WEBVTT - Mission to Zyxx 0:00:00.160 --> 0:00:08.760 Hi, I'm Mattie Stout and welcome to Access Podcast, the 0:00:08.800 --> 0:00:13.160 podcast about podcast right here on iHeart Radio. I'm super 0:00:13.160 --> 0:00:15.800 excited about our guests this week. We've got Seth Land, 0:00:16.200 --> 0:00:20.040 you might know here from This American Life, and Mugan Zolfagari, actress, 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:23.680 comedian and just overall awesome lady. They're in to talk 0:00:23.720 --> 0:00:27.800 about their new improvised comedy sci fi podcast, Mission to Zix. 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:30.560 Here's the taste. Who's ready to go the ath end 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:35.760 of space? Love me to introduce you to our security officer. Wow, 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:45.680 you are in Orpoius Invessador. Wow. So I'm with Seth 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:49.159 Land and Mujan Zolfagary. They are co creators of Mission 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:52.279 to Zix, and both of them play characters I like, 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:55.720 but I really like Mugans a whole whole lot. Her 0:00:55.800 --> 0:00:59.520 character is Bargie Jade, who's the actual ship. And as 0:00:59.560 --> 0:01:01.200 I'm saying this, You're gonna be like, what do you 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:03.160 mean she plays a ship? I guess you have to 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:06.200 understand what Mission to Zix is. I let me just 0:01:06.240 --> 0:01:09.160 start by saying, love it, love it, love it, love it. 0:01:09.440 --> 0:01:11.600 First one I was in and I was in for good. 0:01:11.800 --> 0:01:14.000 I'm this is definitely one every week. I'm looking forward 0:01:14.000 --> 0:01:15.560 to this morning. I couldn't wait for the new one 0:01:15.600 --> 0:01:17.520 to come out. But I've been trying to tell folks 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:20.319 around work what you what it is exactly. So I'm 0:01:20.319 --> 0:01:23.960 gonna let you try to tell folks what it is exactly. Sure, 0:01:23.959 --> 0:01:25.600 I'll give it a shot. So Mission to Zix is 0:01:25.640 --> 0:01:31.199 an improvised science fiction sitcom for your ears and so 0:01:31.360 --> 0:01:34.200 it's It follows a crew of ambassadors who have been 0:01:34.240 --> 0:01:37.520 sent to a distant, horrible corner of the galaxy to 0:01:37.680 --> 0:01:41.280 attempt to establish diplomatic relations. Uh. I believe we refer 0:01:41.400 --> 0:01:43.280 to it as the ass end of space. Yes, they're 0:01:43.319 --> 0:01:46.240 sent to the ass end of space uh to to 0:01:46.360 --> 0:01:50.360 try to uh perform diplomacy with inhabitants of planets who 0:01:50.440 --> 0:01:53.960 who don't really want to meet them, and they repeatedly 0:01:53.960 --> 0:01:57.440 fail on those missions. Or do they or right right, 0:01:57.480 --> 0:02:01.080 they could succeed at any moment. I can't get over 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:03.800 the quality of the production of I mean I should 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:07.160 expect it. SETH is also operations directed for This American Life. 0:02:07.240 --> 0:02:10.160 This show, I would say, not really this American Life, 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:13.320 except for in the quality of it. And that's what 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:17.960 I'm fascinated by. Is how you guys actually do the show. 0:02:18.000 --> 0:02:20.000 And I don't want to get become like a production nerd, 0:02:20.440 --> 0:02:22.360 but I'm just I try to picture, like how are 0:02:22.360 --> 0:02:25.080 they doing this? Yeah, I mean we have a we're 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:30.200 we're we're really lucky with our our sound engineer and 0:02:30.600 --> 0:02:33.960 um and sound designer Shane O'Connell who works at the 0:02:34.000 --> 0:02:37.280 studio where we record in green Point, green Point, Brooklyn, 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:41.160 and he's just like he we had finished recordings and 0:02:41.200 --> 0:02:43.200 he said, hey, do you have someone designing this, I'd 0:02:43.200 --> 0:02:44.720 give a shot. And it turns out he's just like 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:47.760 really really brilliant and he really gets the show. So 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:49.760 