Hey everybody, welcome to Poduty and the News for Friday, for
February 7th, 2026. It's Saturday. We're at the Pittsburgh Podcast
Meetup. I'm going to have 6 guests come up from the
audience to join me for each of our 6 stories tonight. This is a show
where we talk about live podcasting. I'm going to give you examples of
people doing it from all over the world. Let's hear that theme song.
It's time Poduty and
the News,
Poduty and the News,
the only live news podcast about
podcasting from the stage. Poduty and.
The News. Poduty and the News, the. onlyl live news podcast about
Podcasting from the Stage.
The only live news podcast about podcasting. From the Stage,
we've got 6 stories headed your way tonight from the Pittsburgh Podcast
Meetup.
Not enticed at all. We're going to pull 6 people from the audience tonight.
They're each going to share one story with me. Mark, welcome to the show. It's
great to be here. Thanks for asking. Thanks for asking.
Well, tell us a little about yourself, your podcast, and give a little plug before
we get started. I do a show called Heavy or Not. It's the
OG swim guide. We're talking a lot of coaching, athletics,
some sports reform in there, and
just trying to find my voice. It's first year, up to about episode
80 or 85. So it's clicking along. It's just
a labor of love. Any, uh, is it almost
all swimming, or do you go into different sports? Go
mostly sports, but health and wellness is definitely in there. And, uh,
so it's my swim experience, but
it's a community thing too. Yeah, very nice. And people want to find it online,
best way to find it? Heavy or Not. Yeah,
that's the, um, the name of the show, and it's, um, on all the
platforms. It's on YouTube and such too. Awesome. You ready to get into our first
story tonight? Here we go. Mallrats turns 30. Can you
believe it? Those of you who watch Mallrats back in the '90s, Mallrats
just turned 30, and instead of a quiet anniversary post, the cast
brought it to the stage. The reunion panel was recorded live
at Rhode Island Comic-Con and later released as a podcast
episode. That's the story we keep seeing over and over again on
the show— big moments real audiences and content created live
first. But due to the news exists, the Spotlight shows
exactly like this. Live events are not a side project
anymore. They are the main stage, and the podcast
is what carries moments forward. And this is a great
example. This hired, podcast you know, as part of the
Comic-Con, they got to bring in the cast of a movie. They got to
record this once-in-a-lifetime experience of having the cast there in front of
the audience The audience got to ask questions, and then they get
to release that as content for their podcast. And,
you know, bringing communities together like this, this is, this is a great way,
great way to bring a cast together with people who love this
movie. Yeah, and Comic-Cons are definitely a big
enterprise, a lot of economics there. I don't know if there are a lot
of malls left in the world these days.
That'll be a throwback, Mallrats As far as, uh,
we have a lot of closed malls in Western Pennsylvania, don't we? Yeah, a
lot of malls, a lot of security guards you got to watch out for. Yes.
So, and examples like this are, you know, the first one we're
doing tonight. Here's an event, and part of that event, for their entertainment,
they brought in a cast. Obviously, you know, Comic-Cons are going to have celebrities
there from all throughout time and different, different movies, different
genres. The actors from that movie. But as part
of the entertainment for this conference, they
got together, they got to put these people in front of the audience and
relive all those stories from 30 years ago. you And, know, a lot
of these people in the audience were probably high school kids. They saw Mallrats for
the first time, probably an introduction to Kevin Smith if they didn't already
watch Clerks, and they just fell in love with this type of
storytelling, the chaos and in independent filmmaking. And
here we are with a podcast, an independent podcast, on the stage
recording an episode about an independent movie from 30 years ago.
Yeah, we love a good flashback, a good memory, good feelings.
And it's always good to do those reunion tours, those anniversary things.
Yeah, yeah, nostalgia always plays big. And be able to
have a community get together and relive that moment, just, just a
great night all around. Mark, thank you so much for Story Number
1. Yeah, Mark,
we're going to Story Number 2 with Christy the
Comedian. Uh-oh,
look who you get. I know
so much about The Sopranos. Let me— is that mic on?
