Hey, everybody. Welcome to Poduty and the News for Saturday, October 11,
2025. We got Phil Better joining us on the main
stage. We've got six great stories. We're going to
Hawaii. MSNBC is betting on live events.
We've got Vox Media and Talking points memo
celebrating 25 years. Let's hear Phil's theme
song. The stage is hot. The lights are on.
From Honolulu Nights to St. Paul Songs,
Queer voices rise T we miss the town.
MSNBC's fans are gathering round
Fox takes the mic where tech meets start. Jeff
Revilla is here to tear the news apart.
Covering meetups media. That is our goal.
We're joined by Phil Better. The pod has no goal.
What time is it? What?
What time is it?
What time is
time for
the only live news podcast about
podcasting from the st.
I got to admit, that drop was hard. That was
banging. I want that as my theme song because that's
ballin'. Every time Phil walks into the room, that song will play.
Phil Better. Welcome to Pity and the News.
Yeah, I love it. Oh, my God, this is so great. I love you. Do
amazing work, Jeff. Well, thank you, thank you. I'm trying to do something. I'm
definitely doing something. And. And part of that is cause of the connections I've
made doing podcasting. We have Maria Daniels. We had Norm
from He's going to kill me Theta Wave Blue Media. I
think I got it right now. We got Phil Better, international podcast speaker,
The Podcast Mogul joining us north of the
border. We're going. This is our first international guest. There you
go. Love it. I'm breaking barriers and
taking you all with me. Phil,
tell us about The Podcast Mogul. Hi, everybody.
I'm Phil Better, The Podcast Mogul. I'm so happy to be here on pod duty
and the news. I just switched into professional mode if you couldn't tell.
And if you're listening, this is how I normally sound on my podcast. I am
The Podcast Mogul. What I do is I help podcasters like
yourself take your podcast from no monetization to monetized,
from no growth to growth. Because this is what I love to do.
I all I do every day is speak with podcasters, figure out how I
can help you, and actually help brands grow their podcasts as well and take
the secrets that they teach or they use so that you as an
independent podcaster can grow your podcast the same way.
I've been in podcasting for over a decade. I love it. It's changed my world
and it's allowed Me to be in this little castle, as you can see from
the background behind me. If you're. You're watching over on Poduty
YouTube channel, which I. You should be following right now.
It does look like you're on like the English countryside with that, like a
chimney or a stone wall behind you. It's a former chimney. Yeah,
it's an actual. For Jimmy. Is that a real, real. That's not a
green screen? No, it's. It's a full, full, full reel.
Wow. Yeah, we, we, we cultured up here
in Canada. We got all the things. Phil,
thank you so much. I know you were just in the States a few weeks
ago. We were almost going to get you on the stage. When you were in
town or in the States, what were you attending? You were down in what,
North Carolina? I was in. I was in Charlotte, North Carolina,
for the Empowered Podcasting Conference 2, the second
one. It was an amazing event where I was able to speak on
stage about authentic storytelling. I was on a panel
with Jason Cerrone, Yvonne, and
I'm forgetting the other lady's name, which I am very
sorry for her. I think it's Carol. I think it's
Carol. We were talking about authentic storytelling. This is a
two, three day event. Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
It is put on by the most genuine people who want to see you
succeed. Everyone there cares about podcasting, but
cares more about helping others than getting help themselves. I had so many
great conversations where a few people who actually are in
the Maria Daniels, Jeff Revilla
community of people that came over to see me. One of them was Mark
from Staid Practical Prepping Podcast.
It was amazing. I had such a great time. I'm looking forward to going
next year. And you as well listeners should be going to these
podcast conferences if you can, because you will meet the people
that you need to have in your life when it comes to podcasting.
Yeah, it's. Well, this is a podcast news show. Phil Better reporting live
from. From North Carolina. Empowered Podcasting. I saw a lot of great
photos. It looked like a phenomenal event and something that's going to be on my
radar next year. Yeah, it's. I am
so looking forward to going back. I, I'm disappointed that I got. I missed
the. Your meetup that weekend. I. If I
wasn't chosen to be a panelist, I would have been at your event. But I
got the news that I was chosen as a panelist, so I had to make
that difficult decision of which would I go support.
And we always wish for your success. So like that's an
amazing opportunity. You got to jump on it. You got to take it. Well, we'll
know that we'll catch up at another point, and we're glad that, you know, you
were able to experience that and have a great time and let us know how
it was. Oh, thank you. And I'm so glad to be a part of your
community because you gave me my start as an international speaker. So I'm going to
be supporting you 110% that it's like almost like
a. Championship belt and like the intercontinental heavyweight champion of
podcasting. Phil Better. Oh,
funny enough, I do have a belt that I am
I a wrestling belt that I do sponsor. I
did see that there's. There is a podcast mogul belt, right? Yes, it is.
