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Relaunch of Blackballed coming soon, and we’re making changes

Mar 25, 2023

A couple weeks ago, someone said something to me that made me laugh, and then it make me think.

“It’s hilarious watching you eject guests from Casual Friday for having bad audio, especially when you have the worst audio of everyone.”

After spitting out my Red Bull involuntarily, I suddenly realized how right that person was. And so, after reminding myself to find the silver lining when my ex wife damaged my Starlink dish while she made a snowman with my son, I took Blackballed off the air for a temporary hiatus.

For the past week I have been talking to tech people to improve my production all-around. A new microphone is coming, courtesy of Dark Corner Studios, my new sponsor, and I am waiting for a new camera to arrive so I don’t look like the host of the Shopping Network from 1989.

On top of production improvements, I am changing one other aspect of the show. Me.

I realized something; my style of not taking notes, improvising interviews, and speaking off-the-cuff works here and there, but often it was to blame for awkward moments in interviews, or interviews ending without certain aspects of the person being unearthed.

I launched Blackballed with a Noam Chomsky interview, and while I shudder at my deer-in-the-headlights delivery, the one aspect I still appreciate is how much care I took into formulating the right questions for Noam (he lets me call him Noam now, and he will be back on Blackballed on April 22nd).

Today, my delivery is far more confident. But my hope is as follows: to approach every interview with as much thought into preparation as my first interview, but with the confidence in delivery of my last. From here on in, everyone is Chomsky.

I’m still going to interview rappers, comedians, journalists, and other interesting people, including guests that are widely hated so I can argue with people about the idea of ‘platforming,’ but instead of trailing off or taking too much time freestyling my intro and questions, I will treat listeners with more respect by just focusing on my guests via clear, concise questions intended to lift the curtain on their lives.

I went from being completely obscure to having one of the top ranked podcasts in the country, and I realize it has to do with having dope listeners, not dope interviews. My goal is to match the respect I have for listeners with an approach that respects the interview itself.

This is all a learning process. Podcasting can feel both lonely and crowded all at the same time. Crier Media has allowed me to have carte blanche over content, and I think it is time to show that I can do more than just book dope guests. I want people to see a production value that matches the profile of the people I sit down with.

The Blackballed relaunch is coming March 31st when Casual Friday will make its triumphant return. We will have a new co host, and some format changes, but otherwise it will be the same Blackballed atmosphere, only with better chemistry.

See you then.

Contributing Writers

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