Dahlia Wilde and her Wonder Dog return to the ORACLE - THE INFINITELY WISE WILL PEARSON - PRESIDENT OF THE iHEART PODCAST NETWORK - to retrieve the wisdom to make a great podcast.
The "OH MY GOD PARTICLE SHOW!" is Executive Produced by DAHLIA WILDE and iHEART MEDIA.
Please follow me at @DahliaWildeOfficial
Audio Design by Paul Mercier.
Music by Ivo Moring.
Keep looking up! We are the stars!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome vinkommen yin venido y venu benvenutia duti. Welcome one
and all, Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I'm Galli Wild and this is the Oh My God
Particle Show where we talk about science and art and
music and good good good vibrations and all matters near
and far. So ready or not, unpack your imaginations and
get ready to rumble through the universe that we are
so so lucky to live in.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
We are the stars.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Warning, despite the best efforts of iHeart, the chaos in
this podcast has increased exponentially since being published. If such
chaos has rendered the podcast effective, listeners shall not hold
iHeart hosts or its subsidiaries responsible. Claims in this regard
should be directed to the International Space Station Monday through
Friday six pm to seven pm grewage meantime. Hi, I'm
da Yail, the host of the Oh My God Particle Show.
(01:04):
I love to create as much as I can. I
love science and art and where they intersect, like many
beautiful languages describing the same thing.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
I wonder a lot about the universe, like where did
we all come from? How did the Big Bang happen?
How are we all connected now? What the heck is
my place in this giant soup of infinite possibilities. For
the last few years, i'd been alone to my three
x three closet with my beloved dog Higgs Boson, Hi Higgs.
(01:36):
Oh my good boy. So I started daydreaming a lot
about going back to the Large Hadron Collider at CERNE.
That's the Center for Research Nuclear in Geneva, Switzerland. You see,
I'd been there a few years ago as a large
Hadron Collider creative fellow. I was mentored by this great
(01:58):
particle physicist, doctor Mark Cruz from CERN and Duke. I
went a third of a mile underground into the large
Hadron collider. Luckily it was turned off, for the particles
in my serre bellum would have been smashed to kibbles
and bits. Doctor Mark and CERN supported me so generously
as I wrote infinite drafts of my particle physics play
(02:21):
called the Oh my God Particle Show. You see, the
universe is kind of large, so it's a big topic
for one play. I was determined to understand some particle
physics and share it with my audiences so I could
show people that science is really cool. Lucky for me,
doctor Mark's favorite expression is there are no dumb questions
(02:43):
in particle physics, because trust me, I asked him quite
a few doozies. Thanks for listening to my podcast and
please come see my play, The Oh My God Particle
Show running from August second to tent except August fifteenth
at Gilded Balloons at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival twenty twenty three.
(03:06):
I'm gonna be posting all the information on my Instagram
at All You Wild Official. Stay tuned for more details
about more OMGPS live theater shows in London, Geneva, New
York City, La outer Space, who knows. Thank you for
all your support. So I was back at home in
La La Land right the world was shut down because
(03:28):
of the pandemic, and I had a screwball idea to
apply for an iHeart podcast contest. I thought, why not
base it on my own My God Particles show theatrical extravaganza.
Well you're not gonna believe what happened. I actually won
this freaking contest. Apparently everyone wants to make a podcast,
(03:49):
so it was a big deal. Can you believe? They
call it the Next Great Female Podcast Award from iHeart
and Seneca women. No pressure here, but there was a snag.
I'd actually need to leave my closet, take my dog
and get on a plane back to Cern. Where's my passport? Gosh, well,
(04:12):
I'm freaking out of the way to the airport. Right,
So I decide I got nothing to lose. I'll go
right to the top and give Will Pearson a call
for a little pep talk. What you don't know who?
Will Pearson is president of the iHeart Podcast Network.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Come on.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
He oversees the whole enchilada of iHeart podcast shows as
Will Ferrell and his big money players shondaland Charlemagne, the
God and the Black Effect. And that's just for starters.
iHeart Podcast Network rings up two hundred and fifty million
or more downloads a month. I mean, that's a ton.
That makes iHeartRadio the number one commercial podcast publisher globally.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
I know, right.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
But before iHeart, Will was one of the headhun shows
at Stuff Media, and he created Mental Flaws, a media
company that he launched in his Duke University dorm room. Basically,
this guy does it all. It's not only a laid
back genius, but he's super nice too. Let's see what
he has to say, Hi, Will, it's doll your wild.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
Oh yeah, so good to hear from you. How are
you today?
Speaker 1 (05:15):
I'm kind of freaking out a little. You are so amazing,
like you taught us so much at the iHeart Seneca
Podcast Academy. But I need you to remind me what
are we doing? Why did you start this amazing program?
And what can I do to make sure my podcast
is in sync with all those awesome ideas that you
(05:36):
and iHeart and Seneca have that you want to amplify
women's voices, So could you tell me what to do?
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Please?
Speaker 5 (05:42):
Hah. Well, as I may have told you before, the
good news is you already have a fantastic podcast idea
and you were one of only ten people selected out
of the many hundreds of people that applied for this program,
so you should feel very confident about that. But we
are excited about trying to amplify women's voices in podcasting.
(06:05):
You know, we have a responsibility and there's a lot
of excitement to take on this responsibility of trying to
bring underrepresented voices into podcasting, and that can take on
you know, we can handle that on any number of fronts,
whether that's you know, trying to find those that have
had not had the opportunity to be in podcasting, or
in this case, recognizing that there needs to be more
(06:28):
women's voices in podcasting, and so we started this program
with Seneca Women in order to try to find the
most interesting emerging voices from women podcasters. And so we're
excited to have this program. Loved that you applied for it,
loved your idea for the podcast, and are thrilled to.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
See a company thank you again. And I thought that
was really interesting when see to Garrett, who was one
of the other nine women, she actually said, what do
I have to say? And then all of a sudden,
I started to think what do I have to say?