The I AIWF Canadian
Heavyweight Championship belt is sponsored by Feel Better,
The Podcast Mogul. It's currently held by a gentleman
named Adam Kraft, I believe from
the Atlantic provinces. But he is a fighting champion and he defends
that belt every chance he gets. So I'm very happy to have a fighting champion
as my first champion for that belt. That's awesome.
And we started the show as a way to get together Saturday mornings. A lot
of times we're, we're busy during the week. We're recording in the evenings after
work a lot of times. And Saturday was kind of a time where we could
slow down, we could digest all the news that comes our
way each. Each week, I'm filtering a thousand plus stories
to find you the six best that we can bring to you for duty in
the news. And, you know, we want to sit down with friends and fans and
people who love podcasting. We're drinking coffee. I'm drinking
the Guatemala Dark from Harvest Moon, which is two blocks
down the street. So if you ever come to the theater in the morning for
a Saturday morning, I hope you join me sometime. Nobody has yet. So who
will be the first one to join me as a random guest? We'll walk down
to Harvest Moon. We have a little march and then we go down. They have
these things called hand pies, which are like empanada hand pies.
These are amazing breakfast sandwiches. They're like
puff pastry stuff with eggs and bacon and sausage. Or they have a
vegetarian one that's spinach and cheese. Like, they are really, really
good. We. We had it both days. I was there. Correct?
Most likely. That's so. Yeah. That
I have to say has. I'm not a huge coffee drinker, to
be fair. I've probably had 10 coffee cup, 10 cups of coffee in my
whole life. But their hot chocolate is a divine.
They're those sandwiches or those pastries that Jeff is talking about.
Just so good, warm, delicious. It feels like
it's freshly made, like when they just hand it to you.
And then there's the pizza. You guys have such a great pizza
joint. Oh, God, I am so looking forward to
going back just for the pizza and the food. Pretty much. Not to see Jeff
is a plus. But the food is the main reason I'm going back down. Yeah,
Pittsburgh, big surprise on the culinary front. But Phil's had 10
cups of coffee in his life. I've had 10 cups of coffee today.
Phil, are you ready to get into these stories? Let's get into the news.
Here's Pudutti in the news. We're going to Hawaii.
We're going to Keep it Aloha. Keep It Aloha podcast goes live
at the Blue Note Waikiki with seven
sons and the Aloha spirit met live podcasting
magic as the Keep It Aloha podcast hit the stage with the
iconic Blue Note Waikiki. Host Kamaka
Diaz sat down with the island's newest reggae sensation,
seven Sons, for a heartfelt talk story session that
captured the essence of Hawaii's creative community. After the
conversation, the band treated fans to a soulful 30
minute acoustic set, blending smooth harmonies and island
rhythms. Even better, every dollar raised went to seven Sons
scholarship fund, helping the next wave of local musicians chase
their dreams. It's a perfect example of how live podcasts
can bring community culture and creativity together
under one roof. And this is one of
those stories I love. Everybody knows I'm so
bullish on what live podcasting can be, what it can become.
And here's a crossover where this podcast, one of their
bands favorite bands on the island, they're having an event that's
not only a way to bring their fans together, but a
fundraiser. So now you're bringing people together, you're raising money
for a cause, and you're having this shared experience.
Like, how powerful is that? I
love all the stories today because they're just amazing
for what podcasters can do with their community. And that's what's so
important. I love this more specifically because
I do have a lot of independent artist friends that
have bands that are not, that are
unfortunately not getting the success that they deserve and
pairing it with a podcast that is about the community.
Like Keep It Aloha podcast, which talks about the islands.
You know, they are creating this event.
They've created this community that will come and support.
And you see it constantly with other podcasts, large, like
big name podcasts going around doing these
studio, not studio theater tours or even stadium tours.
And they're selling out. But this is proof that even a small
podcast, you, you team with another group that needs that, that
has a community that's somewhat similar to yours coming together.
And it's not for self profit. It is for frigging
charity, which is bigger and better. That's just
makes this even better. This is the power that you as a podcaster can do.
So if you, if you can do this like, like Jeff said, like, if
you are in the Pittsburgh area, head up to Trenton,
go to the Poduty theater, check it out, see what it's like
first, and talk to Jeff about hosting your podcast there.