he's adding a lot with his designs. Yeah, and for 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:51.919 those like unfamiliar like these are elements that are added 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:55.799 on later. So as an improviser when we're doing these episodes, 0:02:56.240 --> 0:02:58.239 when I listened to it like a final cut, that's 0:02:58.320 --> 0:02:59.960 I listened to the same thing everyone this is an 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:02.520 I'm like, oh my god, this is awesome. I didn't 0:03:02.720 --> 0:03:05.120 know we'd have those sounds in right, And the reverse 0:03:05.200 --> 0:03:06.760 is true where you can say like and the wall 0:03:06.800 --> 0:03:08.960 falls down and we cut that out and then Shane 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:11.480 just puts in like insane soundscapes. You sort of have 0:03:11.560 --> 0:03:14.920 this unlimited budget and so everything when you're doing a 0:03:14.960 --> 0:03:17.720 live improv show on stage where you're just like, you know, 0:03:17.800 --> 0:03:20.320 someone on the back line is making sound effects of 0:03:20.360 --> 0:03:22.959 their mouth, Like, we can put all that stuff in post. 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:25.480 I tell people all the time I have a company 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:27.720 where I do some podcasts for for companies, and they 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:29.400 always come in and go, I wanted to be like 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:33.040 this American life and I and I immediately go, okay, well, 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:35.480 how what's your budget? Because you know these aren't easy 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:38.240 to do with, you know, when you have so much 0:03:38.240 --> 0:03:42.400 sound going on? Um, are you how much of this is? Uh? 0:03:42.600 --> 0:03:44.880 How much? How much editing has to be done on 0:03:45.120 --> 0:03:47.720 this podcast? Or or are you just that funny you 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:50.120 guys just go and I sit done? Um we uh. 0:03:50.960 --> 0:03:54.720 We record probably about an hour to ninety minutes to 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:57.440 get a half hour episode, so it's a decent amount 0:03:57.440 --> 0:04:01.920 of editing. UM. I m intimidated by how funny the 0:04:01.920 --> 0:04:03.760 rest of the cast is, So I would. I would. 0:04:03.880 --> 0:04:05.800 I think they are all brilliant, but part of it 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:07.520 is just too like we wanted to be kind of 0:04:07.600 --> 0:04:11.000 sitcom length. Um. But it is also a luxury to 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:13.360 be able to cut out bits that just didn't quite 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:15.520 land or tighten things up. So yeah, or if we 0:04:15.560 --> 0:04:18.839 have a guest who comes in and we have specific 0:04:18.920 --> 0:04:21.480 language that we use, like we say the word juck, 0:04:22.160 --> 0:04:24.320 and we say the word to Lurian to refer to 0:04:24.360 --> 0:04:27.760 a human, and like certain like words that we're keeping 0:04:27.839 --> 0:04:31.440 in every single episode. If they say something incorrectly, we 0:04:31.520 --> 0:04:33.799 go back and like do certain takes again. But every 0:04:33.960 --> 0:04:38.760 in there's no new information like pre written. It's all improvised. 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:42.840 Speaking of that word juck. You play Bargie Jade, who 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:45.680 is the ship that the folks live in, and she 0:04:45.880 --> 0:04:48.280 is a sil Oh, thank you so much. You know, 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:51.520 she's got, she's got that. She might be an old ship, 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:54.400 but she's a ship everybody wants to to fly. I 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:58.000 think so soldier's ships. I'd like to jump. Yeah, that's 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:00.680 not safe for work, as you know for the show. 