But I did realize something that I guess because there's
so much noise in the world and it's a little
bit kind of nerve racking with the criticism and haters.
(07:12):
I know one shouldn't be deterred by that, but I
feel like I was always a leader, you know, I
was Truman scholar. I went to Oxford and Duke where
you also went. Yay Duke. But I feel like I
became really quiet and like I wanted to just hide
in my cave after being alone two years on my
own with my beloved dog, ten people died, including my
(07:32):
mother and I, and your program was so helpful because
I started really to think about I better find something
to say. I have something to say, and if the
somewhat decent people don't speak up, we're just gonna have
more of the same in the world.
Speaker 5 (07:46):
Right.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
So when I was looking at your videos of you
in two thousand and seven at Google Talks, was it
and you invented a podcast right and a blog in
your dorm room at Duke. But you were so confident.
So what you recommend for girls and women to be
confident about their voices.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
That's part of why why we're here is to recognize
that there are so many interesting voices. And it was
definitely no easy task trying to decide which, you know,
which of the entries to pick to get behind in
terms of making podcasts. And fact is Kim Azarelli, who's
the founder of Seneca Women and a very close partner
(08:27):
of ours here at iHeart and creating this program. As
she has said before, the hardest part about this, and
the most painful part about this, frankly, was having to
narrow this to ten podcasts because we know that there
are hundreds and thousands and tens of thousands and potentially
hundreds of thousands of fantastic podcast ideas from women out there,
(08:50):
and we're just scratching the surface. But we're also just
getting started, and we're really excited to see this program evolved.
But we felt that it was really important and selecting
the ten women podcasters that we were ready to get
behind and help launch shows that that group of those
selecting them would also be a you know, a committee
of women helping make those selections, led by Kim and
(09:10):
some of our fantastic executive producers here. But I know,
in coming up with the qualifications for it and deciding,
you know, what would be our guiding principles and selecting
these podcasters, we wanted to find a range of ideas.
You know, it was not just that we were looking
for good podcasts, but we wanted to make sure that
we saw, you know, podcasts across so many different subject areas.
(09:31):
And part of what we were excited about in hearing
from you was your very real interest in the sciences,
and you know, we wanted to make sure that we
were expiring people across the board from science, to politics,
to social justice, to comedy to.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
You name it.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
Wanting to think about a breadth of subject areas and
thinking about the shows that came on board. But fortunately
the team really didn't have to focus too much on
that because it just sort of fell in place was
we started evaluating all the different great ideas and deciding
which ones would be part of the program. It just
somehow naturally happened that there was a really wide range
(10:11):
of fascinating ideas and pitches and talent that came in
as part of the submission process.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Thank you for explaining that so well as you. The
first time I saw you on the Zoom, I was
just struck by what a great guy you are. And
it's really important to me that even this is a
Women's Voices initiative, but to really honor the great men
that are supporting women, and then we can kind of
model that for other people, men and everyone else to
(10:38):
support you know, their other halves.
Speaker 5 (10:41):
So thank you. I appreciate that, And we obviously want
to get to a place where, you know, we want
to try to inspire confidence and creators. You mentioned, you know,
having seen that Google Talk and and my experience of
presenting what we were doing. The brand or the magazine
at the time was called mental flaw us. And you know,
(11:01):
I think the benefit for us was the stage in
life where we were that we were too young to
have been told what the rules of the magazine industry
were or what we could and couldn't do, And so
part of it was honestly being a bit naive, just thinking, Okay,
we have an idea for a magazine, why why shouldn't
we try to go start it? And so I think
(11:21):
part of it in starting a program like this is
to take both those who maybe again maybe they are
too young to realize what they you know, should or
shouldn't be doing, and what the rules of the podcast
industry are, but then also to try to give life
two ideas from those who may have been in the
industry for a while or in some field for a while,
(11:44):
and maybe you know, have not quite had the confidence
or the realization that they too are very much capable
of starting a podcast. And so we were simply just
trying to find the most interesting creators we could and
to do what we can to put the resources behind
those shows. And then hopefully over time you have a
(12:05):
generation and a community of women who are also interested
in starting podcasts and hearing from brilliant creators like yourself
and the other nine women who were selected to create
podcasts as part of this program, hearing those shows and
then thinking, you know what, I can do this too.
I also have a great idea. So part of it
truly is not only educating, but trying to inspire confidence,
(12:30):
you know, in a community and a generation of creators.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
That's such a huge gift and I'm so grateful and
I'm extremely interested in that concept of the voice too,
not only from when we go to cern, you know,
talking about vibrations, and also where do all these podcasts go?
Are aliens listening to our sound vibrations? I need to
find that out. But I often meet young women and
(12:56):
I try to encourage them to use their imagination to
evalue the universe instead of you know, there's so much
time that we our focus goes to other things that
might not be the most productive. Even though did you
know that the Internet was actually started at Cerne? There
were so many particles being smashed that there was so
much information it was actually kept on one man's head.
(13:20):
His name was mister memory Man. I'm not kidding and
then but he couldn't remember anymore, so they put it
on a computer, then a lot of computers, and then
the computers needed to just talk to each other. And
that's where the Internet started. And this is a message
to myself too, because I still, even though I'm trying
hard to have more discipline, the internet is really wastes
(13:42):
a lot of our imagination. And so to give girls
courage and women anyone of any age to use that
imagination to evaluate the universe. And a lot of women's
scientists also say how they were told they were absolutely crazy,
like what we all know about Marie Curie. But how they,
(14:02):
you know, went on these journeys by themselves and found
these inventions and new formulas. So there's one guy, John
Rasmussen who's uh, he's came discerned with me and he
said that it's and he advises a lot of world
leaders and comedians and and me, And he said that
(14:23):
the feminine part of the brain is so important for
discovery just because of the way that women see things.