Because you can put, bring in charity, you can bring in live events. Like they're
doing a concert after the podcast. So it's. You're getting a two for one, you're
getting a live podcast. So if you love the podcast, you're getting to see it
live and they're chatting and you get to meet them afterwards, which. Who doesn't want
to see a live recording? Right. People go to Jimmy Fallon. Why not go to
your podcast? But also you get a musical
concert after a great. From a great reggae band.
This is. And you're supporting independent artists and we need to support more
independent people, independent podcasters, independent
musicians and writers. So I'm 100% for this.
I wish I was in Hawaii right now so that I could go to this
and support this. Yeah. What's incredible is you have
the ability to connect like this. Where this is on the island, right? This is
on Hawaii, on the mainland here, which I'm sure that's what
they would. Now all of a sudden I'm Hawaiian. But if we're on the mainland,
you have bars, restaurants, libraries, have media
centers. If you're not in Pittsburgh and you don't have a Poduty in your
town, there are unlimited ways to put on a
live show to bring your community together. So start
thinking outside the box. You don't just have to record a podcast isolated
in your basement. You can go to the places where your
fans are, the restaurants, the coffee shops, the bars,
and bring them together and have a shared experience.
This is like, this is bringing the loneliness
of podcasting into the limelight, allowing
us to connect with our audience. Like, if you say
like I've been in the theater, the theater has about. You said 30
seats, correct, Jeff? Roughly 40 is the legal
Amount of capacity. Okay, yeah, So I was 10 chart. But you have 40
people. Think about this. You. If you already have 40
listeners, let's say you're very niched and you're. You're talking about
your town, right? You have 40 people who listen from your town. That
fills up the theater. That. Jeff is it. And let me tell you, 40 people
in one room, That's a lot of people. I spoke in front of only 20
people. No, I think it was between 20 and 30 people when I did
my panel. And that is intimidating
because it was like the first time I was in such a large group. I'm
used to talking to a camera, and I'm safe and sound. But you get to
see the actual impact your podcast can have
with your community firsthand because they're there to support you.
And that's just going to boost your. Your need to continue podcasting.
Find a local location library, like Jeff said, library,
school, auditorium. See if some schools have theaters. See if you can rent it out,
if that's a possibility, you know, and just find
a place, because I'm telling you, you will get revitalized
doing a live podcast, even if you do it once a year, you. You will
see how you just. The. The energy
for it just comes back to you. I. I came home from the
conference and my family was like, Phil, you didn't stop smiling
for a week. Can you stop? It's creepy.
But yeah, if you. If you're not watching. I just did a very creepy smile
that I had like a serial killer. I. I am like. Jeff is very
bullish on live in person theater
shows. I'm probably second behind him at
how bullish I am because it's. It's coming. Like, I have something I want to
say at the end of the show regarding this because of
AI, but we're gonna keep moving the news because we
got some other great stories. But the moves.
This is when we have a guest. Now, we do call this Poduty and the
crew. So if you go to the news.poduty.com
There's a people section, or actually it's a crew section. Anybody who's ever
been on the show, there's an archive of what shows they've been on
and. And a little bio about them. So Phil is going to
get inducted into the crew after this show. One of
the things I want to add to this is I do a Pittsburgh podcast meetup.
It's a monthly event, and from that, I'm obviously looking for
butts to fill the seats here. And I'm looking for people for the stage, I'm
looking for talent. I'm typically converting 10 to 20% of
the people who make it to the theater into live shows the following
month. So if you're a business owner, you're an accountant, you offer
marketing services, you're a consultant, keep that in mind.
There's opportunity here. This is, you know, your live event could be part of your
funnel where if, you know, you get certain amount of people to a theater,
a certain amount of them are going to convert into customers or
listeners. So keep that, keep that in the back of your head.
This is another way to grow your business. It's the
smartest way of growing your business because it's, you get to have
that connection with the individuals. I'm all for it.
Let's. More live events. Well, speaking of more live
events, story number two. Today, Unboxing Queer
History is live Again. Reconnecting generations
in Chicago. History came alive in Chicago as the
Gerber Heart Library and Archives hosted
Unboxing Queer History Live Again, a sold out
celebration of storytelling, connection and preservation. The
evening recreated a full podcast episode live on stage,
spotlighting the LGBTQ Intergenerational
Dialogue project where elders and youth shared powerful
personal stories. The audience laughed, cried, and learned
as the performers brought archival voices to life with live
recordings, video and art. More than a podcast,
this event became a living time capsule, a reminder that
telling our stories out loud is itself an act of
resistance. And that community history can't be canceled when
it's shared, recorded and celebrated together.
