Welcome to a VERY SPECIAL crossover podcast episode between @FoodAboutTownPodcast / @LunchadorPodcasts and the sister shows That Sounds Terrific in the 585 (@soundsterrific) and That Sounds Terrifying (@thatsoundsterrifying) hosted by Christine Green (@chrissygreenny), Nick Koziol (@kozioln), and Jess DiCotas (@rocjessy)!

The crew talks about the origin of each of their shows, the challenges of being positive, the importance of genuine engagement, where they explore how storytelling can bridge gaps between diverse perspectives and promote community building. Each host brings their distinct flair to the table and celebrate the creative endeavors that make the 585 special!

Links

thatsoundsterrific.com - 585mag.com (@585mag) - lunchador.org

Mentioned in this episode:

Joe Bean Roasters

Joe Bean Coffee - Coffee that lifts everyone. https://shop.joebeanroasters.com

Behind the Studio Door

Behind the Studio Door, hosted by Molly Darling and Christian Rivera, takes listeners on a exploration of artists and their creative processes. Through deep and meaningful conversations, they uncover the stories and experiences that shape the outward expression of their work.

Dialed In: A Coffee Podcast

Get Dialed In to the world of coffee with Aaron and Wade! Tastings, coffee news and opinion and more! https://dialedincoffee.captivate.fm

Well, that music means it's time for another episode of Just Can't Not Wait a Second.

It's also episodes of other shows.

Guests, why don't you introduce yourselves?

This is Christine Green from that Sounds terrific in the 585 along with Nick Koziel and Jess Dakotas, who are from that Sounds Terrifying.

Welcome to the Crossover Episode 3 podcast Crossover.

A lot of cheering for that.

Yeah, it deserves it.

We all get along too.

It's wonderful.

In the same room for the first time.

It's awesome.

Well, it's got to be a little bit different because I think most of the time you're recording remote for all the shows, right?

Yeah, we are Zoom and there, there.

It's a very different feel when you're in.

When you're doing a remote interview.

I was just producing an episode of behind the Glass, one of the shows on the Lunchadore network yesterday.

We actually ended up doing over three separate recording sessions this time.

One was in person, two people were remote, different hosts.

Usually we're very coordinated.

We'll have six people in here doing it all at once.

And you know, the zoom recording, I don't envy it.

I love having the control of every aspect of this recording.

Yeah.

Like my goal with the recording is like when, when I have people leave, if I'm producing a show by the time they get home, I can have it uploaded and ready for posting by the time they get home.

That's why that's awesome.

But that's all process and I have so much control over everything that happens here that I can do it all in pre production instead of post editing.

Sure.

But I imagine like doing it all remote requires more of that work.

You know, the launch changes and you know, adding sounds and that stuff changes too.

Iceman.

Yeah, especially when that sounds terrifying.

It's all Nick.

All Nick.

I couldn't speak to it at all.

He's.

He's our, like our wonder guy.

He does everything and we just show.

I just show up.

Yeah, I show up and I'm like, I do an introduction and then I.

Yeah, then we gab.

Yeah.

Yeah.

It is really nice having that person.

My, my co founder, Matt Austin is also.

He handles a lot of the editing.

You know, the higher end editing.

Like when we're doing the audiobooks for in this Moment or some of the other projects that we're talking about working on.

Like if we're going to do more of a, like a journalistic thing, like an edited, like a true crime show or you know, some sort of news Related thing that would require, you know, the attention of editing versus a conversational thing.

Like, it's great to have that person.

Do you like being that person, Nick?

I mean, I do if it was my only job.

But it gets tough when it's not right.

Same, you know, and then, you know, with.

With that sounds terrific.

In the 5, 8, 5, it's pretty simple.

You know, you clip the beginning and you clip the, you know, the end.

And it's like that early chatter that you have.

And a lot of times we do refer back to it, like with our guests and stuff.

Sure.

But with.

That sounds terrifying.

Especially when we're telling stories, we want to have, like, background music and then we want to try to, like me, put some sound effects in there.

Although Jess does really good sound effects on her own, so sometimes I don't even need to put them in there.

I'm like, yes, she made the sound.

That's amazing.

Don't need to.

Anything.

Yeah, yeah, I like that.

It's a dark and stormy night.

Did someone make a pig sound on the last one about the sow?