So it's from a different part of the brain. So
that'll be exciting to inspire. Hopefully, yes, somebody will be listening.
And then how about so what is it about podcasts
(14:43):
that keep people coming back and what makes a really
good podcast? And I heard that people since they're listening
in their cars and in bed, they feel like they
know the podcaster. But what can I do to really contribute?
Just be my myself and be honest.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
It's funny that you, you know, you mentioned people getting
to know or feeling like they get to know the podcasters.
It's always a funny experience for us when we're at
public events and fans meet podcasters. It's very different than
you know, at iHeart, we get a chance to see
this across a wide spectrum. So when fans meet their
(15:23):
favorite musical artist, for example, there's this crazy excitement and
it's like they've met this celebrity that feels almost intangible
to them. But when they meet their favorite podcaster, the
number of times we've watched them just walk up and
just start a conversation like they've known them forever. There's
a different kind of relationship that's established between a podcaster
(15:46):
and their audience. And we sometimes over use this word
intimacy when we talk about this sort of feeling of
listening to a podcast, but it's a really accurate word.
Because it's a very different experience. Most people are listening
to the podcas cast in their earbuds. They might be
out on a job, they might be cooking dinner, but
it feels like you're getting to sit in on a
(16:08):
conversation between two super interesting people, or just hearing someone
that you find very interesting, you know, communicating a certain
message or some information. And so you know, I feel
this myself when I tend to listen to podcasts when
I'm out on a jog or something like that, and
you finish it, and you do just feel like you've
(16:28):
been part of a conversation or getting to listen in
on a conversation. And the best podcast really do make
you feel like you know that podcast host. And I
know that this is going to come through with the
way you communicate as well, because you have this very authentic,
you know, communication style to you that people feel like
they get to know you very quickly. And so the
(16:50):
important thing in producing a podcast is not losing that,
making sure that it doesn't feel overproduced, making sure that
it feels very real. And there's something about podcasts that
accomplished that that it's almost I don't want to use
the word amateur quality to it. But there is something
(17:11):
that feels like again, it's not overproduced, like you're just
hearing a great conversation. You're just hearing a great communicator
that I think is really really important, and I think
that's what's worked with podcasting. I think in many ways,
when you think about the evolution of media, our CEO
Bob Pittman here at iHeart talks about, you know, people's
(17:31):
eyes are are sort of tapped out, like we're overstimulated.
Everywhere we look there is something to see, there's a
new form of entertainment, and so we're sort of done
in terms of new ways to find entertainment on the
visual side, and there was something about audio that sort
of found these gaps where we have these moments where
(17:53):
we're getting dressed for work, or we're cooking dinner, or
we're out on a run, or we're doing you know whatever,
we're in transit, and there was an opportunity there for
people to find companionship in those moments. And that companionship
came through you know, came by way of podcast, came
by way of you know, people communicating certain information, and
(18:14):
so we've seen that just really explode over the last
five to ten years and the way that people were
communicating or the format has been interesting to watch it
evolve as well. There was a point where, you know,
maybe seven or eight years ago, where people felt like
the definition of a podcast was always just two people
(18:34):
sitting in a microphone to host, you know, having that conversation,
and that's still a great way to communicate. We found
there's other opportunities as well. We've experimented with a lot
of short form podcast where maybe it's a daily five
to seven minute thing, or maybe it's a comedy podcast
where there's a whole you know, troop of five or
six people communicating, and it's been really interesting to see
(18:58):
that form develop. And I think that's been part of
why it's exploded is there was there was a gap
there where people were saying, you know what, I have
room here in my life for this short form thing
early in the morning as I'm getting ready for work,
or this thirty minute thing as I'm on the treadmill,
or this thirty minute thing as I'm in the car
headed or in the train headed to work, whatever it
(19:20):
may be. So I think it was you know, an
interesting space that people you know, made available to, you know,
to fill with this kind of entertainment or information. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
You explained things so well.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
And you gave me actually a lot of courage and
confidence to actually start where I am. Like I was
pretty scared to actually get on a plane. I mean,
having been alone this whole time and also writing and
all these really solitary endeavors. It was fun for about
(19:55):
the first two years, but this past January, I was like, Okay,
time to get out of my house. But you gave
me so much confidence, because that is really for me anyway.
When someone says this is where I am, I'm scared.
I don't know what I have to say, but I'm
gonna try it. So maybe you can come along with
me on the journey and maybe I can give you
(20:17):
some permission to actually talk about what's important to you
and we can start having conversations about new things. And
that's what my Oh my God particle show play is about,
dreaming a new reality into being. And hopefully I really
love that. Samantha Wilson from The Black Effect podcast, He's
(20:40):
been an amazing mentor and I'm hoping because I grew
up in New York in a Spanish Harlem, and my
dad was a doctor in Harlem and an engineer diagnosed
first case of AIDS and Harlem worked on Adam Baum.
But I really hope that the Women's Initiative, I know
the issues are so serious right now, but that we
(21:01):
can still be lighthearted and that we can not alienate men,
but also that all the different diverse voices that we
can be like a united nations of podcast voices are
just all of us. Hopefully this time is going to
pass where I guess everyone needed to strengthen their voice
and their identity, but it just feels awkward to me,
(21:22):
and that's my hope that we can move forward to. Actually,
one of the big principles of my play is that
if we're all made of God particles, which are basically
called the Higgs boson, which is the building block of
the universe, if we're all made of the same stuff,
hopefully we could all get along eventually, you would hope.
Speaker 5 (21:41):
So yeah, I think just getting something out there. I
think one of the other things that we encourage podcasters
to do is is to not feel like you have
to have perfected the craft before you start a podcast.