This one was super powerful, like the idea of a
time capsule. To me, I'm always very careful what I say on
stage because I know, like a diamond, anything I record is going to last
forever. But on the flip side of that, anything you do record
does last forever. So if there's a time period in history
where there's a lot of friction, there's a lot of things happening in
society, and you're documenting that so that generations in
the future can learn about it, or generations in the past
telling us how they struggled and how they survived to get to today.
This was a very powerful way to document history and something
I, I probably never considered as much. I, yeah, I,
you just blowing my mind with that because I never looked at it as documenting
history. But it's true. They're, they're talking about history.
They're, they're going into the archives, bringing out the stories from the past
so that generations in the future can hear about it. Because we do
lose those stories if we don't record them, or if they're written down, they can
be burnt. They can be banned in some instances, as we've
seen throughout history. But this also
just shows how powerful community is, right? Because we,
without promoting or politicizing anything,
communities like the LGBTQ community,
and I apologize if I destroyed the. The
acronym, it's not my regular vernacular. But
they are very supportive and. But they're also somewhat
scattered. But you have this community coming together, a small community. It's
intergenerational, right? So you have, you know, boomers and
elder millennials and Gen Xers talking to Gen Alpha, Gen
Z about the past, about some of the magnificent
moments throughout their history that allowed them to become
more prominent, become less stigmatized. So for
me, seeing this is again, just re.
Re Pushing.
Re. Reinforcing the idea that having
your community at a live event is so important because there.
It's not just for you sitting there talking to your audience, telling them their
stories like they did over at Unboxing Queer
History. It's the opportunity for other people to meet and
network and get to know each other so that they know they're not alone.
Especially when you're using a podcast similar to this, where it is
sometimes stigmatized there are pushed to the outside of society
because they don't conform. This allows them to connect with
others so that they don't feel alone. This is what also live podcasting
can do for your audience. It allows them to feel like, oh, I'm
not the only one listening. There's this person, there's that person. I can
connect with this person. And you'll see your podcast grow
because you're creating those connections within your community,
within your listenership that can come to support for major things
like doing a live at a
historic library that tells the stories
of your. The people of your past, you know, that you're connected to.
So I think this is wonderful. I love it. I would love to see more
events like this at specialty libraries or just
libraries in general, hosting these live events of history, podcast
or reading podcasts so that you know you can grow a community.
I'm down hard for this.
Phil and I are bullish on the power of independent media and the ability
for you to create something, own it from start to finish, and then own the
final product, the distribution rights, how it's shared online.
You have 100% ownership. And the line in here that it's a
reminder that telling our stories out loud is itself an act of
resistance, is something you couldn't do. I mean, you could, you
could have, you could have an event 20 years ago,
but now you can document that and distribute it to the world
and be in complete control of that messaging, not answering to anybody,
not censoring it to something that somebody
wants you to say or, or censoring it for the airwaves. You can be your
authentic self on a piece of media that you can own and
distribute to the world. Yeah, it's, it's. The most powerful form
of resistance is independent media.
And I think we're going to be seeing a lot more rise of it
in the coming days, in the coming weeks, in the coming months and years.
Given the current political, in the political stance in
the world today, I can see a lot more independent
media. It's just like small businesses make the backbone
of the economy. Small independent
news networks create the, the news that everybody needs to
hear, and the voices that we need to hear are allowed to speak.
And we can get that, get representation,
and it's only through independent media. And speaking of
voices from the past, we got wits
returns a live revival 10 years in
the making. 10 years after its cancellation, Wits is back on the
stage at the legendary Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul,
proving that some shows never really die. They just take a
creative nap. Host John Moe and music director John
Munson reunited for a one night only variety show filled with
laughter, sketches, live music, and
joined by comedian Paul F. Tompkins and a surprise
musical guest. What began as a Minnesota Public radio
experiment in 2010 has grown into a community
legacy. One where comedy, music and conversation
mix perfectly in front of a live audience. As Mo
put it, we got canceled, but we sort of decided not to be.
It's a true testament to the staying power of live performance
and the podcasting spirit that refuses to fade away.
This just reinforces our previous statement how powerful a
community is. Right? This was a community run
public radio show. Okay, that, yes, obviously
it was able to have some money behind it. It was on radio, so it
got that distribution. People heard about it and it got sizable,
but it's still a community base. And they, they just came together
for one day. Even though they were canceled, they still had that power
to bring in the audience of listeners to come listen to a live
event, even if it was a one off. This may force them to do it
more often. Hey, maybe they'll do more podcasting. But this
shows how powerful your podcast can be. Even if it's been canceled, quote,
unquote canceled. I am, I love this. I want more
of these. I want more people, more public radio. To go on to the
podcasting and yeah, this is, this is
awesome. I love it. This is a string of stories we've had
recently where something in the traditional media space
has transitioned to their own show or their own podcast or
their own event. It's happening more and more as these
legacy brands maybe can't afford due to, you
know, dwindling listenership, dwindling advertising dollars.