I can't remember.

I didn't make that.

But, yeah, he put that in.

We found that.

So, like, free, like, I forget what.

It's like, free.

Audiosound.com or something like that.

One of the.

A couple of the shows, like, we have, like, I've had my son, like, actually, you know, when he was laughing, I had his laughter in there.

I've had.

Well, you have a pig.

Yeah, you have a pig.

You could have gone out there and just been like, come here, pig.

Some of the.

Poke that pig.

Some of the squealing.

Well, most of the squealing was because I don't like to agitate him, but, like, the grunting was him.

And then there were some, like, really agitated, like, you know, squealing.

So he doesn't want to agitate.

They do, like, they have happy grunts.

Yes.

And people misunderstand the grunts, but they.

Got happy grunts and they have, like, they call it popcorning.

It's especially prevalent in guinea pigs, like, where they, like, pop up and they're, like, really excited and they, like, hop around.

It's called popcorning.

But Pudge will do that, too.

And.

And actually, since the winter's been happening, he hasn't been outside too much.

So not to get on a total tangent, but he.

Popcorn.

The other day when he got to go outside, he was so excited because they can't really jump, but they, like, kind of.

Yeah.

Wait, can we rewind please.

No, no, like, I mean about this pig thing.

So guinea pigs and pig.

Pigs are related.

Oh, I don't know if they're, like, related related, but, like, I know, like, when you think about guinea.

We've had guinea pigs and we've had true pigs.

So, like, the guinea pigs will, like, call.

Do something called popcorning, where they kind of, like, do this, like, hop thing where they kind of.

I don't know, they get excited.

Yeah.

I'm like a.

A Trekkie.

So I think of the tribbles, you know, like the little shaking kind of a thing.

I don't know.

But I had never seen.

I.

Pigs did it like actual pigs until we had pudge, so.

So they're.

They're closer.

Related.

Related to capybaras, so.

Oh, yeah.

So love one of those.

They're big rodents.

So guinea pigs are rodents, like capybaras.

Yeah, that's what I was like.

Wait, pigs and guinea pig.

It was very confusing.

I mean, speaking of cute animal things, I love like, when I see the videos of capybaras where there's pelicans trying to chomp on them, and they're just sitting there, just looking placidly or, like, closing their eyes, like they're getting massaged.

Yeah.

Because the pelicans can't eat a capybara.

They're just chomping on them.

Are the capybaras the ones that throw their young, like, if they're threatened, the baby.

So that was.

So that was lemmings, where they were jumping off of cliffs.

No.

Or you're thinking of threatened.

It's in the.

It's in the book, actually.

This is funny.

I was just talking about this.

My hairdresser today, and it was.

You're not a bad mom.

There's worse moms than you.

It's a book.

It could be possums, because possums hang on to the back.

Yeah.

I don't think.

But they're pretty.

They're pretty durable.

Really cute.

Because capybaras are very cute, right?

Oh, yeah, yeah.

It's one of those very cute animals.

And, like, it's holding the baby, and then if, like, something is coming at it, throws the baby at it and runs away.

Yeah.

It's like, that's a bad mom.

By the way, Jess, hair looks great.

Oh, thank you.

It.

I know that.

I'm pretty sure the Capaveras are also the ones that, like, can swim with alligators or crocodiles where, like.

And they don't attack them.

It's like one of the only animal.

I don't understand why that like would happen.

Right.

I think, I think it's vibes.

Yeah.

I was going to say they're too chill.

It's just vibes.

That's cool.

Yeah.

Start to remember that.

If I remember in like alligator infested.

Water, it's cocas or.

Oh, quokas.

Yes.

Quokas and some other marsupials will loosen the pouch muscles, causing their young to fall out, which can serve as a distraction for predators and allow the mom to run away.

Sounds like we're blaming Australians again.

So.

Oh my gosh.

It's like Monty Python run away.

So, I mean, we, we're obviously having a good time.

This is, you know, the benefit of having people that do recordings is we just have a good time.

Yeah.

I don't know.

Let's, let's talk about the shows a little bit.

So yeah, let's go into the background of, you know, what's good in the 585.

Let's talk about that first because that's, you know, I think how I, I had heard about these shows before, but that's kind of where I started getting more in tune with what was going on with all the shows.

So talk a little bit about that and how this partnership came to play.

