Podcast appearances and mentions of mike booth

The sunshine and the first day of qualifying have arrived on the Isle of Man for Day 3 and just in time for our very special episode. Chris and Lee take to the stage once again, with special guests Jonny Heginbotham and Mike Booth to discuss everything around the amazing charity work of TORQ. With amazing support to all those in the racing world and honouring the memory of Dan Kneen, the inspiring and amazing work TORQ and The Dan Kneen Charitable Foundation do is the main talking point at the Trackside Bar today. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review wherever you listen to your podcasts. www.iomttraces.com is the place for all the latest TT news and features, and search for @TTRacesOfficial for all our social channels.Note: This episode features some mentions of graphic themes and injury. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

And just like that, the 2025 TT is here. Chris and Lee and back on the Isle of Man for our first daily episode. However, in this year's preview episode, the TT podcast is introducing a new spin. We'll be recording each episode live on stage in the fan park with huge guests featuring throughout. We will be bringing you the latest gossip and news straight from the paddock as well as some brand new features. In this episode, Chris and Lee are joined by the TT legend: Mike Booth - discussing potential outcomes and trajectories the riders may face at the TT over the next 2 weeks, as well as making those all important podium predictions. If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review wherever you listen to your podcasts. www.iomttraces.com is the place for all the latest TT news and features, and search for @TTRacesOfficial for all our social channels. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Send us a textThis episode takes a fun detour into the world of chemistry conspiracy theories! Mike Booth explores the science behind chemtrails vs. contrails and explains how you could actually test for elements like aluminum, barium, lead, and lithium in air samples using ICP-OES and ICP-MS. Learn practical tips for sample collection, how to avoid common interferences, and why trace analysis requires extra care with contamination control.

The new seasons is just days away and that can mean only one thing – it's time for the Brunton Bugle 24/25 Season League Two Preview and Predictions!All four lads are in for this episode of the Bugle and as you'd expect, there's a lot to cram into over two hours, including:

Send us a Text Message.In this episode, host Mike Booth, Technical Director at Inorganic Ventures, is joined by our knowledgeable team: Ashley Jones, Autumn Phillips, and Joey Burns. Together, they tackle some of the most frequently asked technical support questions about ICP sample preparation and analytical science.Discover solutions to common challenges with arsenic and mercury, learn about the impact of oxidation states on ICP analysis, and get insights into working with natural abundance versus depleted uranium in standards. Join us next week for part 2 as we continue the conversation with more FAQs and practical advice!

A tribute to Rodger Fox. Special thanks to Pete France, Alex Griffith, Jono Sawyer, Joseph Anderson, and Mike Booth for their heartfelt contributions to the show.

Like many others around the Motu we are in shock due to the premature death of the great Rodger Fox, and welcome former Rodger Fox Big Band alumni Mike Booth and Mike Young to the studio to share their memories of his work as an educator and musician. Other musicians to share their reminiscences electronnically include Godfrey de Grut, Vanesssa McGowan, Cam Allen and Neil Watson. RIP Rog!

It's official - statistically, this is United's worst ever season in terms of number of defeats. And there's still one game to go...!In this week's episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee is joined by Mike Booth and Adam Tiffen (@adamtiffen18 on Twitter) to reflect on that 3-1 loss to Wycombe Wanderers in the last home game of the season - a miserable way to finish things off for the Blues at Brunton Park for 23/24, with plenty of discussion about some underwhelming individual performances.That's followed by a look ahead to this weekend's trip to Derby County for the final home game of the campaign - including a great chat with Jake from the excellent Rams Talk podcast about how their nerves are holding up as they look to get the point that will secure them automatic promotion.On top of that, there's a news round-up and the usual Ex-Blues update.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Adam Tiffen in Carlisle and Mike Booth in Formby. You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------The Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch is proud to be once again sponsoring the Brunton Bugle Podcast for the 2023-24 Season.As part of this sponsorship, they will be providing some useful info for us to share ahead of each away trip in terms of pubs, public transport changes, places to eat etc.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, Jacksonville, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

United's slow-lingering death in League One is over, as defeat at Northampton finally confirms what we've all known for a while - it's back to League Two next season.In this week's episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee and Mike review the 2-0 loss at the Cobblers as relegation is confirmed for the Blues - with the game itself being pretty dire, it's more of an initial reflection on what has gone wrong this season (which we'll get more in-depth on in a later episode).That's followed by a look back on the midweek win at Cheltenham and some of the positives to come out of that (along with thoughts on what United can get out of the remaining fixtures).We then look ahead to the penultimate home game of the season this weekend against Blackpool - including a chat with Nick from the excellent Seasiders Podcast about how their campaign has gone.As usual, the episode is wrapped up with the ex-Blues update.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Mike Booth in Formby.You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------For the third season in a row, the podcast is being sponsored by Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So near, yet so far - United miss out on their first home win since New Year's Day as Stevenage equalise with the last kick of the game - but surely there's plenty of positives to take from the performance overall?In this week's episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee and Mike reflect on the 2-2 draw against Stevenage - plenty of talk about Daniel Butterworth's recent upturn in form, debate about the penalty decision and a robust discussion about Simmo's substitution policy.We also look ahead to the Easter weekend clashes with Peterborough United and Lincoln City, including a "Behind Enemy Lines" chat with Charlie from the excellent "Stacey West" Lincoln City blog and pod, where he tells us about the interesting back story of their gaffer Michael Skubala.Alongside those bits, there is a news round-up and the usual ex-Blues update.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Mike Booth in Formby.You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------For the third season in a row, the podcast is being sponsored by Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apologies that there was no preview for the Shrewsbury game - we were unable to find a time where two of us could record ahead of the match! Instead, here's a three-game review episode for you all to "enjoy" (we use the term very loosely!).In this week's episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee and Mike look back on the three consecutive defeats against Charlton Athletic, Barnsley and Shrewsbury Town - three performances that got progressively worse over the space of seven days.Plenty of reflection on the games and the season itself - where do United go from here, with relegation almost inevitable?Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Mike Booth in Formby.You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------For the third season in a row, the podcast is being sponsored by Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The losing run is over! and we finally have a CLEAN SHEET! What kind of witchcraft is this?!In this week's episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee is joined by Mike Booth and Adam Tiffen (@adamtiffen18 on Twitter) to reflect on the last two fixtures - a 2-1 defeat at Bristol Rovers with a slightly more encouraging performance, and a battling 1-0 win at Burton Albion. Is this an end to the rot that United have faced since New Year, or just a false dawn?That's followed by a look ahead to this weekend's home clash with Reading - including a chat with Alex from the excellent Elm Park Royals podcast, as the Royals prepare for their first visit to Brunton Park since the early 1980s.On top of that, there's a news round-up and the usual Ex-Blues update.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Adam Tiffen in Carlisle and Mike Booth in Formby. You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------The Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch is proud to be once again sponsoring the Brunton Bugle Podcast for the 2023-24 Season.As part of this sponsorship, they will be providing some useful info for us to share ahead of each away trip in terms of pubs, public transport changes, places to eat etc.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, Jacksonville, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The transfer window has slammed shut and there's been a fair bit of change in United's squad, but will it be enough to help drag the team away from the relegation zone?In this week's episode of The Brunton Bugle (recorded before Georgie Kelly and Max Kilsby's transfers were announced), Lee is joined by Mike Booth and Dan MacLennan to discuss the departures of Owen Moxon and Joe Garner, before looking back on the comprehensive defeat to Bolton Wanderers last weekend.That's followed by a look ahead to this weekend's trip to the capital to face in-form Leyton Orient - we speak to Paul from the Orient Outlook Podcast ahead of this one, discussing how they've adapted to life in the third tier after promotion last season and their long-term hopes for the club.On top of that, there's the usual news round-up and an ex-Blues update.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Dan MacLennan in Carlisle and Mike Booth in Formby. You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------The Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch is proud to be once again sponsoring the Brunton Bugle Podcast for the 2023-24 Season.As part of this sponsorship, they will be providing some useful info for us to share ahead of each away trip in terms of pubs, public transport changes, places to eat etc.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, Jacksonville, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

DISCLAIMER - This episode was recorded on Thursday night, before we knew the Cheltenham game was postponed. The preview section has been removed as a result!The Cheltenham game has fallen victim to the icy conditions that are currently hitting much of the country, but there's still plenty of stuff for the lads to talk about as they reflect on back-to-back defeats against two promotion contenders.In this week's episode of The Brunton Bugle there's lots of discussion about those losses against Oxford and Barnsley - the defeat to the U's was pretty disappointing, but was there positives to take out of a hard-working performance against the Tykes?Alongside those bits, there is a quick news round-up where we discuss the departure of striker Ryan Edmondson.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Mike Booth in Formby.You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------For the third season in a row, the podcast is being sponsored by Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Christmas period is over and United end up with 4 points from a possible twelve - small signs of progress, but it's still going to be a battle to avoid an instant return to League Two this season.In this episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee and Mike reflect on the 2-0 defeat at Wigan infront of over 4,000 travelling Blues, and the New Year's Day 2-1 home win against Port Vale. Are there a few signs that United have what it takes to avoid the drop?And if so, will the new additions make a difference? We discuss the three first signings of the window, and the departure of loanee Luke Plange after his half season spell came to an end.Then there's a look ahead to what will be a huge tie against Exeter City in Devon this weekend.We speak to Grecians fan Sam Parks, who give us the lowdown on why they have slumped so badly having been top at one stage in the early weeks of the season.Alongside those bits, there is a round-up of the news and the usual ex-Blues section.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Mike Booth in Formby.You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------For the third season in a row, the podcast is being sponsored by Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apologies if there any issues with Mike's audio on this episode - we're looking at some alternative recording solutions!Christmas comes early to Brunton Park as the Piatak Family deliver the present Simmo wanted - a new striker!In this episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee and Mike discuss the reportedly record-signing of striker Luke Armstrong from Harrogate Town, with plenty of chat about what kind of an impact he can have at the club. There's also some chat about the topics that were raised at this week's fans forum at Brunton Park.The lads also look back on last weekend's 2-2 draw with Northampton Town - fair result, or were United robbed of three points by the Cobblers late equaliser?Then there's a look ahead to the first two fixtures of the festive period - massive games against two of the Blues' relegation rivals, Cheltenham Town and Fleetwood Town.Alongside those bits, there is a round-up of the news and the usual ex-Blues section.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Mike Booth in Formby.You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------For the third season in a row, the podcast is being sponsored by Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode Marissa chats with admissions specialist Mike Booth to learn more about USU Wendover! Swag Drawing Code: CAROLS Enter USU Swag Drawing: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://usu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eQmAkd09YpaE4TQ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about USU Wendover: https://statewide.usu.edu/wendover/

In this episode Marissa chats with admissions specialist Mike Booth to learn more about USU Tooele! Swag Drawing Code: PIE Enter USU Swag Drawing: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://usu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eQmAkd09YpaE4TQ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about USU Tooele: ⁠ https://statewide.usu.edu/tooele/

Apologies for the poor sound quality on this episode - this issue will be resolved for next week!When is a hammering not a hammering? The scoreline at Reading certainly suggested the Blues got battered by the Royals, but were they the perpetrators of their own downfall by gifting most of the goals to the hosts?In this episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee and Mike look back on that 5-1 defeat at the Select Car Leasing Stadium (terrible name for a ground) and discuss how on earth United managed to lose by such a margin despite matching Reading in terms of chances.Then there's a look ahead to this weekend's trip to the Lancashire seaside where almost 2,000 Blues will be hoping that the Illuminations aren't the only excitement they get from the day. We speak to John from the Seasiders Podcast about how they've coped after relegation last season and why getting rid of the Oyston family ownership of the club four years ago was so important to them.Alongside those bits, there is a round-up of the news and the usual ex-Blues section.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Mike Booth in Formby.You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------For the third season in a row, the podcast is being sponsored by Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The dawn of a new era for United as the first game under the ownership of the Piatak Family ends with a battling draw against United - but there's an overwhelmingly positive atmosphere around the ground that leaves you think the future is bright for the Blues.In this week's episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee is joined by Mike Booth and Adam Tiffen (@adamtiffen18 on Twitter) to look back on that 1-1 draw with the Addicks - plenty of talk about the efforts on the pitch, but also how good the matchday experience was for fans off the pitch.That's followed by a look ahead to the long midweek trip south to take on Reading, the first fixture between the two clubs in 42 years. We speak to Alex from the Elm Park Royals podcast about the on-going saga that is their ownership (makes you feel very lucky to be in our situation right now!), whether they can beat the drop and what Blues fans can expect on their first visit to the Select Car Leasing Stadium.On top of that, there's a news round-up (including an extensive chat about the Piatak's first press conference) and the usual Ex-Blues update.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Adam Tiffen in Carlisle and Mike Booth in Formby. You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------The Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch is proud to be once again sponsoring the Brunton Bugle Podcast for the 2023-24 Season.As part of this sponsorship, they will be providing some useful info for us to share ahead of each away trip in terms of pubs, public transport changes, places to eat etc.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, Jacksonville, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

So United suffer their fourth home league defeat of the season against Bristol Rovers and then face the daunting task of keeping out the league's top marksman against Charlton Athletic this weekend... but let's be honest, that's not the main point of discussion is it???In this episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee and Mike unsurprisingly spend most of their time talking about this week's big breaking news - the takeover of club by the Piatak family via Castle Sports Group has been completed! It's felt like the last couple of months have taken forever but the deal is finally done and there's plenty of look forward to - there's some instant reaction to the news including 60 Second Reviews and some of your tweets. We'll be bringing more reaction on the news over the next few weeks, including hopefully an interview with the Tom and Tom II at some point!On top of that, we briefly cover the Bristol Rovers game (wasn't much to talk about anyway!) before looking ahead to this weekend's clash with Charlton Athletic, where a big crowd is expected to celebrate the arrival of our new owners.We also speak to Louis Mendez from the Charlton Live podcast about the ups and downs of following the Addicks over the last few decades, their change of manager this season and their memories of the three occasions where they've been promoted at Brunton Park.Alongside those bits, there is a round-up of the news and the usual ex-Blues section.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Mike Booth in Formby.You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------For the third season in a row, the podcast is being sponsored by Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this Sci-Fi Talk episode, host Tony Tellado sits down with filmmaker and writer Mike Booth to discuss his debut novel, Hawk, and the exciting news of it being adapted into an animated series. Mike shares his own writing advice, encouraging aspiring authors to embrace the process of writing a "bad" first draft. As they delve into the world of Hawk, Mike reveals his unexpected journey from filmmaker to successful author and the joy of creating characters that are nothing like himself. They also discuss the diverse group of characters in Hawk and the opportunities for both adventure and comic relief that they bring to the story.Subscribe To Sci-Fi Talk Plus It's Free

Encouraging signs for the Blues this week - an impressive performance but loss at table-toppers Portsmouth, followed by a dominant home win over in-form Burton Albion at Brunton Park - are Simmo's boys finally starting to find their feet in League One?In this week's episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee is joined by Mike Booth and a second appearance for newbie Adam Tiffen (@adamtiffen18 on Twitter) to look back on the loss at Pompey and the win over the Brewers. Plenty of talk about the tweak in formation to 4-2-3-1, Danny Butterworth's encouraging performances and Joe Garner rolling back the years.That's followed by a look ahead to this weekend's trip south to take on Cambridge United - we speak to Jack from the Under The Abbey Stand podcast ahead of the game, with lots of talk about how they have coped with the loss of key attacking players this summer, how impressive the job their manager Mark Bonner has done and how Jack ended up supporting the U's despite originally hailing from the Great Border City!On top of that, there's a news round-up and the usual Ex-Blues update.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Adam Tiffen in Carlisle and Mike Booth in Formby. You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------The Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch is proud to be once again sponsoring the Brunton Bugle Podcast for the 2023-24 Season.As part of this sponsorship, they will be providing some useful info for us to share ahead of each away trip in terms of pubs, public transport changes, places to eat etc.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, Jacksonville, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's Friday y'all and we're wondering if the UAW is getting close to a tentative deal with GM. We're also talking about Toyota's big charging standard shift, as well as a new wearable tow truck from CrocsWe're not getting excited just yet, but there seems to be a glimmer of hope as Mike Booth, vice president of the union's GM department, commented, “All the pieces are there, we just have to glue it together.” at a rally on Thursday.The company and union are in discussions about pensions and healthcare benefits for retirees. Booth mentioned the union's desire for a secure pension, but they're willing to discuss terms provided there's a robust plan to safeguard members. "People might potentially have a comfortable retirement with a set contribution plan," he added.Meanwhile, Stellantis, Ford, and GM, are laying off 270 more workers in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana due to the UAW's ongoing strike. Stellantis will idle 100 UAW members at its Toledo plant. GM announced 20 layoffs across Ohio and Indiana, while Ford will lay off 150 at its Sterling Axle Plant. Affected workers might not receive unemployment benefits, but the union pledges $500 weekly from its strike fund.Ford has the most laid off workers at 2700, GM is at 2350 and Stellantis 1520The last domino may have fallen as Toyota announced yesterday its decision to adopt Tesla's electric-vehicle charging technology from 2025. Joining the ranks of Ford, GM, and Nissan, Toyota's move signals a major industry shift towards the NACS standard, potentially sidelining the rival Combined Charging System CCS for goodStarting 2025 NACS ports will be featured in select Toyota and Lexus EVs, including an upcoming Toyota crossover manufactured in Kentucky.Current Toyota and Lexus vehicle owners using the CCS system will receive adapters for NACS charging compatibility in 2025.What's better than a Pixar film named "Cars"? How about footwear inspired by its beloved characters? Crocs is driving into the spotlight once again, unveiling a Mater-inspired clog, following their previous hit, the Lightning McQueen design.The Mater clog, released Tuesday on Crocs' website, has design elements such as Mater's smiling face, engine details, and a towing hook on the backstraps.Initially selling for $59, the custom “Cars” crocs are already fetching twice as much on resale sites like StockXHosts: Paul J Daly and Kyle MountsierGet the Daily Push Back email at https://www.asotu.com/ JOIN the conversation on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asotu/ Read our most recent email at: https://www.asotu.com/media/push-back-email ASOTU Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/automotivestateoftheunion

