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It's hard to define where Joe Rogan stands politically, but each week on his podcast he reveals a little more about himself and his ideals that don't seem to align him left or right.
icon·o·clast | \ ī-ˈkä-nə-ˌklast \
Definition: a person who attacks settled beliefs or institutions
When podcaster and comedian Joe Rogan landed his self-styled "Texas podcast spaceship" in Austin this month, he brought with him a host of political and personal complexities that made some wonder if the former Ultimate Fighting Championship commentator would fit into Austin's reputation as a city of far-left social justice warriors.
<p>"Joe Rogan is going to ruin Austin," one local Twitter user wrote.</p><p>Said another: "Your platform could help save this city."</p><p>What his "platform" is, however, is anyone's guess—which is part of the draw for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzQUP1qoWDoEbmsQxvdjxgQ" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Joe Rogan Experience,</a> consistently ranking in the <a href="http://www.itunescharts.net/us/charts/podcasts/comedy/" target="_blank">top podcasts in the U.S.</a> and considered (and now proven) so valuable that Spotify recently paid $100 million for the exclusive rights to it.</p><p>"I think his kind of podcast is the type that's succeeding because it is unpredictable and because it doesn't fall into boxes—and because it can appeal to both sides," said Travis County Republican Party Chairman Matt Mackowiak, an occasional listener. "He'll say things you agree with, he'll say things you don't agree with, but most importantly, he'll say things that make you think. And that's really what podcasts should be about. Most people, if they're seeking out these kinds of podcast episodes, are doing it because they want to learn something, they want to be challenged. That's certainly how I feel."</p><p>Rogan's uncensored style and lack of self-editing has also drawn fire from a contingent of Spotify employees who say they want more accountability from the shoot-from-the-hip commentator.</p><p>The employees want to exclude some past episodes with conservative guests (several, including interviews with Alex Jones and Milo Yiannopoulos, have <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/danidiplacido/2020/09/02/joe-rogans-spotify-debut-sparks-speculation-over-missing-episodes/#5896879b304c" target="_blank">yet to be moved</a> to the new platform) and say they will strike if they are not given editorial control over the episodes. They also want trigger warnings and corrections. A trigger warning is a statement at the start of a piece of commentary that alerts a reader or listener of potentially distressing material. So far, <a href="https://roguerocket.com/2020/09/17/joe-rogan-spotify-jenner/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Spotify CEO Daniel Ek has defended Rogan.</a></p><p><strong>Says he can't vote Biden over Trump</strong></p><p>Taken as a whole, his guest lineup screams "right-wing"—but one would not use that term to describe a man who supports a woman's right to choose abortion and who supported Bernie Sanders in the Democratic presidential primary.</p><p><a href="https://www.insider.com/trump-suggests-joe-rogan-should-moderate-presidential-debate-2020-9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Yet President Donald Trump supports a movement among his fans to have Rogan moderate a debate </a>between him and Democratic nominee Joe Biden after two weeks ago when <a href="https://austonia.com/joe-rogan-presidential-debate" target="_blank">Rogan said he would host the event</a> if he could. Trump's reaction comes with no surprise at all, given Rogan's current stance that Biden is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suennOHE5Xg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">in mental decline and unfit </a>for the White House.</p><p>Rogan posted to Instagram late Wednesday that the country doesn't need him to moderate, <a href="https://twitter.com/joerogan/status/1311130129284894725" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">"you need @johnmccarthymma,"</a> referencing the former pro-Mixed Martial Arts referee John McCarthy.</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="ce4e1077d7439977bf8bb7c671f2edb7" id="4197f"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0;
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</div></blockquote></div><p>"He's a very, very interesting guy," Mackowiak said. "I know the left doesn't like some of the things he's said regarding LGBTQ stuff, but I really don't have any issue with him, and I don't really care about someone's ideologic views. If they want to come to Austin and bring jobs and bring investment and those kinds of things, we should be welcoming people like that."<br/></p><p>And if someone is going to come to liberal Austin and <a href="https://austonia.com/joe-rogan-lakehouse-austin" target="_self">purchase a $14.4 million mansion</a>, then extol the virtues of marijuana while criticizing BLM protests and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mgN8r1mwvM" target="_blank">telling anti-California Texans to "bro, calm down,"</a> it may as well be Rogan—a man with as many contradictions as Austin itself.