Sponsor Spotlight: Obie Media

Obie Media is graciously recording the podcasts on 7/27 and 7/28 at Tattooed Mom. Come out and see what they have to offer! They describe their services as follows:

A Philadelphia subscription-based podcast production service, The Pod at Obie Media! Designed to give you access to the world of professional podcasting, without the hassle of a DIY setup! Bring your ideas and vision, and we will take care of the rest. From production to distribution, Obie Media's dedicated team will work to make your podcasting dreams a reality. You can take advantage of our fully equipped professional podcast recording studio, start recording, and get your podcast out for the world to listen; all for an affordable monthly membership.

Venue Spotlight: National Liberty Museum

We’re so excited that the National Liberty Museum is joining Philly Podfest this year as a venue on July 21. The Museum is dedicated to “bringing liberty to life through stories,” and today podcasters will have a chance to tell their stories at this Philly institution. Pay what you wish for access to the whole museum and all live recordings. Join us for:

• Alt-Black, 12pm

• The Philly Blunt, 1pm

• Neurotica, 2pm

• My Gay Agenda, 3pm

• Sex with Timaree, 4pm

• Painted Bride Quarterly Slush Pile, 5pm

• New Jersey Revolution Radio, 6pm

• Twisted Philly, 7pm

Venue Spotlight: Indy Hall

On July 20 and July 27, a total of eighteen different podcasts will be hosted by the gracious folks who run Indy Hall, an awesome co-working space in old city. They want to work with podcasters and have created great new facilities for doing so. You can ask them all about it on at their Pancakes and Podcasts Potluck Brunch this Saturday.

Improvised Storytelling and Actual Play on Party Of One

by Melinda Lewis

By the title, somebody might confuse Party of One, as one person’s hot takes on Scott Wolf. But instead, the listener would find themselves engrossed in an Actual Play podcast. Each episode, host Jeff Stormer, plays a role playing game with a guest. Together they build a story, some funny, others horrifying. Jeff compares what he does in the podcast to “improvising a radio drama,” a back to basics, Mercury Radio-like radio tour de force that would make Orson Welles proud.

Started by Jeff and partner, Jen Frank, Party of One indulges in all things we love about playing. The strategies we employ, the potential worlds we create, and the pleasure in either succeeding or being usurped.  And it almost stopped before it began: “In early 2015, a friend approached us with plans to start a podcast network. That network never panned out, but Party Of One was one of the ideas we pitched. It was entirely Jen's idea; she knew I'd been listening to a lot of Actual Play podcasts, and knew I had a ton of games I wanted to play, and combined the concept into essentially "play a different game every week learning new skills, making new friends, and building worlds.  

Even for those who aren’t into gaming, or at least don’t think they are, role playing as an anchor might seem a bit isolating. Jeff and Jen, however, don’t consider the podcast about games, but rather about the stories they’re able to tell. Jeff plays embodies the roles he plays, inviting us into the stories through his vocal intonations and narrative processing. “You don’t need to be into games to being the experiences we share on the podcast.”

When asked to compare their game to a classic board game, they responded, with Guess, Who? where players have to guess a character chosen by the other player. Depending on how creative you get, things can get intricate real fast (a friend of mine and I once played using questions like “Who would throw a fit at a PTA meeting?” and “Who brings Twinkies to share for the office?”). But as Jeff and Jen contend, both “can be simple and innocent and charming, or you can get into weird subgames like Speculative Guess Who and Get real dramatic with it.  

Jeff and Jen will be bringing the drama to Tattooed Mom, Saturday July 20, at 5:30 pm. They plan a more interactive affair, with a bit of silliness and some of Tattooed Mom’s vegan treats.

Popular Culture as Self Examination on Pop, The Question

by Melinda Lewis

In academia, the questions of “What are you studying? What’s your focus?” are thrown around all the time. Rarely, do we start a conversation with “What do you like?” This is where Pop, The Question intervenes. Conceived by Erica Levi Zelinger, Melinda Lewis, and Brian Kantorek, the podcast acts as an extension of the fun conversations typically had around our office’s lunch table. With a PhD in American Culture Studies, host Melinda Lewis attempts to bridge the gap between the rigor of research and the pleasure of pop culture.