United put in a decent performance against promotion-hopefuls Derby County at Brunton Park but still find themselves on the end of a defeat - but that's not the big talking point from the weekend!In this episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee and Mike look review the 2-0 loss to the Rams - plenty of praise for Jordan Gibson's performance, but are there questions again over the goalkeeper position?We also look ahead to the trip south to face Wycombe Wanderers this weekend, including a chat with George who runs the Wycombe Way twitter account - including topics such as losing their long-serving gaffer Gareth Ainstworth last season, how former long-serving player Matt Bloomfield has done as his replacement and what it's like to have American owners.Which brings us on nicely to the main topic for Blues fans right now - the Piatak/Castle Sports Group takeover of the club. We look back on the historic CUOSC members' meeting with the Piatak family at the weekend, covering the main points raised - and as we record, the result from the members vote comes in!Alongside those bits, there is a round-up of the news and the usual ex-Blues section.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Mike Booth in Formby.You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------For the third season in a row, the podcast is being sponsored by Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Only two shots on target... but a 2-2 draw earns United a point (undeservedly so, if you as Steve Evans) at early pace-setters Stevenage.In this episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee and Mike look back on the game in Hertfordshire - with a lot of talk about Jokkul Andresson's excellent performance, Joe Garner's 150th career goal and a potential burgeoning partnership between Kayode and Maguire in attack.We then look ahead to the weekend trip to Sincil Bank to take on Lincoln City - can the Blues end the Imps' five-game unbeaten run in the league? We chat with Ben from the Stacey West Podcast, with plenty of talk about Lincoln's rise from non-league football in recent seasons, how Lukas Jensen is getting on at the club and whether they can keep up that good start and challenge for a play-off place.There's also a lengthy discussion about this week's statement from the Castle Sports Group/Piatak Family about their potential takeover of the club - is it time for United fans to start getting excited, or will that Purepay debt continue to cause issues?Alongside those bits, there is a round-up of the news and the usual ex-Blues section.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Mike Booth in Formby.You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------For the third season in a row, the podcast is being sponsored by Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August is over and still no win for United on their return to League One - can that change this weekend?In this episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee and Mike preview the visit of Shrewsbury Town to Brunton Park - it's been a long time since the Blues have beaten Salop at Brunton Park in the league - can they end that run on Saturday?We also chat with Chris from the excellent Salopcast to get the opposition view - we talked about Steve Cotterill's summer departure and the fall-out from that, Matt Taylor's appointment as boss and his start in the hotseat, and of course, how Morgan Feeney has got on since his summer move to Shropshire.Alongside those bits, there is a round-up of the news and the usual ex-Blues section.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Mike Booth in Formby.You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------For the third season in a row, the podcast is being sponsored by Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Five games down, and that first win remains elusive - performances have been solid, but is that going to be good enough to help pull us away from trouble this season?In this episode of the Brunton Bugle, Lee and Mike get together to review the 1-0 defeat at Port Vale, with a lot of chat about controversial team selection decisions, defensive howlers and not taking chances. Oh and a bit of chat about goats.There's also a quick look at the remaining business United need to carry out this week as the summer transfer window comes to a close - will Simmo finally get that elusive targetman through the door?Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Mike Booth in Formby.You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------For the third season in a row, the podcast is being sponsored by Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris Pritchard and Steve Plater sit down with Mike Booth for Part 2 of his episode of the TT Podcast.In this second section, Boothy talks about his injury in 2022 and how his life has been since recovering from his leg amputation. Our next episode with Davey Todd is available to watch on TT+ now! Head to ttplus.iomttraces.com to sign up for free. Alternatively, the audio will be available here on this podcast feed at the same time next week, so make sure you hit subscribe and the notification bell to download that episode as soon as it drops.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review wherever you listen to your podcasts.www.iomttraces.com is the place for all the latest TT news and features, and search for @TTRacesOfficial for all our social channels.Music by Calva Louise - latest album ‘Euphoric' out now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Chris Pritchard and Steve Plater return for Series 5 of the TT Podcast. For episode one, the boys are speaking with Mike Booth, following his injury in 2022.Mike talked about his journalistic route into the world of bike riding and how a combination of talent & budget backing are crucial to success in the sport.Part Two of Mike Booth's interview is available to watch on TT+ now! Head to ttplus.iomttraces.com to sign up for free. Alternatively, the second part will be available here on this podcast feed at the same time next week, so make sure you hit subscribe and the notification bell to download that episode as soon as it drops.If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a rating and review wherever you listen to your podcasts.www.iomttraces.com is the place for all the latest TT news and features, and search for @TTRacesOfficial for all our social channels.Music by Calva Louise - latest album ‘Euphoric' out now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The wait goes on for a first win of the season for United in League One and while they've not been played off the park by anyone yet, the lack of goal threat remains a worry.In this episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee and Mike look back on the narrow 1-0 loss at Oxford United - while it was a game with very limited goal-mouth action for either side, there was plenty of talking points, particularly when it comes to attack and formations - what kind of forward do the Blues need and is it maybe time to switch from the 3-5-2?That's followed by a full look ahead to the midweek clash with Wigan Athletic, including a chat with Barry from the excellent Progress With Unity podcast - topics covered include their off the field issues in the last decade, Charlie Wyke's return from his heart issues and why a parking favour in the 90s didn't quite work out so well for Barry!Alongside those bits, there is a round-up of the news, including some chat about the US takeover rumours, and the usual ex-Blues section.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Mike Booth in Formby.You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------For the third season in a row, the podcast is being sponsored by Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Season 5 of the TT Podcast is finally here. Episode One is with Mike Booth and is available now on TT+ and you can watch it for free by signing up at ttplus.iomttraces.comAlternatively, the episode with Mike Booth will be available right here on this podcast feed next week.Music by Calva Louise - latest album ‘Euphoric' out now. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After a 3,381 days, LEAGUE ONE FOOTBALL is finally returning to Brunton Park - and The Brunton Bugle is here to preview the big game!In this episode, Lee and Mike sit down to give their thoughts on how the season ahead will go for the Blues, alongside some contributions of our regular 60 Second Reviewers.That's followed by a full look ahead to this weekend's clash with Fleetwood Town, including a chat with Ben from Cod's Vlogs on how the Cod Army are shaping up for the campaign, and a return of our "They Played for Both" feature.Alongside there is a round-up of the news, including some chat about the Owen Moxon transfer saga and the three new arrivals since we last recorded.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Mike Booth in Formby.You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------For the third season in a row, the podcast is being sponsored by Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There's just four days until the new League One campaign gets underway which can mean only one thing - it's time for our Preview and Predictions episode!In this episode of The Brunton Bugle, Dan, Lee and Mike got together to discuss all 23 of United's opponents this season in an almost two-hour long chat!At the end of the episode, we also did our (now infamous) season predictions, if you want to know where not to put your money with the bookies this season.Apologies if the sound quality dips at times in this episode - had countless technical issues with the recording, which we're hoping to iron out for the Fleetwood preview episode!Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Dan MacLennan in Carlisle and Mike Booth in Formby. You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------We're pleased to confirm that Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch will be sponsoring the podcast for the third consecutive season! The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a beautiful Thursday to be in Retail Auto. Today we're discussing the upcoming UAW labor negotiations around EV joint-ventures as well as VW of America CEOs warning to Dealers. We also talk about the insane buzz around the highest paid athlete in the world. In what could be a drawn out fight,  the United Auto Workers (UAW) labor union prepares for negotiations with Detroit automakers GM, Ford, and Stellantis. The conflict is regarding pay for 18,000 future workers at their electric-vehicle battery plants. These workers, hired through a myriad of joint ventures, are not covered by existing labor contracts, posing complexities for the UAW in ensuring equitable wages and conditions.The Ultium Cells LLC plant, a joint venture between GM and LG Energy, is an example of the complexity, with the UAW trying to establish a unique deal for its 1,100 workers there who aren't covered by the master labor contract.While UAW aims to put all battery workers under its master contract, manufacturers argue the joint ventures are about accessing battery production and knowledge rather than compensation issues.“The transition from internal combustion to electric has to be a just transition,” said Mike Booth, a UAW vice president who will lead talks with GM this year. “We have to make sure no one is left behind.” As the long anticipated electric microbus readies for release, Volkswagen of America's CEO, Pablo Di Si, warns dealers against price gouging, recognizing the potential for excessive markups, Di Si emphasized the need for a fair pricing system for both consumers and dealers, but has yet to propose a specific solution.The CEO also opposes introducing a First Edition of the ID.Buzz, a common strategy used by automakers to boost demand and dealer profit, as he believes customers should not pay more.“We cannot make a mistake [with] this vehicle with respect to the customer. We cannot have markups.” In an absolute coup for Major League Soccer and Apple, Lionel Messi has announced that he will be joining the American soccer club Inter Miami later this year. The winner of 7 Ballon d'Ors, 4 Champions Leagues and the 2022 World Cup will likely receive a cut of Apple's MLS streaming revenue, Adidas profit-sharing and a chance at club ownership in the future.Apple signed a 10 year / $2.5B streaming deal with MLS, available through Apple TV plus, and Messi's presence makes it much more appealing to a global audience.Ticket prices for Inter Miami's games have skyrocketed by 1,034%, with the lowest tickets for Messi's first potential game with the club jumping from $29 to $339.David Beckham, who famously moved from Europe to MLS in 2007, leads Miami's ownership team. Messi recorded a video when Beckham's ownership was announced in 2018 saying, “Maybe you'll call me in a few years.”Other potential landing spots included a reunion at Barcelona, and Saudi side Al Hilal.Get the Daily Push Back email at https://www.asotu.com/ JOIN the conversation on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/asotu/ Read our most recent email at: https://www.asotu.com/media/push-back-email ASOTU Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/automotivestateoftheunion

And now you're gonna believe us...THE BLUES ARE GOING UP! Yes, The Brunton Bugle is back for one final match review of the season and what a game it is to review! Dan, Lee and Mike are here to look back on an amazing afternoon in the sunshine in North London, as the Blues secured promotion to League One via a penalty shoot-out at Wembley Stadium.There's plenty of your reaction in there with a bumper FIVE 60 (well, 120 in some cases) reviews of the game. We talk about each starting player's performance (apologies, but we forgot the subs because we're still very hungover), Simmo's sub decisions, the incredible atmosphere and what the day out was like (with a shout-out to the excellent Stockport County fans, very gracious in defeat).One more episode to follow for this season later in the week when we look at the released list, review our pre-season predictions again and give out our End of Season awards. Thank you once again for your brilliant support for the pod this season - it's hugely appreciated!Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Dan MacLennan in Carlisle and Mike Booth in Formby. You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------We're pleased to confirm that Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch will be sponsoring the podcast once again this season! As part of this sponsorship, they will be providing some useful info for us to share ahead of each away trip in terms of pubs, public transport changes, places to eat etc.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Que Sera, Sera, Whatever Will Be, Will Be...Yes, United are off to Wembley and what better way to celebrate than get all three of the Bugle lads together for the first in nearly two months to look ahead to the game!In this episode of The Brunton Bugle, Dan, Lee and Mike preview the League Two Play-Off Final as United face Stockport County under the famous Wembley arch.First-up, there's a look back at the season as a whole to see how we got here - plenty of chat about key moments and the signings that worked (and that didn't).We also look back on some of our memories of past trips to Wembley in the 1990s and the 2010s, take a look at how Stockport are lining up and discuss what team we would pick for the big match.Thanks to everyone for listening this season and we hope to bring you a celebration/victory episode (fingers crossed!) early next week! Keep an eye out for content across our social channels too this weekend. UTBs!Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Dan MacLennan in Carlisle and Mike Booth in Formby. You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------We're pleased to confirm that Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch will be sponsoring the podcast once again this season! As part of this sponsorship, they will be providing some useful info for us to share ahead of each away trip in terms of pubs, public transport changes, places to eat etc.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

To kick off this years TT Daily series, and give their predictions ahead of the 2023 Isle of Man TT Races, Chris Pritchard and Steve Plater are joined in the studio by the fastest woman in history around the TT Mountain Course, Jenny Tinmouth and joined down the line by the newest member of the TT broadcast team, 44teeth journalist and former TT competitor, Mike Booth. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There is only one team in Cumbria - the mighty Blues complete the double over Barrow and drink the sweet, delicious tears of Pete Wild in the process.In this episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee and Mike look back on the 1-0 win at Holker St, where there's plenty of chat about digging in, Ben Barclay's first goal for the club, that dump of an away end and the Bluebirds boss' delusional comments after the game.We also look ahead to another huge game this weekend as Salford City make the trip up the M6 to Brunton Park for a game where a win would guarantee United a play-off place. No opposition fan chat, but we have a good rundown of Salford's squad ahead of the big game.Alongside this is the usual news, a Loan Watch update and the Ex-Blues Round-up.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Mike Booth in Formby.You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------Once again this season, the Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch will be sponsoring the podcast! As part of this sponsorship, they will be providing some useful info for us to share ahead of each away trip in terms of pubs, public transport changes, places to eat etc.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

United finally scored a goal! And more importantly, come out of the Easter weekend fixtures unbeaten and with two clean sheets.In this episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee and Mike look back on 2-0 win over Tranmere Rovers and 0-0 draw with Walsall, which leaves United just outside the automatic promotion positions. There's lots of talk about the big Brunton Park crowd, Dennis finding his shooting boots again and terrible referees, amongst other topics!We also look ahead to what is now a huge game this weekend against second-place Northampton Town, with the Blues knowing a win would take them above the Cobblers and into the top three. We speak to Charles from the excellent "It's All Cobblers To Me" podcast about how they have bounced back from last season's promotion and play-offs heartache, the work Jon Brady has done since taking over and there's also a bit of comparing notes on injury lists!Alongside this is the usual news, a Loan Watch update and the Ex-Blues Round-up.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Mike Booth in Formby.You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------Once again this season, the Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch will be sponsoring the podcast! As part of this sponsorship, they will be providing some useful info for us to share ahead of each away trip in terms of pubs, public transport changes, places to eat etc.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's four games without a win or a goal for United, but the lads are still confident that promotion is possible come the end of the season!In this bumper episode of The Brunton Bugle, Lee and Mike look back on the narrow 1-0 defeat at table-toppers Leyton Orient, with discussion about the lack of goals, whether it's time to change things up in midfield and the continuing rotten luck with injuries this season.We also look ahead to two massive fixtures this Easter Weekend against Tranmere Rovers and Walsall - with a lot of chat about the bumper 12k plus crowd for the home game against Rovers. We chat to Tranmere fan Paul from the This is Tranmere podcast and Saddlers supporter Tom from the One Pod Beyond Walsall podcast ahead of the game too.Alongside this is the usual news, a Loan Watch update and the usual Ex-Blues Round-up.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Mike Booth in Formby.You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------Once again this season, the Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch will be sponsoring the podcast! As part of this sponsorship, they will be providing some useful info for us to share ahead of each away trip in terms of pubs, public transport changes, places to eat etc.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Greater Atlanta Christian School has hired an independent investigator to look into newly surfaced allegations of sexual misconduct against a former teacher who left the school nearly 20 years ago. A graduate recently made an allegation on social media that the teacher abused them when they attended the school in the 1980s. The teacher has not been identified by the school. The investigation will be conducted by Laura Kirschstein from T&M USA LLC, who has experience in conducting similar investigations for independent schools across the nation. The school is asking alumni to come forward with any information about past incidents of sexual misconduct and has provided contact information for the investigator. The school said this is the first time someone has made accusations of sexual misconduct against the former teacher who is the subject of the investigation. Residents in the Buford area of Gwinnett County have been warned to watch for pets or animals that may have rabies after a rabid raccoon was killed in the area earlier this week. Gwinnett Animal Welfare and Enforcement officials confirmed the positive result on Friday and urged residents to use caution if they see other animals in the area acting in unusual ways. Rabies is a fatal virus that attacks the central nervous system and is easily transmitted to humans if they encounter a rabid animal. County officials advise pet owners to ensure their pets are current on their rabies vaccinations and to not leave garbage or pet food outside, which can attract wild or stray animals. The North Gwinnett Bulldogs hockey team has won the Division AA state championship for the second year in a row, with a record of 17-3-1 in the 2022-23 season. Coached by Rob Spreadbury, the team defeated the Atlanta Warriors 5-2 in the final at the Ice Forum in Duluth on March 27th. The Bulldogs had to beat the Warriors twice after losing to them in the second round. Three seniors on the team, Camden Schutt, Amanda Spreadbury and Nicholas Pecora, have been with the Bulldogs for five seasons. The team is mostly made up of North Gwinnett students but also includes players from other schools around the county. The Rotary Club of Duluth Car Show is taking place on April 8 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in downtown Duluth. It is a free event for the public and will feature cars in all categories. Attendees can vote for their favorite vehicle, and the top three in each category will receive awards. There will also be a people's choice trophy. The event will have announcements and entertainment from Mike Booth, as well as refreshments and shopping at nearby businesses. Proceeds from the event will benefit Operation One Voice, and the fee to enter is $20 per vehicle for preregistration, $25 on the day of the event. A statue of the civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr was unveiled at Rodney Cook Sr. Peace Park in Atlanta over the weekend. The ceremony, entitled World Peace Revival, emphasised King's promotion of peace, with speakers calling on people to take up the pursuit of peace, rather than leaving it to government officials. Amongst the sponsors of the statue were Gwinnett philanthropists Clyde and Sandra Strickland. Although religious in tone, the two-hour ceremony featured calls for inclusivity, with Bernice King emphasizing that justice requires inclusionary decision-making. The park will also feature a global peace institute and peace pantheon, alongside the museum in the house where King lived before he was assassinated in 1968. Oxford Properties has announced the opening of Celadon on Club, a 352-unit luxury apartment community in Lawrenceville, on the site of the former Northwoods Country Club Golf Course. RAM Partners will manage the community, which offers one-, two-, and three-bedroom layouts with private balconies and state-of-the-art amenities. Celadon on Club also boasts a TrackMan golf simulator and a trail that connects to Club Drive Park. According to Paul Austin, Development Partner for Georgia & Charlotte of Oxford Properties, Celadon on Club has been designed to feel "exclusive and inviting". Interested parties can visit celadononclub.com to learn more. And, John Bednarowski checks in with us from Augusta National as the Masters Practice rounds have begun. Make sure to tune in all this week for our Masters Coverage presented by Ingles. For more information be sure to visit www.bgpodcastnetwork.com   https://www.lawrencevillega.org/  https://www.foxtheatre.org/  https://guideinc.org/  https://www.psponline.com/  https://www.kiamallofga.com/  https://www.milb.com/gwinnett  https://www.fernbankmuseum.org/  www.atlantagladiators.com        See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