</p><p>"Honestly, politically, I think he fits right in with Austin," said local journeyman electrician Ryan Pollock, a listener and a liberal union organizer for IBEW Local 520 who has also done work with the Austin chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America.</p><p>"I know Austin votes blue," Pollock said, "but it's way more complicated than that. People have this idea that Austin is more liberal, but I feel like it's more libertarian. And maybe some people have leftist views on things, but then they're anti-abortion or something. They're all over the place."</p><p>"All over the place" is a fitting description for Rogan—both politically, and personally.</p><p>Mixed martial arts fanatic, TV and podcast personality, actor, husband, parent, college dropout, elk hunter, interviewer, comedian, voter, self-styled "psychedelic adventurer" (read: says he gets high, along with his guests, for many of his shows), right-wing, liberal, libertarian, centrist. Rogan is all those things.</p><p>Rogan, 53, recently tweeted that his "inner b----" almost made him skip his daily workout. Around the same time, he apologized for erroneously blaming arsonists for the Oregon wildfires on his show.</p><p>Wrote William Cook of The Guardian: Rogan is "like an idealistic hippy stuck inside the body of a testosterone-pumped US marine."</p><p>"His politics are interesting," Mackowiak said. "He's not really conservative, he's not really liberal. He's kind of an iconoclast."</p><p>Rogan is in favor of same-sex marriage rights but repeatedly makes contradicting comments on transgender issues like "<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzqZzFcmvaY&list=LLU1n-Hf1NKedbUSTS8u3FLQ&index=1465" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">they should be allowed to live as they want</a>" in one podcast—but in another, calling it a <a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/google/joe-rogan-and-abigail-shrier-equate-being-trans-having-anorexia-joining-cult-and-demonic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">"social contagion."</a></p><p>On Sept. 11, he said Caitlyn Jenner may have become transgender after living with the "crazy b------" in the Kardashian household. <a href="https://www.insider.com/caitlyn-jenner-joe-rogan-transphobic-video-after-joke-about-her-2020-9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">It earned him a "transphobic a--hole" label from Jenner</a> and <a href="https://www.insider.com/joe-rogan-suggests-caitlyn-jenner-is-trans-because-of-kardashians-2020-9" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">strong criticism</a> from the Human Rights Campaign. In a 2019 podcast with comedian and friend Joey Diaz, Rogan said <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzqZzFcmvaY&list=LLU1n-Hf1NKedbUSTS8u3FLQ&index=1465" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">"it only matters to me when it comes to sports."</a></p><p>He wants to legalize marijuana, and in May pointed out a local Austin TV story that said such a move <a href="https://twitter.com/joerogan/status/1265538961847574529?lang=en" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">could help Texas during the pandemic.</a></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="54e50eac2ce6399a82e5152bea8fa012" id="effb5"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-partner="rebelmouse" data-twitter-tweet-id="1265538961847574529"><div style="margin:1em 0">Experts say marijuana legalization could alleviate Texas economic losses from shutdown https://t.co/yD3Bu8QLzC</div> — Joe Rogan (@Joe Rogan)<a href="https://twitter.com/joerogan/statuses/1265538961847574529">1590562975.0</a></blockquote></div><p>On the other side of the spectrum, he calls out what he says is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyA1PZNAmdU&list=PLnkZlJgBLVpWngvsxUa0_ChbnNGaKwzdx&index=45" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">liberal Hollywood hypocrisy on gun control</a>, having once said that "this country has a mental health problem disguised as a gun problem."</p><p>Pollock said that while people who study politics and work in that space are annoyed by a lack of consistency, Rogan is actually like most people in that regard.</p><p>"His politics are really incoherent, but so are most Americans' politics," Pollock said. "They don't think about politics all day, like somebody like me. I think about this stuff constantly."</p><p>Rogan's opinions often trickle out in three-hour conversations over a blunt, not 30-minute ear-assaulting diatribes, and come not from years of research and activism but from his gut.</p><p>The Jenner comment, for example, came during a conversation with Special Forces operator and retired UFC fighter <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDKYSLDq6es" target="_blank">Tim Kennedy in mid-September</a>.</p><p>What Rogan is not—and nor does he pretend to be—is a politician, a pundit, a journalist, an expert, nor an activist. Though his guests, who have included political lightning rods like Sanders and conservative media personality <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/andy-ngo-right-wing-troll-antifa-877914/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Andy Ngo</a>, might suggest otherwise.