, which
Speaker 1: is this company that also owned web md. That was
Speaker 1: the really big property under the Convex Group. Yeah, originally
Speaker 1: a guy named Jeff Arnold founded group. When we came
Speaker 1: in the house, Supports was kind of sort of operating
Speaker 1: a little bit like an internet startup, had a little
Speaker 1: bit of that feel to it. It wasn't super crazy.
Speaker 1: But again, like two thousand and eight, that was when
Speaker 1: we started doing this podcast stuff, and it was considered
Speaker 1: kind of a brand extension. It wasn't really considered a
Speaker 1: revenue generator. In fact, it wasn't for many years. Um.
Speaker 1: I remember when tech Stuff began, which was a few
Speaker 1: months after stuff. You should know. It started that we
Speaker 1: were following certain rules that you guys had already kind
Speaker 1: of set, not really rules, but you know, just the
Speaker 1: following the sort of yeah, where we were taking articles
Speaker 1: that existed on the site and using those as the
Speaker 1: launch point and the guy the the real the real
Speaker 1: goal for us was to guide people to go to
Speaker 1: the website. That's hard to do. It's hard to do
Speaker 1: from a where you're you're trying to get people to
Speaker 1: transition formats, right, like they're listening to something and you're
Speaker 1: trying to convince them two. Then next time they are
Speaker 1: at a computer terminal or a smartphones were barely a
Speaker 1: thing two thousand and eight, But if they were using
Speaker 1: a smartphone to then navigate to a website, that's hard
Speaker 1: to do. But it was kind of our mandate for
Speaker 1: a while. I also remember that we had very strict
Speaker 1: time limits early early on in our podcast, like keep
Speaker 1: it ten minutes or a shorter five yeah, initially, and
Speaker 1: I think that came from iTunes. They were like, people
Speaker 1: are just kind of into really short podcasts, and I
Speaker 1: guess we heard five minutes and we just could not
Speaker 1: be contained in five minutes. No, I mean just the
Speaker 1: introduction alone would take about five minutes. Uh. And you
Speaker 1: you even had like Chris Palette was one of your
Speaker 1: co hosts early on and stuff. You should know. He
Speaker 1: became my co host for tech stuff, And I believe
Speaker 1: Candice did a couple of episodes with you early early on,
Speaker 1: and then you did some episodes with Chuck, and the
Speaker 1: chemistry was undeniable. You and Chuck just worked so well
Speaker 1: together from the get go, And of course that's only
Speaker 1: gotten better as the show has gone on. It was
Speaker 1: already great. So yeah, we can't people ask us, like,
Speaker 1: what you know, what's the secret in obviously the secret
Speaker 1: first stuff you should know is the chemistry between me
Speaker 1: and Chuck. But we have like no idea, like I'm
Speaker 1: not like here, I'll push this button on Chuck and
Speaker 1: he'll push this button back, and like the chemistry just emerges.
Speaker 1: It's just it just so happens that if you take me,
Speaker 1: you take Chuck, and you put us in the room
Speaker 1: together and we start talking about an article that we
Speaker 1: both read and did supplemental research on, it just has
Speaker 1: a little certain verve to it. I guess. Yeah, I've
Speaker 1: experienced similar things in the acting world where you go up.
Speaker 1: You'll you'll be in a scene against one actor and
Speaker 1: everything's fine, like there's nothing bad about it. But then
Speaker 1: you go into a scene with a totally different actor
Speaker 1: with whom you have real chemistry, and suddenly something that
Speaker 1: was just going to be fine is elevated. And the
Speaker 1: same thing is true a podcasts. So we could have
Speaker 1: two very intelligent, well spoken people having a conversation about
Speaker 1: an interesting topic, and that would be a decent podcast.