I think it's really important to get something out of
the world, and I think listeners, if they like the
concept of a podcast, you know, listeners are excited to
(22:05):
be part of the evolution of a show, and I
think that's really important. We'll sometimes see creators that just
keep delaying and delaying because they want to create the
perfect thing before they get it out there. I actually
think there's really something fun for the listening audience to
be a part of that journey that when you launch
a show, it's not going to be the perfect thing
that maybe you envision from the very beginning. Any successful podcaster,
(22:29):
if you were to ask, you know, one of our
biggest podcasts stuff you should know the two people behind it,
Josh and Chuck, or a show stuff you missed in
history class with Holly and Tracy. You know, four brilliant podcasters.
If you were to ask them, you know what they
heard if they went back and listened to their first episode,
or their tenth episode, or even their fiftieth episode, they
(22:51):
would say with each one of those, you know, it's
kind of funny to listen how you know, how new
they were and how much they've grown over this period
of time, and in some cases almost embarrassed by what
they heard the first time, but the important thing was
that they got something out of the world and they
allowed it to evolve. And I think their listeners have
you get a chance to grow with them.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
I'm actually excited to see how my voice develops on
this journey back to CERN and how I start growing
and finding more confidence about what I have to say
and we can talk to you hopefully again.
Speaker 5 (23:26):
I just can't think of anything more exciting than being
in a place like that to, like I said, try
to uncover what everything is made of and how it
all works, and from the large hat drain collider to
every other part of what's happening there. I don't think
it gets any more interesting than that.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Maybe we'll discover a new particle or something. Thank you
for taking the time and putting me at ease and
telling me that I wasn't totally nuts. So I'm gonna
make this happen. I'm gonna make you proud.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
Will.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
I might have to call you back again.
Speaker 5 (23:55):
I would love to hear from you, and I'm super
excited for your podcast and congrats on getting to this point.
I'm excited to see it evolve, and yeah, please do
I look forward to hearing from you again. Thank you,
have a nice day, you too, take care.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
I like this guy. What a super mench I hope
they make a lot more incredible human beings like him.
I'm going to cook up the best podcast that I can.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
What did he say?
Speaker 1 (24:20):
He said, start where I am, Just be myself whoever
that is, keep it basic and have a darn good time.
And maybe if I'm extra lucky and use my noodle,
I will find him the iHeart particle. I'm off to
see the wizard at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN,
the Center for Research Nuclear Geneva, Switzerland. Okay, yeah, I'd
(24:54):
fight ryops wunderba ah. I haven't seen one of these
in a while.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
Wow, that was weird.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Holy podcast vibrations.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
What's this?
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Einstein's favorite limerick? A funny facts from Frank at the
black Hole back Office. Okay, Einstein's favorite limerick. There once
was a lady called Wright who could travel much faster
than light. She departed one day in a relative way
and returned on the previous night.
Speaker 4 (25:38):
That door, there's a door to the space towme continuum.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Of course there is. It's mem Oh you you Harry Lamar.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
I thought you were resting in peace. I was.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
I mean, I am in the space time continuum. All
space time happens at once fully podcast vibrations. That's a
lot to unpack.
Speaker 6 (26:17):
How did you do it?
Speaker 1 (26:18):
All your film career, your inventions, it was different. I
guess maybe I came from another planet. Who knows, huh?
But whatever, kids Invenchin's are easy for me to do
here gorgeous. I have to admit it's a little distracting.
The brains of the people are more interesting than the looks.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
I think.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
I concur people have the idea that I'm sort of
a stupid thing. That's not true. I know what incredible
things that you did. My podcast couldn't have been made
without the frequency hopping technology that you invented. You're the
mother of Wi Fi and GPS and Bluetooth. Your contributions
were instrumental in the invention of the inn. See what
(27:01):
internet is that for fishing?
Speaker 6 (27:04):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (27:04):
If he is a search engine, an engine that searches.
I like this idea. Could you help me with this podcast?
I mean, what should I tell people whose genius has
been ignored?
Speaker 6 (27:15):
Yeah, gives the world the best you've got and you
will be kicked in the teeth gives the world the
best you've got anyway, Do it anyway, because it's in
the doing that you will change the world, that you
will find the meaning of life.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
I better get on with the search engine. Obviously, I
may have a lot more work to do.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
A Veders and Darling, Donkish and Heady, I love you
and I thank you who.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
That was an interesting quantum phenomenon. I better get back
to this reality show. Let's get on with it. I
got a lot of support. I got presidents, Seneca women
are funny facts from Frank at the black Hole, back office,
science angels from the space time continuum, my wonder dog
(28:04):
Higgs Boson. Come on, good boy, grab your podcast gear.
We're off to CERN. Let's you and I try to
comprehend the universe. That's a good boy. We got this
on the road again, the return to Cern.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Remember to keep.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Looking up, stay positively charged. We are the stars.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Goodbye for now, audios a ribaderci a faersen abiento.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
That's our show. Join us next week and we'll be
talking to more mind blowing guests. We've got artistic scientists
and scientific artists. You'll meet my brilliant mentor particle physicists
doctor Mark Cruz from CERN and Duke University, and two
incredible astrophysicists, doctor Chris lin Tot from Oxford and the
(28:56):
BBC show The Sky at Night and exo planet genius
doctor Hannah Wakeford. They wrote a fantastic book called Bang,
The Complete History of the Universe, with legendary rock guitarist
from Queen, Sir Brian May, who is also an astrophysicist. Caution,
a sub atomic adhesive holds the fundamental constituents of this
(29:18):
podcast together. Since the exact nature of this clue is
not yet fully comprehended, its adhesive power cannot be guaranteed.
To date, no known malfunction of the podcast or ensuing
injury has resulted from adhesive failure.