Hello? Oh yeah, there you go. Christy, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Hi, I'm Christy. I live
right down the road, and I've been coming here doing
the improv. The open
mics? Yeah, open mics, and really enjoying that. And I just
love the theater and just keep coming back. Number one,
number one visitor in the past month. Christy's been to the improv,
to the open mics. Reading poetry. So if you're in the area
and on Wednesday nights, we do whatever you want. The stage is
completely open. We've had musicians, poetry, comedians. It's
just a fun, crazy night that you don't know what to expect, and you'll get
to see different things, different talents from all over the area come
in and have some fun. Are you ready for our
second story? Sure.
We're we're taking— talking Sopranos here. 2 stars from The Sopranos are taking
their podcast on the road and bringing it straight to the stage.
Michael Imperioli and Steve Schirripa
are touring, are taking their Talking Sopranos live
podcast, complete with stories, behind-the-scenes moments, and live
Q&A with fans. As a hit show becomes a
podcast, the podcast becomes a live event, and the audience becomes
part of the experience. Live podcasts are no longer
experiments. They are full-scale tours. And if we
remember how big The Sopranos were, that was HBO's number
one hit before Game of Thrones probably. And The
Sopranos were everywhere. And to be able to see two of the cast
members have a podcast talking Sopranos and taking it on the
road and entertaining different people from around the world,
that's, that's like the ultimate. What can I do to keep this thing going,
to showcase and tell these behind-the-scenes stories. You
wouldn't get that from like a magazine article, but when they're up on stage,
they might be a little looser with their stories and let out some secrets of
The Sopranos. That's right.
That'S right, that is correct, that is correct.
And, um, and again, this— the first
two stories I just wanted to show you, this is connecting fan bases. So the
parallel here was two things, different ways of
approaching it. One is the two actors from the show, and one is uh, the—
get— having, have them guest on a podcast in front of
an audience. So one way to connect with people is through
nostalgia, through telling stories, and that inside
baseball is always a great secret. I have a feeling Life in Stereo has some
inside baseball moments, uh, that maybe we'll hear about coming up.
But we'll— yeah, I think it's a great idea that they get together to
go and keep it alive for everybody. Take it on tour and sell tickets for
their podcast. All right, thanks for having me. You're welcome. Thank you,
Christy.
Let's— producer, let's go to our third story.
Who's ready to hear guest number 3? Can I get
a drum
roll?
We have Paul M. from Crypts and Corks. Paul M. Uh-oh.
Um. Paul M., a
three-timer at the Poduty Podcast Theater. For those of you who have been to
the Crypts and Corks podcast and seen it live three times, yes.
Will there be a fourth? That's what everyone wants to know. Possibly,
possibly. Now I know we're live, so how many times can I use the F-word
on here? The zero. Oh, both of them or just the one? Which
F words? Just messing with you. So my name's
Paul and I'm with Crypts and Corks Podcast. I am one of
the co-hosts. We are the spookiest, booziest podcast on
the internet, and you can find us anywhere you get your podcasts
and on YouTube if you like to watch videos. And we don't just have podcast
videos, we also have paranormal investigation videos. And if you
would like to see one of our full live shows, you can watch our Amityville
live show on our YouTube channel.
Yeah, full at in Crypts and Courts, one of the podcasts that
I'm always impressed when I see a new episode come out, the
amount of detail that goes into it. It's not just the storytelling,
the research that you put into the show, but a lot of times you're in
full character, uh, of some of the stories that you're telling, which
is unbelievably impressive. And maybe— I don't know if you set
out to do that, but you did say like you're You have a comedy background,
but that show plays so well for the stage. And
was that intentional, or is it just you being
you? From the beginning, we wanted to be paranormal comedians. We wanted to
take the darkest things that happen in everyday life and make it funny.
And both me and my co-host DJ have performing backgrounds. He went to
school for theater, and I didn't do that.