</p><p>The fact that his political and journalistic credentials are nil gives heartburn to media types who want him to hold his guests' feet to the fire, Anderson Cooper-style. It also annoys people on the left who refuse to come onto his show because they think he gives too much pandering air-time to right-wing, fascist-adjacent guests.</p><p>"What he does is what any other decent interviewer does—he has good guests on, and he lets them talk, and they really show who they are in the conversations that he has," Pollock said. "Regardless of Joe Rogan himself and what he has to say. So I tend to tune in when he's got interesting guests on."</p><p><strong>The road to Austin</strong></p><p>A New Jersey native who was raised in Massachusetts, California and Florida, Rogan wasn't a political type growing up. He was into martial arts, competing as a youngster and eventually teaching after dropping out of the University of Massachusetts.</p><p>He later found comedy, and his career wound through wildly popular standup specials, a stint hosting Fear Factor, a little acting, and time as a UFC commentator.</p><p>The Joe Rogan Experience is rooted in 2003 after Rogan noticed video editor Brian Redban's work with fellow comedian Doug Stanhope.</p><p>Redban was hired to film everything Rogan did, on and off stage, for his YouTube channel. Redban realized that fans were clamoring for more content and, after live streams and interactive events on <a href="http://justin.tv/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">justin.tv</a>, in chatrooms and on Twitter, the first episode aired on Christmas Eve 2009 on Ustream. It was formally named the Joe Rogan Experience (yes, inspired by the Jimi Hendrix Experience) the following summer.</p><p>A decade later, in early 2020, Forbes released its first <a href="https://www.forbes.com/stories/the-highest-earning-podcasters/" target="_blank">highest-earning podcaster list</a> with Rogan sitting at the No. 1 spot, reportedly pulling in $30 million from his various ventures.</p><p>His most popular episode, with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycPr5-27vSI" target="_blank">Elon Musk in 2018</a>, has more than 36 million views on YouTube. Other episodes regularly garner several million each week.</p><p>Since 2012, the podcast has been run out of a studio in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, but Rogan, saying he was tired of the cost of living and other aspects of living in California, so he <a href="https://austonia.com/joe-rogan-austin-texas" target="_self">moved the studio to Austin this summer</a> and <a href="https://austonia.com/new-joe-rogan-austin-podcast-studio" target="_self">debuted the Texas-based podcast in early September.</a></p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="cb6df3c61aa7f7351990cb9ca7a275e6" id="88905"><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-version="4" style=" background:#FFF; border:0;
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</div></blockquote></div><p>Other than the usual unrest over his content, criticisms of his <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-businesses-behind-the-joe-rogan-studio-2647571718" target="_self">new, bright red, glowing studio</a> and worries that Spotify would censor his shows, the reaction to his move by his listeners and many locals has been largely positive.<br/></p><p>"I think it's great that he's here," said Mackowiak, whose politics are nowhere near Rogan's on several topics. "He's obviously bringing a pretty big operation. He's going to be bringing guests to Austin for these interviews, which is going to create opportunities to do a lot of things with some of these people who come to town."</p><p>Chuckled Pollock: "My wife is irritated."</p><p>In a recent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mgN8r1mwvM&feature=emb_title" target="_blank">episode with Texas comedian Ron White</a>, an Austin native, the two discussed how Austin is, in White's words, "a liberal stronghold in the middle of a very Republican state" with Republicans still "running the state" from Dallas and Houston.</p><p>"That's what keeps it from going haywire, right?" Rogan responded. "That's what keeps it from going straight-up Portland."</p><p>Pollock says he'd like to see Austin City Councilman Greg Casar—who is gaining <a href="https://www.thenation.com/podcast/politics/greg-casar-texas/" target="_blank">national attention</a> for his stances on police funding and other issues—show up on Rogan's show.</p><p>It is, no doubt, a self-fulfilling prophecy when leftists decline to come on Rogan's show and then <a href="https://theintercept.com/2020/09/22/as-joe-rogans-platform-grows-so-does-the-media-and-liberal-backlash-why/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">complain that he never gets leftists on his show.</a> It is also, Pollock said, a "massive mistake" to avoid a man with tens of millions of listeners, no matter what his personal politics might be.</p><p>"<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jan/24/bernie-sanders-joe-rogan-human-rights-campaign" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">He got backlash for it</a>, but Bernie made the right call," he said referring to when <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2O-iLk1G_ng" target="_blank">Sanders was a guest</a> on the podcast last year.