Welcome vinkommen yin venido y venu benvenutia duti. Welcome one
and all, Thank you for joining me.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I'm Galli Wild and this is the Oh My God
Particle Show where we talk about science and art and
music and good good good vibrations and all matters near
and far. So ready or not, unpack your imaginations and
get ready to rumble through the universe that we are
so so lucky to live in.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
We are the stars.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Warning, despite the best efforts of iHeart, the chaos in
this podcast has increased exponentially since being published. If such
chaos has rendered the podcast effective, listeners shall not hold
iHeart hosts or its subsidiaries responsible. Claims in this regard
should be directed to the International Space Station Monday through
Friday six pm to seven pm grewage meantime. Hi, I'm
da Yail, the host of the Oh My God Particle Show.
(01:04):
I love to create as much as I can. I
love science and art and where they intersect, like many
beautiful languages describing the same thing.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
I wonder a lot about the universe, like where did
we all come from? How did the Big Bang happen?
How are we all connected now? What the heck is
my place in this giant soup of infinite possibilities. For
the last few years, i'd been alone to my three
x three closet with my beloved dog Higgs Boson, Hi Higgs.
(01:36):
Oh my good boy. So I started daydreaming a lot
about going back to the Large Hadron Collider at CERNE.
That's the Center for Research Nuclear in Geneva, Switzerland. You see,
I'd been there a few years ago as a large
Hadron Collider creative fellow. I was mentored by this great
(01:58):
particle physicist, doctor Mark Cruz from CERN and Duke. I
went a third of a mile underground into the large
Hadron collider. Luckily it was turned off, for the particles
in my serre bellum would have been smashed to kibbles
and bits. Doctor Mark and CERN supported me so generously
as I wrote infinite drafts of my particle physics play
(02:21):
called the Oh my God Particle Show. You see, the
universe is kind of large, so it's a big topic
for one play. I was determined to understand some particle
physics and share it with my audiences so I could
show people that science is really cool. Lucky for me,
doctor Mark's favorite expression is there are no dumb questions
(02:43):
in particle physics, because trust me, I asked him quite
a few doozies. Thanks for listening to my podcast and
please come see my play, The Oh My God Particle
Show running from August second to tent except August fifteenth
at Gilded Balloons at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival twenty twenty three.
(03:06):
I'm gonna be posting all the information on my Instagram
at All You Wild Official. Stay tuned for more details
about more OMGPS live theater shows in London, Geneva, New
York City, La outer Space, who knows. Thank you for
all your support. So I was back at home in
La La Land right the world was shut down because
(03:28):
of the pandemic, and I had a screwball idea to
apply for an iHeart podcast contest. I thought, why not
base it on my own My God Particles show theatrical extravaganza.
Well you're not gonna believe what happened. I actually won
this freaking contest. Apparently everyone wants to make a podcast,
(03:49):
so it was a big deal. Can you believe? They
call it the Next Great Female Podcast Award from iHeart
and Seneca women. No pressure here, but there was a snag.
I'd actually need to leave my closet, take my dog
and get on a plane back to Cern. Where's my passport? Gosh, well,
(04:12):
I'm freaking out of the way to the airport. Right,
So I decide I got nothing to lose. I'll go
right to the top and give Will Pearson a call
for a little pep talk. What you don't know who?
Will Pearson is president of the iHeart Podcast Network.
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Come on.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
He oversees the whole enchilada of iHeart podcast shows as
Will Ferrell and his big money players shondaland Charlemagne, the
God and the Black Effect. And that's just for starters.
iHeart Podcast Network rings up two hundred and fifty million
or more downloads a month. I mean, that's a ton.
That makes iHeartRadio the number one commercial podcast publisher globally.
Speaker 4 (04:47):
I know, right.
Speaker 1 (04:49):
But before iHeart, Will was one of the headhun shows
at Stuff Media, and he created Mental Flaws, a media
company that he launched in his Duke University dorm room. Basically,
this guy does it all. It's not only a laid
back genius, but he's super nice too. Let's see what
he has to say, Hi, Will, it's doll your wild.
Speaker 5 (05:12):
Oh yeah, so good to hear from you. How are
you today?
Speaker 1 (05:15):
I'm kind of freaking out a little. You are so amazing,
like you taught us so much at the iHeart Seneca
Podcast Academy. But I need you to remind me what
are we doing? Why did you start this amazing program?
And what can I do to make sure my podcast
is in sync with all those awesome ideas that you
(05:36):
and iHeart and Seneca have that you want to amplify
women's voices, So could you tell me what to do?
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Please?
Speaker 5 (05:42):
Hah. Well, as I may have told you before, the
good news is you already have a fantastic podcast idea
and you were one of only ten people selected out
of the many hundreds of people that applied for this program,
so you should feel very confident about that. But we
are excited about trying to amplify women's voices in podcasting.
(06:05):
You know, we have a responsibility and there's a lot
of excitement to take on this responsibility of trying to
bring underrepresented voices into podcasting, and that can take on
you know, we can handle that on any number of fronts,
whether that's you know, trying to find those that have
had not had the opportunity to be in podcasting, or
in this case, recognizing that there needs to be more
(06:28):
women's voices in podcasting, and so we started this program
with Seneca Women in order to try to find the
most interesting emerging voices from women podcasters. And so we're
excited to have this program. Loved that you applied for it,
loved your idea for the podcast, and are thrilled to.
Speaker 1 (06:48):
See a company thank you again. And I thought that
was really interesting when see to Garrett, who was one
of the other nine women, she actually said, what do
I have to say? And then all of a sudden,
I started to think what do I have to say?
But I did realize something that I guess because there's
so much noise in the world and it's a little
bit kind of nerve racking with the criticism and haters.
(07:12):
I know one shouldn't be deterred by that, but I
feel like I was always a leader, you know, I
was Truman scholar. I went to Oxford and Duke where
you also went. Yay Duke. But I feel like I
became really quiet and like I wanted to just hide
in my cave after being alone two years on my
own with my beloved dog, ten people died, including my
(07:32):
mother and I, and your program was so helpful because
I started really to think about I better find something
to say. I have something to say, and if the
somewhat decent people don't speak up, we're just gonna have
more of the same in the world.