I'm just naturally funny and beautiful and amazing. Some of us don't
need training, you know? So yeah, we just set out
to make people laugh and be spooky, and it all just came
together, you know. Spooky Ghost Podcast. And, uh, one of the
things, for those of you watching at home, every show there's
a pairing of a wine with the story, which is a great little
twist on the show where you're going to get a bottle of vino
and pair it with, you know, maybe the bloodiest story you've ever heard.
Exactly. And it adds an air of interactivity because we announced
the pairing before for the show. And also, like, if you watch
our podcast regularly, you can see what we're drinking and drink along with
us. So like, it's like you're almost in the room with us if you're
watching from home, or if you bring your paranormal pairing, you know, get that
BYOB ticket, bring the bottle of wine with you here and drink along with us.
And sometimes we'll interact with the audience, ask you guys what you think of
the wine and everything. Awesome. Crypts and Corks Podcast, find it
everywhere on YouTube as well. And we'll go to story number 3 on
the papers there. We're going to Domefest. We're going to
the Coachella of podcasts. Domefest is being called the
Coachella of podcasts. And the key detail is who it's
built for— fans. This isn't a conference or an industry
meetup. It's a live podcast festival designed around
fandom, community, and shared discovery. Podcasts move
from earbuds to a massive room. With real people connecting in
real time. Live podcasts are not just content, they're
culture, and Domefest proves fans will absolutely show up
when the experience is built around them. And we've had a couple
festivals. We had one last week, it was, uh, 10 Days in the Valley, it's
in Australia, and they built out all these interactive experiences. And
you would walk into like a gas station, it looked like a gas station,
but once you got inside there was a full stage and there was bands playing.
And then another one was like an ice cream shop that had a
podcast stage, and they did live podcasting all day long. And this is
another example of this is becoming such a thing.
These events are now podcast-centered. They're podcast-centered
for fans as well. And, and Domefest plays right into that business
model of bringing people together, producing live podcasts in
real time at the event, and then letting people experience
all that all the time, the whole time that they're there.
That is really cool. And I find like meeting other podcasters in person
is so much more effective than just like meeting online because you can
DM someone and stuff and be like, oh, come on my podcast. But then
like you actually get them on their podcast and they're actually awful and you're wasting
your time. So meeting that person in person and vetting them out in person,
it makes things a lot better, but also like exchanging tips and everything.
Now, I do also want to say, I don't know who these girls are,
but it looks like they coach a mean softball team.
Sophie and Bella. Sophie and Bella. Wait, you know them? I'm just
going off of the text on the bottom of the screen. Oh, okay. Oh,
okay. Yeah, you don't know Sophie and Bella? Right,
right. Well, yeah, another example of
these events are happening all over the world and Domefest
is just another example. Yes, period.
Awesome, awesome. Thank you, Paul. We're going to keep it going. Producer
Paul, everybody give it up for Paul. Okay,
guest number 4, we have Mike
O'Neill. Hey, Michael, Michael,
Michael.
Number 4, Michael, welcome to the show. Well, hello, how are you? Good, good.
We've met on a couple Pittsburgh podcast meetups, and I've been to— you host a
great event, a creator meetup as well. Sure, sure, down on the south side of
Pittsburgh. Yeah, yeah, it's always great to have you there. Well, tell us a little
bit about that so other people can, uh— well. We just have a small group
of, uh, content creators that get together once a month on the south side of
Pittsburgh at the Cohatch, and we share ideas
I've been recording some podcasts, but I haven't launched anything, so
basically, I have no life. I can't tell you anything positive.
Your event also has pizza. Yes, we have. We have pizza.
Pizza from the New York Slice, which is right next to.
I don't know the name of that restaurant that's there, but yeah, yeah, yeah,
yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You know.
Awesome. Well, the Creator Meetup, you can find the event— usually it's on Eventbrite or.
Facebook, or it's on Facebook, uh, Pittsburgh Content Creators.