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:05.240 And and Bargie, I think that she's across from me, 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:08.920 across between when Dana Carvey used to play Mickey Rooney 0:05:08.960 --> 0:05:10.880 and he would talk about like I've done it all 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:15.960 and and Joan Rivers, So who are you pulling from 0:05:16.000 --> 0:05:18.320 when you do it? Oh boy, it's just like I think, 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:20.000 you know, living in New York City. You just come 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.359 across people were kind of like that, like just like 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:25.360 old Haggard, people who just like had enough. You cross 0:05:25.440 --> 0:05:27.239 the street and they're like you going the wrong way, 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:30.400 Like I just I think for me, just living in 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:32.479 New York for eight years, that to me is the 0:05:32.480 --> 0:05:35.520 epitome of living here. That voice. Yeah, if you're like out, 0:05:35.560 --> 0:05:38.240 if you go out onto like Long Beach to take 0:05:38.240 --> 0:05:40.040 the Long Island rail right out to Long Beach or 0:05:40.080 --> 0:05:42.320 something and you like bump into somebody that's you might 0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:45.680 you might run into a human version of Bargie out there. Yeah, 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:48.520 But they don't have the back story, the film career, 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:51.000 the storied film career. No, I mean they might. If 0:05:51.000 --> 0:05:53.159 you sit with them for a while, they'll tell you everything. 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:55.240 So I think Bargie is that type. But if you 0:05:55.640 --> 0:05:58.080 doc next to Bargie, she'll tell you everything about her life, 0:05:58.080 --> 0:05:59.960 even if you don't want to know anything about her life. 0:06:00.200 --> 0:06:02.640 The thing I love about Bargie. I love Bargie and 0:06:02.680 --> 0:06:04.440 like the scenes is that, like Bargie is this element 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:08.200 of chaos where even even though the comedy is always 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:11.080 going to come from surprise and things going wrong, like 0:06:11.200 --> 0:06:14.360 Bargie will burst in with just like anything, and then 0:06:14.480 --> 0:06:16.600 we just have to deal with it. And she's constantly 0:06:16.600 --> 0:06:19.240 creating problems that are so funny and so it's just 0:06:19.640 --> 0:06:22.400 like she's the wild card. So, like I said, I 0:06:22.400 --> 0:06:24.360 sit like as I'm listening, I'm like, what are they 0:06:24.400 --> 0:06:26.880 doing while they're doing this? And I just I picture 0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:31.200 you sitting in the corner and like thinking, thinking, thinking, 0:06:31.200 --> 0:06:34.279 and then going bam and then dropping a bargie rock 0:06:34.320 --> 0:06:36.599 on everybody. I like to think it's that way. Sometimes 0:06:36.600 --> 0:06:41.120 it's just like I need something, I just say something weird. Well, 0:06:41.120 --> 0:06:42.680 And the nice thing is like the best stuff comes 0:06:42.720 --> 0:06:45.000 when you don't have time to think. Often I think 0:06:45.200 --> 0:06:47.320 like it and then we just have to figure out 0:06:47.320 --> 0:06:49.920 how to deal with it. And Jeremy Bend, who plays 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:53.040 C fifty three the Droid, is he sort of has 0:06:53.200 --> 0:06:55.679 he's in this like explainer role, so like when something 0:06:55.680 --> 0:06:58.360 crazy happens, he always can act like it's totally normal 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:00.440 and come up with like a wild explanation for why 0:07:00.480 --> 0:07:04.480 something is true. We can justify anything, right, And the 0:07:04.760 --> 0:07:07.039 other thing that's that's great about the show for me, 0:07:07.120 --> 0:07:10.480 I've listened to the first three episodes two times each, 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:14.320 and it's just that I get. The first time I listened, 0:07:14.360 --> 0:07:16.120 I was like, I thought I knew what everybody looked like, 0:07:16.600 --> 0:07:18.160 and then I listen again, like, no, I don't think 0:07:18.160 --> 0:07:20.360 they look like that at all, And I like that 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:23.920 element of like you kind of don't really know, you know, 0:07:24.000 --> 0:07:26.080 you get a kind of an idea but not really. Yeah, 0:07:26.160 --> 0:07:28.080 I think I don't know, Like we haven't all really 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:30.160 talked to each other, the performers, but I think what 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:33.840 I might envision, like a nerm it to look like 0:07:33.920 --> 0:07:37.320 who who seth place is perhaps different from everybody else believes. 