Despite being tied to Drexel University, this is not a bunch of academics trading theories and jargon. Pop, The Question is about both the pleasure of popular culture and the pleasure in peeling the layers back to better understand ourselves. The podcast has explored an array of topics like 19th-century microbiology, the Kardashians, celebrity crushes, T-shirts, Glenn Danzig, representation of blackness in film, and Working Girl. While disparate in content, each episode ties into a simple thread that runs throughout: popular culture is important and part of our everyday lived experiences. Whether we run to popular culture to relax or destress, whether we’ve fashioned our identity around certain texts or objects, or even consider it part of our work, popular culture is embedded into our ways of being.

At last year’s Philly Podcast Festival, Pop, The Question delved into our guiltiest pleasures – everything from Barry Manilow, power ballads, and Blink 182. This year, Lewis and her guests will be talking about a small band you’ve probably never heard of, The Beatles. Earlier this year, she and her guests listened to and rated 200+ Beatles songs. They’ll be presenting the data of this research, the lessons they learned, and whether they came out fans or naysayers of the iconic band.

If you’d like to get in on this, check them out on July 21stat 6:30 pm at Tattooed Mom!

Musicians' Greatest Stories on Tales Of the Road Warriors

This interview with the host of Tales of the Road Warriors is part of a series highlighting podcasts participating in Philly Podfest 2019. See the full line-up of live shows on our Schedule page.

Podcasts were not new to Hal Aaron Cohen when he started developing Tales of the Road Warriors. His sister and niece had their own podcasts. He had even been a guest on the former’s. But it was after a conversation about podcasting on Thanksgiving, when Hal began to put it all together. He had built websites since the ‘90s and after decades of working as a musician, he had all these stories, friends who had their stories . . . and the ability to build a platform on which he could share them all. 

Like Marc Maron (Hal’s podcasting role model), Hal allows his guests a wide breadth to explore a fairly easy yet complicated question: what’s your story. Part of his inspiration came from a previous project: 

“I had people submit their stories about the gigs from hell, the funny things that happened on their gigs, the horrible situations, the club owners that don’t pay them, or one guy who was on tour with Linda and Paul McCartney who talked about her after she died. So I’m thinking, why don't I make Tales of the Road Warriors into a podcast. I lived all these years in California and I know some really good people with great stories.”

And this isn’t a fib. The people Hal talks to have great stories. They’ve been through ringers. They’ve waited their turns. They’ve made a life in music work for them. But the title of “road warrior” often means little recognition. “Road Warriors aren’t about the McCartneys – it’s about the support networks, it’s about the boots on the ground getting gigs, it’s about the camaraderie formed by those also doing the thing they love in front of 5, 50, 150, 1500, and more people.”

Inadvertently, Hal is also building a really cool archive of stories of these road warriors whose labor and stories might otherwise be discounted or unheard outside of these small friendship networks formed by musicians. But his goal, like any musician’s, is to invite the audience in:

“I want to bridge the gap between the musician and the audience. . . I want the stories to be compelling enough for so that people go ‘I always wondered what it was like to be to be on the road . . . The stories shared articulate just how small the world of musicians is – working at the same clubs, with the same musicians, and sharing the same road warrior life style. Listening kind of feels like listening to musicians improvising – it’s hella playful, with intriguing tangents, and a sense of community.”

To catch this festival of words, catch Hal and his road warriors at Tattooed Mom on July 21st at 3:30 pm. 

Dueling Perspectives on First Reaction/Fan Reaction

This interview with the hosts of First Reaction/Fan Reaction is part of a series highlighting podcasts participating in Philly Podfest 2019. See the full line-up of live shows on our Schedule page.

By Sarah Palmatory

I sat down to chat with Cailin and Dara, the hosts of First Reaction/Fan Reaction and creators of WittyClothes Productions, which has a Philly Podfest live show scheduled for 4:30PM at Tattooed Mom on July 27th.

Q: To get started, many festival viewers will be listening to podcasts for the first time. If you were describing your podcast to someone who has never listened to a podcast, what would you say?

A: Well, we are two friends who watch TV shows that one of us has seen and is a big fan of, and the other person is watching for the first time.