"It's Carlisle United - we never do things the easy way" - and so it shall pass, that Carlisle United did indeed show they aren't prepared to take the simple route to promotion as they make it three games without a goal in a 1-0 loss at Gillingham.In this episode of The Brunton Bugle, Dan, Lee and Mike get together to discuss the Blues defeat and more worryingly, poor performance, in the narrow defeat in Kent - plenty of chat about whether there's been too much tweaking in attack, Simmo's switch in formation and our ability to bounce back.There's also a look ahead to this weekend's big clash in London against table-toppers Leyton Orient - a side themselves who are stumbling over the line to promotion having originally looked like they would run away with it. We speak to Adam from the LO Down podcast about their incredible record-breaking start to the season, their *slight* struggles since the turn o the year and how Richie Wellens is viewed by the O's fanbase.On top of that, there's the usual news round-up, a Loan Watch update and a run-down on what ex-Blues have been getting up to this week.Your host Lee Rooney is in Liverpool and is joined via the wonders of the internet by Dan MacLennan in Carlisle and Mike Booth in Formby. You can find us on Twitter @bruntonbugle, Facebook (search for "Brunton Bugle") and email us with any questions, suggestions and feedback to bruntonbugle@gmail.com.-------------------We're pleased to confirm that Carlisle United Supporters' Club London Branch will be sponsoring the podcast once again this season! As part of this sponsorship, they will be providing some useful info for us to share ahead of each away trip in terms of pubs, public transport changes, places to eat etc.The London Branch is open to all Carlisle United fans across the world - whether you're based in the capital, New York, Timbuktu, Berlin or even Cumbria itself! To find out more, visit their website at www.carlislelondonbranch.org Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jon Summers is The Motoring Historian. He was a company car thrashing, technology sales rep that turned into a fairly inept sports bike rider. Hailing from California, he collects cars and bikes built with plenty of cheap and fast, and not much reliable. On his show, he gets together with various co-hosts to talk about new and old cars, driving, motorbikes, motor racing, and motoring travel. J drove some new cars on the Western Automotive Journalists annual test day, #waj, #wajmedia days, #wajmediadays22. Thanks to everyone at the manufacturers, #waj and Page One Automotive for sorting that out. Discussed are: BMW M4 Competition Convertible The new BMW grill with giant kidneys (altho J calls it a Mercedes grill…) BMW I50 M4; range anxiety, and the city car According To J Electra Meccanica Solo Lucid; the drive; meeting the design team Toyota Tundra Capstone; looks like a Lexus drives like a Hellcat; Americans and their trucks Ford Maverick; 21st Century Model T? Not driven, but also discussed is the new Nissan Z car - M has driven his 350Z 170k and crashed a 370Z; comparison with Mustangs. Fleet news: M is considering buying a BMW M2 to replace his Renault Megane RS265; the importance of independent specialist mechanics if you're running second-hand premium cars. J compares V twin sportsbikes, a BMW 1150R, and his most recent acquisition, a Ducati 900 SS/CR and the value of an “Italian Tune Up”. The Isle of Man TT, the deaths, the ethics, and the guy we sponsored, Mike Booth, being seriously injured. Nurburgring and Spa track days remembered. Copyright Jon Summers, The Motoring Historian. This episode is part of our Motoring Podcast Network and has been republished with permission. ===== (Oo---x---oO) ===== The Motoring Podcast Network : Years of racing, wrenching and Motorsports experience brings together a top notch collection of knowledge, stories and information. #everyonehasastory #gtmbreakfix - motoringpodcast.net Check out our membership program and go VIP at: https://www.patreon.com/gtmotorsports Other cool stuff: https://www.gtmotorsports.org/links

Top of the Label is a new semi regular poetry / spoken word Podcast series within the umbrella off Spoken Label hosted by Andy N and Amanda Nicholson featuring a mixture of new and returning friends all returning to read out a piece (sometimes two) each. Part 1 features the following guests: Skylar J Wynter (reading two pieces), Nick Lurvell, Kealan Coady, Lauren Temple (reading two pieces), Mike Booth, Quigley C B, Rich Davenport, Peter Humphreys.

This week on Chasin' the Racin' we have "Boothy from 44Teeth" to discuss his first time at the north west, the up and coming TT as well as embarrassing moments and deep discussions. Enjoy!   Powered by Colchester Kawasaki  CLICK BUY DELIVER    Merchandise available: www.chasintheracin.com/merchandise/   SOCIALS Facebook: www.facebook.com/motorbikepod Twitter: www.twitter.com/motorbikepod Instagram: www.instagram.com/motorbikepod Patreon: www.patreon.com/motorbikepod  