</p><p>Rogan sightings are already popping up on social media, adding his face to the star power already here—like Sandra Bullock and Lance Armstrong and Dan Rather and Matthew McConaughey—and offering a glimpse into what Austin might experience with Joe Rogan as its newest resident.</p><p>And what Rogan might experience in his new hometown.</p><p>A few days ago, a listener posted on <a href="https://twitter.com/joshright17/status/1309663711943102465?s=20" target="_blank">social media</a> that he saw Rogan driving his "cool, noisy little car," a white Porsche, along Lady Bird Lake at sunset.</p><p>"Well I just had my first Joe Rogan sighting in Austin," another local Twitter user wrote on Sept. 27. "This ranks below the time I saw (pre-scandal) Lance Armstrong running around Town Lake but above the time I saw Elijah Wood ripping cigs on 6th St during SXSW… It appears that $100 million from Spotify doesn't make you any better at deciding which color Nalgene bottle you want from REI."</p><p><br/></p><p><strong>More on Joe Rogan:</strong></p>
<h2><a href="https://austonia.com/joe-rogan-lakehouse-austin" target="_self">Joe Rogan's new home is a plush $14 million oasis on Lake Austin</a></h2>
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Joe Rogan is Leaving LA for Texas
UPDATE 8/9: Locals say new studio is in a home he bought on Lake Austin.
Joe Rogan has confirmed the rumors that he's moving to Texas.
<p>Speaking with guest Joe De Sena on his most recent podcast episode, Rogan said he's "outta here"—referring to the state of California—and would be moving to Texas "soon."</p><p>"I just want to go somewhere in the center of the country, somewhere it's easier to travel to both places, and somewhere where you have a little bit more freedom," Rogan told Sena, the CEO and founder of Spartan and the Death Race.</p><p>Rogan did not specify where in Texas he is moving, but he has <a href="https://austonia.com/city/joe-rogan-austin" target="_blank">reportedly been looking for real estate in Austin</a>. <a href="https://austonia.com/joe-rogan-austin-texas" target="_blank"><br/><br/>UPDATE 8/7: Local say he's purchased his house on Lake Austin.</a></p>
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With an endless number of podcasts out there, how does anyone decide what to listen to? Start with the homegrown. We've put together this list of 12 local—or nearly local—podcasts you won't want to miss.
1. Unlocking Us
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQzNDM4My9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNDkzOTM1N30.3xEnbcoP0NwHefMYM23qjIWD8VtvPjr_Fz2MLjywKC4/img.jpg?width=980" id="5f574" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="903326811ac81f4d7bfacabcae35698f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="900" data-height="900" /><p>Native Texan and <a href="https://www.mccombs.utexas.edu/News/Brene-Brown" target="_blank">visiting McComb's professor</a> Brené Brown, known to some as <a href="https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/pandemic-turned-brene-brown-americas-therapist/" target="_blank">America's therapist</a>, talks weekly with celebrities, authors and thinkers on topics ranging from books and movies to current events and big themes of the moment.</p>2. Everyday Superhumans
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQzMzM5NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNjg4NDM4Nn0.6b10VPJHPcNyV5LefhCELCdAMkX5DS91ySu2oghK9tE/img.jpg?width=980" id="67efb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d5d903536a23d8e2f4df59ca5d47e817" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1280" data-height="400" /><p>This podcast covers Austin's local do-gooders and non-profits. Faith in humanity restored! </p>3. Nightlight
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQzMzIzNy9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyOTUyODM0MH0.QIFTjps01WqKWmQ8EzKerdBOZyLrN5UPzUnu2WA6EAk/img.png?width=980" id="27d1b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f1fda83b01ae4b122c6addd833981d95" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="510" data-height="510" /><p>Nightlight is a horror podcast that features fiction stories about murders, monsters and more. </p>4. Austin Anthem Podcast
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQzMzA0OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMjEzOTUyNn0.25G8WFOnqDI8uJgQaH19x8NccvGNVX0emZeQ_p_lgW4/img.jpg?width=980" id="868e7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3f2a19562ce92b69b8767d6c75ed27b6" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="328" data-height="328" /><p>Hosted by a group of supporters, Austin Anthem Podcast is the longest-running podcast about Austin FC, Austin's new and only Major League Soccer team. </p>5. In Black America
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQzMzE2OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNDk0MzE2M30.Y2TSVgkqC3YC-wq11JqInKG5izbM2Gq5G75iUp5ANIY/img.jpg?width=980" id="e94da" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="03d9ba86152b856c9bdf132d03cf55ac" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="600" data-height="600" /><p><a href="https://www.kut.org/people/john-l-hanson-jr" target="_blank">John Hanson Jr.</a> hosts and produces In Black America, where he interviews civil rights leaders, educators, athletes and more on the black experience in America. </p>6. Media Monday Show!