Speaker 1: But then when you get that chemistry, when you get
Speaker 1: those two people who just their personalities mesh so well
Speaker 1: and complement one another. So it's not like a it's
Speaker 1: it's it is a Venn diagram, right, You've got overlap,
Speaker 1: but you also have stuff on on the edges for
Speaker 1: both of you. Yeah. I think of it more not
Speaker 1: like a Venn diagram, but more like a Yin Yang symbol,
Speaker 1: where there's like they compliment and fulfill one another and
Speaker 1: create a larger hole. Yeah, where it really it's just
Speaker 1: two weird looking commas. But if you put together, oh,
Speaker 1: it's a circle. Yeah, And I think that that has
Speaker 1: served the show very well. So you have the benefit
Speaker 1: of two hosts with great chemistry, and of course You've
Speaker 1: had no shortage of really interesting topics, many of which
Speaker 1: have come from articles from How Stuff Works. Yeah, we
Speaker 1: still basically follow that original model where when we record
Speaker 1: the we start off with an article from How Stuff
Speaker 1: Works almost I would say probably nineties something percent of
Speaker 1: the time. And then we you know, we we agree
Speaker 1: like this is the one we're going to use to
Speaker 1: basically structure the episode on and then that's it. We
Speaker 1: don't talk about it anymore. We both go off do
Speaker 1: our own research and we come back together and we
Speaker 1: sit down and we have a conversation about that topic
Speaker 1: based on what we found out, and um, Jerry records it,
Speaker 1: and you know, probably about five or six things have
Speaker 1: to be edited out, which we indicate with a peep,
Speaker 1: and Jerry's got to go find the beeps and make
Speaker 1: sure that they're all taken care of. Um, and then
Speaker 1: that's it. One take, and that's the that's the show.
Speaker 1: That's that's how Chris and I would record as well.
Speaker 1: It's nice way to do it's a cool way to
Speaker 1: do it. It's Chris was the only co host I've
Speaker 1: had where besides guest co host, where I've been able
Speaker 1: to do that where we did our our research completely independently,
Speaker 1: didn't even share notes. If anything, we might sit down
Speaker 1: just before we start recording and saying this is kind
Speaker 1: of the sequence I was thinking about, but it'd be
Speaker 1: like a very general kind of outline, just like like,
Speaker 1: let's start this. To me, makes the most logged logical
Speaker 1: sense to start from here and progress. Obviously of the
Speaker 1: shows have evolved quite a bit since they first launched.
Speaker 1: I mean, we've seen them grow much longer. Uh, there's
Speaker 1: definitely a limit I think to it. Like we found
Speaker 1: that once you start pushing the sixty minute mark, it's
Speaker 1: starting to get a little long. But that led to
Speaker 1: a new innovation for us, which was the two part episode. Yes,
Speaker 1: and tech Stuff has certainly no in fact tech Stuff.
Speaker 1: We've done some two and three partners because some some
Speaker 1: especially some of the big companies, if we want to
Speaker 1: do a full history on them, it really requires done
Speaker 1: three partners. Xerox Story was three parts, Nintendo was three parts. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's certain certain companies that have had enough really important
Speaker 1: historical moments that have impacted technology to require Yeah, and
Speaker 1: Zerox surprisingly Xerox Park never mind, all my listeners just
Speaker 1: heard about that a month ago, So I'm not gonna
Speaker 1: go into it again, but yeah, I feel the same way.
Speaker 1: It's actually one of the things that we should mention,
Speaker 1: and I've talked about before on the show, is that
Speaker 1: the prep time for a podcast is deceptively long. Right.
Speaker 1: A listener may listen to you talk for an hour,
Speaker 1: and because that conversation seems very natural and effortless, they
Speaker 1: may come away thinking like, oh, these guys, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe they did like an hour or two a research
Speaker 1: and then they got together and had a conversation. Typically
Speaker 1: it's way more work than that, for sure, at least
Speaker 1: a full day of research um per hour of podcasts. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I would say that's a pretty good rule. Um. Um.
Speaker 1: The uh, the thing about it though is you never
Speaker 1: go into the podcast. But I should say I never
Speaker 1: go into the podcast with feeling prepared. No, like I
Speaker 1: can keep researching up until you know, the last moment,
Speaker 1: and um, that's not always a luxury I have. But
Speaker 1: even if it is, when I when I get in
Speaker 1: and sit down, I'm like, what else am I missing?
Speaker 1: You know what, what obvious fact am I gonna walk
Speaker 1: right past? Or what group am I going to not
Speaker 1: include in in in advert only offend you know, um,
Speaker 1: there are all considerations that that kind of make going
Speaker 1: in and recording. There's a certain amount of anxiety to
Speaker 1: the whole thing, even after uh ten years of it.