A grasslands wildfire that tore through a Colorado ranch sanctuary last weekend burned more than 8,500 acres. The people who were there survived, but the damage is deep. May Ranch, near Lamar, has transformed itself into a sustainable, nationally-recognized conservation location that is home to endangered species, fewer row crops, more wetlands and sanctuaries for endangered species. The wildfire threatens much of that gain. Colorado Sun reporter Mike Booth has the story. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sun reporters Jen Brown and Mike Booth discuss the fascinating story of airplanes powered by beef fat at the Vail Valley Jet Center. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This interview features Dev Sethi, Head of Sports at Instagram. We discuss being separated from his twin in highschool, his side door into sports at YouTube, launching the first sports MCN at Whistle, why NIL is this century's most important breakthrough for athletes, why he left the incredible team at Complex for Instagram, and the metaverse's impact on the personalization of sports.Subscribe to our newsletter. We explore the intersection of media, technology, and commerce: sign-up linkLearn more about our market research and executive advisory: RockWater websiteFollow The Come Up on Twitter: @TCUpodEmail us: tcupod@wearerockwater.com---EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Chris Erwin:Hi, I'm Chris Erwin. Welcome to The Come Up, a podcast that interviews entrepreneurs and leaders. Dev Sethi:One of the things that I love sharing with the teams that I've managed, and the individuals I've managed and that's important to me is how do you empower those team members' voices, whether you're to 23 and out of college with no work experience, or 35 and have been in social, and digital, or in sports for decades plus, we all see what we do, our industry, what's happening differently than anybody else, and almost by sheer virtue of who you are and the life experiences that we all bring to these jobs. So if I'm, as a manager, as a team leader, able to create an environment or a safe space for people to share, that's how we're going to get better. Chris Erwin:This week's episode features Dev Sethi, Head of Sports at Instagram. So Dev was born in the DC metro area, the first generation immigrants from India. Then in high school, Dev's life journey took a big turn after a traumatic family event and some wise words from a teacher which inspired him to become school president and captain of both the baseball and basketball teams. Dev then went on to Notre Dame, and soon after found a side door into sports media at YouTube's new partnership. He then left to help build digital communities at publishers like Whistle and Complex. But after a heart-to-heart with his mom, Dev reverted course, and returned to big tech as Head of Sports at Instagram. Chris Erwin:Today, Dev is shaping the future of sports fandom. Some highlights of our chat include being separated from his twin in high school, launching the first sports MCN, why NIL is this century's most important breakthrough for athletes, and the metaverse's impact on the personalization of sports. I've known Dev for over five years. He's one of the sharpest and kindest minds in the digital verse, I'm grateful to help share his story. All right, let's get to it. Dev, thanks for being on the podcast. Dev Sethi:Thank you for having me, nice way to spend my Wednesday afternoon. Chris Erwin:Yes. And appreciate it because I think you had some last minute dental work that was just done this morning, is that right? Can you still talk? Dev Sethi:Yeah. I don't know if folks are going to consume this entirely audio or even visual, but got last minute dental work done this morning so part of my mouth is still numb, Chris might see me drool out one of the sides of my mouth. But hopefully, I'm not slurring my speech too badly, and I promise you, if I am, it's because it's because of the Novocaine, it's not because of any other reasons. Oh, here we go. Chris Erwin:Well, Dev, what I can say is I think you sound great, and I don't think many of our listeners will be able to see the video, but you look great as well, as always. So you're good to go for my book. Dev Sethi:Making me blush already. Okay, let's do this thing. Chris Erwin:All right. So with that, Dev, let's rewind a bit and let's talk about where you grew up, your childhood interests and if there may any glimpses into what you were going to do in your sports media career from an early age, in some of our prep chats, you're telling me about growing up in the DC metro area, is that right? Dev Sethi:That is correct. And it's actually where I'm currently based as well, but grew up in Nolan, Virginia, literally adjacent to Washington DC. My parents are immigrants from India and that's where they ultimately ended up settling. So I'm certain that folks that are listening to your podcast can sympathize with me being a long suffering Washington area sports fan, that's basically epitomized my experience being a sports fan in this area, but grew up here and had a great time. It's actually quite a diverse area, and for those who have been to Nolan, Virginia and the DMV overall, it's changed quite a bit since I was a kid, it's virtually night and day how much this area has evolved over time. Chris Erwin:Your early household, growing up, were your parents into sports, immigrating from India? Did they have ties to the US leagues, and sports programs, or international? What was that like? Dev Sethi:Yeah, nothing prior to them arriving on these shores. My father was a sports fan and played sports growing up, but very different sports obviously in his own country than the US. But for certain listeners who I'm certain have had the same experience as I've had, but sports was and is an incredibly powerful way to assimilate into a new place, whether it's a new community, a new state, or let alone a new country. And so my father quickly adopted American sports as an interest, a hobby, an enthusiasm. And again, for those who are familiar with this area as much, there is a thriving Indian community or South Asian community in the DMV. And one of sort of its rallying cries was and is sports. Dev Sethi:And so, I have a lot of great fond childhood memories of going to Washington watch parties, and when you're showing up for Thanksgiving, the guys show up early, because they want to watch all three games on Thanksgiving before anyone starts feasting. And it just really was a big part of my growing up. And I think a great way for my parents to get comfortable in what was then an unknown environment for them, So it's a really big part of, I think, my personal history as well as my parents history. Chris Erwin:And did you have siblings that were also consumers of sports as well? Dev Sethi:I have an older brother who is four years older. He's not in this industry, so he will likely never listen to it so I can trash his athletic gifts. I think he played soccer and basketball but sort of gave it up early-ish in his life to focus on being more of an academic, which is why he's a lot smarter than I am. But I also have a twin brother who is equally a sports junkie, a passionate fan of pretty much all things sports. And he and I played basketball and baseball growing up together, and we were watching sports ourselves. So a very big sports house so I like to joke that I missed out on all the Disney movies like Cinderella and all those kinds of movies Beauty and the Beast, I have watched virtually none of them because on Friday, Saturday and Sundays, we normally have a sporting game on TV. Chris Erwin:I've known you for a few years now. And I don't think I knew that you were a twin. I'm also a twin as well. Did you know that about me? Dev Sethi:I did not know that about you, wow. Identical over fraternal? Chris Erwin:We are fraternal, but we look a lot alike. He took a very different career path than me, he's in the military, 82nd Airborne at Fort Bragg, ranger qualified, so he's just at a physical level that is well beyond where I'm at. But it's funny, thinking of growing up with him, I grew up in my family, we didn't watch a lot of sports, but we played a lot of sports. My brother and I were very athletic and active growing up. So when you said on Friday, Saturdays and Sundays, you weren't watching Disney movies because you are consuming, my brother and I, we would get up at 6:00 AM and go hit the basketball courts at like 6:30 or 7:00 on a Saturday. As soon as it was like my parents were up and we were allowed to get out of the house. That was what was fun, was having a twin, you always had someone to play with. Dev Sethi:Yeah. I don't know if I saw those early hours on the weekends very often as a kid, but to your point, having a partner in crime in more ways than one, and someone who literally is an activity partner. It's actually interesting for he and I, and he would attest to this, so growing up, I hated basketball and I loved baseball and he hated baseball and loved basketball. And you'll appreciate this as a twin and with your parents, my dad said, "Well, tough shit. I'm not driving you all to a million different activities, you're going to do these things together." Dev Sethi:And so, we ended up participating in these sports together. And again, the irony of it all is that I love basketball now and played it through high school and then intramurals in college, and he played baseball through high school as well. And so just one of these deals where sort of the forcing function of, "Hey, this is sort of you're a package deal." And parents aren't only chauffeurs, let alone when they've got two the same age that have various interests. But no, we played a ton of sports growing up, and to your point, hit the park and go play pickup together because you already got two out of the five people you need for a team, right? Chris Erwin:It's funny you say that, Dev, because I still give my parents, to this day, flack for not letting me do travel soccer. I was really good. And they were like, "No, Sundays are for going to church and other family activities." And I was like, "I don't need you guys to drive me. I have other other friends' parents that'll drive me." And I could have been this great star, but that's a... I'll leave the rest of that story for my therapist. A question that I have for you is you go to Notre Dame, and did you have an intent of getting into sports media when you were going to school and thinking about when you wanted to graduate or were you thinking about something else? Dev Sethi:I had, and I'm assuming I am like many former and current college students, where I really had no idea what I wanted to do for a living. And sports as a profession, as it were, was nowhere near my radar. The internships that I had in college, I think the closest experience I had to working in sports during college was an internship in SAP's marketing department. And SAP was a sponsor of Ernie Els and Chad Campbell, who were two then prominent golfers me. Ernie Els' just awesome and probably a hall of fame golfer, and that was the closest I got to sort of a sports experience in an internship in college. Dev Sethi:So yeah, to answer your question, I had no aspirations, I had no foresight or vision into how to even break into that. I knew I necessarily wasn't going to go the path of wanting to be an agent or something like that, which would've sort of required a much different kind of education. I really just had the fandom of sports in college and really didn't know what I wanted to do when I graduated. No better illustration than the fact that I was a marketing major but I was also an education minor, because I have a sort of a side, if not hobby, passion around the profession of education and the industry behind education, and it sort of uses a different part of your brain than taking business classes. So I had a number of interests, but really, no direction, I guess, when it came to career stuff at that age. Chris Erwin:So what you just said about your interest in the educational field and that you also, I think, did a minor there at while at Notre Dame, where do you think that stems from? Dev Sethi:I had some very influential grade school teachers growing up who I thought really shaped who I am today, and also, where I am today in terms of just how I've been able to sort of to grow and have somewhat of a tenure in this industry now. But I do think having had such a positive impact from those educators at the high school level. Dev Sethi:It's funny, but the education minor, I needed to take some electives. And I took a course from a relatively new professor at Notre Dame and the course was actually called creativity in the classroom. Whereas you're at business classes that have 50, 60, 150 people in them, and you're using again, on one side of your brain, this class experience was incredibly intimate, it was maybe 12 people, it was focusing on a sort of a unique aspect of education in the classroom. I loved every second of it. And the professor, I thought, crafted the course in a way that wasn't rigid, it actually had a lot of flexibility to who was taking the class. And she was a great listener herself, which I think is, I don't want to say a rare trait for a professor, but I haven't experienced many professors who are nimble in that regard in terms of how they shape their coursework in a semester. Dev Sethi:And so anyways, I fell in love with the experience of taking a class that was so different than what I was normally used to taking. And that basically became, "Hey, well, I took that in the fall. Let me take another education-related course in the spring." And before I knew it, I was getting eligible for a minor, so. Chris Erwin:It's amazing how intersecting with great people in your life, it could be a professor within the educational department that makes you then want to specialize, it could be someone, a founder, CEO at a company that then recruits you to their vision, or someone in the industry that gets you excited about transforming your career. I hear that, that's an important to note is that these little human touches can be so transformational. Are you still in touch with this professor? Dev Sethi:I am. She's actually, really, the only college professor that I remain in touch with, and she still lives around Notre Dame. And so, when I have the occasion to come back and visit, we'll always grab dinner, or drinks, or lunch, or something like that. And I'm very quick to reiterate to her how important and influential she was to my experience, say in the same way an English teacher, who had never actually taught me, was instrumental in how I grew as a person and as a student in high school. And she's actually, now that I'm back in the DC area after a long time away, her and I are actually grabbing lunch next Friday. Chris Erwin:Dev, speaking of this high school teacher which had a big impact on you, there's a bigger story behind this that relates to the expulsion of your twin brother. Why don't you tell us about that? Dev Sethi:Yeah. I think I'm more comfortable telling this story because fortunately, my twin brother's life wasn't totally derailed by this expulsion and he actually works at meta now, which is kind of funny, so we're technically colleagues even though I've no idea what he does for a living. But no, we were juniors in high school and he got kicked out of our high school 10 days into our junior year. And it was under somewhat controversial circumstances. My mother was pretty furious about the circumstances and she wanted me to leave that high school too. Dev Sethi:And it was this teacher, who actually had never taught me before, I had not taken one of her classes. She pulled me aside one day while all this was going down, she said, "Hey, can you come by my class after school for 10 minutes?" I was like, "Sure, why not?" I barely knew her. And she sat me down and she said, "I know this is a tough time for you and your family," yada, yada, yada, "you don't realize this yet, but this could actually end up being one of your biggest blessings in disguise." and what she meant by that. Dev Sethi:And what I discovered and learned after I ended up deciding to stay at that school was, my experience in high school, my personality, just my being at that high school had always been inextricably linked to me and my twin brother. It was always Dev and Raj, it wasn't just Dev or Raj. And she sort of was reiterating, you have a chance to essentially be your own person, and to carve your own path and pursue the things that you may want to do, and not necessarily always have that association. Dev Sethi:And she was dead on. I ended up doing things my junior and senior year that I never would've thought I would've done. I ended up running for and winning high school president, which, if you know my personality at all, that's definitely not me. But sort of threw my hat in the ring, was captain of our baseball and basketball teams, did a number of extracurriculars. And it's funny because by the time I graduated, there were hundreds of students who had no idea I even had a twin brother, which I think, again, reiterates my then teacher's point. Dev Sethi:And so, just one of these sort of inflection points in my life where I don't know if I would've made that decision had it not been for her, and someone who had literally no relationship with me but at least thought enough about my wellbeing and my circumstance to share with me her perspective, and it ended up changing my... I mean, I cannot overstate that, it literally changed my life. So I don't think I would've gotten into Notre Dame had it not been because of that conversation, and all that stuff, and the things that happened, I don't think I would've been on that same path at all. And I would argue my twin brother would acknowledge that too. Chris Erwin:Wow. That is an incredible story. We spend so much money on our college and graduate school educations, access to all these world class professors and teachers yet some of my most prominent memories in the classroom, date back to when I was in middle school. And I really remember very prominently, a US history teacher that we had, Mr. Galante, everyone who has gone through his classroom has stories about him. There was no one that was as passionate and cared so much about his students learning. The way he would describe the American Revolution or the civil war, it made every learning experience incredible and fun. In contrast to you, I'm really not in touch with many of my professors, maybe just one or two from business school that I kind of see on LinkedIn every now and then, but it's pretty awesome that you're able to maintain that. Dev Sethi:Yeah. To your point, the fact that we're talking about these educators, we're dating ourselves, as I'm dating myself decades after they spoke, they last connected with us in the classroom, I think says everything and also I think it almost reiterates that education is a bit of a lifelong process. And I know that I'll actually never stop learning from both of those people in any of the interactions that I have, but obviously, a bit of a different relationship now that I'm a full-fledged adult at least in some parts of my life, and you have different types of conversations. But I'm very lucky to have had those people in my life. Chris Erwin:Yeah. Look, and I think what you just touched on is a broader theme of this particular podcast, Dev. You had mentioned the intersection of social and sport and just how fast this world changes on a weekly and monthly basis. So in talking about learning, it's you have to keep your learning curve steep. You've been in this industry for many years now, Dev, and you're in a senior role. And I think that people can say, "Oh, well, Dev knows everything that there is to know." And it's like, that's not true. Things are literally changing on a daily basis. So I like that when we were prepping for this conversation, you're like, "I acknowledge this, I'm the aware of what's happening, and for me to be effective, and to guide a team, and serve as my talent and business partners best it's like, I got to be learning every day and come in with a beginner's mind, so we'll talk more about that. I am curious, so what was your first role right after undergrad? Dev Sethi:Yeah, it was this interesting experience where... and I actually already had a job offer fortunately lined up, going to my last semester of college at a very different company, doing a very different job. It was at the Aon corporation and it was actually doing human resources and communications. And so, that's where I was ultimately going to spend my first years out of college, and this little company called Google decided they were going to show up on Notre Dame campus to meet with prospective candidates for an array of jobs they were hiring for, and this was back in 2006. And they came on campus, I was lucky enough to get an interview with them and it actually ended up being the worst interview I've ever given and I- Chris Erwin:Okay. We got to pause there. Wait, why was it the worst interview you've ever given? Dev Sethi:I'm not gaslighting anybody or anything, this is objectively the worst interview I've ever given my life. So they came on campus and I thought I was really smart having taken all of one psychology class during my college career. And I was like, "Oh, I'll pick the last session of the day on their interview schedule because a recency effect, I'll be the most memorable candidate," yada, yada, yada. And I got a call maybe three hours before the interview from the interviewer saying, "Hey, we actually mistakenly booked our flights to leave out of Chicago, not South Bend. And for those who don't know South Bend's about, I think, 90 miles or 90 minutes from Chicago, TODR, we have to leave early to catch our flight so we have to miss your interview slot, how can we make it up to you? Dev Sethi:And I said, I actually wasn't even feeling well that day. And I said, "Hey, no worries happens. Why don't we just do a phone interview whenever you get back to Mountain View." And we set up a phone interview, I had my twin brother and one of my best friends in high school visiting me in town that following weekend for a football game. And so, on a Friday, I get my car and I drive to some abandoned parking lot so I can take this hour long, two phone interviews, 30 minutes of piece. Well, Chris, I imagine you know this feeling because of what you do, who you are, and how expert you are, but the feeling that I had that maybe some people can relate to is when you're talking for that long and you're basically bullshitting on the questions they give you, but you know that they know that you're bullshitting, that's what the entire hour of this interview felt like. Dev Sethi:And I remember, and I kid you not, I hung up the phone. I drove back to my apartment with my brother and my friend were waiting. And I legitimately said that was the worst interview of my entire life, good thing I've got another job lined up. Let's party and have a great time this weekend going to the football game. And I got a call back a week later from Google saying, "Hey, we've enjoyed our time together. We'd love to fly out to Mountain View for in person interviews." And those, fortunately, went a little bit better and I got offered a job, but I still maintained to this day, to anybody who asks, that the only reason they gave me the opportunity to interview in person was because they felt so bad about canceling my first interview and so they gave me a second shot at it that went much better. But it was brutal. I mean, and that is exactly how it went down. And sorry, this is a very long-winded answer. Chris Erwin:No, it's interesting. Dev Sethi:But yeah, no, so true story. And even to answer your original question, we essentially were interviewing for general roles within two parts of the org. One was AdWords, which is essentially Google suite of sales products and ad products, and one was AdSense, which was Google's sort of publishing network and publishing tools. And so, I didn't know until, I want to say, maybe a couple months or weeks before I started, what role I was even going to fulfill and hearing my mom's voice in here saying," Hey, it's Google. You should probably try." Okay. I'll fly in a little bit blind and sort of see what these roles are about, see what that industry's about because this is 2007 when, again, our world, an industry looked a lot different. Chris Erwin:Something I deal with daily and something that just talking to different founders and executives, they also deal with all the time is imposter syndrome. So when you say like, "Oh, Chris, because of your role, RockWater, you're supposed to be an expert advisory firm. We're talking like we advise a lot of the smartest clients in this space. And so then we're supposed to show up and be smarter than them, that can put a lot of pressure on you. Chris Erwin:And so I actually flip that around in saying we're smart, we're thoughtful, but we believe there's so much to learn from everyone that we do business with. And I think if everyone goes through life and goes through business with that mindset, that's going to force you to be honest, and self aware, and give the best advice, and also learn the most to really understand where your clients and your business partners are at. And I think that's what sets us apart. But Dev, I'm bad at interviews. I mean, I remember really, various bad had interviews from college, but in contrast to you, I actually didn't get the job offer. There was no flying me out, so you clearly did something [crosstalk 00:22:56]- Dev Sethi:I still don't know how off the skin in my teeth, I got offered a position at that company. But I hear you on imposter syndrome too, and to your point, there's too much of where, I'm guessing is the case for you as would be the case for me, you could spend eight hours of your day just on Twitter reading about the industry, let alone participating in the industry. And so, you almost got to trust that information's going to come to you and that hopefully, you've surrounded yourself with a network of colleagues, friends, individuals who can help share their perspective and thus cultivate your own perspective to a degree, because yeah, it's too hard to keep up with it all. I mean, there's so many things happening on a literally hourly basis, let alone a daily basis. Chris Erwin:So Dev, you are a strategist at Google for around four years, but then you made a transition to be a senior strategist and overseeing new partnerships and development at YouTube between 2011, 2013. So I think this is where you first began to focus in sports, entertainment, and lifestyle verticals, targeting new creators, and doing a few other things there. Was that kind of like, as you would call it, your side entrance or backdoor into sports media? Dev Sethi:Absolutely was. And now, as I've described it previously, a side door into the industry of sports so to speak, because I was at Google, I'd spent a number of years in their sales and consulting arm, which, unbeknownst to me at the time, actually has provided me a lot of great perspective about the industry I'm in just through a very, again, different aspect of the ecosystem and literally, the advertisers who were helping money into our ecosystem. Dev Sethi:But it's about a little over half, I think, my tenure at Google there, one of my dearest friends who I've had the great fortune of working with a couple of times now, she mentioned that she had gone over to YouTube to focus on a different role actually within sports, and she said that the vibe just felt different, it felt a little more start-upy, interest points, verticals that I was sort of more keenly attuned to, whether it was sports specifically, or to your point, lifestyle relative to some of the clients I was working with on the sales side that, my last experience was in the finance vertical, prior to that, it was on an agency for portfolio business. Dev Sethi:So represented this opportunity, something different, and maybe even align a little bit with some of my passions. And that's where I was introduced, again, to at the time and continues to be one of the leading social media/video platforms in the world, and starting to learn more about that part of the industry. And also, again, focusing on sports and working with individuals, organizations who were producing content that was applicable, if not a good fit, for our platform. Dev Sethi:But as you shared dates earlier, that was 2011 were our industry was in its infancy, I guess you could call it, even though it was only a decade ago. I joke that YouTube hadn't even introduced monetization program when I first got there, a fully fledged one, Instagram was photo only, Snapchat didn't exist, Verizon hadn't spent a billion dollars on their own platform and their own content. All this stuff has come and gone in a relatively short period of time, and YouTube was in a much different place back then too, as was the industry, and thus, the conversations that I was having about that platform. Chris Erwin:I do remember because in 2012 is when I joined Big Frame. And that was, I think, recently, after Google and YouTube, I launched their Original Channel program, a 200 million dedicated fund to help fund better quality content on the platform to attract more advertisers. You were there during that period, so that must have been exciting. And I think that you were to see the different digital media brands and publishers that were being built from this funding and the complimentary seed capital that was being raised. And so I think, after Google, you decided, you're like, okay, I've been at one of the largest video platforms, but now I'm going to transition over to work for these publisher brands. And so you left, I believe to go to Whistle Sports in 2013, what was the impetus for that? Dev Sethi:Yeah, the impetus for me leaving the cozy confines, as I'll put it, at Google and YouTube because there's one thing that a company like that does, it really puts you in a comfort zone and really makes you feel like you're enjoying the employee experience to a large degree. So the same colleague who shared the opportunity around YouTube because her and I actually started together at Google together. She had made the move to YouTube. She said, "Hey, you should check things out on the side of the aisle. I did, took a job there. She actually left to join this then small sports media startup called Whistle Sports. And she basically asked me if I wanted to come over and be her partner in crime and build this thing together. And at the time, what we were focusing on was being the world's first sports-focused collective and multiplatform network, that was one part of the business. Dev Sethi:Another part of the business was sort of an analytics consultancy given you could gain a lot of meaningful data and insights about sports on digital and social through working with a collective and all the data they have on their audiences through social media, and then one part content brand, which I'm quick to say I had very little to do with, given the remit was really around partnerships and operations. Dev Sethi:But it was this interesting moment in time. And again, I know you'll attest from your time at Big Frame where you have a ton of creators and organizations who are still trying to understand the value they can gain and extract from being on social and digital, what their content strategy should be, what their audience engagement strategy should be, how does that marry with other parts of their business, what are those best practices, what are the things that an individual content creator doesn't have a muscle memory for, whether it's sales, production, et cetera, how do you create value? And that's what we focused on when I was at Whistle and doing partnerships and operations is big a real partner in their businesses. And hopefully, with a little bit of expertise having come from the walls of YouTube, but knowing that the industry was growing quite rapidly, YouTube was quickly becoming one of a number of platforms where people could build and monetize an audience. Chris Erwin:When you went there, was Michael Cohen working there, when you first started. Dev Sethi:Michael Cohen was a consultant at the time. And he and I got closely acquainted in the work that we were doing together. Chris Erwin:Yeah. Speaking of shared history. So Michael Cohen and I, I met him, I think in 2007, when I was interviewing at a boutique investment bank in New York City, and he was one of the guys that interviewed me. We got to know one another. Yeah, this is well before the MCN days. He left the firm, I left the firm, I went to business school. When I graduated, I ended up going to Big Frame. And I