Sure.

Well, maybe I'll start with history a little bit and then we'll kind of get to the.

Where the partnerships kind of happen.

So like way back in like Covid days, a good friend of mine said, you know, hey, Nick, you have to start like a movement.

Right.

I was out of the job, I was looking for something and I'm like, I need to kind of get in front of people.

So that's kind of how that sounds.

Terrific was born, you know, like, I'm going to feature people, especially non profits at the time, that are doing like terrific things in their community.

And like, let's just get it out there so that I can also get in front of these people and then maybe get offered a job.

Right.

And then we kind of flash forward a little bit after a lot of like interviews and starting off.

And I shared this with you off the air, Chris.

Like, you know, I used to like read off of a piece of paper, like questions like, Bernadette, what is your favorite color?

And then like stare and wait, you know, and it was very boring.

And in fact I even redid our first episode.

But then I realized that, you know, flash forward a couple seasons.

I'm like, we started.

That sounds terrifying.

And I'm like, I love the dynamic between Jess and I having a co host and I really wanted to concentrate more on my community.

I was jumping from, like, thing to thing all across the world.

Even with that sounds terrific.

And I'm like, you know what?

I really need to start something where we're concentrating on the terrific things that are happening here in the 585.

And that's kind of like where the second rendition of that Sounds Terrific happened.

But I kind of jumped ahead a little bit, so.

But why don't we have.

Why don't we have you talk a little bit, Christine, about why?

Why 585?

Why 585?

Well, I don't remember what issue it was, but it was last year.

Sarah Killip, who is one of our really great writers, wrote a story and did photos about.

That sounds terrifying.

And that sounds terrific.

And so we had.

Well, I'll rewind even further.

We.

I first met you and you at the Union Tavern.

Yeah, that's right.

And we shout out to Kelly Bush, new member of the Lunchador Podcast Network.

Really?

With Bossy.

With Bossy Roc.

Kelly and Kelly joined up, so now they're working with us as well.

That's amazing.

Kelly and Kelly are great.

Yeah, they're really cool people.

Yeah, they're very cool.

So, yeah, so we sat at this table together and it was a spooky meeting, kind of.

Right.

Because you were a launch of that sounds terrifying.

Really.

Right.

Yeah, you gave us.

You gave me a little card, gave us the launch.

So we.

So then we decided to write the story with this.

Sounds really interesting.

It's really good.

And then I think you just said, let's get lunch one day.

I want to talk to you about something.

And you said, what about, you know, would you be interested in co hosting?

I think you just said like an episode or two and see if you like it.

And of course, I talk so much and all the time.

And I was like, sure, sure.

All I have to do is get on Zoom and have a conversation with people.

And so that's how.

That's how we kind of got started.

And so while we were talking earlier about, again, off air, about how Nick is really the powerhouse behind all the technical.

Every everything technical, from the Zoom meeting to the recording to the audio to everything where I come in is one my charming personality and gift of gab.

But also, like, I do the scheduling and I write the blog posts and I try and help.

You do help.

I do help.

I do help.

That part is, you know, as somebody who is certainly more likely to do just the work.

Like, I love the process of setting up.

I love the process of planning the stuff I don't like is reaching out to people.

I love when I have them in the room.

And I don't mind reaching out, but it's the thing I, I fail at the most is reaching out to people to, you know, get them over.

Because the answer is going to be yes.

Like, I know lots of these people and I look at the list of people I haven't had over like 10 plus years and I'm like, God, I really suck at that side of this sometimes.

Like, I've known them for a decade.

Yeah.

And I hadn't had them over.

So it's great to have that, you know, split of, hey, I know what I'm good at.

Well, and neither you or Jess give yourselves enough credit.

Like the content is so important too.

And like I wouldn't have liked, know half the content in some, in some situations, Jess is carrying the show.

You're carrying the show with questions at like so 3/4 of the content.

So that's very helpful to me.

Talk.

We talk.

I wasn't going to like label it.

That way, but yeah, yeah, I also jump from topic to topic.

Yeah.

Well, and then also, you know, the partnership with, you know, working with Christine, but also, you know, having that funnel and you know, soft tie to 585 magazine as well does aid that funnel of people being available.

And also, you know, is nice to have that little accent to what the magazine's doing.

Yeah, no, I thank you for bringing that up.