Speaker 1: Almost yeah, there the first few times staying down at
Speaker 1: a microphone, it's such an unnatural thing, you know, to
Speaker 1: try and have a natural conversation with somebody, but you've
Speaker 1: got this construct in between you. It also, to me
Speaker 1: was the weirdest thing finding out people were listening, because
Speaker 1: the way we work typically is that we're recording at
Speaker 1: least a little ahead of time, so that we have
Speaker 1: a bit of a buffer for times when you're traveling,
Speaker 1: you're on vacation, you maybe have a sick day, something
Speaker 1: along those lines. And that means that by the time
Speaker 1: something has gone out, you've already been working on two
Speaker 1: or three or more podcasts further down the line, and
Speaker 1: so you're constantly thinking not just of the next thing,
Speaker 1: you're thinking of the thing that's two or three episodes ahead,
Speaker 1: and it very quick you can lose track of the
Speaker 1: fact that people are listening to the stuff you talked
Speaker 1: about two weeks ago or three weeks ago. I remember
Speaker 1: the first time we started getting fan mail. That was
Speaker 1: incredible because it was a reminder that hey, you're not
Speaker 1: just talking into a microphone and then you leave the
Speaker 1: room and then it's all done. It's still living out there. Uh.
Speaker 1: And that to me still to this day is something
Speaker 1: that I take. I don't take it for granted. It
Speaker 1: surprises me to this day. Yeah. You know, Um, after
Speaker 1: as many emails as we've all gotten over the years
Speaker 1: from listeners, it would be kind of easy to just
Speaker 1: get kind of jaded. UM, but I'll still read a
Speaker 1: lot of the emails that come in, and when I do,
Speaker 1: I'm finding like, like, no, these are this is really
Speaker 1: like important stuff that these people are saying, like like
Speaker 1: we helped them with anxiety. Um. Some people have said
Speaker 1: that they have not committed suicide or tried to um
Speaker 1: die by suicide because we were there for him. Like
Speaker 1: there's just there there are things that that we're doing that. Yes,
Speaker 1: it does not come through when you just are sitting
Speaker 1: in the studio like we are right now, because the
Speaker 1: world is physically cut off from us right now. So
Speaker 1: the idea that we're putting it out there and it's
Speaker 1: having these impacts on all these multiple different people. Um,
Speaker 1: and even even nothing quite so dramatic. Knowing that there's
Speaker 1: somebody out there sitting on a subway laughing at a
Speaker 1: joke that I made. That's extraordinarily satisfying. That the key
Speaker 1: is to remind yourself to stop and think about that
Speaker 1: once in a while. Absolutely, because it is definitely work.
Speaker 1: We're all working like crazy around here, and um, it's
Speaker 1: easy to not do that, but when you do, it's
Speaker 1: it's it makes it quite satisfying. It is. It is
Speaker 1: kind of fun for me now because a lot of
Speaker 1: my shows I'm live streaming. Uh, not the ones whenever
Speaker 1: I do interviews, I don't live stream because I don't
Speaker 1: want to put added pressure on the person I'm talking to,
Speaker 1: But but I'll live stream all the solo shows and
Speaker 1: it's great because it reminds me even even though the
Speaker 1: chat room tends to be fairly modest, it's a small group,
Speaker 1: but it's they're very responsive that if I if I
Speaker 1: let loose with I don't know if you know this, Josh,
Speaker 1: but occasionally I like to let loose with a pun.
Speaker 1: I know, shocking, right, but to see a reaction to that. Um.
Speaker 1: Also occasionally we're recording in the other studio where Ramsey
Speaker 1: sits in the same room. And if I can get
Speaker 1: Ramsey to chuckle or snort or or make any kind
Speaker 1: of noise that might possibly get picked up on the microphone,
Speaker 1: I consider it a personal victory. Yes, I feel the
Speaker 1: same way with Jerry, Like making Jerry laugh is that's
Speaker 1: it's nice? Yeah. And I did the same thing to
Speaker 1: Dylan all the time. If I could get Dylan to laugh,
Speaker 1: it was the best thing, because yeah, absolutely, and only that,
Speaker 1: but it did reminded me that hey, they're actually listening
Speaker 1: and just saying there with their headphones on. Um, so
Speaker 1: let's also talk a little bit so stuff. You should know.
Speaker 1: Obviously it became a big success. It is the most
Speaker 1: successful of our shows here at How Stuff Works. So,
Speaker 1: h thank you for pointing that up. I mean, how
Speaker 1: could I not? At what point did? Did you? Was
Speaker 1: there like a day or a moment where you heard
Speaker 1: about a statistic or okay, so tell me about the
Speaker 1: moment where you're like, this is this is way bigger
Speaker 1: than I expect that. Yeah. So, um, there was a
Speaker 1: specific day. I think it was in November of two
Speaker 1: thousand eight. Um. We started in April two eight and
Speaker 1: by November it was strictly me and Chuck and have
Speaker 1: been for a while. And um, somebody pointed out the
Speaker 1: iTunes charts, the podcast charts on iTunes, and our podcast
Speaker 1: was number one. The number one podcast in the United
Speaker 1: States was our podcast and U that drove it home.