remember Michael reached out and was asking me like, "What's this whole like YouTube, MCN, digital video thing that you've got into." And he was picking my brain for a couple years. And then I remember when he made the move to Whistle and I was really pumped for him. Early on in his tenure there, as you guys were thinking about some different VOD strategies, he engaged our firm. I think that's how I first met you, if I remember correctly, Dev Sethi:I think it was, we now have so many shared threads together, but I think that was the first introduction, was when either you had informally known him or even, he had formally brought you on to help consult for the business. But it's wild how the scene's coming full circle and now I'm on your podcast. Chris Erwin:To think back, all the shared history, how we've worked together and now you're on the show. But I think that's one of the beautiful things, if you were an early mover in digital video, just camaraderie of the people in this space and the shared war stories, it's really fun. And it's incredible how much history people have in such a very short amount of time because the space moves so quickly, but it's also like it's action packed and very intense, so the days, and the relationships just really fill up. Dev Sethi:I think you and I both get reminded probably on a daily, if not nearly daily basis, just how intimate the industry can feel. And because of these shared connections, these shared histories, I mean, folks who are member of VidCon when it wasn't at the Anaheim Convention Center and it was the basement of a hotel, that, again, wasn't very long ago, and just, again, a lot of that shared past. Dev Sethi:And actually, it makes me think ways in which I can pay some of that forward to some of my team members and other other colleagues, because for lack of a better term, you and I have been working with creators probably exponentially longer than most people today who are trying to tap into or engage the creator economy as it were. And you and I were working with these folks early days when that term barely even existed, and if not, was specific to a platform like a YouTuber as an example. And so, I think it just goes to show how far things have come, but also again, how shared that history can be and again, how intimate the industry can be. I don't want to say we're OGs because I don't feel that way, but- Chris Erwin:I think it's okay to say we're OGs and I think this is not like patting ourselves on the back, but if you got into space in like the early 2010s, right around the Google Original Channels program, that's pretty early on. Dev Sethi:Definitely. And like I said, when I was there, they hadn't even created the full underpinnings of a monetization program, which the irony being fast forward to 2021, and they're a leader in terms of social video and monetization. So to me, 10 years, it's a long time, maybe the gray in my beard would indicate otherwise. One of the reasons I left those cozy confines was actually to force myself to experience this industry through a different perspective. And I don't want to say you get a narrow lens working at a platform, but it's very easy to view the world in one very specific way. Dev Sethi:And I remember talking to my boss at the time, great guy who I still have a close relationship with, and I was letting him know that I was going to make this jump to go from behemoth to small startup across the country because I also entailed to move from SF in New York, and one of the reasons I cited was I want to gain enough experience, ideally expertise, but enough perspective so that if I ever decide to come back, I'll be able to deliver even more value to a YouTube having had the empathy of sitting across the aisle, across the counter, so to speak, and having really had my hands on this industry in a much different way than just the platform. I'm the provider, so to speak. Everyone's coming to work for me or coming to work with me, they wanted to gain that kind of perspective. Chris Erwin:I think that experience at Whistle and then at Complex, which we'll talk about in a moment, has really made you much better equipped for the job that you now have at Instagram. I think that's very well said. Hey listeners, this is Chris Erwin, your host of the Come Up. I have a quick ask for you. If you dig what we're putting down, if you like the show, if you like our guest, it would really mean a lot if you can give us a rating wherever you listen to our show. It helps other people discover our work and it also really supports what we do here. All right, that's it, everybody, let's get back to the interview. Chris Erwin:You're at Whistle for, call it, nearly three years and then you make the jump to become chief of staff at Complex working under Rich Antoniello, who is incredible, and then also with the rest of their leadership team, including Christian Basler, who was also interviewed on this podcast. Again, what was the impetus for going over to Complex, and what was some of the work that you were doing there? Dev Sethi:Yeah, and Rich and Christian are two of my favorite people. I'm very lucky to have crossed paths with them and had a chance to work with them. For I'm certain many of your listeners I've met them before, but if they haven't, it's worth trying to get some time with them because they're just amazing people and brilliant minds in our space. The impetus wasn't as straightforward as it might appear on my LinkedIn profile, but I actually left Whistle in the late fall of 201, and a big reason why I left was because I actually felt like I had given everything I had physically, mentally, emotionally to the job and to the team. And it was my mother who actually sort of called it out on a phone call. And she was like, "You seem like you're always tired, you seem like you don't have much energy for anything else and maybe you don't seem as happy as you normally." Dev Sethi:And I don't think the happiness comment was a direct correlate to the work I was doing but first time in New York City, first time in a startup, I describe them both the same way. They are fun, they are exciting, they are intense, and they are exhausting all at the same time. And so, it was probably burning of the candle on both ends for a couple of years. And towards the end of '15, I remember having a conversation with Michael and basically coming to the conclusion that if I didn't want to be the guy who led my part of the company into 2016, then I need to do the right thing and hand this off and transition it and take care of the business and take care of myself. And so, I gave them, I think, three months' notice. I transitioned my role, leading that part of the team to one of my very dear friends, close friends in my first hire at Whistle, his name's Josh Grunberg. Chris Erwin:Oh, Josh is great. Dev Sethi:Yeah, and I know you got the chance to meet him. Anyways, transitioned the role and then left New York and headed back down to the DC where I'm originally from and just really enjoyed my life for a year. My mother had been sick at the time, she's fortunately much better now, but it sort of put things in perspective. And I wasn't saddled with adult responsibilities like a mortgage or kids at the time, so felt like as good a time as I need to take a break, which had you asked me prior to that, would I ever leave something for nothing? I would've said, "No effing way." But it felt like the right decision. I took that year off, did that for, it was almost a year and I was thinking towards just the fall of 2016, that I was ready to jump headfirst into work again. Dev Sethi:And it was actually a buddy of mine who shared that Complex was hiring, its chief of staff role. And I wasn't married too whether I wanted to run a team or be an IC, and I didn't really care about if I came back to New York or not, to be honest. But what I stated that were really important to me were one, working for somebody who could teach me something and who I could partner with and learn from, and the other sort of must-have was whether it was on a leadership team or in the front office, whatever the case would be, working with people with whom I could collaborate strongly, be influential, but also learn something from. Dev Sethi:And the reason I even used the word learning a couple of times is because, at times at Whistle, especially towards the end there, you really had to seek out learning opportunities because you could spend your entire day focused on your part of the business and there were some amazing, amazingly intelligent and talented people there who I was fortunately and sort of like through osmosis, able to learn from, but I knew in a new role, I wanted those things. And so, this guy said, "Hey, Complex is hiring their first chief of staff, you should put your hat in the ring." I did, got a chance to meet Rich, we had two conversations and he offered me the job. Before I knew it, I was packing up my things heading back to New York City, so it all happened pretty quickly, to be honest. Chris Erwin:That really strongly parallels what Christian told me, which I think... He's like a young media savant and I think he had been working at a European-based media company for like eight to 10 years. And then he was like, "I need to take at least a year off, I'm tired, I'm burned out." Similar to kind of what you were feeling after Whistle where it's like, "Hey, you're going to take a year off." But Rich reached out to him, I think called him, set up a coffee meeting and because Rich is so magnetic, he essentially, very quickly convinced Christian, like, "You're going to come over to Complex and we're going to build something awesome together." And he didn't end up really taking any time off, I don't even think he took two or three months off. Chris Erwin:But I thought it was really thoughtful of you and I think this is a theme that keeps coming up more and more is maintaining your mental health and sanity, not only in your overall career but particularly in the industry which we operate in, which is digital media and entertainment, where it moves so quickly and things are changing so fast that, there's concern that if you take time off, you're going to miss the boat, you're not going to learn, you're not going to have an opportunity to step back into the ring. I don't think that's the case. I think that you actually need to refresh and energize because of how demanding it is, what we do, and I think it makes you better, better for it. Dev Sethi:Christian and Rich, again, they're such good people, but Chris, this better than anybody, they are completely different. They could not be any different in terms of personality, which I think was amazing to actually see them for just partnership, where they recognized the strength in differing perspectives, different personalities, and how to operate the business. And I just thought it's really cool, it takes kind of its own sort of self-awareness. Chris Erwin:No, I like what you've said. I think great leaders have to find where do they fill the gaps in their team and where do they find complementary skills and energies and personalities. Because if you're just trying to replicate yourself, that's not how you build towards a bigger vision and a bigger opportunity. Clearly, Rich has done that with Christian in building out the rest of the team. And I think about that often, we always tell our clients and my own team at RockWater, we're not necessarily looking for well-rounded people, we're looking for a well-rounded team. Now, in the beginning, you kind of have to have some basic functions that are covered by everybody when you're lean and we definitely are, but as you grow, it's a very different mantra. And I heard that when I was... I think literally my first day of business school and they described the types of candidates that they were looking for and why everyone in that room, sitting in this large hundreds of person assembly, they're like, "You are a very well-rounded class because individually, all of you guys are incredible." And that has always stuck with me. Dev Sethi:You're reminding me of one of the things that I love sharing with the teams that I've managed, and the individuals I've managed, and that's important to me, is how do you empower those team members' voices? I've said whether you're 23 and out of college with no work experience or 35 and have been in social and digital sports for decades plus, we all see what we do, our industry, what's happening differently than anybody else and almost by sheer virtue of who you are and the life experiences that we all bring to these jobs. So if I'm as a manager, as a team leader, able to create an environment or a safe space for people to share, that's how we're going to get better, to your point. Well, maybe not well-rounded people, but well-rounded teams because you have diverse perspectives. And so, whether you're that 23-year-old or you're that 50-year-old, your participation, isn't just appreciated, it's really required in order for us to get better as teams, as organizations, et cetera. Chris Erwin:Very well said. All right, so Dev, so after Complex, I think you leave in around 2018 and you head over to Instagram, where you go over to become the Head of Sports. So tell us about, again, what caused that transition? What was your initial mandate when you went over there? Dev Sethi:There's a theme about if you want to call this a career, so to speak, I don't know if I call it that, but if there is a theme or a through-line, it's one I've been the recipient of a lot of great sort of fortune and also the recipient of just great relationships that I've had because that job, as I told you with my colleague and friend who sort of helped recognize and identify opportunities for me, that happened twice, I was actually reached out to, by a friend of mine in the industry who had worked at an agency, Octagon, who I had kept in touch with over the years. He had been in Instagram and my predecessor, the former Head of Sports was departing for a different role at the company and this role was going to be vacant. And for whatever reason, weren't going to consider my friend, so he basically said, "Hey, we've talked about working in the industry together, we like and respect each other, we could probably work well together, do you want to throw your hat in the ring?" Dev Sethi:And I did, and months later got a job offer to take on this role with very ambiguous title and perhaps even a more ambiguous remit, but one that was sort of mine to carve out to a degree. But even taking it back to my decision to leave YouTube, it's funny because everything I told my then boss about the reasons I was leaving, came true in the sense that, I gained this, I would call somewhat unique perspective. Having worked at Whistle, having worked at Complex while having the tech background and then having it come full circle and join Instagram and perform this role. Those things did come true, just the only thing I changed was the employer. I didn't go back to Google and YouTube, I went to Facebook and Instagram. And so, just kind of funny how that works out as far as the remit, the objectives of things I work on, I sort of like to describe it as really acting as a connective tissue between my company, its objectives, and priorities, and then the sports industry and its priorities and objectives. And how am I that connective tissue? How might that bridge be able to make those things work cohesively? Dev Sethi:And so, for Instagram as all well know, they're focused on things like just being relevant to young people, to having people use their service, both as consumers, but also as creators, they care about products like reels and more broadly speaking commerce, even AR, VR to a degree, and they care about being meaningful to that creator economy, which I know we touched on earlier as well. Dev Sethi:And so, understanding those priorities and also understanding the unique priorities that live within the sports vertical, how am I able to marry those. And for sports, as you well know, the needs, the opportunities, et cetera, they're different depending on who you are in that industry. What the NBA needs out of social media or is looking to do on social media is very different than what LeBron James wants to do or is very different than what Bryce Young at Alabama wants to leverage these platforms for. And so, how do I represent and advocate for those needs and interests, while also driving the objectives of my company? I view that as broadly speaking my remit. And on a day-to-day basis, it presents very, very differently on any given day. Dev Sethi:Talking yesterday with colleagues about how can we... for folks who don't know there is another Olympics coming up in a few short months here, how do we work to empower athletes participating at the Winter Olympics, to be able to express themselves and engage their fans on social, in a very unique circumstance where the games are in China. So focusing on that to today, obviously, doing this podcast, but also working on an incubator to work with the next generation of athletes and creators at HBCUs, a very storied and proud and critically important part of our ecosystem within sports and college athletics. How do we work with those athletes at those universities, who, again, a community that's largely been underrepresented, how do we work to equip, and empower, and educate them on the value our platforms can bring those athletes, especially in the era of NIL name image likeness, which happened on July 1st. So again, I guess my point is a gamut, focused on, it's very broad at times, but largely speaking it's, again, that sort of bridge between priorities and how can I be an advocate for what sports needs in order to thrive and flourish on social. Chris Erwin:It sounds like a very exciting, and as you described, a very broad mandate. There's much more than you could do in a simple day's time, so I think a question that would be helpful is, looking at the modern creator economy and thinking about the different partners that are out there. As you described, the NBA has a different need than say, LeBron James or different talent personalities, and then with also different events around the corner, like the Olympics being hosted in China and what does that mean for the Instagram experience here, for US-based creators and US-based sports fans? What are some of the things that you're seeing that Instagram is actually building for, where like, "Hey, this is what creators want, or this is what consumers are demanding and we need to better support this need." Can you give a few highlights of some examples of that work? Dev Sethi:I was just having a conversation with some folks at Endeavor, not even an hour and a half ago, and this term of creator economy, which I'm guessing, Chris, you'll agree is sort of the buzziest term in our industry of 2021, in terms of how we're thinking about it from an Instagram perspective... I'll give you the sports example and then I'll give you sort of the product example. The sports example is, the investments that my team has made in trying to empower the ecosystem around college athletes in the era of NIL. And for those who probably don't know, NIL as an acronym stands for name image and likeness, as sort of a moment in time, as a value. It basically means that college athletes, as of July 1st, for the first time, by and large, could monetize their name, image, and likeness, which also extended to social media and the ability for you to monetize your audience, be able to work with brands, et cetera. Dev Sethi:And the true first in the history of college athletics, July 1st will go down as one of the most important days in the history of college athletics in my opinion. So from a sports perspective, how do we empower the ecosystem around college athletes, to ready themselves for this moment, by providing education, by providing resources, by providing incubators like the one I referenced earlier, to support this ecosystem in a world where athletes, especially youth athletes, can really be full-on content creators and embrace the totality of our platforms for the first time. And so, again, that didn't exist seven months ago, and now, you've got to bite at the apple to illustrate the value an Instagram, or Facebook, or YouTube can provide to these athletes in an environment where they're actually probably more interested and inclined to listen and learn than may ever have been before, because there's a real economic opportunity available to them that wasn't there before. Dev Sethi:So that's sort of the sports perspective, and how I'm thinking about some of my objectives and things that are happening around us that we want to have some vision and strategy against. The other side of it, at least in terms of what Instagram's focused on in the creator economy, a primary focus on safety and wellbeing, making sure that you as a creator, a user have a positive and safe experience on our platforms. And this year, Instagram has released a number of safety tools to help preserve that safe experience on our platform. Going towards new product development like the ability for audiences to tip their favorite creators during a livestream, which I know is probably more catching up the parody on some other platforms, but we know is an important part of a creator-user experience, in ways in which creators can monetize. Dev Sethi:We recently announced last month that we're building essentially a branded content marketplace, where brands have the opportunity to discover creators on our platform and potentially do business with them right then and there. To have that occur on a platform, we know brands are spending their time looking for individuals to partner with, and creators are constantly looking for ways to gain opportunity and to stand out, us building a marketplace to do just that, something we've invested in recently. Chris Erwin:No, I really like that and thinking about, yes, Meta definitely has relationships with probably all of the largest brands, marketers on the planet, but something that Facebook has done really well is, enable really targeted marketing for these small and mid-size businesses that can't necessarily afford the 32nd TV spot. So it's like, "All right, you don't have $500,000 to spend, but you got $10,000 to spend, you can run a campaign on Facebook, targeting the clients that make the most sense and are most relevant for your business." And I like the idea that this marketplace would also enable the same, not just for running these paid media spots, but also for influencer marketing campaigns, but also something that you guys are really leaning into a lot, which is social commerce. Really enabling creators to sell product directly through the Facebook and Instagram shop product flows. Chris Erwin:And I think to do that, I think the brands and the creators need to come together and need a bit more support there. That's something that we've written extensively about at RockWater is like, "What is this product gap?" It's something that's really holding back the launch of the livestream commerce market in the US relative to that of China. So I think that this marketplace idea that you guys have is a step definitely in the right direction. And particularly as Instagram has so many different social commerce and also these programming products, it needs to be fueled by more collaborations. A couple of quick questions before we get to the rapid-fire and close this out, Dev, so one, some big announcements around Meta recently. Massive reorganization, $10 billion commitment to building out the Facebook Metaverse or this new virtual experience for the Facebook users and community, what does that mean for sports media? What does that mean for the partners that you work with? Is that something that you guys have an idea on? Are you helping to formulate the vision? Tell us about that. Dev Sethi:To me, it's exciting because, well, one, so much of this hasn't been written yet, but the potential for what the sports experience could look like at Meta, on our own platforms in the ways that I just described, but also in the Metaverse, the world is everyone's proverbial oyster in that regard, whether it's evolving the co-watching experience from how we experience it on social media today, to a more virtual environment, where we're able to co-watch a football game together, or we're rather able to play a game together, or if we just want to express ourselves in a unique way, let alone the monetization possibilities. And again, I don't want to speculate, but you can imagine the variety of ways in which monetization can come to bear in this new environment and participating in a Metaverse. Dev Sethi:I mean, again, I defer to the experts like yourself, who literally write newsletters on these sorts of things, but to me, it all means we can get really creative, our company, but the industry is going to get incredibly creative on that as it all comes to bear and who's going to be positively impacted. And in terms of my job, I guess specifically, I get to ideally represent them more opportunities for how organizations and individuals can work with our company, because you have the inherent value of it, you work with Instagram, then you work with Facebook, and maybe there's an interesting WhatsApp partnership, but it's this tremendous again, sort of holistic opportunity for individuals and orgs to partner with sports partnerships or other verticals and other teams in ways that may have felt fragmented in the past but I think just generally speaking allows us to delve into different areas, and hopefully do some really cool things together. Dev Sethi:Yeah, I've given you an example, the conversations even before I got here, with the NBC and the Olympics on Facebook and Instagram were very different in 2016 than they were in 2020. And now, imagine what those conversations look like in 2022 or 2024, and it's because of the evolution of the technology, the evolution of the platforms themselves, and the ways in which the brands and individuals want to engage their fans, which is probably the most important through-line of the entire thing. Chris Erwin:It's really interesting, I mean, that can be a whole separate show of just brainstorming, what does the virtual experience mean for sports fandoms of tomorrow? What younger generations want is the personalization of everything, personalization of watching sports, when, and how they want to consume it with the personalities that they care about. So you think about the in-person experience of being in the arena, being at game day, but how do you get that same excitement and energy level, but then also add to the experience of why people also like to watch sports from home, where they have their personalized social feed, and newsfeed, and maybe they have different camera angles that they're watching from their TV and from their phone. How can you put all those exciting dynamics together in this virtual environment and then, in addition, give the fans tools to express their fandom in new and exciting ways? Chris Erwin:So the same way of like, you're wearing the Jersey of your favorite sports team. What are some of the digital goods and digital fashion that you can express on game day and then maybe your outfit's rotating between every play or every quarter? The ideas are just really endless and really exciting. Dev Sethi:Absolutely, I feel like we're limited, I'm personally not being a very creative person, only limited by my creativity in the sense of everyone wants to point to a reference point, "Oh, this feels like it's the sims or this feels like something that I've seen before." Well, most of what's going to get created, no one's going to have necessarily seen before, the opportunities are essentially endless. And at the core of the metaverse and whoever participates in it, it's still fundamental that it's about communities that can connect with each other in virtual environments when they cannot be with each other in person. And that represents boundless opportunity, whether you're the NFL, whether you're trying to connect with your brothers in Savannah, whether I'm trying to connect with my twin brother who's down the road, that's still at the heart of it. And I think we're just going to see that be expressed and developed again, in a number of ways, hopefully much sooner than later. Chris Erwin:Well said. All right, so before we move on to the rapid-fire, I just want to give a closing notice, some kudos to you, Dev. As the listeners have heard, I have known you dating back, I think at least four or five years now. We've stayed in touch. And something that I just really appreciate is how gracious you are with your time and how gracious you are with helping people understand and get excited about all of the work in sports media and digital. And I think I follow some of the feedback that you've given us on our newsletters, the feedback that whenever we have a chance to talk on the phone or on a Zoom chat and just tracking your LinkedIn feed, you really evangelize your work and the spirit of digital media in a very positive some way and it's really appreciated. We've definitely noticed it, you have a demeanor that really points this whole industry towards a really great place and I'm really thankful for that, and I wanted to acknowledge that. Dev Sethi:No, thank you, I'd say you're being way too kind and I'm certain that you deliver a lot more value to this industry than I do in the seat that you sit in and then what you've put together and run but I appreciate it. I think there's many of us who have to rely on each other to continue to grow, educate ourselves, and collaborate because that's just sort of how big and gnarly this industry is. And so, you're obviously the center of the value that we all derive. And once you put together this podcast, and newsletter, the consultancy that you've built up, yeah, I just have a lot of gratitude for things that, frankly have broken my way, the core of it's just been, hopefully trying to be a decent person, but also maintain great relationships like you and I, I think we've probably spent at least 75% of that first lunch, just shooting the shit on getting to know each other, 25% on the business stuff. I'd rather take that proportion, frankly. We get to things like today because we have, I think, a great base to build off of, so I'm deeply appreciative of getting to befriend you over all these years too. Chris Erwin:Very welcome, such from a guy who has such a powerful position in sports media. So, all right, with that, moving on to rapid-fire, here are the rules. Six questions, answers are to be short and to the point, so it could be just a single sentence or just a single word. Do you understand the rules, Dev? Dev Sethi:I understand them, I don't know if I'll adhere to them, but yeah, I understand them. Chris Erwin:Everyone says the same thing, but I'm going to hold you to it. All right, first one, proudest life moment. Dev Sethi:I've been offered the opportunity to speak a couple of times in front of students at my alma mater, Notre Dame and I never thought in a million years, I would ever do anything in my life or deliver that kind of value that my alma mater would ask me to support them and be of service to them. So that was a crowning achievement in my mind at least. Chris Erwin:Okay, cool, what do you want to do less of in 2022? Dev Sethi:More sporting events, with hopefully a lot less disruptions and just more grace for, I think our fellow citizens who are all going through tough time but who all have such diverse perspectives. So hopefully more of that too. I'd say hopefully a lot less bad weather, but I don't know if the weather's even been that bad. So I don't have a great answer for that. Chris Erwin:Okay. Less bad weather and disruptions in 2022? Dev Sethi:There you go. Chris Erwin:But I like what you said about more sporting events and the things that matter. What are one or two things that drive your success? Dev Sethi:I think having a great, talented bought-in team or teams that I've managed that make me look good. And also just having a personal passion in investing in my team, their career, their goals, and the enablement of them doing great work, that's what gives me joint energy about this role and any other role and I think that's equated to personal success as well. Chris Erwin:Advice for media execs going into 2022. Dev Sethi:Just continue to embrace innovation, whether it's on platform innovation, some of the things I referenced earlier, but also the innovation in the sports industry. I mentioned NIL a number of times, but try to skate to where the puck is going. And also do it authentically, don't sort of follow the leader all the time in this industry, make that set align with how you want to serve your audience