Then we review episodes of the show which results in two different perspectives.

Q: Interesting premise. Why did you start the podcast?

Cailin: We've worked together for a while already before we started the podcast! We've known each other since college where we produced a movie/TV review program for our on campus TV station (we actually started producing that show together before we even became friends). After we graduated we still wanted to produce content together, and it was Dara's idea to review shows where one of us has seen it before and the other hasn't

Dara: It also came from discussion about TV shows and being upset when Cailin hadn't watched any of the shows I was talking about, and the experience of watching Avatar: The Last Airbender for the first time and talking about it to Cailin who has loved that show since childhood.

Q: Why podcasting? Do you plan to continue in the media long-term, or move toward producing for TV?

Dara: I think for me I started listening to podcasts in college, and I liked the idea of sitting down with a friend and having a conservation about something. Also it felt like there wasn't a time limit like with video so you could go in depth and go off topic, stuff like that.

Cailin: Yeah, I definitely also think with podcasting there's a lot of variety. I actually do TV stuff for work so I really like the variety that comes with working in a different format!

Q: Do you have any future plans for your podcast? Taking it to the "next step?"

Our idea of "next step" is branching out and covering more content. We have a lot of ideas for other shows so to be able to expand what we already have is where we see ourselves heading in the future. We always have something to talk about!

We have ideas for more reviewing style podcast, discussion podcast, and maybe even scripted podcast. WittyClothes is basically a production company and we want to have a variety of podcasts.

Q: What are you planning to talk about  at your live show? Do you format live shows differently than usual episodes?

For our live shows, we tend to review movies instead of TV shows because it's easier to recap a movie in that amount of time. Also it's more likely that more people have seen it. There's definitely more planning that goes into live shows for us. For live shows, we don't have the benefit of editing so we have to have a good idea where we're headed from beginning to end. It makes it exciting and the extra planning makes the show into something special.

We also review a movie so that we can talk about something with a beginning, middle, and end, instead of an episode of a TV show some people might not have seen and have no context for.

Q: Do you know what movie you plan to review at this year's podfest?

Cailin:  We're doing After (2019). It's a movie based off a book that was based on a fanfiction. I have a lot more experience with reading and writing fanfiction when I was younger than Dara does, so a lot of our approach to this show will be from the perspective of someone who understands fanfiction and their tropes vs. someone who doesn't.

To check it out for yourself, you can visit the pair on Facebook at facebook.com/wittyclothes and attend the live show at Tattooed Mom on the 27th!

Odd News and Simple Fun with The Crispy Noodle

This interview with the hosts of The Crispy Noodle is part of a series highlighting podcasts participating in Philly Podfest 2019. See the full line-up of live shows on our Schedule page. 

by Melinda Lewis

Rich and Mike are two friends with a weekly podcast that covers a smorgasbord of topics that is reminiscent of old school talk radio with news, hot takes, and a vicious soundboard. Before their Philly Podfest show on July 28, from 2:30 to 3:30 at Tattooed Mom, they answered some questions about their podcast and plans for the festival.  (edited for length)

Q: Your show reminds me of listening to the radio before school. What have been some of your influences and how did you determine the format?

Rich: I listened to Preston & Steve on Y100 almost every morning on the way to school. I loved how their topics were informative and hilarious. When Y100 shut down and they went off the air, I was devastated; there really wasn't anything like them. After interning with their show on WMMR, I knew I wanted to produce my own show that was newsworthy, comedic, and just simply, fun. 

Mike: I trusted Rich’s instincts when it came to the radio-esque nature of the show since he had the experience. But from the start we knew our favorite topics, that we wanted to be fun and informative, and that if we were excited and passionate about a topic, that would come through in the show. After that, it all just fell into place. 

Q: What's the root of Crispy Noodle’s name?

Rich: Naming a podcast is actually one of the most difficult tasks when coming up with a podcast. We didn't want to simply call it The Rich & Mike Show, so we decided to let inspiration come to us in another way – Chinese takeout. My fortune cookie literally read "Be the Crispy Noodle in the vegetarian salad of life." I shouted to Mike "what the hell does this mean?!" We both couldn't stop laughing. We thought maybe this an answer from Fortune's own cookie – The Crispy Noodle Podcast. 