Speaker 5 (07:46):
Right.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
So when I was looking at your videos of you
in two thousand and seven at Google Talks, was it
and you invented a podcast right and a blog in
your dorm room at Duke. But you were so confident.
So what you recommend for girls and women to be
confident about their voices.
Speaker 5 (08:04):
That's part of why why we're here is to recognize
that there are so many interesting voices. And it was
definitely no easy task trying to decide which, you know,
which of the entries to pick to get behind in
terms of making podcasts. And fact is Kim Azarelli, who's
the founder of Seneca Women and a very close partner
(08:27):
of ours here at iHeart and creating this program. As
she has said before, the hardest part about this, and
the most painful part about this, frankly, was having to
narrow this to ten podcasts because we know that there
are hundreds and thousands and tens of thousands and potentially
hundreds of thousands of fantastic podcast ideas from women out there,
(08:50):
and we're just scratching the surface. But we're also just
getting started, and we're really excited to see this program evolved.
But we felt that it was really important and selecting
the ten women podcasters that we were ready to get
behind and help launch shows that that group of those
selecting them would also be a you know, a committee
of women helping make those selections, led by Kim and
(09:10):
some of our fantastic executive producers here. But I know,
in coming up with the qualifications for it and deciding,
you know, what would be our guiding principles and selecting
these podcasters, we wanted to find a range of ideas.
You know, it was not just that we were looking
for good podcasts, but we wanted to make sure that
we saw, you know, podcasts across so many different subject areas.
(09:31):
And part of what we were excited about in hearing
from you was your very real interest in the sciences,
and you know, we wanted to make sure that we
were expiring people across the board from science, to politics,
to social justice, to comedy to.
Speaker 3 (09:47):
You name it.
Speaker 5 (09:47):
Wanting to think about a breadth of subject areas and
thinking about the shows that came on board. But fortunately
the team really didn't have to focus too much on
that because it just sort of fell in place was
we started evaluating all the different great ideas and deciding
which ones would be part of the program. It just
somehow naturally happened that there was a really wide range
(10:11):
of fascinating ideas and pitches and talent that came in
as part of the submission process.
Speaker 1 (10:16):
Thank you for explaining that so well as you. The
first time I saw you on the Zoom, I was
just struck by what a great guy you are. And
it's really important to me that even this is a
Women's Voices initiative, but to really honor the great men
that are supporting women, and then we can kind of
model that for other people, men and everyone else to
(10:38):
support you know, their other halves.
Speaker 5 (10:41):
So thank you. I appreciate that, And we obviously want
to get to a place where, you know, we want
to try to inspire confidence and creators. You mentioned, you know,
having seen that Google Talk and and my experience of
presenting what we were doing. The brand or the magazine
at the time was called mental flaw us. And you know,
(11:01):
I think the benefit for us was the stage in
life where we were that we were too young to
have been told what the rules of the magazine industry
were or what we could and couldn't do, And so
part of it was honestly being a bit naive, just thinking, Okay,
we have an idea for a magazine, why why shouldn't
we try to go start it? And so I think
(11:21):
part of it in starting a program like this is
to take both those who maybe again maybe they are
too young to realize what they you know, should or
shouldn't be doing, and what the rules of the podcast
industry are, but then also to try to give life
two ideas from those who may have been in the
industry for a while or in some field for a while,
(11:44):
and maybe you know, have not quite had the confidence
or the realization that they too are very much capable
of starting a podcast. And so we were simply just
trying to find the most interesting creators we could and
to do what we can to put the resources behind
those shows. And then hopefully over time you have a
(12:05):
generation and a community of women who are also interested
in starting podcasts and hearing from brilliant creators like yourself
and the other nine women who were selected to create
podcasts as part of this program, hearing those shows and
then thinking, you know what, I can do this too.
I also have a great idea. So part of it
truly is not only educating, but trying to inspire confidence,
(12:30):
you know, in a community and a generation of creators.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
That's such a huge gift and I'm so grateful and
I'm extremely interested in that concept of the voice too,
not only from when we go to cern, you know,
talking about vibrations, and also where do all these podcasts go?
Are aliens listening to our sound vibrations? I need to
find that out. But I often meet young women and
(12:56):
I try to encourage them to use their imagination to
evalue the universe instead of you know, there's so much
time that we our focus goes to other things that
might not be the most productive. Even though did you
know that the Internet was actually started at Cerne? There
were so many particles being smashed that there was so
much information it was actually kept on one man's head.
(13:20):
His name was mister memory Man. I'm not kidding and
then but he couldn't remember anymore, so they put it
on a computer, then a lot of computers, and then
the computers needed to just talk to each other. And
that's where the Internet started. And this is a message
to myself too, because I still, even though I'm trying
hard to have more discipline, the internet is really wastes
(13:42):
a lot of our imagination. And so to give girls
courage and women anyone of any age to use that
imagination to evaluate the universe. And a lot of women's
scientists also say how they were told they were absolutely crazy,
like what we all know about Marie Curie. But how they,
(14:02):
you know, went on these journeys by themselves and found
these inventions and new formulas. So there's one guy, John
Rasmussen who's uh, he's came discerned with me and he
said that it's and he advises a lot of world
leaders and comedians and and me, And he said that
(14:23):
the feminine part of the brain is so important for
discovery just because of the way that women see things.
So it's from a different part of the brain. So
that'll be exciting to inspire. Hopefully, yes, somebody will be listening.
And then how about so what is it about podcasts
(14:43):
that keep people coming back and what makes a really
good podcast? And I heard that people since they're listening
in their cars and in bed, they feel like they
know the podcaster. But what can I do to really contribute?