That is really important to me.

I, I feel like we're in this multimedia world.

Right.

Everyone wants to see, hear, touch, read every.

Nothing is just, there's no one way to get a message across.

So I think this kind of crossing over between audio and socials and the magazine will help not just in terms of numbers driving people to all these different ones, but reinforce the community we're trying to highlight.

Like, oh, you read the magazine, maybe you're in the magazine and you're on the show and then suddenly you have a connection and suddenly you have a friend and then you have a business associate and have another networking opportunity.

And it's, it's, it sounds so cheeseball and cliche, but it is community creation and it's, it's important.

That's how life is fun.

We can say all these things about, you know, again, business and everything, but like, we just want to be connected to people and have a good time.

Well, and it also like is Another way to learn.

So, like, when you think about the magazine, not everyone reads a magazine.

Not everyone gets it.

Like, so you get the audio, you get the video, and, like, get to hear a little bit more in a different angle, you know, off the air.

Again, Chris, we were talking about, like, you know, some people are writers and some people just like to have a conversation.

Some people like to just hear the conversation while they're driving to work, like an hour away, like me, you know, and that definitely is something that it's just another avenue for us to reach people and tell people about what's going on.

Exactly.

I think there's something to be said too, with not being shy about trying to accomplish something is.

It's easy.

I know.

I find it very easy to feel like I'm burdening somebody to create the thing.

And, you know, I love.

I.

What I've.

It's helped to internalize that.

Hey, I'm trying to do something good.

I'm trying to benefit what's going on and not being.

Not shy about it, but not feeling.

Huh.

Like trying puts you out there in a way where you can get attacked or get.

Oh, I didn't quite accomplish what I said I was wanting to accomplish.

Not shying away from the challenge.

It's very vulnerable to do.

Yeah.

All the things we do.

Right.

And in our quote unquote, in our day jobs and our other.

All of us, I think, have.

Have these kind of challenges, and then we come together and to do writing or podcasting or music or whatever we do.

And it's very vulnerable because people.

There are lots of critical, terrible people, but it is.

It's very vulnerable.

It can be really scary.

But once you start to develop that habit, and I think you're right.

Is never forgetting at the end what we're trying to do.

I mean, we're not trying to make a bunch of money.

We're not trying to become the most famous podcasters who end up, you know, at some podcast award in Hollywood or something.

We're trying to, like, make friends with people and highlight the coolest stuff that's happening, and there's value in that.

So.

Yeah, but all that other stuff would be nice.

Yeah.

I mean, but Nick is trying to get, obviously rich.

That's all.

Yeah, completely rich.

We're gonna be so rich in this podcast.

But I.

Also true.

For the.

For the.

That sounds terrifying.

Like it's.

It's a different story you're telling, but you're still.

You're creating community, you're having fun, you're we're all.

We're all little kids who want stories told to us.

And I think all four of us are doing that, I hope.

And I always feel really invigorated after a podcast.

Even like, right before I'm like, oh, my God, I got to get to do the podcast.

I got to comb my hair.

And like, yeah.

You know, you get all kind of worked up, like, oh, I got so many things to do.

And then you're like, that was so awesome.

Yeah.

I think that's the thing is you work it up in your head.

As soon as I sit down, like, I can be exhausted after a long day at the day job, and as soon as I sit down, it just feels right.

And I.

My day ends up feeling more complete.

Yeah.

And it's.

Especially when you get a great guest.

Right.

I mean, I remember listening to one of the early episodes of the new Partnership, and I think it was the local comics writer.

Oh, Jackie Davis.

Yeah.

Underpants and overbites and somebody who I've been reading for years, and before I knew she was in Rochester.

Oh, that's cool.

And it was, you know, such a great conversation with somebody who in town, almost nobody knows her.

They know the work and they also don't know it's in Rochester.

Exactly.

And there's a lot of people like that around where this exploration of people doing great things is almost.

It's almost just a completely deep well where you can never know enough.

I always use the example of, you know, one of the guys.

His stuff sells in Wegmans all the time.

Like, delirious.

Right.

You see his T shirts.

Yeah, yeah.

Every time I go there.

So delirious.

You see.

All the time.

He has a shop at the public market.

You see his stuff on power boxes all around town.

Like, oh, yeah, delirious.

We know.

We know who that is.