Speaker 1: That was astounding. It was like, you know, I used
Speaker 1: to get a lot of participant ribbons and stuff and
Speaker 1: sports and things like that. I imagine this is what
Speaker 1: it felt like winning the Big Game or something. Finally,
Speaker 1: it was amazing. Took first place the egg Toss and
Speaker 1: we we number two was this American Life. Yeah, so
Speaker 1: that just made the whole thing that much more astounding. Well,
Speaker 1: NBR had been doing podcast since two thousand five, right,
Speaker 1: so like right after podcast became a thing, NBR was doing.
Speaker 1: Although NBR was doing segments of shows, like not even
Speaker 1: full episodes at that point, but they had they had
Speaker 1: had a deep level of experience in that space, whereas
Speaker 1: we were the newcomers. In fact, Connal, the person we
Speaker 1: mentioned before, had said a few times that we were
Speaker 1: late to the game on podcasts. Yeah, which is kind
Speaker 1: of funny now that you know you look at the
Speaker 1: podcast industry and how established it. We're pioneers were considered
Speaker 1: pioneers now right, but at the time we were thinking
Speaker 1: we were pretty late to it. And it is interesting
Speaker 1: to note that podcasting itself has gone through these cycles
Speaker 1: where it gets rediscovered and thus people are like, hey,
Speaker 1: podcasts are back. I'm like, I don't mean to quote
Speaker 1: L L cool J, but you know I've been here
Speaker 1: for years. That's all I'm saying. But a direct quote phrase,
Speaker 1: I'm I'm I like to paraphrase. I like to put
Speaker 1: this into my own voice. Yeah, paraphrasing and puns. That's
Speaker 1: really the alternate title to tech stuff. So tell me also,
Speaker 1: because stuff you should know has been in a great
Speaker 1: position where you guys have been able to go to
Speaker 1: amazing places and do your show live. Tell me what
Speaker 1: that experience is like for you. It's nuts and neat
Speaker 1: and fun to do um because again, when you're when
Speaker 1: you're in the room recording, it's just you know, you
Speaker 1: and the guest and Ramsey. When it's me and Chuck
Speaker 1: and Jerry, it's just us. When we do it live,
Speaker 1: it's us. But then there's a bunch of people there
Speaker 1: who are laughing and what we're saying, which is amazing
Speaker 1: to to get a laugh out of people or a
Speaker 1: gasp is another really satisfying one to UM. So to
Speaker 1: get that immediate feedback from people, uh, for us is
Speaker 1: really really um just just really gratifying in thrilling too
Speaker 1: because a good word to use, but um. It also
Speaker 1: is a really unique experience for the listeners who are
Speaker 1: coming to the show because normally listening to a podcast
Speaker 1: is a almost always a solitary pursuit. People just listen
Speaker 1: to them with their headphones on and they're the only
Speaker 1: ones listening to them, so it's us and them. Now
Speaker 1: at a live show, it's us and them and then
Speaker 1: all the other people who it's normally us and them
Speaker 1: with and everyone's combined, so they're hearing gasps and laughs
Speaker 1: from people who are laughing with them at the same
Speaker 1: thing at the same time, and it has a really
Speaker 1: kind of surreal, I think, um warm, communal feeling for
Speaker 1: the people who come to the shows. And we found that,
Speaker 1: you know, usually when people come, they come to the
Speaker 1: next one and the next one too. Yeah, and podcasting,
Speaker 1: I'm glad you pointed that out because podcasting really is
Speaker 1: a very intimate kind of it is production, right, Like
Speaker 1: if you go to our shows, it's us sitting at
Speaker 1: a table with a tablecloth on the stage talking into
Speaker 1: mix to to the people in the audience, Like it's
Speaker 1: it's extremely intimate. But if you're listening just regularly, I
Speaker 1: mean you're listening to voices talking right into your ears
Speaker 1: about whatever the topic may be. Uh, it's that level
Speaker 1: of intimacy. I think that has elevated podcasts over certain
Speaker 1: other types of media because it feels like the people
Speaker 1: you're listening to our speaking to you directly. And then
Speaker 1: when you go to one of these live events you
Speaker 1: realize that there's this communal aspect. I'm glad you use
Speaker 1: that word, because I think that also can create bigger responses.