Just be my myself and be honest.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
It's funny that you, you know, you mentioned people getting
to know or feeling like they get to know the podcasters.
It's always a funny experience for us when we're at
public events and fans meet podcasters. It's very different than
you know, at iHeart, we get a chance to see
this across a wide spectrum. So when fans meet their
(15:23):
favorite musical artist, for example, there's this crazy excitement and
it's like they've met this celebrity that feels almost intangible
to them. But when they meet their favorite podcaster, the
number of times we've watched them just walk up and
just start a conversation like they've known them forever. There's
a different kind of relationship that's established between a podcaster
(15:46):
and their audience. And we sometimes over use this word
intimacy when we talk about this sort of feeling of
listening to a podcast, but it's a really accurate word.
Because it's a very different experience. Most people are listening
to the podcas cast in their earbuds. They might be
out on a job, they might be cooking dinner, but
it feels like you're getting to sit in on a
(16:08):
conversation between two super interesting people, or just hearing someone
that you find very interesting, you know, communicating a certain
message or some information. And so you know, I feel
this myself when I tend to listen to podcasts when
I'm out on a jog or something like that, and
you finish it, and you do just feel like you've
(16:28):
been part of a conversation or getting to listen in
on a conversation. And the best podcast really do make
you feel like you know that podcast host. And I
know that this is going to come through with the
way you communicate as well, because you have this very authentic,
you know, communication style to you that people feel like
they get to know you very quickly. And so the
(16:50):
important thing in producing a podcast is not losing that,
making sure that it doesn't feel overproduced, making sure that
it feels very real. And there's something about podcasts that
accomplished that that it's almost I don't want to use
the word amateur quality to it. But there is something
(17:11):
that feels like again, it's not overproduced, like you're just
hearing a great conversation. You're just hearing a great communicator
that I think is really really important, and I think
that's what's worked with podcasting. I think in many ways,
when you think about the evolution of media, our CEO
Bob Pittman here at iHeart talks about, you know, people's
(17:31):
eyes are are sort of tapped out, like we're overstimulated.
Everywhere we look there is something to see, there's a
new form of entertainment, and so we're sort of done
in terms of new ways to find entertainment on the
visual side, and there was something about audio that sort
of found these gaps where we have these moments where
(17:53):
we're getting dressed for work, or we're cooking dinner, or
we're out on a run, or we're doing you know whatever,
we're in transit, and there was an opportunity there for
people to find companionship in those moments. And that companionship
came through you know, came by way of podcast, came
by way of you know, people communicating certain information, and
(18:14):
so we've seen that just really explode over the last
five to ten years and the way that people were
communicating or the format has been interesting to watch it
evolve as well. There was a point where, you know,
maybe seven or eight years ago, where people felt like
the definition of a podcast was always just two people
(18:34):
sitting in a microphone to host, you know, having that conversation,
and that's still a great way to communicate. We found
there's other opportunities as well. We've experimented with a lot
of short form podcast where maybe it's a daily five
to seven minute thing, or maybe it's a comedy podcast
where there's a whole you know, troop of five or
six people communicating, and it's been really interesting to see
(18:58):
that form develop. And I think that's been part of
why it's exploded is there was there was a gap
there where people were saying, you know what, I have
room here in my life for this short form thing
early in the morning as I'm getting ready for work,
or this thirty minute thing as I'm on the treadmill,
or this thirty minute thing as I'm in the car
headed or in the train headed to work, whatever it
(19:20):
may be. So I think it was you know, an
interesting space that people you know, made available to, you know,
to fill with this kind of entertainment or information. Thank you.
Speaker 1 (19:30):
You explained things so well.
Speaker 4 (19:33):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (19:34):
And you gave me actually a lot of courage and
confidence to actually start where I am. Like I was
pretty scared to actually get on a plane. I mean,
having been alone this whole time and also writing and
all these really solitary endeavors. It was fun for about
(19:55):
the first two years, but this past January, I was like, Okay,
time to get out of my house. But you gave
me so much confidence, because that is really for me anyway.
When someone says this is where I am, I'm scared.
I don't know what I have to say, but I'm
gonna try it. So maybe you can come along with
me on the journey and maybe I can give you
(20:17):
some permission to actually talk about what's important to you
and we can start having conversations about new things. And
that's what my Oh my God particle show play is about,
dreaming a new reality into being. And hopefully I really
love that. Samantha Wilson from The Black Effect podcast, He's
(20:40):
been an amazing mentor and I'm hoping because I grew
up in New York in a Spanish Harlem, and my
dad was a doctor in Harlem and an engineer diagnosed
first case of AIDS and Harlem worked on Adam Baum.
But I really hope that the Women's Initiative, I know
the issues are so serious right now, but that we
(21:01):
can still be lighthearted and that we can not alienate men,
but also that all the different diverse voices that we
can be like a united nations of podcast voices are
just all of us. Hopefully this time is going to
pass where I guess everyone needed to strengthen their voice
and their identity, but it just feels awkward to me,
(21:22):
and that's my hope that we can move forward to. Actually,
one of the big principles of my play is that
if we're all made of God particles, which are basically
called the Higgs boson, which is the building block of
the universe, if we're all made of the same stuff,
hopefully we could all get along eventually, you would hope.
Speaker 5 (21:41):
So yeah, I think just getting something out there. I
think one of the other things that we encourage podcasters
to do is is to not feel like you have
to have perfected the craft before you start a podcast.
I think it's really important to get something out of
the world, and I think listeners, if they like the
concept of a podcast, you know, listeners are excited to
(22:05):
be part of the evolution of a show, and I
think that's really important. We'll sometimes see creators that just
keep delaying and delaying because they want to create the
perfect thing before they get it out there. I actually
think there's really something fun for the listening audience to
be a part of that journey that when you launch
a show, it's not going to be the perfect thing
that maybe you envision from the very beginning. Any successful podcaster,
(22:29):
if you were to ask, you know, one of our
biggest podcasts stuff you should know the two people behind it,
Josh and Chuck, or a show stuff you missed in
history class with Holly and Tracy. You know, four brilliant podcasters.