The people who made these shows 20, 30 years ago on radio or
television, they're now taking control of their brand
and their ownership and putting these events on themselves.
Yeah, I love it. I want more of this. I, I
just, I'm not a big fan of consolidating everything
under one big roof when it comes to media. I want as
many independent people out there telling the news that
sometimes we don't want to hear, but we need to hear.
Yeah, I want more of this. I want to see more, you know, local news
people talking about stories, doing the independent journalism,
be it in music, be it in the actual news, political, be
it corporate, whatever. I want to see more independent news people
going out there. And I believe we're going to be trusting it more and more
now. Even though it's easier, simpler to
create a news organization, I think we're going to be seeing a lot more news
oriented in the local community community, which could be very
interesting because then you can do these amazing in person
events. Well, news is the perfect
segue for story number four.
MSNBC bets big on live events and podcasts
ahead of major rebrand. This one comes to us from Business
Insider. MSNBC is going all in on live events
as it prepares for its big rebrand to Ms. Now.
The network plans to triple its in person productions next year.
Everything from live podcasts and panels to interactive fan
experience like MSNBC Live. This is who we
are happening October 11, which is today when we're recording in New
York. With stars like Rachel Maddow, Jen
Zaki and Nicole Wallace taking the stage for live
conversations and Q&As, MSNBC hopes to transform
its viewers into an engaged, connected community. As
audience shift from cable to streaming, MSNBC's new
strategy is clear. Bring the news to the people, not
just through the screen, but in real life where trust,
conversation and connection can take center stage.
I love this. It's showing that the big boys
are realize how powerful one podcasting is, but also creating
that community feel or creating these events
where people can actually interact and see that it's not
there. Isn't there less of a barrier between I and the person
I'm listening to her and getting to know. However, I also have
something that I want to say. With the rise of AI generated
video, live podcasting, live
recording is going to be even more powerful because
that's more trusting. I can go to this thing and I can see them
talk in person. They're a 3D individual, they're live
in person. I don't have to worry about it being an AI generated
video because I was there and watching it. I truly believe
that with the rise of the AI videos and that
more companies are going to go this route because it's more trusting. I can
trust if I can go see it live. Yeah. Here's a
traditional media company creating these live events. And I think
the data is starting to show that people are tired of isolation.
They've become addicted to their cell phones. They're waking up from this
addiction. They're understanding maybe because of
AI, that sitting in bed at night, scrolling through a
conveyor bait, a conveyor belt of videos on their
phone isn't healthy behavior. And I think that's another
reason why these live events are becoming so, so much more front and center.
People want to get out, people want to connect with people. We are a social
being. Yeah. Humans are, seek community
and we just don't. You don't get that kind of fulfillment
staring at a two dimensional screen all night. You want to be able
to shake hands, smile at somebody, share your ideas, even
debate your ideas. It's okay to have different ideas, but
have healthy conversation or why do you believe this one? I believe
that those, we don't have any of that anymore because we
work all day and we go home and we, we get under the covers and
either stream media and then get on our phone. So these events
are going to continue to become more and more front and center and maybe
because of AI, we may have a, an IRL
revolution. I fully believe
moving forward there's going to be less and less
trust on traditional media and
more and more trust in, in companies that do live
events. So with MSNBC doing this so early
and proving that it's going to work, you're going to see a lot of other
traditional switch over if they want to continue
their business. And it's going to
cause a cascade effect that I'm very interested in seeing
what happens. I think it's going to be a lot of fun
with what's coming up. You know, when we were younger there was only, I'll joke,
those three television stations, that's how old I am. And
newscasters were Local celebrities.
People loved Joe DiNardo. People loved Peggy Finnegan. If
you're in the Pittsburgh area, you know what I'm talking about. But these were local
celebrities. And through streaming and through our cell phone addictions,
we've really lost that connection to these people who are propping
up the local economy. They're telling us what's going on and what's new and
what's happening. And I think for local news stations,
this model is perfect to bring back that love
and support of these quote, unquote local celebrities who
are on TV every night for, you know, half an hour at a time. But
everybody knows their name locally. Yeah. Even if they don't
do like a daily livestream, quote unquote.
Even if it's like, hey, every Friday we open up the studio.
You can come in and you can watch the live recording of it
just once a week. That's gonna be amazing
for your audience because they get to connect and understand what's going on. And
you may end up having people who can help you 10 times
your audience or provide advice. You never know who
you're gonna meet when they come in. But also you're creating that community.