Mike: This is one of the biggest mysteries of the show when we first mention the name to someone. We went with our gut, literally, and it worked out great.

Q: Do you have anything planned for Philly Podfest?

Rich: Mike is actually away on vacation that weekend and it will be the first time I am doing The Crispy Noodle Podcast without him. He will definitely be involved in the show in a special way . . .  that's as much as a tease as I can provide! I won't be flying solo though, because our recurring guest personality, Nenna, will be there to help react to Entertainment and Odd News. 

Mike: It’s a shame I can’t be there this year, but I get to be in the very fun and unique position of experiencing the show as a listener first instead of a co-host. We're already working hard to come up with something fun for the event.  

Q: What are you looking forward to most about Philly Podfest (and what makes you want to come back)?

Rich: There are so many interesting podcasts to discover and learn about. I also enjoy the live audience that comes out for this – people get to react in real time to the topics we provide and the odd news stories I research. I also love that we're at Tattooed Mom, it's such a great venue – punk rock atmosphere, right on South Street. You couldn't ask for a more Philly-centric venue in my opinion.

Mike: It’s great to be part of a community that is so passionate about their shows and topics. Since we don’t normally do live events or shows, it definitely adds a unique twist and change of pace for our show, which is welcome after 300+ episodes! 

Amplifying queer voices with My Gay Agenda

This interview with the hosts of My Gay Agenda is part of a series highlighting podcasts participating in Philly Podfest 2019. See the full line-up of live shows on our Schedule page. 

by Melinda Lewis

From the title, to the intro, to the discussion, there is no haziness when it comes to what My Gay Agenda is about. CJ Higgins and Jenn Adams make a podcast that represents Philadelphia’s queer community, educates, and builds empathic bridges. This year, they’ll be celebrating Queer History with their show at the National Liberty Museum, Sunday, July 21 at 3 pm.  (Edited for length)

From the title, to the intro, to the discussion, there is no haziness when it comes to what My Gay Agenda is about. CJ Higgins and Jenn Adams make a podcast that represents Philadelphia’s queer community, educates, and builds empathic bridges. This year, they’ll be celebrating Queer History with their show at the National Liberty Museum, Sunday, July 21 at 3 pm.  (Edited for length)

From the title, to the intro, to the discussion, there is no haziness when it comes to what My Gay Agenda is about. CJ Higgins and Jenn Adams make a podcast that represents Philadelphia’s queer community, educates, and builds empathic bridges. This year, they’ll be celebrating Queer History with their show at the National Liberty Museum, Sunday, July 21 at 3 pm.  (Edited for length)

From the title, to the intro, to the discussion, there is no haziness when it comes to what My Gay Agenda is about. CJ Higgins and Jenn Adams make a podcast that represents Philadelphia’s queer community, educates, and builds empathic bridges. This year, they’ll be celebrating Queer History with their show at the National Liberty Museum, Sunday, July 21 at 3 pm.  (Edited for length)

From the title, to the intro, to the discussion, there is no haziness when it comes to what My Gay Agenda is about. CJ Higgins and Jenn Adams make a podcast that represents Philadelphia’s queer community, educates, and builds empathic bridges. This year, they’ll be celebrating Queer History with their show at the National Liberty Museum, Sunday, July 21 at 3 pm.  (Edited for length)

Q:  How did y'all meet and at one point did you decide "Hey, let's do this?"

CJ:  After college, throughout 2017, Jenn would bring up the idea of us co-hosting a podcast called My Gay Agenda. After mentioning it several times I realized they weren't trying to make a goof, they were making an actual suggestion. Then we did it!

Jenn: At some point or another, I made a joke to my partner along the lines of something silly being my gay agenda and he said ‘’Oh, that would make a great podcast name!’ I laughed and agreed but then was like...’oh dang, it really would.’ I IMMEDIATELY knew CJ was the perfect person to throw the idea at. 

Q: Between your title and opening credits, it's pretty clear what your podcast is about on the surface, but what is My Gay Agenda’s (your gay agenda’s) agenda/goals?