Speaker 1: Something that might have made you chuckle softly suddenly your
Speaker 1: laugh thing at because you're sharing that with other people
Speaker 1: and you're being your your your response is reinforced by
Speaker 1: the responses of other people. Yeah, and and reinforced and
Speaker 1: in biggend yes, in bigened and then uh, we we
Speaker 1: see that and it's a very perfectly cromulent word. We
Speaker 1: as again as a stage performer, like I've had that
Speaker 1: experience of performing in front of an audience and their
Speaker 1: reaction energizes my performance. So you yeah, if you have
Speaker 1: a crowd that's not really playing off of what you're doing.
Speaker 1: Not only does it not energize you d energy because
Speaker 1: you pour more and more of yourself like you will,
Speaker 1: you will try to fill that like it. It feels
Speaker 1: feels like you're you've got a picture and you're pouring
Speaker 1: water into the picture, but for some reason the picture
Speaker 1: is not filling up. So you're just like, I just
Speaker 1: gotta pour more water. And it's that's how it is,
Speaker 1: except you're talking about your your energy or performance energy
Speaker 1: as you're trying to do this. You know, No, I've
Speaker 1: performed in front of those crowds too, but but you
Speaker 1: get a good out and it's just amazing. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: like they just booy you like a draft on a
Speaker 1: red balloon. Yes, yes, it's uh, it is, it is.
Speaker 1: I was having a Nina moment there with ninety nine
Speaker 1: of those red balloons. I was thinking more French movie. Yeah, no,
Speaker 1: I I think that's a better visual honestly than the
Speaker 1: than than a than a song that that warns you
Speaker 1: against nuclear war. It was needed at the time it
Speaker 1: was and maybe again, but that's getting off on a
Speaker 1: different tangent. So do you have any particular favorite memories
Speaker 1: as far as the stuff you should know, podcast goes
Speaker 1: like anything, uh, from whether it's a fan interaction or
Speaker 1: an episode you did. I mean, I know of one
Speaker 1: episode that has to be in your top five, which
Speaker 1: was the Necronomicon because that was Yeah, so I wrote
Speaker 1: an article about how the Necronomicon works. And Josh, you're
Speaker 1: a fan of Lovecraft as well, like you like Lovecraft's works.
Speaker 1: So Josh and Chuck, we're going to record an episode
Speaker 1: about the Necronomicon. And this was back when your city
Speaker 1: we were in. Our office was in Buckhead, Atlanta. I
Speaker 1: just remember sitting at my desk. I think this was
Speaker 1: still when we were on the fifteenth floor and yeah,
Speaker 1: the original Yeah, the original space. And I remember you
Speaker 1: would come by and you tap me on the shoulder
Speaker 1: and you're like, hey, hey, Strick, how do you say
Speaker 1: the name of the guy who wrote the Necronomic And
Speaker 1: I'm like, oh, the mad arab abduell L has reads
Speaker 1: like thanks, thanks, and I'd say like three times and
Speaker 1: they go away, and then like maybe three minutes later,
Speaker 1: you can hey, Strick, what's the place where Cathula lies dreaming? Like, oh,
Speaker 1: that's real? Yeah, yeah, real, yea as our apostrophe a
Speaker 1: L Yeah, And I said, well, you know, there's differing
Speaker 1: opinions upon it, but the Lovecraft himself says that the
Speaker 1: human tongue is incapable of actually pronouncing it. So really,
Speaker 1: you're you've got a lot of leeway. And eventually he
Speaker 1: Josh comes back and tells me on the showers, Hey,
Speaker 1: just come into the studio. And that's how I ended
Speaker 1: up being on an episode of stuff you should know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I still do stay And I'm impressed by that because
Speaker 1: I think God knows what you're working on, probably an
Speaker 1: update about how the iPod works or something, because you
Speaker 1: know they just released the second one that month or something. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and um, you just stopped, stood up, came into the
Speaker 1: studio and spent thirty minutes talking totally without zero, with
Speaker 1: zero preparation, totally off the top of your head, but
Speaker 1: with full authority about Lovecraft and and his mythos, and um,
Speaker 1: it was quite impressive. I would direct anybody to go
Speaker 1: listen to that episode, whether you're interested in that kind
Speaker 1: of thing or not, just with the knowledge that you
Speaker 1: had no forewarning that you were going to be coming
Speaker 1: in recording right then, and that was it, Like that
Speaker 1: was the first take that we did. There there maybe
Speaker 1: a dozen topics out there that I could pull that
Speaker 1: off with. Lovecraft just happened to be one of them.