0:07:38.000 --> 0:07:40.480 I'm like excited. Maybe one day if we have like 0:07:40.600 --> 0:07:43.320 fans of people will send us like drawings of like 0:07:43.360 --> 0:07:45.800 what they actually think that we look like. But yeah, 0:07:45.840 --> 0:07:48.280 it's all in your imagination. It's a podcast because there's 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:51.640 like an image of Bargie on the the art of 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:54.120 the podcast Bargie Bargie. We sort of know what she 0:07:54.160 --> 0:07:56.400 looks like, but at the same time, I still feel 0:07:56.440 --> 0:07:58.040 like we could come up with a reason why that's 0:07:58.040 --> 0:08:00.400 not even really the picture of her. Yeah, one time, 0:08:00.440 --> 0:08:02.800 I think I referenced that she wears tiny skirt, but 0:08:02.840 --> 0:08:06.280 I still don't know where those tiny skirts come right right, Yeah, 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:08.320 that was your head That was your head shot from 0:08:08.320 --> 0:08:10.240 when you were you know, first on a on a 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:12.840 you you were on a sitcom back in the day. 0:08:12.640 --> 0:08:15.240 I think you know. Jad Apple rom I had a 0:08:15.240 --> 0:08:17.720 description once for a good podcast and he said that, 0:08:17.880 --> 0:08:19.920 you know, when I'm doing a good podcast, I'm painting 0:08:19.920 --> 0:08:23.400 a picture and you're holding the paintbrush. And I think 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:26.040 about with this podcast is You're painting a picture, but 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:28.960 I've got like colored pencils and I'm doing it, but 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:32.439 I can erase and I'm redrawing it again. And that's 0:08:32.440 --> 0:08:34.479 one of the reasons I really really love the podcast 0:08:34.960 --> 0:08:37.840 so much. How is the you know set up for 0:08:37.840 --> 0:08:39.800 for one of these episodes, like how much you always 0:08:39.840 --> 0:08:41.800 wanted the same thing about like Larry David, you know, 0:08:41.960 --> 0:08:44.200 how much of it is is laid out and then 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:46.840 how much of it is just it goes off on 0:08:46.840 --> 0:08:49.680 a tangent you didn't expect. I think, uh, it's kind 0:08:49.679 --> 0:08:51.880 of shifted as we've done more episodes. Like in the 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:55.079 early episodes, one of the only single things that information 0:08:55.120 --> 0:08:56.840 that we have is that we asked the guests like 0:08:56.840 --> 0:08:58.720 what sort of character do you want to be and 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:00.440 where in the world are we going? So we have 0:09:00.520 --> 0:09:02.360 that and to play. But now that we're thinking we 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:04.960 were gonna we're actually having like a season arc. There's 0:09:05.000 --> 0:09:07.240 certain elements that we know we want to have in 0:09:07.280 --> 0:09:09.360 the show, but we don't. We still don't know as 0:09:09.360 --> 0:09:12.360 we're recording and how we get there. So yeah, I 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:14.120 mean I think that like from what I've read about 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:17.360 Curb Your Enthusiasm, I think they have a pretty structured outline. 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:21.520 I don't and and occasionally actual lines. We never have lines, 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:23.720 and like Lujan said in the beginning, it would really 0:09:23.760 --> 0:09:26.280 just be some the guests saying I want to play 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:30.880 I want to play a bounty hunter, but he's really 0:09:30.920 --> 0:09:33.200 lonely and so he's like glomming onto you because he 0:09:33.240 --> 0:09:35.680 wants friends. And so that's all we know going in. 