If you were to ask them, you know what they
heard if they went back and listened to their first episode,
or their tenth episode, or even their fiftieth episode, they
(22:51):
would say with each one of those, you know, it's
kind of funny to listen how you know, how new
they were and how much they've grown over this period
of time, and in some cases almost embarrassed by what
they heard the first time, but the important thing was
that they got something out of the world and they
allowed it to evolve. And I think their listeners have
you get a chance to grow with them.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
I'm actually excited to see how my voice develops on
this journey back to CERN and how I start growing
and finding more confidence about what I have to say
and we can talk to you hopefully again.
Speaker 5 (23:26):
I just can't think of anything more exciting than being
in a place like that to, like I said, try
to uncover what everything is made of and how it
all works, and from the large hat drain collider to
every other part of what's happening there. I don't think
it gets any more interesting than that.
Speaker 1 (23:42):
Maybe we'll discover a new particle or something. Thank you
for taking the time and putting me at ease and
telling me that I wasn't totally nuts. So I'm gonna
make this happen. I'm gonna make you proud.
Speaker 5 (23:53):
Will.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
I might have to call you back again.
Speaker 5 (23:55):
I would love to hear from you, and I'm super
excited for your podcast and congrats on getting to this point.
I'm excited to see it evolve, and yeah, please do
I look forward to hearing from you again. Thank you,
have a nice day, you too, take care.
Speaker 1 (24:09):
I like this guy. What a super mench I hope
they make a lot more incredible human beings like him.
I'm going to cook up the best podcast that I can.
Speaker 3 (24:19):
What did he say?
Speaker 1 (24:20):
He said, start where I am, Just be myself whoever
that is, keep it basic and have a darn good time.
And maybe if I'm extra lucky and use my noodle,
I will find him the iHeart particle. I'm off to
see the wizard at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN,
the Center for Research Nuclear Geneva, Switzerland. Okay, yeah, I'd
(24:54):
fight ryops wunderba ah. I haven't seen one of these
in a while.
Speaker 4 (25:07):
Wow, that was weird.
Speaker 1 (25:10):
Holy podcast vibrations.
Speaker 2 (25:13):
What's this?
Speaker 1 (25:13):
Einstein's favorite limerick? A funny facts from Frank at the
black Hole back Office. Okay, Einstein's favorite limerick. There once
was a lady called Wright who could travel much faster
than light. She departed one day in a relative way
and returned on the previous night.
Speaker 4 (25:38):
That door, there's a door to the space towme continuum.
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Of course there is. It's mem Oh you you Harry Lamar.
Speaker 4 (26:03):
I thought you were resting in peace. I was.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
I mean, I am in the space time continuum. All
space time happens at once fully podcast vibrations. That's a
lot to unpack.
Speaker 6 (26:17):
How did you do it?
Speaker 1 (26:18):
All your film career, your inventions, it was different. I
guess maybe I came from another planet. Who knows, huh?
But whatever, kids Invenchin's are easy for me to do
here gorgeous. I have to admit it's a little distracting.
The brains of the people are more interesting than the looks.
Speaker 2 (26:38):
I think.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
I concur people have the idea that I'm sort of
a stupid thing. That's not true. I know what incredible
things that you did. My podcast couldn't have been made
without the frequency hopping technology that you invented. You're the
mother of Wi Fi and GPS and Bluetooth. Your contributions
were instrumental in the invention of the inn. See what
(27:01):
internet is that for fishing?
Speaker 6 (27:04):
Yes?
Speaker 1 (27:04):
If he is a search engine, an engine that searches.
I like this idea. Could you help me with this podcast?
I mean, what should I tell people whose genius has
been ignored?
Speaker 6 (27:15):
Yeah, gives the world the best you've got and you
will be kicked in the teeth gives the world the
best you've got anyway, Do it anyway, because it's in
the doing that you will change the world, that you
will find the meaning of life.
Speaker 1 (27:29):
I better get on with the search engine. Obviously, I
may have a lot more work to do.
Speaker 4 (27:34):
A Veders and Darling, Donkish and Heady, I love you
and I thank you who.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
That was an interesting quantum phenomenon. I better get back
to this reality show. Let's get on with it. I
got a lot of support. I got presidents, Seneca women
are funny facts from Frank at the black Hole, back office,
science angels from the space time continuum, my wonder dog
(28:04):
Higgs Boson. Come on, good boy, grab your podcast gear.
We're off to CERN. Let's you and I try to
comprehend the universe. That's a good boy. We got this
on the road again, the return to Cern.
Speaker 2 (28:23):
Remember to keep.
Speaker 1 (28:24):
Looking up, stay positively charged. We are the stars.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
Goodbye for now, audios a ribaderci a faersen abiento.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
That's our show. Join us next week and we'll be
talking to more mind blowing guests. We've got artistic scientists
and scientific artists. You'll meet my brilliant mentor particle physicists
doctor Mark Cruz from CERN and Duke University, and two
incredible astrophysicists, doctor Chris lin Tot from Oxford and the
(28:56):
BBC show The Sky at Night and exo planet genius
doctor Hannah Wakeford. They wrote a fantastic book called Bang,
The Complete History of the Universe, with legendary rock guitarist
from Queen, Sir Brian May, who is also an astrophysicist. Caution,
a sub atomic adhesive holds the fundamental constituents of this
(29:18):
podcast together. Since the exact nature of this clue is
not yet fully comprehended, its adhesive power cannot be guaranteed.
To date, no known malfunction of the podcast or ensuing
injury has resulted from adhesive failure.
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