Speaker 1: So it was. It was a good It was a
Speaker 1: good uh alignment of the planets for that particular situation. Uh,
Speaker 1: let me ask you about Let you know, we alluded
Speaker 1: to some some changes over time in the scrutiny area
Speaker 1: of podcasts, and uh, I think it's good to talk
Speaker 1: about that too. And I mentioned it. I'm sure I
Speaker 1: say this because I'm recording this before I record the
Speaker 1: actual website section, which will publish before this, But I'm
Speaker 1: sure I mentioned about the evolution of ownership of how
Speaker 1: stuff works. How Stuff works after it was part of
Speaker 1: Comics Group got sold to Discovery Communications. Discovery Communications had
Speaker 1: a slightly different approach of some cases, a dramatically different
Speaker 1: approach to uh, keeping an eye on and sometimes guiding
Speaker 1: the content of certain podcasts. I assume stuff you should
Speaker 1: know had to do a Shark week episode at some point.
Speaker 1: We did. We did a few Shark episodes and and uh, yeah,
Speaker 1: first you kind of bristled at that thing. But one
Speaker 1: thing that we learned was Um, when you, uh, when
Speaker 1: you get a shark week assignment, you turn it into
Speaker 1: some great shark episodes. Yeah, now they're I agree that
Speaker 1: there were definitely that initial reaction of like, oh, I'm
Speaker 1: not so sure I'm cool with having to you know
Speaker 1: now that I'm because I've been so used to being
Speaker 1: able to dictate what goes on my show. That's something
Speaker 1: I don't think a lot of people realize is that,
Speaker 1: like we all basically had total creative control over our
Speaker 1: own shows. Like we choose the topics, we decide what
Speaker 1: goes in, we decide what comes out, we decide um,
Speaker 1: the tone, the the you know, the language that's used,
Speaker 1: like like we yeah, it's it's the Like. That's one
Speaker 1: thing that this company has always been great about is
Speaker 1: giving the creators creative control. And so so, yeah, when
Speaker 1: when we were kind of given a suggestion that you know,
Speaker 1: shark weeds coming up, don't you think the podcast should
Speaker 1: all do some something that has to do with sharks. Um, Yeah,
Speaker 1: it could cause a little bit of bristling, but that
Speaker 1: was that was it. And and uh, you know, I
Speaker 1: think most people we listen to stuff you should know. No,
Speaker 1: I'm not much of a corporate apologist. But that really
Speaker 1: was the extent of of the mandate, or it could
Speaker 1: have been much much more. So what's cool about it
Speaker 1: is that every single show that did something on sharks,
Speaker 1: um did something really cool about sharks. And I would
Speaker 1: direct you to stuff you should knows. Shark Diaries episode, Yeah,
Speaker 1: Chuck put together and wrote and directed and yeah, a
Speaker 1: lot of the other hosts did voice acting. Um and
Speaker 1: uh it's it's one of this. It was like a
Speaker 1: radio play basically, but it was all based on historical
Speaker 1: fact about these shark attacks in like, um, New Jersey,
Speaker 1: I think maybe nineteen sixteen or something like that. It
Speaker 1: was some of the stuff that inspired Jaws, right, yeah, um,
Speaker 1: so it turned out to just be this really neat
Speaker 1: interesting episode that we otherwise never would have done. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I I was one of the voices in that. I
Speaker 1: remember doing that, yeah, the tech stuff episode for that
Speaker 1: first one, because we Chris and I really struggled because
Speaker 1: there's not so many, so many pieces of tech that
Speaker 1: we could do what you guys do. We ended up
Speaker 1: doing Bruce the shark in Jaws. So we talked about that. Well.
Speaker 1: Apart from those little moments that I mean, there were
Speaker 1: some restrictions on tech stuff, but that was largely because
Speaker 1: we were working for a company that had a big
Speaker 1: interest in cable, so a lot of those topics were
Speaker 1: we were gently guided away from covering because of conflict
Speaker 1: of interest and that which makes some sense. It made
Speaker 1: it a little complicated to talk about certain topics, but
Speaker 1: we did our best um And obviously we've gone through
Speaker 1: a couple of changes since then, but I would say
Speaker 1: that the Discovery era was probably the only one where
Speaker 1: I felt like there was even a small amount of
Speaker 1: of corporate oversight in that sense, like and even then again,
Speaker 1: it wasn't that restrictive guy a TV show out of it,
Speaker 1: That's true. I remember we were doing a lot of
Speaker 1: ads for like national brands at the time, too, is it. Yeah?