So join the group if you're a content creator, right? Is the
group open to anybody? They can join anybody as long as. They'Re in the Pittsburgh
area. Yeah. And as long as you're there, you'll get invited— get— you at least
get a notification that there's an event coming up. Correct, correct. And we look forward—
there's no cost. Come on down. We'll share ideas, share pizza.
Awesome. Are you ready to keep it moving? I'm ready. We're going to
story number 4.
Another Coachella-type story. On Air Fest is back in Brooklyn,
and once again Williamsburg becomes the center of the podcast
universe. For 4 days, live podcast tapings, interviews,
and performances take over real venues with real audiences.
This is a model that we're trying to build here. Podcasting is
no longer confined to studios and feeds. It's happening
live across neighborhoods with fans choosing
experiences, not just episodes. On-Air Fest
proves that when audio steps onto stage, the entire industry
shows up. This is, this is like the
Lollapalooza of podcasting. If you have a show, you can get involved
and you get invited to perform here all day long. Podcast
after podcast is taking the stage. And interacting with their fans
and building up this live form of entertainment for
podcasting. Sounds amazing. Sounds exhausting.
Sounds exciting. Everything all at once. Yeah, I want to be the
one that wants— has to produce this and put everything together. Oh, it'd be amazing.
Amazing. And all the dynamics, the different personalities and
the experiences. Yeah, wonderful. This, this is
a good goal for you here. Well, we have done International
Podcast Day here. We may do it again coming up. It's in the end of
September. Where we've, we've done— it's a 2-day live
stream. Every half hour we turn over the stage for
12 hours, 2 days in a row. So we'll go bam, bam,
bam, 30 minutes, 30 minutes, 30 minutes. So we may do it
again coming up. International Podcast Day is September 28th, 29th,
last— usually the last Saturdays in September. How do you fill the spots with that?
Different people from different countries? Well, yes, because,
because we have the virtual element here. We can have a
virtual guest, which was 90% of the guests. Sure. And then we had about
10% that would come in and perform. So we would, we would mix the schedule
up so we could have them, uh, all flow back, back to back. That
sounds incredible. Well, all right, are you challenging me then? Uh,
Poduty Fest, 3 days, 3 days. 3 days, not 2.
All right, anyone can do 2, you need to do 3. We'll go for it,
we'll go for it. Okay, awesome. Thank you so much,
Michael. And thank you. We are flying through the stories
tonight. We have story number 5 coming up.
Our producer is going to read the name.
Okay, guest number 5, we have
Paul F. from 7 Minute Leadership.
All right, Paul's coming back up. We met Paul on the pre-show
here today. Paul, welcome back.
Hey man, thanks, thanks for having me. Thanks for hosting this event. This is
fantastic. Oh, I'm glad you're enjoying it. It's a lot of fun. It's great to
see the community come together, eat. We eat a lot of pizza here
at at this, the Pittsburgh Podcast Meetup, a lot of drinks and everything.
And tell us a little about your show. We some, we had heard a great
story about how far you've come along in your podcast journey. So I started
the 7 Minute Leadership Podcast back in April
of 2016. So not only this year
will I celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the show, but this week I just
released my 600th episode. That's
incredible. Thank you. 10 years going. And, uh,
I think have you in the last— he's really said you started doing this about
10 years ago, but you really noticed the, the traction
hit about year 8, 7. Yeah, yeah. I was doing
about 30, 40 a year from 2016 through
2024. And then in the last year, just a
little over the last year, it's really taken off. So
now I do it every night at 7:00 PM, available on all the
major podcasting platforms. Awesome. Is there a dedicated website as
well? Yep. Paulfalavelito.Com. You can find the
7 Minute Leadership Podcast there. And I also have a free section. I
have a ton of free leadership resources. That I've
created and uploaded for anybody to download. Awesome, awesome.
Thank you. Let me see here. I want to
wrap this up by 8 so we have time for the Q&A. Producer,
how many more names do we have left?
None. Oh, this will be our— we'll go right to the last story
here. Which one's this one? Let's see.