Feel like we need, we need to have community again
and we're striving for it. We're so starve of community
that we're looking anywhere for that community. And I think,
I think that the rise of more live podcasting from
traditional and as well as independent
sources will be fantastic for not only the economy, but
the mental well being of the communities. I got
another one for you. We're going to finish out New York City strong. Last three
stories are all New York, so if you're looking for a community right now, New
York City is the place to be. Vox Media brings its star
podcast to the Tech Futures stage. This just happened
the last three days, but Vox Media is stepping out of the studio
and onto the stage at Tech Futures 2025,
transforming New York City South Street Seaport into a
three day celebration of innovation, technology and live
conversation. From October 7th through the 9th,
audiences experience live podcast tapings from icons like
Sue Bird and Mega Rapineau. With a
touch more the Verge's Nile Patel with
decoder and finance influencer
Vivian2 with network and Chill.
It's all part of a growing trend where podcasts don't just inform,
they perform as tech features blend
culture, business and technology in real time. Vox
Media proves that live podcasting isn't just about talking
tech. It's about shaping the future of how we connect,
learn and Share stories together. This
is everything that we love on a much higher scale.
Vox Media, the podcast that they sponsor and produce,
they're taking them around like on a little mini tour. And this tour ended up
being at Tech Futures in New York City. This,
this is like what I'm saying, small, independent, like Vox
Media started, I believe, small. I don't think they were part of the
mainstream conglomerate, but they, I think they may have
been bought. I'm not sure, I don't know the whole history. But this is what
you can do. You start a media brand and you, you start helping local
podcasters grow and grow and growing. And then before you know, you're on tech future
or on pod duty in the news telling other
podcasters how they should be, you know, going and doing live
events. I, I love this. I want to see more and more
like the previous story in this story is like mainstream
media coming into the podcasting world. Whereas a couple of the first stories
were more independent style and bringing the, the, the, the
podcast experience to the community, doing lives. So
you're seeing it both, you're seeing the independence working. You're seeing, you're also seeing the
big time major players doing the exact same formula,
which if you can't figure out is live events
are where it's at. Even if you do one a year, that's still
enough that your community is going to rally around. If you make
it a big event, you're going to have people show
up, people are going to come support you. Believe you
get at least 25 downloads on your podcast and
they're listening through the whole episode. Because I, I don't believe downloads are so important
as much as consumption rate. But if you get
25 people listening every month to your podcast, that's 25 people that may
show up, that will probably show up and support you. If you
do a live event at Poduty Theater in Trentum,
Pittsburgh, Pa. Anywhere, not just Poduty, but
you know, your hometown has places to do this. You be
creative, go to a park. Most parks have those little
clamshell stages somewhere in the middle of the park. You could
probably rent that for 25, $50, have a live event,
record that show. Think about what that does to the value of your
podcast or the perception of your podcast. Like, hey, we were on the main
stage at Roosevelt park and we did a show in front of 300
people. You know that credibility you can't
get just podcasting in your basement. No. And what's even
better, you're doing it live in this theater. That's open to the public,
right? There's going to be overspill. People are
going to come in because they're going to hear, oh, what's going on here? Why
is there like 30, 40, 50, 300 people just sitting watching this stage?
Come over and see. They hear your podcast. They'll be like, oh, that I never
knew this podcast. This sounds interesting. And then you got a potentially a new
fan that's going to be an advocate for you because
they organically found you in the wild while you were doing a
live event. And they're going to think you're a bigger podcast than you actually you
perceive yourself. Because they're seeing only the big boys,
the big podcasters doing the live events. And they must assume
that you doing a live event are just as big. Doesn't matter how big
your audience is, the fact that you're doing it and no one else is
gives you the credibility as a podcaster. Well,
one of the big boys are in New York City. We got Talking points
memo marks 25 years with its first live
podcast in New York city. For its 25th
anniversary, Talking Points Memo is taking the conversation from the
newsroom to the stage. Host John Marshall
and co host Kate Riga are bringing the John
Josh Marshall podcast to a live audience in New York City on
November 6th. Fans can expect a candid evening of
politics, humor and insider jokes, followed by Q and
A and an open bar happy hour. Because as Josh
says, I'm more fun when I'm drunk.
After successful live recordings in D.C. and Chicago earlier this year,
this marks TPM's first ever live produced podcast in
New York City, celebrating two and a half decades of
independent journalism. And you know, here's the traditional media
doing a new media play. I love it. It's
again, it's just like the MSNBC story and the
Vox media story these guys have done already.