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:37.599 And then we might spend a few minutes at the 0:09:37.640 --> 0:09:40.959 top just kind of like talking, and Winston, who plays Um, 0:09:41.000 --> 0:09:43.160 like a lot of walk on characters, might say like, oh, 0:09:43.200 --> 0:09:45.280 you need someone, Well if someone introduced that guy, so 0:09:45.320 --> 0:09:47.880 like you will meet someone before him, and then and 0:09:47.880 --> 0:09:50.320 then we jump in and just and just record. Yeah, 0:09:50.320 --> 0:09:52.400 I think the only real structure that we've had we 0:09:52.480 --> 0:09:55.120 have so far. Who knows, but is the top of 0:09:55.120 --> 0:09:57.040 the show we're all in the ship, and then middle 0:09:57.080 --> 0:09:58.600 of the show we're at the mission, and the end 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:00.320 of the show we're back on the ship. So that's 0:10:00.360 --> 0:10:02.480 like the if we were to put like an act 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:05.000 break or something, that's what it would be, right, and 0:10:05.040 --> 0:10:07.360 we do we we do record pickups a little bit 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:10.280 for if because once we've edited, we need little transitions 0:10:10.280 --> 0:10:13.040 and we realized we've contradicted something in a previous episode 0:10:13.160 --> 0:10:16.760 or just um, just we think like a little a 0:10:16.800 --> 0:10:19.480 little tiny thing isn't working. And that's really mostly just 0:10:19.520 --> 0:10:21.679 in the intro and outro parts. Because we don't have 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:24.360 the guest anymore. We have to get we get everything 0:10:24.400 --> 0:10:26.080 from them in that you know, in that one hour. 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:27.760 I want to talk about the guests that you have 0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:31.760 on the show. Some really awesome folks have lined up 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:33.760 to be on the program. I can't wait for the 0:10:33.800 --> 0:10:35.760 once coming, but talk to us about some of the 0:10:35.760 --> 0:10:38.480 folks that will be dropping into on the mission to ZIX. 0:10:38.880 --> 0:10:42.400 We've had Sashirza made up from Sara Live and we 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:45.520 Today's we had Connor Ratliffe who's from UC being all 0:10:45.600 --> 0:10:49.040 sorts of amazing things, and we have Jordan Carlos coming up. 0:10:49.120 --> 0:10:51.680 John Gabriek coming up. Oh boy, it's like all of 0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:55.200 our friends who are also part of the uprises Bred Theater. Yeah. Laura, 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:58.679 Laura Adams from Unbreakable Kimi Schmidt. Um, she's on an 0:10:58.679 --> 0:11:01.760 episode coming up where I guess we can spoil a 0:11:01.760 --> 0:11:04.600 little bit, but she she plays a She plays a 0:11:04.720 --> 0:11:08.000 waitress at a space diner who has never left the diner. 0:11:09.480 --> 0:11:12.320 John Gabriel plays a fun character that we could spoil. 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:14.560 If you want to think sith you probably explained better. 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:19.360 Maybe the name of it. John Gabriel plays a droid 0:11:19.840 --> 0:11:24.520 named b s Um and he is presented to us 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:26.560 as a loader droid who will be useful to us, 0:11:26.559 --> 0:11:31.480 but he's actually just a roast droid. Um. So uh. 0:11:31.520 --> 0:11:35.520 And you know Gabriel does he's from most everyone is 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:38.360 somehow involved with UCB, but he also does comedy. Bang 0:11:38.360 --> 0:11:40.360 Bang a lot is on TV and stuff. Yeah, And 0:11:40.400 --> 0:11:42.880 that was interesting recording because everyone else that we've had 0:11:42.920 --> 0:11:45.079 so far has been in our studio in green Point, 0:11:45.080 --> 0:11:47.839 but we actually, I guess we'd be skyped or something 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.280 in John Gabriel. He was doing it from his own 0:11:50.280 --> 0:11:52.839 studio in Los Angeles, and so we didn't even get 0:11:52.880 --> 0:11:54.800 to we saw him, but he wasn't in the room, 0:11:54.800 --> 0:11:57.199 but somehow hopefully it all worked out. And actually that's 0:11:57.200 --> 0:11:59.400 sort of added a thing we didn't realize because we 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:01.360 realized that he had his like computer up with our 