Oh, we should have paired this with Boozy Ghosts, Crypts and Corks, but
Paul, here we go. We have the Vine Pair Podcast went live from
Unified Wine and Grape Symposium, turning an industry
conversation into a live experience. This wasn't just
experts talking at the microphones, it's a real-time discussion with a
live audience asking questions and shaping the conversation.
When podcasts step into rooms where industries already gather, the
show becomes part of the moment. Live podcasting doesn't replace
coverage, it is the coverage. And when we think about 20
years ago, we'd have to buy an industry trade magazine
and we would subscribe to that magazine, and then 6
months after the event happened, we would get an
interview of the people who were on stage and we could read
about what happened. But now with the way podcasting has
really infiltrated conferences and events, you're there in
the moment or you're getting the recording a day or two
later. The, the way that news is traveling from
conferences to the people is so much faster now.
So what you see here would have been an interview in a magazine 20, 25
years ago. Now it's an experience that's immersed in by the
audience who's watching it in real And, time. you know,
they're interacting with each other, they're taking questions from the audience, and there it looks
like they're having a good time. Looks like— I think some of them had a
rough night the night before. That was part of the show notes. And, uh, you
know, they're just having a good time with fans who like talking about wine,
and it's just a great way to bring the community together and share an experience
with people who shared experiences of the same things that you love. Yeah,
and I think what I love about what you're doing and everything you're
showcasing here tonight is I think
people really want that experience more than just content, right?
Because like, I can tell you, if I would have been flipping through social media
or YouTube and, you know, here's the Live in Stereo guys
without having met them and heard them talking, I
probably would have kept scrolling by. But now I'm going to
go out of my way to view that, as well as everyone else that I've
met here tonight. It changes the energy, it changes the
dynamic. Any of these live events, whenever you bring them all
together, it's almost like it's It's really a culture event, not, not
a you dedicated, know, conference or something specific
like that. Yeah, one of the best things you can do is perform your show
where the people who already love what you do are. So if you can get
into whatever your industry is, get into the conference for that
industry, whatever that is, if you can start to tie yourself,
maybe you become a speaker one year, then you introduce your podcast, then you get
to perform your show. Well, guess who the audience is already filled
with? It's already filled with people who love what you do.
That's what we're trying to get at. That's what we're trying to show you, how
much you can expand what you think a podcast is and really put it out
there. Because not only are conferences a great way to connect with the community,
but you know what also is at conferences? Advertisers, advertiser
dollars, sponsor dollars. There's already a structure there to help support
you on your podcast journey. So that's, That's a whole nother aspect of, of
how do we, you know, how do you make a couple bucks from, from performing
a podcast? Yeah. Good point. Awesome. Paul, thank
you so much for joining us. That's been the short abbreviated
version of Poduty and the News from selected members of the audience for
February 7th, 2026. We're going to play
that theme song or wait. I got some challenges.
We have shirts. I'm going to give you a better deal. Than just $10 a
shirt for Poduty shirts and hats. Don't worry about that for those of you,
because if some of you leave a review, uh, if you enjoyed the show
tonight, I will— this is the abridged version of about 20-minute version. I—
if you can leave me a review on iTunes before you leave tonight and show
me the review, I'm going to give you a Poduty shirt. You can get a
shirt. We have 4 colors, 5 sizes. If you enjoyed this
podcast, if you enjoyed any of my ramblings before the podcast about what
podcast theaters are. I would love an honest on— I, you review know,
I'll even give you a shirt if you leave a 1-star, which I hope you
don't. But, you know, if you do, I will still give you the
t-shirt for being honest and giving me some feedback.
And again, you know what the space is. We'll talk a little bit more about
that afterwards. This has been Poduty and the News for
Saturday, February 7th, 2026 at the Pittsburgh Podcast Meetup at the
Poduty Live Podcast Theater in downtown Tarentum. What time
is it?
What time is it? It's. For Call of Duty and
time. The News. Of and the News, the Call Duty. Only live news podcast about
podcasting from the. How do we end the news? How do we end the stage.
news?
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