You mentioned two previously, correct, Jeff. Yeah, Chicago
and dc. Yeah, look, they're already show
that, hey, Chicago wants it, D.C. wants it. Obviously New
York wants it because they, they're, they're mad for it,
right? FMSNBC is doing it, then Vox did it. New York is there.
So if you're in New York, you already know there's already people who would love
to come out to your podcast. So start promoting it. Start with
your community within. If you're in the
Bronx or on like a certain block, go there, see what's
available. You can even look at getting local sponsors to help offset
the cost, if there's cost, because you can use they can donate a
little bit to promote and you can like, this is a chance for you to
work with your community, to help put them,
help the small businesses around you, which, to support you on
this, this journey, working with those people. I am 100%.
I want more stories where smaller people are going, smaller
podcasts or smaller organizations are doing these live
events. We know how powerful it is. If live events didn't work, we wouldn't have
concerts. Think about it. Musicians do this. They
go to bar. To bar, to theater. To theater. If they are doing
it and they're showing it works, why aren't podcasters? Because we're
technically using our voice to entertain the masses. Just
like singers are using their voice to entertain the masses. Yeah. This
model that I'm proponent of, this small podcast
theater, is no different than the trajectory that
comedy clubs took through the 60s, 70s and 80s where
there weren't comedy clubs prior, people would go to the side of a
bowling alley or at Chinese restaurants, always had comedy.
For some reason, they didn't have places to perform. But as more
and more people like in podcasts, as more and more people are developing
podcasts, producing podcasts in their home, they're going to need a space
to go to that next level. Just like comedy clubs emerged in
the 80s and 90s to support a growing comedy scene, we're
going to need a place to support a growing podcast scene, especially on the
independent level, the smaller DIYs. Because,
you know, Phil mentioned there's already actors and comedians filling
theaters and arenas with their podcasts. So we know people
are. They're consuming this as a form of entertainment, as a form of
live entertainment. So if you're just in your basement, how
do you get the Madison Square Garden? We need those stepping stones.
And these small theaters are those types of stepping stones. They're not
just going to pluck you from your basement and put you on a stage in
front of 20,000 people. You're going to have to learn how to perform
in front of people so that you can command an audience of 20,000.
And you're going to have to work your way up a ladder. Just like a
band starts in a bar, they go to a venue, they go to a
theater, they go to an arena. They have to work their way up.
This. I, I'm 100 behind you. I, I love. I, I never
even considered the correlation between
it. Comedians and comedy clubs springing up earlier.
Right? Again, you're showing your age. I love you, Jeff. Around
in the 70s doing comedies, you. Were, oh, God, you're
younger than I thought. No, I'm kidding. This is, this is
it. Like small theaters like Poduty, or small locations
where you can actually go and record. Podcast studios can eventually bring
you to the next level. I'm, I'm, I'm
remembering a podcast that I love quoting. It's the Shits and Gigs podcast
about two British lads who came together to create a
podcast. They did a world tour.
They started in one of their, one of their living rooms,
and within five years they did a world tour. They did the U.S. they
did Australia, they did Mo. They, they
sold out the O2 arena in
London. Think about that. These are two British
lads who started in their basement, but because they
hustled and they knew how to grow their audience, they grew it to a
place where they were able to do live events around the world.
Yes, they may have not done a live event in a small theater like,
but if you think about it, you can do the same thing. You can start
at a small theater, be it your library, be it
the local school's gym nasium, maybe you're able to rent out,
but you have this ability, the library, to host live events.
Think about what your, your podcast theme is. If you're a
podcast on books, a library would be a great place to do it. Or a
bookstore. You know how some authors do signings at a
bookstore? You can look in talking with your local independent
bookstore about doing a live podcast, talking about books.
Right? That's an opportunity. If you're a beer connoisseur
or a whiskey connoisseur, you can go to the Barge, you can go to the
Distilleries if they're local, or the Bruce Breweries. And see, I've
seen and heard stories about podcasters that have done that and it's
been insane. You need to get out of your
basement or your studio, if you will, and connect with
live people in doing live events, It's. If
these past six stories haven't convinced you that a live
event is something you need to do as a podcaster to think about,
you're on your own. That's all I have to say about that. I'm throwing my
pen down. I'm done. If these six stories, plus
24 other episodes of six stories, I have 150
stories telling you it's time to go live. It's time for
Poduty in the news. We have events coming up. We're going to do some
housekeeping to get us out of here tonight. The next Pittsburgh podcast meetup,
November 1 from 6 to 9 if you're in the
Pittsburgh area. I feed you, I buy, I'm buying sandwiches this time.