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:03.960 character names on it. So he was actually like really 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:06.600 fast with like calling us out individually on things, and 0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:08.599 like he had he like had our little backstories. I 0:12:08.679 --> 0:12:11.360 think he like sort of like cheated in this way. 0:12:11.400 --> 0:12:14.760 That was totally useful for the episode. So she Shar's 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:18.360 character in the second episode. I can't imagine having done 0:12:18.360 --> 0:12:20.920 that and not having her the voice high pitched, because 0:12:20.960 --> 0:12:23.880 it's so perfect. We did. Actually, we're really we're lucky 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:25.960 with our studio set up because we get to have 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:29.280 versions of the voice filters live in our headphones, so 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:32.240 they get replaced um with like nicer versions, but we 0:12:32.240 --> 0:12:34.760 have Bargie C fifty three, and then guests, if they 0:12:34.760 --> 0:12:36.360 have filters, we get to hear all those live and 0:12:36.400 --> 0:12:40.720 it really is super fun. Now, Seth, you were you know, 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:43.679 from This American Life director of operations, and I want 0:12:43.720 --> 0:12:46.120 to talk a little bit just about the podcasting world 0:12:46.200 --> 0:12:50.360 and how it's expanded This American Life. You're it's royalty baby, 0:12:50.400 --> 0:12:52.280 you're royalty. It's a it's the crown jewl of of 0:12:52.320 --> 0:12:54.840 the podcast world. You can't see but Seth right now 0:12:54.880 --> 0:12:57.560 was wearing so much gold. I'm sure he is. But 0:12:57.760 --> 0:12:59.560 so I was one of the guys that started Stitcher 0:12:59.720 --> 0:13:03.600 and and in general I thought NPR was you know, 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:06.240 they were the first company that there was a radio 0:13:06.280 --> 0:13:09.360 company that said, you know what, we see something in podcasting, 0:13:09.640 --> 0:13:11.640 and we we know that it's not it doesn't it's 0:13:11.640 --> 0:13:14.560 a different audience. We're not gonna lose radio listeners. What 0:13:14.640 --> 0:13:17.200 has been that environment watching that, you know, go from 0:13:17.280 --> 0:13:19.760 you know, the radio show being you know, the radio 0:13:19.800 --> 0:13:23.160 show to being the podcast. You know, the podcast is 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:26.240 like all about it now. Yeah, it's been fascinating. I've 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:28.679 worked there for eleven years, and that was before we 0:13:28.720 --> 0:13:30.520 had a podcast at all. I started there at two 0:13:30.600 --> 0:13:33.080 thousand and six and so um And I think one 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:36.000 of the reasons that public radio got into podcasting so 0:13:36.080 --> 0:13:37.880 early and has done so well, as they were always 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.680 used to giving away their programs for free. I think 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:44.040 that commercial radio, like they felt way more nervous about 0:13:44.080 --> 0:13:46.360 losing revenue to this. You know, we're not just going 0:13:46.440 --> 0:13:49.480 to put a file on the internet. Um. And so 0:13:50.000 --> 0:13:53.400 you know, public radio shows were willing to distribute that 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:55.320 way before there was any kind of revenue model or 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:57.880 before there were numbers, and before there was advertising or anything. 0:13:57.960 --> 0:14:00.520 So um, so I think those shows really took off. 0:14:00.600 --> 0:14:03.600 And then um and then this American Life in particular 0:14:03.600 --> 0:14:05.720 and shows that kind of have taken on that tone. 0:14:05.800 --> 0:14:09.040 I think just like kind of had the they already 0:14:09.040 --> 0:14:11.559 had this sort of like one on one personal internet 0:14:11.640 --> 0:14:14.440 tone that came out through like YouTube and blogs, so 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:17.679 it really fit as like a thing that to consume 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:21.320 on the internet. Um. And and yeah, it's just been 0:14:21.400 --> 0:14:24.240 amazing to see how it's like it grew steadily and 0:14:24.240 --> 0:14:26.040 then just kind of blew up in two thousand, starting 0:14:26.040 --> 0:14:29.800 two thou fourteen when Cereal really brought awareness and Apple 0:14:29.840 --> 0:14:32.360 put their podcast app, they baked it into the phone 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:36.040 um for everyone. So so it's, um, it's changed a lot. 0:14:36.320 --> 0:14:38.240 You know here I heard it. It is my heart 0:14:38.360 --> 0:14:42.320 is really expanding and jumping head first into podcasting, and uh, 0:14:42.400 --> 0:14:45.400 I'm really excited about that. And you know, I have 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:48.520 always wont of what it's like working with Ira Glass 0:14:48.520 --> 0:14:50.880 because I have a quick Ira Glass story and and 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:53.920 it was when we started Stitcher. I was the director 0:14:53.920 --> 0:14:56.480 of content, so I'm I'm trying to get folks to 0:14:56.680 --> 0:14:58.640 come onto our platform and this, and you know, we 0:14:58.680 --> 0:15:00.760 had a deal with NPR, but it I had to 0:15:00.800 --> 0:15:03.720 call uh this American Life and I ended up getting 0:15:03.760 --> 0:15:05.920 to talk to Ira and I'm trying to explain to 0:15:06.000 --> 0:15:07.840 him the the app at what it does and why 0:15:07.840 --> 0:15:10.080 it's good, and I'm really not doing a good job 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:12.400 of it. I had been a radio guy my whole life. 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:14.920 I did mornings, and then I decided to go over 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:17.440 and do this thing. And and then right in the 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:19.720 middle of it, I were just start kind of quietly 0:15:19.720 --> 0:15:23.600 goes It's hard starting a business, isn't it? And I 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:27.240 just like it is. And then it just it was 0:15:27.320 --> 0:15:30.400 like it turned from me pitching into like this therapy thing. 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:34.520 Um is that you know? Is that is that typical 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:37.160 iron glass? I mean, I would think of that almost 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:39.920 as an interview technique, you know, because I think like 0:15:40.000 --> 0:15:42.960 if he sensed that, like you were feeling like it 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:45.800 wasn't going well or something. And sometimes if you're interviewing 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:47.840 someone and they they're like clambing up or they're not 0:15:48.280 --> 0:15:50.800 not like they you would say something sort of encouraging. 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:54.000 That's like yeah, yeah, yeah, Like um, one time I 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:57.320 was like normally in behind the scenes or voicing ads, 0:15:57.360 --> 0:15:59.560 but a couple of times surfaced and but on the show. 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:01.400 And one time I was telling this like personal story 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:04.920 about seeing the movie The Shining when I was four 0:16:05.560 --> 0:16:08.040 I think for seven anyway too young to see The Shining, 0:16:08.360 --> 0:16:10.760 and uh and and I was being interviewed in and 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:13.360 I was talking and he wasn't asking a question, but 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:14.800 he's just sitting across from me, and he was doing 0:16:14.800 --> 0:16:16.920 that like yeah, yeah, yeah, thing with your hand, like 0:16:16.960 --> 0:16:19.080 sort of like more and more, Yeah, yeah, that's good, more, 0:16:19.240 --> 0:16:20.880 more and more, And I was kind of like, I 0:16:20.920 --> 0:16:22.400 was kind of like, Okay, I don't know what I'm doing, 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:23.640 but I guess I'm gonna trying to do more of 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:25.400 it because he wants it. So I felt like more 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:29.640 gave me more. So but it was it was like validating, 0:16:29.760 --> 0:16:32.360 and I think led to kind of like a deeper 0:16:32.720 --> 0:16:35.000 telling of that part of the story. So I feel 