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQzMzIwMS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjgwMDE4Nn0.TovUYdom4UpufhyXI22Noqs3W4yxVkV-xtIZIgw_KIE/img.png?width=980" id="4ead9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="75dae40ef49773da79dd2042cc844855" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="750" data-height="750" /><p><a href="https://www.mediaatx.org" target="_blank">Media ATX</a> founders Tom Cheredar and Josh Rubin talk about local Austin media industry news in the Media Monday Show!</p>7. The Forward
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQzMzE2NC9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1ODgxNjg1M30.YVUsRfFYNgu9iI7LCqRaXhZgBVWDaBcNeY4L4FeiFRw/img.jpg?width=980" id="056a0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="23d9a5a8fdfdeb51d35dba7e40251920" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="2000" data-height="2000" /><p>Lance Armstrong hosts <a href="https://wedu.team/the-forward" target="_blank">The Forward</a>, where he interviews a range of personalities on sports, politics, entertainment and more. </p>8. Quaranteen'd
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQzMzIyNS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NjI4MDIwNn0.iGDGCOT4_otQgx9GxmIbSVRBN4sv-1QFaDb2CH6G5Nk/img.png?width=980" id="3e657" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4316714bba26a77c9db43995c49d9ea8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="720" data-height="720" /><p>With a cast of kids and seasoned actors, <a href="https://austonia.com/media/austins-hodgepodge-media-rethinks-its-startup-plan-with-quaranteend/particle-1" target="_blank">Quaranteen'd is a virtual, all-ages audio treasure hunt</a>.</p>9. The Beerists
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQzMzIzMC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjgwNjE3MX0.sBvYrEUg8pgtFSg_00gA_vq0xt47DVogKLVAxeBtOQ0/img.png?width=980" id="636a1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e8f93c8b7cb8c12db9d026389f695000" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="300" data-height="174" /><p>The Beerists is produced by a group of beer-lovers in Austin who meet up weekly to judge five different beers from around the world. </p>10. The Night Owl Podcast
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQzMzI0MC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzMTc3NzIxOX0.3EZmg_YTJijBEUszdHRll50ooc7uSaidfHxHB8-zUkw/img.png?width=980" id="cc7a9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3620fefc29f0fc10699fd553349a8281" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="612" data-height="612" /><p>The Night Owl Podcast features true stories of hauntings, mysteries and paranormal activities. </p>11. Gender Fluids
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQzMzI2MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NDU0OTI3OH0.9Hj8E08RONQ1zmBTflwMkWHV8CT3mVehctoW57J6YFk/img.jpg?width=980" id="3da8b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="9595bb0964c768c81813ec0b49e897e8" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="600" data-height="600" /><p>Hosted by comedians Austin Smartt and Arielle Norman, Gender Fluids dives into the depths of gender and sexuality. </p>12. Tumble
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzQzMzQxOC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYzNzcxMjUzNn0.14CxyVBxASxPaPP2uJhgMd8Qnk-kTjd60lCMmDc7ODs/img.png?width=980" id="461df" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2f849ce272b553a045e27c73dd2bacb5" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="838" data-height="642" /><p><a href="http://www.sciencepodcastforkids.com" target="_blank">Tumble</a> is a kids podcast all about science and new discoveries. </p>From Your Site Articles
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(HodgePodge Media)
When the COVID-19 pandemic began prompting shutdowns in March, Austin resident Jonathan Osborne and his childhood friend, Brandon Camp, were about halfway through writing a scripted podcast for kids.