This interview features Brian Volk-Weiss, CEO at The Nacelle Company. We discuss why betting big on standup specials got him Netflix's first streamer deal, how Iowa taught him about empathy in content production, bombing on stage and the genius of comedians, producing The Movies That Made Us, toy shopping as therapy, and why he'll retire when his first feature film is greenlit.Subscribe to our newsletter. We explore the intersection of media, technology, and commerce: sign-up linkLearn more about our market research and executive advisory: RockWater websiteFollow The Come Up on Twitter: @TCUpodEmail us: tcupod@wearerockwater.com---EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: Chris Erwin:Hi, I'm Chris Erwin. Welcome to The Come Up, a podcast that interviews entrepreneurs and leaders. Brian Volk-Weiss:I'm shocked any of this worked. So much of what we built was theoretical for so long. And the fact that there's almost no greater feeling than watching the moment a theory becomes a fact. We were making stand-up specials at scale, 20 to 30 a year for years spending millions and millions of dollars. We didn't know if it would work or not, probably until year seven. We started this plan in '08, and I didn't know it would work for sure until 2014. Chris Erwin:This week's episode features Brian Volk-Weiss, the founder and CEO of The Nacelle Company. Brian grew up in Queens with an early love for the Star Wars in 1989 Batman films. But upon realizing these worlds weren't based on reality, but instead imagined through the magic of Hollywood, Brian fell in love with filmmaking. So after college in Iowa, he moved to LA to become a production assistant. He then took an early career bet on producing a catalog of stand-up comedy specials, which almost bankrupted him, but the bet paid off big and enabled Brian to found his own production company, which is behind hit titles like The Movies That Made Us on Netflix.So Brian exudes an incredible love for his work, as well as constant amazement he's got to where he is today, which makes telling his story really fun. Some highlights of our chat include why comedians are geniuses, empathy and content production, doing Netflix first streamer deal, toy shopping as therapy, and why he'll retire when his first feature film is green-lit. All right, let's get to it. Brian, thanks for being on The Come Up Podcast. Brian Volk-Weiss:Thank you for having me. Very honored. Chris Erwin:Awesome. Let's rewind a bit. And why don't you start with telling us where you grew up and what your household was like? Brian Volk-Weiss:I grew up in Queens, New York. Was born in the late '70s. It was my mom, my dad and me and that's it. Chris Erwin:And early on, when did this love for toys, entertainment, storytelling, when did that really come to be? Was there a glimpse in your pre-teen years or as you were growing up in your house, any inspirations from your parents? Brian Volk-Weiss:I obviously, I got to get my mom credit because at three years old I could not have bought my own ticket to Star Wars. So I guess I can give her credit for my whole career in that regard. But I'm very lucky. It's the luckiest thing in the world. I saw Star Wars when I was three and I was so young, and by the way, everything I'm about to tell you, I have no memory of whatsoever, but my mom told the story her entire life. So I have it memorized. But basically at three years old, I did not know the word documentary, but basically the way my mom described my reaction to seeing Star Wars, it was as though I thought it was a documentary. Brian Volk-Weiss:And you have to understand, my mom was one of the first women to get a PhD from St. John. My dad was a lawyer. It was very concerning to them that their son for months, when he was asked, "Hey, what do you want to do when you grow up?" My answer was, "I want to fly an X-wing fighter. I want to join the Rebellion." And I mean, this really freaked my parents out. So my mom bought me this book that I still have, that was about the making of Star Wars, but it's written for five-year-olds. And I opened the book, the Death Star that was supposed to be the size of the moon was only six feet across C-3PO. There was a picture of his helmet off and it's Anthony Daniels. Brian Volk-Weiss:From that moment, and by the way, before that I wanted to be a limousine driver, just to show you how young I was. When people would say, "What do you want to do?" "I want to be a limousine driver." And then they'd say, "What do you want to do?" I'd say, "Oh, I want to join the Rebellion." After I saw the book, when they said, "What do you want to do?" I would say, "I want to make movies." And I mean, I've never wanted to do anything else ever. Obviously, now that includes television, but that's what led to it. Chris Erwin:Okay. And were you involved, in your pre-teen years or in high school involved in the theater in any capacity where you're writing stories, any of that? Brian Volk-Weiss:So I wasn't involved with the theater. I did one theater thing in college and that was what it was, but I did make little movies all the time. I made five-minute short film. By the way, I do have to say, when it was really hard to do, I mean, forget about shooting on 16 or even 8mm film, the camera I had literally shot on VHS tapes. It must've been three or four feet long. And by the way, that was the easy part. Editing in those days, I mean, you had to buy a machine for 250 bucks when my allowance was $5 a week. I mean, it was not easy to make these films, which by the way, were all garbage. I mean, they were terrible films, but yes, I did a lot of that. I did crappy little films in high school, a lot of them. Chris Erwin:I imagine you're casting your neighborhood friends and your peers. And were you getting some feedback of like, "Hey Brian, there's something special here. You're really good at this. You have some good vision. You're telling stories that need to be told, or you see things in a different way." Were you getting any early feedback like that as you're starting to put together your first contents [inaudible 00:06:03]? Brian Volk-Weiss:So I don't want to make you seem like my parents and friends were jerks, because they were not, but I made crappy movies and they were crappy. So nobody could look at them and truthfully say, "Oh, Brian, this is great." I mean, I'll tell you this, I was in show business for at least 10 years before my parents realized, "Oh wow, he might have turned this into a career." They were in denial my entire high school and college time that I would turn this into a career. Like I said, both of them were children of immigrants. They wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer or a dentist. The whole idea of going to show business with no job, I didn't know anybody when I got here. Brian Volk-Weiss:So again, their personalities, but I really do think being the offspring of immigrants that had to flee the Holocaust and everything, I chose a very risky career path. Chris Erwin:Understood. Like you noted, your parents were looking for the traditional route for you, for stability, for something was familiar for your parents who are immigrants coming to a country that was unfamiliar to them, trying to find things that were stable and known. And you're like, "No, that's not for me. I'm going to give something else a go." So you make a decision that this is the career for you, but when you go to University of Iowa, were these ambitions in your sites? Were you planning to go into the entertainment business then? What was your focus on for your study? Brian Volk-Weiss:Again, I never wavered for a billionth of a second from this being my career choice ever since I realized that Star Wars was fake. So it was always the plan. Like I said, not only were my parents highly educated, all of my grandparents were also, my grandfather was a doctor. My other grandfather was a dentist. And even the women, which traditionally, 100 years ago were not going to schools and becoming doctors and lawyers and stuff, they were also very ambitious, very hard working. So if it wasn't for that, I wouldn't have even gone to college. I would have gone straight to LA at 18. Brian Volk-Weiss:Because of that, it never occurred to me until I was out of college, long out of college that I could have skipped college. But I did know when I chose where I went to school, it was irrelevant to my career. So that gave me a lot of freedom not to go to NYU, not to go to UCLA. I decided it was more important to me to have an experience that I could carry with me throughout my career, which I got to tell you, I think that was in retrospect one of the better decisions I've ever made for myself, because whenever I'm trying to look at things, should I green-light this or should I green-light that or whatever? I have a million friends in the Midwest. And a lot of people that I know, the majority of their friends are in LA or New York. Brian Volk-Weiss:So I get this point, I was in Minneapolis this weekend, this past weekend, was like eight or nine people that I know there. So that's who I think of when I'm making creative decisions, especially in the editing bay, by the way. Chris Erwin:In a way, are you saying that you can empathize with a broader audience mix than maybe those that have lived and grown up in LA, or the LA consumer is all they know where you're like, "No, I've traveled from east to west, in the Midwest. I've been in parts of the country where others have not. And I understand what they care about, what they don't care about, how they communicate with one another." Brian Volk-Weiss:Absolutely. I mean, 100%. And just to use a non-show business example, if I only had LA and New York friends, I would have a point of view of Trump that I do not have because of my Midwest friends. I still hate the guy's guts, no offense to anyone who likes them. And I respect your opinion if you like Trump. And I think I get that because I have friends in the Midwest, because I have friends that I've known for 30 years almost that like Trump. And I understand why they like Trump. I don't agree with it. I think it's terrible, but I understand why they do. Brian Volk-Weiss:So when I see Trump, I look at him from a point of view of, again, I truly think the guy might one day be responsible for the literal actual apocalypse. But I do know that I look at him differently from almost everybody I know in LA and New York. And that is because I have friends in the Midwest that voted for him and I understand why they did. And I know they're not racist. I know they're not antisemitic. It's that point of view that when I'm in an editing pay, I can think about what they care about, what they value, and not just LA and New York and Miami. Chris Erwin:I think that's very well said. And it's something that I feel that is an important value to me too. Look, I'm from the tri-state area. I grew up in Jersey, schooled in Boston, and then I worked in finance in New York. And then I did go to grad school in Chicago, but then I was in LA for 10 years and now I'm in San Diego. But I feel that my time in Chicago for a couple of years, as well as the fact that my brother's wife is from Ohio, and I have friends from Ohio. Chris Erwin:And sitting down with parents of my friends who have run steel mills in these manufacturing plants for over 40 years, and when I just talk politics with them, the notion of empathy is to understand their story is very different than what I hear from my coastal friends and my coastal peers. And not making this a political conversation of picking one side or the other, but just context and empathy, not only in the world is critical for political decisions for economic, but in telling story and reaching different audiences and understanding what they care about and thinking about what the marketing campaign is going to be is really, really critical. So I like how you've touched on that. Brian Volk-Weiss:You just said I think is, first of all, it's pretty much my favorite word. Second of all, I think if our country has lost anything as everybody says we have, it's context. It's a sense of context. Many times people I work with, trying to be nice, trying to be funny, whatever, kiss my ass a little, I don't know. But they'll write a script or something and they'll name something after me. And it's usually like a ship or a character, spaceship, boat, whatever. And it'll be like the USS Volk-Weiss. Brian Volk-Weiss:And I'll always say, "First of all, thank you. That's very kind. Second of all, that's not me. I don't like that kind of shit. Please change the name. And if you change it, please change it to the USS context." Because that's how powerful I think that word is because anything is nothing if you don't take into account its surroundings. And that's why I liked that word so much. And that's why, again, going back to your question, because I feel like I'm rambling, but that's why I went to Iowa. It gives me a sense of context I knew I wouldn't have if I had gone to school in LA or New York. Chris Erwin:So going back to your decision for you, Iowa, was there also in addition to context, something else that you received from that school or that experience that maybe was unexpected, but a delight you've brought with you for the rest of your life? Brian Volk-Weiss:I learned a lot from the school. I mean, just the experience of getting somewhere at 18 and leaving at 22. Just that experience is a great thing, but one of the things I learned because I learned a lot, but the thing that had a lot of value to me to this day is if you go to a school in LA or New York for the most part, again like UCLA or USC or in NYU, you're getting filtered in with lots of other people with the same beliefs. Another way to say it is, if I had gone to NYU, I would have been surrounded by people just like me who had made lots of student films. Brian Volk-Weiss:At Iowa, I mean, two of my best friends from Iowa, they were from farms. And by the way, that's another thing I learned, when you think of farm, you think of like, "Hey, there's a barn and a house and maybe 30 cows and a couple of pigs." These people were from... I was this New York guy. My mom had a PhD. My dad was a lawyer. These people from farms, they probably made 10 times what my parents made for a living. But you don't think that way when you hear farm. Brian Volk-Weiss:So just needing people who are the children of farmers, the first person in five generations to go to college and they're sitting next to me in the same class on the same first day of college, I took that, it's not destined that just because you make stupid films when you're in high school that everybody else around you doing that is going to end up in the same place. You can come from a farm. You can come from... One of my best friends, his parents owned a roofing company. Brian Volk-Weiss:The other thing that was great about Iowa was, Iowa City was very different than Iowa. So the minute you were five miles outside of Iowa City, you might as well have been in Nebraska or Oklahoma. But Iowa City had a lot in common with New York compared to the rest of the state. So just all of that knowledge and experience is just wonderful. Chris Erwin:Very well said. I think there're some themes that we can come back to there, but in moving your story forward, after Iowa, you move immediately to LA and you become a PA on Castaway. Brian Volk-Weiss:Eventually. That wasn't my first job. My first job, I always like to say this was a independent film called Going Back to Cali. It was a all white producers, but it was literally an African American copy of Swingers as my first job. I booked it six days after I got to LA. Every night, the producers would watch Swingers and the director. And then the next day we would basically redo the same scene with an entirely African American cast. That was my first job. I think six or seven months after I got here, I got here July, and about four months or five months later, I got Castaway. Chris Erwin:Got it. When you made that first move, and you got this first job, this call it African American copy of Swingers, did LA still feel right to you. Were you're like, "Yes, this is it. I'm excited?" Or were you like, "Actually, this is a little bit different than I thought and I'm questioning somethings." Brian Volk-Weiss:I'm not going to talk about LA because I hate LA the day I got here and I hate it now. But if you're asking me about show business, it was exactly what I thought it would be. If anything, it was more exciting, more fun, more awesome than I had even hoped it would be. I look back on those days, I know this might be a weird thing to say, but I only PA'ed for about a year, I was only an assistant for about a year and a half. And I'm sure if I could speak to 22 or 23-year-old Brian, they would tell me I'm smoking crack, but I wish I had PA'ed a little longer. I wish I had been an assistant a little longer because, especially a PA, I really enjoyed it. Like I really, really enjoyed it. Brian Volk-Weiss:I always joke, and if there's anything I've learned about myself over the years is as I've gotten older, a lot of times when I make the same joke over and over again, I'm not joking and I'll probably do it, but we'll see if I do it with this one, but I've always joked, "Maybe when I retire, I'll go back to PA-ing." I really enjoyed. Chris Erwin:What was it about it that you loved so much? Brian Volk-Weiss:There were two things about it. One of which I was aware of at the time, one of which I'm sure is now me looking backwards, but at the time, what I loved was it was such a tiny job. I was usually making 75 bucks a day, but you had such an important role. I'll never forget my first PA on a real job, it was a big car commercial. I'll never forget, at the end of the day... The whole day I got people, coffee, I did all those, "Menial jobs," which I actually enjoyed quite a bit. Brian Volk-Weiss:But at the end of the day, I'll never forget the producer handed me all the cans of film because it was filmed back then and said, "Take these to photo cam to get developed." And I was just like, "No problem." And he goes, "Never forget, every penny we spent from paper clips to producer salaries is in these cans." And I never forgot that. And that was what was so exciting. I'm 22 years old, I don't know a thing about anything, and yet, I have the most important job bringing these cans somewhere for an hour. Bringing an actress coffee may seem menial, but she needs the coffee. It's very hard to be an actor. Chris Erwin:You're delivering coffee, but you're seeing an actress preparing for when she's going to be performing. What's her headspace, what is your routine before, what is the hair and makeup and everything's happening in advance of her going on set. So you're seeing the full experience. That absorption so early on is so valuable. Brian Volk-Weiss:So valuable. And also, a lot of fun. I mean, a lot of fun. And then in retrospect, looking backwards, the other thing I liked about it is, it was so simple. My job now, I mean, we're planning stuff for 2024. Almost everything we do now, if not everything we do now is connected to other things. So we're not just putting out a TV show, we're putting out a TV show, a book and a podcast. When you're a PA, they say, "Yo, go to Walmart, buy a hammer." You go to Walmart, you buy a hammer, you go back, they say, "Thank you." And then they tell you to do something else. And it's just very A to B, A to B, A to B. And I miss that. Chris Erwin:I hear that. It reminds me of a story. There is this very famous IP lawyer that had a very complicated job, dealt with complicated legal cases. And on the weekends to relax and decompress all he wanted, like you said, Brian, was the simplest task and actions. So he got himself a bulldozer in his backyard and he would just move mounds of dirt. A mound of dirt from one corner of the yard to the other, do that for four hours on a Saturday, that's how he cleared his brain. Brian Volk-Weiss:I get that. You wouldn't even believe. I might go buy a bulldozer now. I totally get it. That's brilliant. Chris Erwin:And I hear you. Look, as an owner of a smaller business than yours, just the weight of the responsibility, taking care of your team, taking care of your clients, making sure that you have payroll, you're planning years ahead. I hear you. So what are the simple things that you do to keep your sanity? Brian Volk-Weiss:Honestly, buy toys, collect. It's like going to church or temple or whatever. It's so peaceful to me to walk around a vintage toy store and just see what they have and buy some things, bring them home and put them in my collection. People have every right to say I'm hoarding. I get it. I mean, the volume in which I'm buying toys, I know it's ridiculous, but it gives me tremendous joy just exploring vintage toy stores, even antique stores. It really gives me a lot of peace. Even if I don't buy anything, just seeing the way the world was, seeing little bits of history. You'll see an ashtray from [Bell and Root 00:21:59], knowing that it'll eventually become Halliburton. Just seeing that in a store, an antique store like that gives me a lot of peace. Chris Erwin:When you go shopping or looking at vintage toys and vintage items, do you like to do that alone? Do you do that with certain peers that are also aficionados? Brian Volk-Weiss:My favorite way to do it is alone. Well, that's not true. The only exception to that is my wife, because my wife is just like me. If we go to an antique store, she doesn't want to talk until we're walking out. So I don't talk to her. She don't talk to me. We just shop and explore. But most people they