CJ: Our goal is to educate through exposure and representation. We want to create a space where queer people can feel validated and recognized, and cisgender heterosexual people can learn by listening. It's sort of like a chat among queer folx that cishets can listen in on. Plus, we've had some listeners tell us that the podcast helped them discover their own queer identities! 

Jenn: We've really shifted our focus to lifting up queer voices and letting individuals talk about their experiences and stories. We still consider ourselves both a comedy and education podcast, but the number one goal is to let queer people of all kinds talk about what they want to talk about and send it out into the world where people can learn, empathize, or discover something about themselves through listening.

Q: What do you enjoy most about the process of producing My Gay Agenda?

CJ: I love meeting all our guests! We've had the privilege to talk to over fifty queer people about their unique experiences and identities. I'm constantly grateful people choose to share their stories with us.

Jenn: I’m biased as the self-proclaimed ‘camp counselor’ of the show, but I really enjoy developing the silly mini-games we play with our guests at the end of each episode. Half the time they’re less ‘games’ and more jumping off points for all of us to make more jokes, but they’re always fun to develop and they help us end the show on a lighter, whimsical note, especially when we end up discussing something heavy. 

Q: You've done live shows before - what makes a live show particularly special (and how does it compare to the performances you do outside of these live tapings?

CJ: Live shows are where we go beyond the interview format of our regular episodes! Past ones have included a quiz show and an open forum on how gay the city of Philadelphia is. Plus, at the end of each live show, we ask the audience for suggestions of what to put on the Gay Agenda, and that always gets some fun and interesting responses (like mandatory astrology charts, milkshakes, etc.).

Jenn: Lately, we’ve really been exploring different formats for the live shows and I love mixing it up and bringing in the audience! What’s special about MGA live shows is that they’re always different and always full of camaraderie and laughter. 

Also, sometimes people sing along to the theme song and that’s pretty neat

Q: What are you most excited about Philly PodFest?

CJ: I'm excited about our unique location at the National Liberty Museum! How many times do you get to do a podcast episode in a museum?

Jenn:  Philly Podfest is where we did our first ever live show, so I’m super excited to return! I’m excited to bring our show to new audience members, and, honestly, to see as many other shows as I can!

Getting away from Stress with The Philly Blunt Podcast

This interview with the hosts of The Philly Blunt Podcast is part of a series highlighting podcasts participating in Philly Podfest 2019. See the full line-up of live shows on our Schedule page.

by Melinda Lewis

The Philly Blunt Podcast started like any great project does: Quizzo and chance encounters. Since joining forces Quizmaster Johnny Goodtimes, MC Reef the Lost Cauze, and Jawnville writer Violations Greg have developed a podcast that celebrates Philadelphia through bringing focus to the people who live and work here and the bars that act as second homes. Allowing their guests to choose the bar Johnny, Reef, and Greg bring a down home vibe to the podcast. “Historically, bars are where communities gather to discuss the world around them . . .” says Greg. “We couldn’t think of a better setting to discuss a wide range of topics with amazing people in a relaxing atmosphere away from the stresses of the world.” And their biweekly conversations on The Philly Blunt extends that atmosphere to its listeners. 

Their conversations are the ones you catch yourself eavesdropping on because everybody at the table seems to be bringing the jokes and compelling stories. Part of this feeling is due to the locale, the sense of familiarity we feel at our Philadelphia bar, but it’s also fostered by the hosts who are adept interviewers. Talking with those like author Jennifer Wiener, food critic Craig Laban, and comedian Chip Chantry their ability to make an interview with strangers more like a conversation is just one of the reasons why Philly Mag included the podcast as one of the “Top 5 Best Philly Podcasts to Listen to Right Now” earlier this year. 

When asked about their favorite element about Philadelphia, the hosts responded with the Philadelphia’s interconnectedness, it’s lack of ego, and a city fully of legends without the pretentiousness of other cities. The very things they love about the city are what they embody and celebrate in The Philly Blunt Podcast, which will be live at National Liberty Museum on Sunday, July 21 at 1:00 pm. While they have something planned, they’re not giving anything away. Greg adds, “In reality though, we’ll probably change our minds thirty times, scramble the day before, and pull off something amazing. That’s the plan, at least.”