Speaker 1: I remember thinking as I watched the pilot episode of that,
Speaker 1: and I watched your your Nemesis character on there, I thought,
Speaker 1: who did they model this after? Or is this just
Speaker 1: totally fictional? Because I have a feeling that every single
Speaker 1: other podcaster in this room is thinking, is that supposed
Speaker 1: to be me? Yeah? I'll never tell all right, that's fair.
Speaker 1: I'm not gonna I'm not gonna grow you on that
Speaker 1: I mean that to me is something that needs to
Speaker 1: be revealed on your show, not mine. I also I
Speaker 1: had I got to be one of the extras in
Speaker 1: one of the episodes. Did Yeah. I got to walk
Speaker 1: down the hallway and talk to actors I know personally
Speaker 1: who were pretending to be my co workers in a
Speaker 1: fictional office setting. It was bizarre. Yeah, but that walk
Speaker 1: was one of the best. I really thought it was great.
Speaker 1: I was so sad that it. I don't think it
Speaker 1: made it into the show, but I thought it did.
Speaker 1: Maybe it did. You know what, I'm gonna have to
Speaker 1: go back and watch him now like every week, you know,
Speaker 1: I blush. Uh. So these days, of course, we've got,
Speaker 1: you know, more things in production than ever before. We
Speaker 1: have a lot more shows that have come out. I mean,
Speaker 1: there's been some podcasts that have come and gone since
Speaker 1: we started. There's some that I wish could come back
Speaker 1: in some form. I still miss stuff from the b Sides.
Speaker 1: That was one of my favorites. Yeah, that's how everybody's
Speaker 1: going to for one that just got canceled because of
Speaker 1: not enough ears. But it was a great show between
Speaker 1: Chuck and John Fuller. Yeah, they were it was like
Speaker 1: a just music talk. Basically, it was fantastic and we've
Speaker 1: got some other new ones coming out soon. We've got
Speaker 1: stuff that's in development that we can't really talk about
Speaker 1: yet because it's it's still in various stages and hasn't
Speaker 1: yet gone live. But I do highly recommend everybody listen
Speaker 1: and pay attention because we've got to have some new
Speaker 1: shows coming out that some of them have been coming
Speaker 1: out over the over the course of Part Time Genius,
Speaker 1: but where you're going to have a lot more of those. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, Chuck's got a new show out. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: just launching, Well it will have launched by the time
Speaker 1: this comes out about It's called Movie Crush, and um,
Speaker 1: it's him interviewing famous people about what their favorite movie
Speaker 1: is and through that he kind of like he uses
Speaker 1: that as a pretext to find out about them, the people,
Speaker 1: the person. Yeah, and um, he's had I think he
Speaker 1: started out with Janet Varney Tagnitaro. I don't know if
Speaker 1: he's announcing who else, but from what I understand, there's
Speaker 1: some like it's going to be a pretty cool interview show.
Speaker 1: We've seen a few famous faces passed through the Hell
Speaker 1: Stuff Works office over the last few weeks, including ties
Speaker 1: where I was recording in here, seeing famous faces pass
Speaker 1: in front of the podcast studio and having to keep
Speaker 1: my cool, maintain maintain radio professionalism. Yeah, so we obviously,
Speaker 1: oh An and I have a show coming out. Oh
Speaker 1: I didn't know if it was ready to be talked about,
Speaker 1: but I just wanted to say I have a show
Speaker 1: coming out. To look for it in January February, and
Speaker 1: hopefully I'll knock everybody stucks off. I have a show
Speaker 1: that's in the pitch process, but who knows if he'll
Speaker 1: go any further than that. We have anything coming from you.
Speaker 1: Strick is dynamite. Man, there's so much. Can I just
Speaker 1: take a second here, Yeah, I just want to tell you,
Speaker 1: quite sincerely, congratulations on nine episodes you've gone through. You've
Speaker 1: had several hosts, and then when you were fresh out
Speaker 1: of hosts, you just kept going by yourself, on your own,
Speaker 1: you know, with the help of producers of course the
Speaker 1: great Ramsey who's helping you now. But you have carried
Speaker 1: this brand and built it and grown it and kept
Speaker 1: this this loyal audience for all these years. And my
Speaker 1: hat is off to you with with a tremendous amount
Speaker 1: of respect I say, congratulations, thank you so much, Josh.