want to talk and everything and I'm very focused. I'm really focused on what I'm looking at. The exception to the rule, even though it's not helpful to my relaxing is of course with my kids, it's the opposite of what my wife and I do, but I love my kids like any father does, but they're just so fucking funny that it's worth the distraction being with them because of how funny they are. Chris Erwin:Going back to your career trajectory, so after being a PA and then you're on Castaway, you break into, I think, BKEG talent management. And there you start managing comedians and then you start producing stand-up comedy specials. And it kind of kicks off this incredible run that you have there and then through New Wave Entertainment, which I think acquired BKEG in 2003. So I'm curious, right now with the creator economy where every major social and incoming platform and all the major streamers, they realize that the talent, the creators, they bring the audience and thereby the audience then brings the money and the revenue. When you started working with talent early on, what were some of your key learnings? How did you gravitate towards them? And then why did you start working with comedians in particular? Brian Volk-Weiss:I started working with comedians completely randomly. It was all random. I'd only been in a comedy club once in my life before I went to BKEG. I was interning at a tiny company that on the floor that his office was at, there was a communal copy room and all the assistants to all the producers and other people in the floor would get to know each other because you would be in the copy room copying stuff together and you'd have to wait while people were using the machine. All I knew was this guy I knew was leaving his job. He needed to replace himself. He was making 50 bucks cash a day under the table. That's all I knew about the job. Brian Volk-Weiss:I knew that I was broke. I had saved up about three grand during college. I had burnt through the three grand. I was about to start waiting tables on the weekend. I was still PA-ing, even though I was an intern five days a week, I had still been PA-ing on the weekends, but I still was burning through my money. So I met with his boss and I just needed the 50 bucks a day cash so I didn't become a waiter again because I waited tables in college and I got the job, and about a week into the job, I understood what a... I didn't even know what a manager was when I took the job. It was a tiny management company. Brian Volk-Weiss:I basically was like, "I can't think of a worse job than being a manager." So I basically gave my two weeks notice. The owner of the company, a guy named Barry, Barry basically said, "What do you want to do for a living?" And I was like, "I want to produce movies." And he was like, "Well, as a manager, you can do that." And he started walking me through how you do that. So I stuck with it. Then I started managing and that's exactly what happened. I mean the first movie I ever got on into a movie theater was through a client. The first show I ever sold on television was through a client. And the entire foundation of our company is from that process. Brian Volk-Weiss:To answer your other question, I understood talent very quickly. It was very easy to understand. They're not like the rest of us. And as a manager or somebody who becomes a manager or is thinking of becoming a manager, you have to make peace with that or not do the job. Because if you're a manager for any other profession, you just say the obvious thing and you tell your client what to do. So if I was managing engineers and I had the client working at Boeing, and my client was like, "I'm mad at my boss. I'm not going to work today." I'd be like, "Well, you work for Boeing. You got to go to work or you're going to be fired." It doesn't matter what you think of your boss. Brian Volk-Weiss:When an actor, you can't say that nor should you, because I cannot tell you this enough, I had clients I talked to every day. I would go on vacations with them. I would go to movies with them on the weekends. These were people I talked to seven days a week, 18 hours a day, that kind of stuff. And I would still be on set with them and we're just hanging out like friends, and then the second [inaudible 00:27:11] comes over and is like, "Hey, so and so, you're up." And they would go and start doing a scene. And I'm like looking at them like they're levitating or flying or can split at, it never wore off on me how amazing it is that people can become other people. Brian Volk-Weiss:I know this sounds insane. I've been doing this for 23 years and I'm still amazed that actors can act, but I made peace with that on day one. And for me at the time, because pretty much all my clients were stand-up comedians, they're complicated people, but you have to be complicated to become a stand-up comedian. You also have to be a genius. There is no stand-up comedian I've ever met that can sell 100 tickets or more that wasn't a genius. So when they say they're not getting out of bed for any reason, you have to engage with them, find out the reason and then work with the studio or the network or the producers or the director to get them simpatico. And I enjoyed that because I respected how hard it was to do what they did. Chris Erwin:Hey listeners, this is Chris Erwin, your host of The Come Up. I have a quick ask for you. If you dig what we're putting down, if you like the show, if you like our guests, it would really mean a lot if you can give us a rating wherever you listen to our show. It helps other people discover our work and it also really supports what we do here. All right, that's it everybody, let's get back to the interview. Chris Erwin:I'm hearing two things from you, Brian, that I think are really interesting. One, which speaks to the longevity of your career and why I believe there's so much more ahead is because it really feels like, just from talking the last 30 minutes, how much you love what you do. When you were describing Star Wars and your early impressions of Batman and making movies as a teenager and in high school. And then even just describing back then working with talent, watching them instantly transform on set and that wow factor for you. And then you still have that same feeling today, it's that you're captivated by entertainment in Hollywood. And that even if you despise LA, you love the entertainment industry, you love show business. And I don't think that star is ever going to fade. It feels like it's just going to get brighter for you. Brian Volk-Weiss:I say this, this could sound like a metaphor. This could sound like I'm trying to be humble, I don't know. But I'm telling you, I mean this, the way I tell you the sky is blue. When I tell you, I cannot believe any of this is happening to this day, I mean it. I absolutely made it. I'm shocked any of this worked. Absolutely shocked. So much of what we've built was theoretical for so long. And the fact that there's almost no greater feeling not connected to family, there's almost no greater feeling than watching the moment a theory becomes a fact. And we were making stand-up specials at scale, 20 to 30 a year for years, spending millions and millions of dollars. 99.90 cents of every dollar that came in for five or six years, we spent that money on making stand-up specials. We didn't know if it would work or not, probably until year seven. We started this plan in '08 and I didn't know it would work for sure until 2014. Chris Erwin:Well, that speaks to an interesting point that we were talking about before this recording. What was the catalyst that caused you to keep reinvesting in these comedy specials? Why were you putting 99.90 cents of every dollar that you brought in back into this growing body of work? Brian Volk-Weiss:Well, there's two answers to that question. The first answer is the long-term answer, which is I knew the day I got here, again, I was 22 years old, but I'd been thinking about this since I was five. I wanted to build a studio. That was always my goal. I always wanted to build a studio and I had read about how all the other studios had been built. I knew Disney was built on Donald and Mickey and all of that. I knew Warner brothers was built on this Mack Sennett Library. And that was the key word, library. So I knew I had to build a library. And if I wanted to build a studio, I knew I needed a library. I didn't know how to build a library. Brian Volk-Weiss:A bunch of lucky things happened. The first lucky thing was, like I said, as a manager, you make a stand-up special for your clients once or twice a year. So one day I get a call from an agent, a guy named Mike Berkowitz, and at the time I was a manager. I had all my clients and I was managing full-time. And then 98% of my job was managing, 2% was producing. And I got a call from Mike, and Mike asked me if I would ever produce a stand-up special for a non-client. And I was really offended. And if I'm being honest with you, I was kind of rude to him. It was Michael Ian Black's agent, and I said to him, I'm like, "Dude, why are you calling me about producing a special? I'm not good enough to manage him. Why can't I manage him?" Brian Volk-Weiss:And I was really annoyed about it. The next day in the shower, I suddenly remembered my job was to make money. And as long as it was legal, it didn't really matter how I made the money. So I called Mike back and I apologized. And luckily he forgave me, which if you knew Mike, this doesn't happen very often. No offense, Mike, but it's true. You would agree with me, if you ever hear it. But that being said, we did Michael Ian black special and word got out to the community that we were making specials for non-clients. So that was the first thing that happened. Brian Volk-Weiss:The second thing that happened was in 2006, I read a book called The Long Tail. And the reason that anytime I talk about the long tail, I always mention what year I read it, 2006 was a very important year, not because of what happened, but because of what would happen. The book correctly predicted the rise of YouTube, iPhones, streaming, everything, AVOD, Asphalt, everything. So I took the biggest risk of my entire life and I bet everything that that book would be right. Brian Volk-Weiss:Because the truth of the matter is one of my clients blew up. I mean, I started working with this guy when he could sell 400 tickets and three years later he was selling 15 to 25,000 tickets a night. He was making a million dollars a show. And I could have taken that money and put it in the bank, invested it, and I'd probably have more money now than I do if I had done that. But the other thing is, in addition to wanting to go to studio since I was a little kid, it was always very important to me to leave something behind. I didn't want to die and not have contributed something, anything, but something to the world. Brian Volk-Weiss:And basically, I bet everything that the book would be right. And I'll be completely honest with you, when I made the decision, I basically said to myself, "This is it." If the book's right, I'll be able to achieve my dream. If the book is wrong, I'll have to quit or get fired and either become an agent at a big agency or go back to school and become a lawyer or something. I knew I was making a bet it all bet. By good Lord, the grace of God, that book could not have been more accurate and correct in what it predicted. Chris Erwin:Well, because I think when you read that in '06, Brian, and then your investment in this stand-up comedy special library from '08 through the next 6 to 10 plus years, that also led to growing credibility for you to start going into unscripted and scripted work and TV series and film projects. And then eventually you being able to launch your own production company and studio in a cell in 2017. Brian Volk-Weiss:That's exactly right. I mean, it killed a million birds with one stone. One of the most important birds that literally changed the course of my life, the company's trajectory, everything was, I do not know anybody in my entire life that did a deal with Netflix before me. My first deal with Netflix was in March of 2009. I swear to you, you're going to think I'm joking. I am not joking. I signed the contract. The contract said, all over the contract, streaming, streaming, streaming, s-bot s-bot, s-bot. I hadn't a clue what that meant. Not an iota of a fucking clue, but the deal was for so much money I didn't want to risk losing it. So I just signed it. Brian Volk-Weiss:And that deal did two things. First of all, it brought in the money that allowed me to keep growing the company because that deal was for the rights to specials I had already made, had already aired elsewhere, like Comedy Central or Showtime, and these rights had reverted. And that's the deal I had done with Netflix. We didn't even have Netflix in my house. When I signed that contract, I hadn't even seen Netflix yet. Chris Erwin:It was a DVD company. I think necklace was founded around what? '98, '99. And then 8 to 10 years in, probably exactly in the timeframe you're describing of '09, there was this slow transition to streaming. But I don't even know if it happened at that date yet. They were probably just going to put that into contracts and planning for the future. Brian Volk-Weiss:It had happened. But first of all, nobody really understood it. But second of all, the first person I ever met at Netflix, this woman named Lisa Nishimura. When I met with Lisa, they were in the middle of their biggest crisis. Up until this very second, they were going through, I forgot what it was called, like Flixster or Flicker. They were dividing their DVD business from their streaming business, which nobody understood because nobody knew what streaming was. So it was this whole like, "What?" But the reason I bring this up is that deal I did with Netflix in 2009 got me in the door with them before almost anybody. Brian Volk-Weiss:And because of that, I met this guy named Devin Griffin, and Devin at a very unique job where Devin, he was the guy that whenever we had the rights to a special ending at Comedy Central or something, or we had a special that we shot without a buyer, and again, I feel like that's worth mentioning. To this day, other people I'm friends with who own production companies will say, even though they know our plan worked, they will still say to me, "It is insane that you were making stand-up specials with no buyers at scale." Almost everybody I know would try it once or twice and then quit. Brian Volk-Weiss:Part of how I got through it and survived the risk was we did it at scale. You can't make one or two at a time. You have to make 5 to 10 at a time, which means instead of spending 300 grand, you're spending 5 to 10 million. So when I tell you, we bet it all, I mean, we fucking bet it all. But the reason I bring this up is we were doing this at a time when no one else was. So even though we were tiny, Netflix had no choice but to work with us because we were the only independent company that had a stand-up comedy library. Brian Volk-Weiss:So I knew this Devin Griffin guy, who's now a very good friend of mine for a lot of reasons, by the way. He's the smartest person I know, but you also changed the course of my life. He was transferred after a couple of years from stand-up comedy acquisitions to unscripted. And he was the guy who was like, "What do you got?" I had been trying to sell this show, which eventually was called The Toys That Made Us for seven years. I never could sell it because a lot of people don't understand this, but producers are tight cast just like actors. Brian Volk-Weiss:So I couldn't sell it because I was always the stand-up comedy guy and executives and buyers were always like, "Why is the stand-up comedy guy trying to sell me a show about toys?" But because I knew Devin, because I was friends with Devin. Devin had been to my house. And Devin had seen my toy collection. And he also knew me, he knew he could trust, take my word. So if I told him I could do X and he knew I was a, "Expert," in toys, he green-lit Toys That Made Us and had changed everything for the company, overnight. Chris Erwin:And when you say why it changed things for the company overnight, was it because of the money that was coming in from that deal? Was it the prominence of that, how popular became on Netflix? And then what came thereafter, which is The Movies That Made Us, what was that transformation? Brian Volk-Weiss:It changed a lot of things for a lot of different reasons. The first thing it did was, I mean, it was our first hit. I mean, we had never made anything that resonated in pop culture ever. So just by having a hit, not only do you get phone calls returned faster, but it's easier to sell shows once you have a hit. So that's the first thing it changed. The second thing it changed was it gave the company an identity for the first time other than stand-up comedy. The third thing it did, and I think a lot of people might even say this is the most important thing it did, Toys That Made Us was the first show we ever sold that was about a passion that I had. Every other show before that, and we probably had over a dozen shows on the air before Toys That Made Us, not a single one of those shows got a second season. Brian Volk-Weiss:If you go on IMDb or Amazon, they're all like three stars to five stars. What I learned, and you might be like, "It's really pathetic, Brian, you had to learn this the hard way." But before Toys That Made Us, I would do research on what the buyers want and then develop shows based on that research. And then I would make those shows to pay the bills. What Toys That Made Us show me was, I don't know if I cared about the show and was passionate about the topic, call me crazy, but we'd probably do a better job. So after Toys That Made Us came out, we haven't done anything that we're not passionate about. And knock on wood, not a single show that we've made since Toys That Made Us has not gotten at least a second season. That's what we learned. Chris Erwin:I love that. So then the natural follow up question is, with that new intention, let's create programming that stems from what we love as individuals, what we love as a team, what we're passionate about. Beyond just instilling that in your own mental framework, how did you instill that amongst your team? How did you change your development process to do that? Brian Volk-Weiss:Well, I mean, it was pretty easy because, a, almost everybody that works at the company is some degree of a geek. And by the way, I have to say, I'm very proud of this. The few people that have joined us that are not geeks, well, guess what they are usually six months later? We hired this awesome executive from Discovery, this poor girl. Oh my god, I mean, she didn't have a toy to her name the day she joined us. I mean, I think she has a shelf of toys now. And I guarantee you, she'll have probably five shelves of toys by the end of 2022. But anyway, I just love that. Brian Volk-Weiss:But anyway, so we just shifted into what we loved. I mean, it was such an obvious move, but I missed it. So basically after Toys That Made Us came out, and we were getting incoming phone calls for the first time ever, I was like, "You know how we all love this geek. Let's just do that." And that's not all we do, but it really became what we became known for. And it's funny, the exception to this of course, is Down to Earth with Zac Efron, that's not a pop culture show, but it was the same premise where I love Zac. I love that he was so excited about the environment and food and it was just very easy for us to get passionate about that, because I mean, who's not passionate about food and the environment. Chris Erwin:And I think like a powerful thing, this is a theme from a lot of the other entrepreneurs and leaders I talk to, it's just focus. And if you're trusting your gut, you're focusing on a more narrow lane. It also impacts who you recruit. Recruiting team members that are like, "Look, we want to find people who are nerds like at us, that deeply love things." If I was recruiting to be hired by your company, Brian, I'd be like, "Yeah, that's the type of team I want to work for." Where you're hiring me for my taste and what I love and you're going to help make that come to life and we could sell shows like that to Netflix and the other streamers, I'm going to be pumped to join you then probably some of the other studios. Chris Erwin:And it focuses the conversations around the table, and it focuses as a leader for, you can probably really push your team and say, "Do you really care about this topic? Do you really love it? Give me more. I sense that you're leaving something on the table here and you got to dig deeper." That's powerful. Brian Volk-Weiss:That's exactly right. We just do what we're passionate about, and don't get me wrong, we're not idiots. If I don't think I can sell it or I don't think the public will want to watch it, we're not going to do it. This is the other thing I always like to say, Sam Raimi had this great quote in 2000 when he was directing Spider-Man. I never ever forget this. It's like a real rule for us. He said, he goes, this is before the movie came out. He said, "I'm making Spider-Man. I not making Sam Raimi Spider-Man." And I am very passionate about what we make, but I never forget that we are making a product to be shared. And I don't want to make something that people won't like or be excited about. Brian Volk-Weiss:And by the way, sometimes we try and sometimes we fail, but we got a lot of criticism on a show we made once. I'll tell you the whole story. We put out a show last year on