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:37.480 like that in a way is sort of like that 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:41.440 he like paused to acknowledge what he imagined when was 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:43.560 maybe your experience And then I don't know, maybe the 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:48.640 pitch was easier after that, he's like a therapist. Yeah, yeah, 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:51.880 it was because and I was like, oh, that's that's nice. 0:16:51.960 --> 0:16:53.920 And then I got off the phone, I'm like he's nice. 0:16:54.240 --> 0:16:59.960 And and anyway, right now, I'm really excited about podcasting, 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:02.960 and I think, you know, I've always been excited about podcasting, 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:05.199 but you know, ten years ago, we thought, Okay, this 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:07.000 is it, It's gonna make it. And then in Serial 0:17:07.040 --> 0:17:08.879 Broke it's like, this is you know, really gonna go 0:17:08.960 --> 0:17:11.159 and it started to pick up. But it really feels 0:17:11.160 --> 0:17:13.440 like this last year it's really caught a lot of traction. 0:17:14.040 --> 0:17:16.240 And I think this podcast that you guys are doing 0:17:16.560 --> 0:17:19.600 is the kind of stuff that is going to start happening. 0:17:19.760 --> 0:17:22.160 I feel like the kind of content that is being 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:25.240 offered in podcasting is going to to really change. And 0:17:25.680 --> 0:17:28.680 I'm you know, the production level of stuff is going 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.840 up and this is a great example of that. You know, 0:17:31.880 --> 0:17:33.800 how do you feel, just in general about about the 0:17:33.800 --> 0:17:36.800 future right now of podcasting. I mean, my one of 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:39.600 my favorite podcasts recently has been like Homecoming, like the 0:17:39.640 --> 0:17:42.760 season one of Homecoming and when I don't know and 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:44.800 I even though I really I didn't realize, I was 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:47.720 also doing something not similar to Homecoming, but also high 0:17:47.720 --> 0:17:53.560 production value storytelling. Ours is fiction, but improvised fiction, and 0:17:53.560 --> 0:17:55.520 it's just exciting. It's in a way it's a it 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:59.320 is futuristic, but it's an homage to back in the 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:02.520 day when none of us that televisions and hearing these 0:18:02.520 --> 0:18:06.359 amazing stories. So I'm hoping for more of that, more Homecoming, 0:18:06.400 --> 0:18:08.439 more Mission to six is oh yeah. I mean I 0:18:08.440 --> 0:18:11.560 think even before like working on this show with the 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:14.199 whole team, um, including I think the only person of 0:18:14.200 --> 0:18:16.080 the six we haven't mentioned yet is Alden Ford, who's 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:19.200 kind of the ringleader and of the to the degree 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:21.399 that there is one. He plays plect deck center. But 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:24.560 like in the in the show, but to the even 0:18:24.560 --> 0:18:26.919 before collaborating with all these people on this show, I 0:18:27.000 --> 0:18:31.160 felt like fiction is the next frontier of of podcasts 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:33.640 that point. And I think one of the reasons why 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:37.359 I also feel like Homecoming was a big step forward 0:18:37.400 --> 0:18:41.000 just because of the quality of the performance. Um you 0:18:41.040 --> 0:18:43.800 know it. As improvisers, we have it a little easier 0:18:43.800 --> 0:18:47.120 because it's always easier to give a convincing improvised performance 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:49.840 than than when you're reading a script um. And so 0:18:49.960 --> 0:18:52.600 we can we Um, you know, we have it. We 0:18:52.640 --> 0:18:56.080 have a little easier than Katherine Keener and Oscar Isaac 0:18:56.119 --> 0:18:58.600 you know Holp they do okay with their careers. Um, 0:18:58.640 --> 0:19:00.639