Speaker 1: That means a lot. That means a h I really
Speaker 1: appreciate it. Uh. And obviously the producers and my listeners. UH,
Speaker 1: they're the reason why this show really keeps going, and
Speaker 1: I'm just very thankful to be able to do it
Speaker 1: every week. There might be some weeks where I'm going
Speaker 1: to be recording on a Wednesday and it's Tuesday afternoon
Speaker 1: and I'm still not really sure what I'm going to
Speaker 1: talk about, and I'm beating myself up because i know
Speaker 1: I'm gonna have to do a lot of research in
Speaker 1: a short amount of time. But there are other weeks
Speaker 1: where you know, I I've just I feel great, I've
Speaker 1: got like tons of research. Sometimes the best feeling in
Speaker 1: the world is when I get messages from people who say,
Speaker 1: I want you to talk more about this thing that
Speaker 1: you mentioned, Because to me, that's saying that thing you're
Speaker 1: doing that you love to do, could you please do
Speaker 1: that more. That's the best request you can never get.
Speaker 1: Right If if anyone says I love your show but
Speaker 1: it's too short, it's the best complaint in the world
Speaker 1: because it says I love what you do and I
Speaker 1: want you to do more of it. Um, there's just
Speaker 1: so many hours in a week, so we're giving a
Speaker 1: lot and we want to keep living. But eventually we
Speaker 1: get to a point where, if you know spoon theory,
Speaker 1: we run out of spoons. So just keep that in mind, guys.
Speaker 1: But we're gonna keep We're gonna keep going to the
Speaker 1: spoon store for you guys, as much as we can. Josh,
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining me. I really appreciate
Speaker 1: you taking the time to talk about your experiences at
Speaker 1: stuff you should know as well as everything helps. We
Speaker 1: have both done here at How Stuff Works, and I
Speaker 1: wish you tons of success and a thousand more amazing episodes.
Speaker 1: I can't wait to hear what episode two thousand is about.
Speaker 1: Thanks buddy. All Right, Well that's it for episode nine one,
Speaker 1: Part two of the How Stuff Works story. Clearly I
Speaker 1: could have got into a lot more detail, but I
Speaker 1: didn't want it to become too self serving. But it
Speaker 1: is really a phenomenal place to work both as a
Speaker 1: writer and a podcaster. Everyone here does amazing work. They
Speaker 1: are all experts in their various fields, and they know
Speaker 1: so much about so many things. It is a joy
Speaker 1: to come here and work, whether it's too podcast or
Speaker 1: two you know, sabotage someone else's work, as I have
Speaker 1: been known to do upon occasion. If you are not
Speaker 1: familiar with some of the podcasts that I've mentioned in
Speaker 1: this episode, I highly recommend you go check out some
Speaker 1: of them. If there are any that I mentioned that
Speaker 1: you thought I didn't even know they had ever done that,
Speaker 1: go check it out. If you go and listen to
Speaker 1: Stuff from the B Side and you think that was
Speaker 1: an amazing show, bring it back. You should tell people
Speaker 1: because then it might happen. But that's true for all
Speaker 1: the different shows that we've done, and you never know,
Speaker 1: you might find out that the next podcast you download
Speaker 1: becomes your brand new second favorite. Because you've got a
Speaker 1: reserve first place for me. I do not give it
Speaker 1: up willingly. All right, Well, if you guys have any
Speaker 1: suggestions for future episodes of tech Stuff, whether it is
Speaker 1: a famous person in tech, a company, a technology anything
Speaker 1: along those lines, or maybe you have a specific guest
Speaker 1: host or interview subject that you think I should have
Speaker 1: on the show, let me know. Send me an email.
Speaker 1: The address is tech Stuff at how stuff works dot com,
Speaker 1: or draw me a line on Twitter or Facebook the
Speaker 1: handle there's tech Stuff hs W. You can also find
Speaker 1: us over on Instagram at tech stuff hs W. If
Speaker 1: you have not checked that out, you need to. Crystal
Speaker 1: is doing amazing work with that. And you can also
Speaker 1: watch me record this show live, stumbling my way through
Speaker 1: the world of technology, one paragraph at a time at
Speaker 1: twitch dot tv slash tech Stuff. We've got a chat
Speaker 1: room over there. You can join in there have a
Speaker 1: grand old time. I also love to chat with everybody
Speaker 1: who's there, and I hope to see there. We record
Speaker 1: on Wednesdays and Friday's typically. You can find the recording
Speaker 1: schedule at the website Twitch dot tv slash tech Stuff
Speaker 1: and I will talk to you again really soon for
Speaker 1: more on this and thousands of other topics because at
Speaker 1: our stuff works dot com