Drinks. We have a great night. About seven o'. Clock. We live
stream one hour the event for everybody around the world to watch. We do
Q and A. We will answer your most pressing podcast questions.
We've got Poduty shirts. I got an early bird
shirt. $10 if you want to get it in four colors, five
sizes. We have just like the one I'm wearing in modeling. I'm the only
Poduty model on the planet. You get a shirt for 10 bucks when you
come into the theater. We have some upcoming shows
headed your way. Next Saturday there's going to be a
class reunion for the local high school. These guys do a
sports related podcast in the Pittsburgh area. It's called the Bird
Cave. And before the reunion they're going to
do an episode of their podcast with fellow alumni.
There's a little bit of pre gaming I think happening where they're going to get
ready for the reunion. So the Poduty podcast theater is not responsible
for the behavior of anybody at the reunion. But the Bird Cave, they're going
to have varsity flashbacks with special guests from their graduating year.
So what a fun little show to reconnect instead of doing
a class reunion. I'm really excited about Tamara
the Nailed it Motherhood podcast November 8th. I know that she's
going to have some other things in the lobby area. I think her mother is
selling some books. She's got some items too. It's going to be a live
event. It's a wrap up of her season one of her podcast
and we're going to kick off season two, a great live event and
a great way to bring your first season fans together in a special.
Hey, let's meet up at the theater. And something I just put
together. I'm going to do a two day livestream
from the stage only showcasing local Tarentum
businesses. So every 10 minutes I'm going to bring in a new business. Hopefully it's
like Harvest Moon, the Praha, DJ sky, all these
people that are local to the area are going to come in for 10 minutes.
We're going to show what they do, we're going to show what they sell, we're
going to show pictures of their business, play videos and we're just going to let
you connect with them on a, on a bigger way. We want to help Tarentum
have the best year ever. 2025
is going to go out with a Bang and Tarentum two days of live stream.
If you go to the piduti.com you can register. We're looking for business
owners, volunteers and sponsors. You know, please sign up,
help us pull off one of the craziest events in Tarentum history and
bring the city to life in December. We've got coming
up in 2026 already booked. You can check it out.
Humorous podcast where humor meets chaos. They're coming in from
Vermont or New Hampshire and they're coming down, passing through
Pittsburgh and going to do a live show. We still got like six months away
on that one, but just want to float it out there. And not to be
outdone, my co host today, Phil Better. I'm going to
turn the stage over to Phil for the closing remarks
and all the plugs he wants to do.
Thank you ladies and gentlemen who are listening. If you haven't
figured out that you need to do a live event for your
podcast, do it. Think about it, all
the big brands. There's one podcast that is actually doing it live at a
planetarium and this podcast is on the genomic
structure. They're going to the planetarium and talking about how music
influences your genes. Now this is by a brand
that is a very, it's a non profit
that does it, that helps with the genomic system in, in, in
the country. They're doing a live event like everybody is doing live events. Why
haven't you started? Get in contact with Jeff. If you are
in the Pittsburgh area or if you are able to get to the Pittsburgh area
and you know you have a big population of fans there, go there, get,
get involved or even, you know what, start your own Poduty theater
in your local town so that you can start doing this and bringing and
supporting the local community and bringing everyone together to grow the
podcasting world. I am Phil Better The Podcast Mogul. You can find me at The
Podcast Mogul.com and The Podcast Mogul on
all platforms. Jeff, I want to thank you so much for having me.
You are my ride or die. You are the only podcast theater
that I will always go to whenever I'm in Pittsburgh, no matter what.
We're the only podcast theater on Corbett street in downtown Tarentum.
Poduty.com, P-O-D-U-T-Y.com if
you like this podcast, it's news.poduty.com
you can check it out. We have 25 great episodes. Phil is now
being inducted into the Poduty and the Crew
hall of Fame. You'll find his links and bio on the website.
Let's go back to that theme song. The
stage is hot, the lights are on from
on the Honolulu Nights to St. Paul Songs
Queer Voices Rise TP Miss the Town
MSNBC fans are gathering around
Fox takes the mic Wet Tech me Start Jeff
Revilla is here to tear the news apart.
Covering Eden's media, that is our goal.
We're joined by Phil Better. The pilot has no go
on Time is it?
What time is it?
What time is it? Oh,
it's time for
the only live news podcast about
podcasting from the the stage.
What time is it? Poduty and the News.
The one thing I've noticed about these, these theme songs is you hear,
you know the words prior to the show, but you have no idea what the
show is going to be about if you're a listener. But once you hear the
lyrics the second time after we covered the story, they mean
so much more. Like, I really enjoy that part of the show.
It's awesome. I love it. I got the dance too. Even better.