“You have to create this environment that the person’s comfortable in, that’s a big part of it. And I don’t actually like to use the word interview, especially when I coach people or advise people who are starting podcasts. You don't ever want to use the word ‘interview’ because interview implies question answer, question answer, question answer, whereas a conversation is a back and forth, it’s people sharing ideas.”-- Joe Pardavila

My next guest has produced over ten thousand hours of audio content over the course of his career in podcasting and terrestrial radio. He was a radio personality and producer on the legendary New York City radio station, 95.5 PLJ, where he was part of the iconic Scott & Todd in the Morning. He studied Sketch & Improv Comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade and was a founding member and actor in the New York-based sketch comedy group Clip Show. The group performed at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater and the People’s Improv Theater, and their video sketches have been featured on Funny or Die and the Huffington Post. He’s also the co-director, writer, and producer of the award-winning horror satire The Witches of Bushwick and currently serves as the director of podcasts for Advantage Media Group/ForbesBooks.

His name is Joe Pardavila and, as you can probably tell, he’s spent much of his life understanding good audio and good conversation. His book Good Listen talks about the secrets behind creating compelling conversations and powerful podcasts.  Sounds like he’ll fit right in here, so let’s get to it!

As always, if you have any questions for my guest, you’re welcome to reach out through the links in the show notes.  If you have questions for me, just visit www.audiobrandingpodcast.com where you’ll find all sorts of ways to get in touch. Plus, subscribing to the newsletter (on the www.audiobrandingpodcast.com webpage) will let you know when the new podcasts are available.

In Love with Radio

As the interview starts, we talk about Joe's early memories of sound and how he used to stay up late at night as a child to secretly listen to sports news on the radio, "I would be in my bedroom underneath my blankets," he recalls, "listening to my little radio till 3 o'clock in the morning to see what the Mets had done." That radio under the blankets, he says, was a lifeline in the days before the internet and news on demand, and it changed the way he thought about sound, media, and particularly the power of radio.  "That was sort of my connection," Joe says, "to the way I fell in love with radio."

Opening Up the World

Joe goes on to tell us how he came to work for WPLJ and Scott & Todd in the Morning, as a college internship turned into a surprise job offer. "I didn't have to think twice about it," he says. "I was like 'sure, who needs school?' And then that sort of opened my world up." He quickly progressed in his newfound career and, as he explains, "I ended up running the morning show by the time the morning show was blowing up in 2019." We talk about his mentors and how they influenced his career, and how a mentor can sometimes be just as valuable for the mistakes they teach you to avoid as the advice they offer. "One thing people don't realize about mentors and mentorship," he notes, "is it's not only the good things you can learn from your mentors. It's also the bad things."

Good Listening

Next, we talk about his foray into podcasting and writing his first book. "I was like 'I want to do podcasting,'" Joe reflects, "'but I don't want to do the same thing I'm doing on the air.'" His first podcast ended up being a collaboration with renowned sex researcher Zhana Vrangalova in part, he says, "because that's something I would never be able to discuss on the radio." Podcasting soon led him to an unexpected new creative venture, his new book Good Listen. “It turns out as I was teaching folks to be podcasters,” he explains, “I was like ‘this could be useful for other people.’”

A Guest in Your House

As the first half of our interview comes to a close, Joe tells us about a "magic moment," as he calls them in his book, that happened in his own life while running a marathon to help raise awareness of Huntington's disease. We talk about his unforgettable run through the five boroughs of New York, and he tells us how an awkward interview question with Taylor Swift early in his career taught him a valuable lesson when it comes to helping turn interviews into genuine conversations. "Create the safest place for your guest," Joe advises, "because you want them to be able to feel like they're a guest in your own house... You want to create this interview, conversation, podcast experience, what have you, to the point where that person feels comfortable to go into your fridge and grab a soda."

Episode Summary

• How Joe’s childhood memories of the radio led to his broadcast career
• Joe’s start in radio, from college intern to show producer and radio personality
• How radio led to his podcasting career and his first book
• Magic moments and one such moment from Joe’s everyday life
• What Taylor Swift and the Ebola virus taught Joe about interviewing

Tune in next week for the second half of our interview as Joe tells us his strategy for asking the right interview questions, his history of improv training with the Upright Citizens Brigade, what he believes makes a compelling podcast, and the one person he’d most like to someday interview.

Connect with the Guest

Connect with Joe Pardavila on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joepardavila/

Follow Joe Pardavila on Twitter: https://twitter.com/joepardavila/

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Editing/Production by Humberto Franco - https://humbertofranco.com/