Amazon called A Toy Store Near You. And the first season, every episode, it takes place in toy stores all over the world. The first season, every episode was like 25% about the toys, 75% about how the stores were staying in business during COVID. It was a pretty deep dark show. We put it out. We think we've made a great show. We're all happy. We're all excited. And the feedback, I mean, it was 80% negative. And of the 80% negative, everybody was basically saying some version of this, "My life sucks. I'm depressed. Every news story I see is bad. When I watch TV, I don't want to be reminded about COVID. I want to forget about COVID." Brian Volk-Weiss:So we were in production on season two, and I think a lot of directors may have been like, "Fuck you. This is our show." I was horrified that I had misjudged the public so badly. And if you watch season two, season two is the opposite. It's 75% toys, 25% COVID. Season three is 99.9% toys, 0.1% COVID. And we're in post right now on season four, we literally just reshot something last week because you can see someone in the background wearing a mask. So we do listen and we do take all that stuff very serious with the public things. Chris Erwin:Well, look, I think that speaks to one of the earlier themes of our conversation, Brian, which was context and empathy. I think it's why Ted Lasso performed so well during COVID. People just wanted to escape. They wanted to smile, feel good content. And that was exactly that. And just speaking from personal experience, 9/11 happened. Recently, there was a lot of amazing documentaries on the 20-year anniversary. On Netflix, on the other streamers, I started watching the one on Netflix. Being from the tri-state area, really hits close to home. And I was like, "Look, being in COVID feeling isolated, the whole world going through tough times. I just can't see content like this right now. This is not what I'm looking for." Chris Erwin:Not saying that, that content's not valuable and that I want to come back and visit it, but that wasn't the right moment in time. Hearing you say that, Brian, I think it's like constant balance of staying true to you of telling the stories that are important to you. What you think the world should here, but also, what do people want to hear right now and I want to cater to that as well, which also drives longevity for your business. And it reminds me, we had Alison Eakle on the podcast, I think a couple months ago, she's the head of development at Shondaland. Chris Erwin:And she always says, "When I'm creating a show, I think of what's the movie poster. What's the marketing going to be?" Just as the ideas are coming together. And that just caused you to think, what is the audience reaction going to be? I went to business school at Kellogg, the way that they teach leadership and business management is through the marketing lens, marketing as a management philosophy. And marketing is all about understanding the customer mindset. So I really like how you captured that there. Brian Volk-Weiss:Thank you. And by the way, my best friend in college, Jamie Jackson, he went to business school. All I did for four years was make fun of him for that. "Oh, how was business today? What kind of business did you talk about?" By the way, I went to communications and I was cutting 16mm film together and taping it together with scotch tape, something that would've 0.0 value the day I graduated. Guess what I should have studied in college in retrospect? Chris Erwin:Well, at the least, you can hire people on your team that can now do this. Brian Volk-Weiss:Thank God. Chris Erwin:This has been such a fun conversation because we'll bring up different questions and then Brian, you just go off on these amazing stories and vignettes which have been awesome. But we did gloss over the point about your belief that the top comedians are really geniuses. Brian Volk-Weiss:I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I didn't say to top comedians. I very deliberately said anyone who can sell 100 tickets, which is nothing. I mean, that is nothing. Any comedian that gets to the point where you have 100 people in a market paying money to see them, that is a low bar, but anyone who gets to that point is a genius. It's not just the top comics. It includes them, but you cannot get to a point where 100 people are hiring babysitters and paying for two drinks unless you're a genius. Chris Erwin:Thank you for the clarification that further even reemphasizes my point. Brian Volk-Weiss:I didn't mean to jump on you, but it's important to me to say that because so hard is that job that I just want to make it very clear, long before you're selling out arenas, you need to be a genius. Chris Erwin:I have not followed comedians for my entire life, but I can admit that over the past, call it three to five years, I've really followed Bill Burr very closely. And I'm actually going to see him in Long Beach tomorrow night. And then also through some advisory work that we've done with Team Coco and Conan O'Brien's digital team, starting to pay more attention to what Conan does and his podcast and his interviews. And I think what is so unique about comedians, yes, whether they're they're the top or they're just starting to build their careers, their ability to observe human behavior and society and have really interesting commentary, I think is unparalleled. Chris Erwin:And in a writing class that I take with my brother, great writers just observe. And through great observation, they can make very interesting literary points and stories. And I look at the comedians today where I just watched the recent Dave Chappelle's special in Netflix. And despite the controversy that has driven, his ability to observe and see things that others do not, and then talk about it in ways that others do not, I think that's very valuable for society and something that's treasured. And I look at them, Brian, with awe and I'm like, "How do they see that?" So that's something I wanted to highlight. Brian Volk-Weiss:Like I said, I talk to comedians every day. I already talked to Tom Papa this morning. I was talking to Steve Burn two days ago. I talk to comedians every day. I was with Jim Gaffigan in Minneapolis on Saturday. I have never gotten over who they are and what they do. They're geniuses, but I'll tell you something, everything you said is right. There's nothing I'm disagreeing with, but I'll tell you something on top of that, that I think is also true, maybe. Yes, you need to be a genius. Yes, you need to observe. But you also need to understand how the public perceives you. So what works for Bill Burr wouldn't work for Chappelle. What Chappelle does wouldn't work for Bill Burr. They had to find not only who they were, but who the audience thought they were. Brian Volk-Weiss:And I'll tell you how I learned this lesson. So like I told you earlier, I used to represent this guy that went from selling 400 tickets to 15,000 tickets very quickly. I mean, over the course of three years, that's how big he jumped. And I was with him four to seven nights a week in the clubs, at the shows, everything. I had his act memorized. And I mean memorized, not just the words, I had the intonations up and down. I had his act. One day, we had a mutual friend who was preparing to be on, I believe Conan, might have been Kimmel, but doesn't matter. And he was practicing his set at this place called the Gower Gulch, which is a karaoke bar that had a, every Wednesday night, they had a open mic night. Brian Volk-Weiss:The crowd was very light and it was late. And they were waiting for people to come in. But Jay, our friend, didn't want to go up because the crowd wasn't big enough yet and he didn't want to do his test in front of six people. So my client says to me, "Hey, you know my act, why don't you go up and do my act." And I'm like, "Sure. Oh my god, I can't even believe you're letting me do this." That is such a no-no in the comedy community. Even though I'm not a comedian, you do not do someone's act. You don't do it. And I cannot stress this enough, this night I'm talking about, he was one of the biggest comedians of all time. Brian Volk-Weiss:So this was not a small person asking me to do this. He was a stadium act at that point. So I go up, cocky, whatever. And I'm like, dude, it didn't work for me. I knew every single word of his act. I knew every pause. I knew when to go up, when to go down on the pronunciation. To say, I bombed, this was a set that could make 15,000 people laugh simultaneously. And by the way, not just every single time, he could do 80 shows in a row with that exact same 20 minutes, and never not get a standing ovation. I did it once, I gave up. I was like, "All right, thank you." I didn't even finish the 20 minutes. Chris Erwin:Couldn't even get to the end there. Brian Volk-Weiss:Like, "Thank you. Tip your waitstaff." So I always think that's very important to say that it's not just about the genius, it's not just about the material. There are comedians I know who are geniuses that have great material that have been doing it, I kid you not, for 30 plus years that still have not figured out what the audience wants them to be and who they want to be. And they've been doing it for 30 years. They still can't sell 100 tickets. Chris Erwin:I Really like that. And I just have to ask in closing, Brian, how did it feel for you to bomb? Because I imagine, Bill Burr talks about this all the time on his Monday Morning Podcast, you have to get your reps in. You have to know what it's like to go to bomb because you have to try. And only through failure will you learn what your relationship is with the audience, when you feel comfortable, what your style is. So for you going up there, where you thought you had the best jokes in the world, what did that feel like? Brian Volk-Weiss:Well, I did have the best jokes in the world because I didn't write them. The guy who could sell arenas did. I mean, I was laughing my head off. I mean, I never wanted to be on stage. I never wanted to be a comedian. I didn't give a shit. I mean, it was like a really funny experiment, but, and this I only learned a day, a week, a month later, but it did give me that experience because think about it, there's no flight instructor in history teaching people how to fly planes that did not already know how to fly planes. Brian Volk-Weiss:So think about how weird it is to be a manager that only represents comedians and you've never been on stage telling a joke. So it wasn't early in my career, it was probably barely halfway through the management part of my career, but to have that knowledge, and I've used it the rest of my life, yes, was very valuable. Chris Erwin:Brilliant. Love that. All right. So let's talk about what's the future of Nacelle Company? This business is now around four years old, founded in January 2017, you were just highlighting before the break, some incredible traction that you have. What are you thinking about in terms of what's next? And I think you've recently read a book, again, the second time in your career that's really inspired some big future moves. Tell us about that. Brian Volk-Weiss:So the future for our company is there's two things we're basically doing right now. And if I had to guess, this would be the two things we're doing for the rest of the time. The first thing is we're taking knowledge we have and experience and revenue from an existing business and applying it to bigger and better things. So the example I can give you is we started making stand-up specials on spec, meaning we didn't have a buyer lined up, and then we sold them or licensed them. We didn't sell them, we licensed them, which is, for those that don't know, that's a temporary rental of our title. Brian Volk-Weiss:So we did that with stand-up comedy. We've been doing that now for about 15 years. Now what we're doing, and the first attempt at this was Down to Earth with Zac Efron, we are doing with series what we used to do with stand-up specials, but we're right now only it in unscripted series. So we have a show coming out in two weeks on History Channel called The Center Seat, which is 10 episodes, only about Star Trek. We own that show. We have a book coming out the same day and a podcast coming out the same day. And after a certain amount of time, History Channel will not have access to that show and the rights will revert back to us just like we did with stand-up comedy. Brian Volk-Weiss:So that's what we're doing now. And this is obviously much more expensive making series on spec than making stand-up specials. I mean, every at-bat is seven figures. Whereas in comedy, I would say 70% of our at-bats are under seven figures, 30% are above seven figures. With series, it's all above seven figures. And we're doing that right now. A Toy Store Near You, same thing, we own that show. In the future, we're going to go from doing one or two a year, God willing, to doing 10 to 20 series a year, combined with, we will then get into scripted and we'll start doing the same thing in scripted. So spending 5 million an episode on spec just like Sony, just like Lionsgate. Brian Volk-Weiss:And then after that, and maybe simultaneously, we will be doing the same thing with movies. The moment where if I had to guess the beginning of my retirement will start is the point where we green-light our first say a hundred million dollar movie. The minute that happens, I will probably be retired, probably about five years after that event. So that's the first answer. The second answer is I'm a big believer and a lot of this comes back to Walt and Roy Disney, I'm a big believer in the flywheel method, which since you went to Kellogg, you know what I mean, but I only learned about this in my early 40s where we are launching departments to service other departments. Brian Volk-Weiss:So that allows us to put out, like I said, we're going to put out a show on History Channel in two weeks, but we're also getting revenue from the podcast. We're also getting revenue from the book, yada, yada, yada. So two answers, answer one, just keep doing what we're doing, but do it bigger and better. Answer number two, create more departments to monetize what we're already doing. And I just want to say for the record, monetizing sounds like some big fancy word. I mean, to say that we're all having the time of our lives, launching a publishing arm not knowing a thing about publishing, that kind of shit it's a lot of fun, but I've been through that cycle now a lot. Brian Volk-Weiss:When we launched our stand-up arm, we didn't know what we were doing. When we launched our record arm, which now to say, it's the number one producer of stand-up comedy, audio is a tremendous understatement. We didn't know what the hell we were doing. I mean, I never have any fear about not knowing what I'm doing, for better or worse. The book you refer to, I just read it probably about less than six months ago, really boring title, it's called Liftoff. But it's a great book about the first 10 and years of SpaceX. But it's funny, the reason I find that book so valuable is the exact opposite of The Long Tail. With The Long Tail, it showed me a possible path forward. Brian Volk-Weiss:With Liftoff, again, I cannot stress this enough. I did not go to business school. So almost everything we're doing is just me trusting my gut and praying to God it works. What Liftoff showed me was a lot of what we're doing is the right thing to do. And what a lot of people don't understand about SpaceX, and I'll be honest with you. I didn't understand this either until I read the book. I mean, what Elon Musk started with SpaceX conservatively was the 15th time a rich person tried to build a space launching company. Every single person and company that tried before him failed. Brian Volk-Weiss:And a lot of the reasons why he succeeded, we were already doing, but I didn't know if it was right or not. And his book showed me, some of the things that we were doing, which were extremely unusual, and even I was questioning, is this smarter, stupid? His book showed me it was the right path. I mean, the example I like to give is, we develop almost all of our internal capabilities. We try to do things outside of the company as little as possible. I have a tendency to have a vendor, and then either hire the vendor or buy the company that was providing the service because I like to have everything under one roof. Elon Musk, in the book, it tells a great story where they needed these special kind of pumps, they're called turbo pumps to mix the fuels to get the rocket out of the atmosphere. Brian Volk-Weiss:There's two companies on the planet, one of which is American that make turbo pumps for everybody. NASA, Boeing, JPL, everybody. Because Elon Musk was the new kid on the block, he was getting them slowly and they were coming and they still needed work and then SpaceX's engineers had to actually finish working on them. Musk eventually said, "Fuck it. We're just going to start making our own turbo pumps." That led to a lot of things. First of all, they didn't have supply problems anymore with the vendor. Second of all, they were able to make them at 30% the cost of the other company. Fourth of all, guess what SpaceX now sells to other space companies? Turbo pumps. Chris Erwin:They've become a supplier themselves. Brian Volk-Weiss:Yeah. And that's what Amazon did with their cloud service. So I have long been a believer in having as many capabilities under our roof as possible. And for those that don't run a business, that's very risky and expensive. Every time your payroll goes up, it's risky. But my theory has always been, if it's all unified under one roof, we will make more money because everybody's talking to everybody all the time. Chris Erwin:Totally agree. This reminds me of a conversation that we were having with a direct-to-consumer retailer this year. And the challenge was their board and investors are thinking about, "Okay, we have this growth vision, but if we want to minimize the amount of capital that we're putting to work up front, how can we outsource some of these capabilities so that if things don't work, we're not on the hook versus this massive investment in fixed costs?" And I was like, "I hear that. I totally get that. But the challenge is you're not creating internal capabilities in intelligence and commitment to your internal teams that this is where you really want to go in the future. And so the quality of your effort, the quality of this business initiative is going to be inferior and will not necessarily outperform who you're trying to beat in the marketplace if it's just all outsourced from day one." So I think what you described is very on point. Brian Volk-Weiss:Absolutely. And by the way, I'll give you a great example, every company out there in theory that owns an amusement park, in theory, has their own version of the imagineers. That is not true. The Imagineering Department at Disney is over 2000 people, highly paid, highly skilled. There's a guy in the Imagineering Department, all he does for a living, I guarantee he gets paid six figures. All he does is designed better fake rock technology. There is an imagineer, all she does is create better realistic looking leaves from foam. That is all she does 52 weeks a year minus vacation time. Brian Volk-Weiss:But my point is, no other amusement park has that capability. And I think Disney might make more than every single amusement park on the planet combined. I could be wrong, but even if I'm wrong, I'm probably not wrong by that much. And I completely agree with you, anytime I hear a company is divesting and blah, blah, blah. I'm always like this is either the beginning or the end, or they will reverse that decision when the next CEO comes to fix the mistake you've made by trying to have a better quarter. Because that's the problem these companies make when they do that, all they care about is beating the same quarter the prior year. That is a recipe for failure. Chris Erwin:I agree. I think the other key variable here that makes SpaceX, that makes Disney perform, and then also the future for you, Brian with Nacelle, is you have to have a leader which then flows down to the team really believe in this business initiative. If it's like, "Hey, we're kind of into this. We were going to outsource some of this stuff, but we're going to bring it in house." But if you're not bringing the passion, the focus to your team every day after that massive investment in fixed costs, it's not going to work. And that really comes from the top. Chris Erwin:And from this conversation, Brian, I can feel that from you as a leader of your business and as a visionary for the industry that you're in. And I hear you, we just hired another person in our team that's replacing a couple contractors that we used to have supporting us. That scares me. I got more mouths to feed. That's more of a commitment for me to do business development, but I know in my gut it's the right move if I want this company to grow. So we are simpatico on that level. Brian Volk-Weiss:You went to Kellogg, I didn't. So take to put a grain a salt, but I believe you're right. Chris Erwin:So Brian, before going into rapid fire, I just want to give some kudos to you. I have really only gotten to know you through this interview and a little bit of prep before. And it feels like to me that you are really fulfilling your destiny as a creator and storyteller, which I put the different interviews of people that I have on the podcast together. And I just had Doug Bernstein, from House of Highlights. And that's a new social media native sports brand. Doug was all about sports since age three.