<p>The pair were inspired to create a production company, Austin-based HodgePodge Media, after observing the explosion of podcasts among adults. With kids of their own, they separately arrived at the same conclusion. "We both had this individual light bulb pop up over our collective heads in which we realized that, although the space was really blossoming, the kids podcasting space was not," said Camp, who is based in Los Angeles and wrote and directed the 2018 family movie Benji.</p><p>Then the COVID-19 pandemic happened.</p><p>Rather than continue with their script, Osborne and Camp scrapped their draft and began work on a new one—Quaranteen'd—about a ragtag crew of kids who believe they have found a cure to the pandemic. Its first four episodes are available now, with a new one debuting each week.</p>
<iframe src="https://player.acast.com/5eb9920f7ddaae6f69daa3e2/episodes/trust-no-one-over-17?theme=default&cover=1&latest=1" frameBorder="0" width="100%" height="110px" allow="autoplay"></iframe><p>Producing the quarantine-themed show while sheltering in place required some ingenuity.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM4MjE5OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxNjQyNzI0MX0.ZTGw5SN6hpOEYwEHEaM2ZmhxYUjw2OyiVxv8-EGymuk/img.png?width=980" id="4fe15" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="b4e527295f58d66587143d1b29183d78" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1280" data-height="736" />
The cast and crew of Quaranteen'd held long Zoom calls.
(HodgePodge Media)
<p>With the help of Cindy McCreery, an associate screenwriting professor at the University of Texas at Austin, they hired a team of young writers, who fleshed out the story over long Zoom calls. "We treated it like any traditional Hollywood writers' room," Camp said.</p><p>In search of a cast, they created an Instagram account and put out a call. Close to 2,000 submissions filtered in. "We completely underestimated how much time people had on their hands," Osborne said.</p><img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM4MjE5Mi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2Mzk4NzM1OH0.k9wNOaL3lS8k30vzW1lBvmfUWTcPbCjAisIPwM8rfKM/img.jpg?width=980" id="36486" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1e1a5ceaae4eddd8b0e76fa30a049635" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="769" data-height="1024" />
<p class=""><br/></p>Mayla Montgomery plays the lead role in Quaranteen'd
(HodgePodge Media)
<p>Mayla Montgomery, a rising seventh grader at Round Rock ISD, plays lead character Zoe Cross, a teenager who believes she's discovered the cure—but it is being hidden by the Bridge Corp., which stands to profit from the pandemic. "She's always fired up and passionate about something," Montgomery says of her character.</p><p>After hearing about Quaranteen'd from her neighbor, an executive producer of the show, Montgomery decided to try out. She put together a resume with her experience with improv at the local comedy club ColdTowne Theatre and musical theater. After submitting her audition, she was "shocked" to receive a callback. Her surprise doubled when she was offered the role.<br></p><p>Soon, Montgomery received a recording kit from Osborne and Camp. "We've been shipping equipment all over the country," Osborne said, adding that they soon learned how to conduct mic tests over Zoom and instruct the actors to wrap themselves in blankets for the best sound quality.</p><p>Sometimes kids' productions are shoddily made and don't take their audience very seriously, Camp said, but he wanted Quaranteen'd to be a true cinematic experience—on par with films by Steven Spielberg and moves such as The Goonies and Star Wars.</p><p>Montgomery said she has listened to the first few episodes with her younger brother, who is usually a little too distracted to sit through things. But Quaranteen'd has him hooked.</p><p>"We're not surprised because this is what we always felt like we were capable of bringing to the space, but it certainly has been pleasant," Camp said of the reaction so far.</p><p>Once this season is over, Osborne and Camp plan to tackle an even more ambitious project: remotely producing a musical podcast.</p><p>"The irony is that this is the time of isolation and yet I feel like we have brought together this family for this family podcast," Camp said. "Amid the 2 a.m. sessions with the sound engineering and pulling out hair and wondering why the heck we're doing this—those are the moments that have certainly inspired me and kept me going."</p>From Your Site Articles
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