Except for nobody knows Mike.

Nobody knows Mike.

He is a wildly private person.

Like, everybody knows Delirious.

Nobody knows Mike.

Right.

Is that fascinating?

He is so non visible.

And I love that we have all those different angles here in town where you get the people who are super visible and we're.

I'm so Rochester, and I love them.

Like, Sean Dunwoody is a great example.

Yeah, he's great.

Or Magnus, you know, part of the network as well.

Magnus is such a visible artist in Rochester.

If you know anything about the art scene, you know those guys.

You have to.

And then there's the people who are also super present, but nobody knows them except for their circle.

And it's Pretty cool.

And it's interesting that you.

You pulled in Jackie to the conversation because, like, she has a certain medium that she's in and, like, everyone laughs at, like, it's.

It's basically a journal, a diary of her life.

And she's just so incredibly funny on the show.

And you kind of hear some of the cool behind the scenes kind of things that are going on in her life and how she comes up with her craft and everything, and it's very interesting.

And then you go over to like the other.

I called the yin and yang of the shows.

So that sounds terrific.

And then there's that sound.

Terrifying.

And it's a lot of times the things you don't want to talk about or discuss or whatever.

And I mean, Jess, why don't you tell us a little bit about how, like, terrifying.

Yeah.

How we came to be.

Yeah.

You know, it's horrible to do a podcast while I have, like a.

A thing going on.

So I apologize.

That's.

It's per.

It's perfect for the tone of the show.

I have you.

You need.

You need more whiskey and you need more colds.

I do.

I do.

This is.

Hey, we're right.

Things are scary.

Like Wolfman Jack.

Does anyone listening remember Wolfman Jack?

I saw him in the documentary Weird about Weird Al.

Oh, well, there you go.

Played by Jack Black in that one.

There you go.

Love Jack.

Very good.

I saw it.

No, you're fine.

You're fine.

Yeah, so, I mean, that.

That sounds terrifying.

Really just came to be because of Nick.

We were at dinner.

We talked about it in the podcast, too.

How we came to be where I had.

So I have.

It's so weird to me to say this out loud, but I have.

I have abilities of like, mediumship and empathic abilities.

Not Liam Neeson abilities.

No, a special set of skills.

You have a special set of skills as well, but I'm not going to talk about that on this podcast.

We can talk about that at a different time.

That's going to be a whole other podcast.

I will find you.

Yeah, it is.

My favorite genre of movie, by the way, is somebody who was the best.

They're out due to extraordinary circumstances.

They're brought back in and they have to kill everybody.

That's my favorite genre of movies.

That'd be a bad part in my show.

Jess is back and now she has to kill everybody.

No, I speak to dead people or I can.

I don't do it all the time.

It will just kind of happen.

I don't.

I don't make money off of that.

That is not a business.

I do.

Don't call me asking for me to talk to your grandma.

I will not do it.

I do it for special circumstances.

And I had this experience that particular day that I was going to.

Was it just like, happy hour or dinner with you and.

And our friend Ashley?

Yeah, it was before improv.

Yeah, we went before improv.

So we're.

Nick and I are both in improv and accommodate the Carlson.

So.

Shameless plug.

Nice.

So we had gone to dinner, and I had had this experience where the woman who.

This sounds weird.

So she.

She cleans my house, and she was up in my bathroom, and the lights were flickering, and she was like, this is so weird.

The lights have been flickering all day.

I don't know what's happening.

I feel like someone's around me.

And then all of a sudden, I had this experience that I've really never had before where I've.

I've.

I've explored my mediumship abilities before.

I've.

I've talked to the other side.

That's.

But it wasn't like this.

All of a sudden, I just got, like, these downloads of these people, and I saw these people in.

It's hard to explain it other than, like, it looked like they were in.

You know, when you look at the sun and you look away, like, the green that you see, it looked like that.

And I could like, physically kind of see that.

And it looked like a Rolodex of people that were all with her.

And there were people with her, and they all had messages, and they were very personal messages.

And she basically was like, oh, my God.

Oh, my God.

And.

And I'll just, like, say that there was one guy that was in particular just saying that he was okay.

And I kept seeing, like, this guy, and he kept saying, blue plaid, blue plaid.

I'm blue plaid.

I'm wearing my blue plaid.

Or something like that.

And I was like, he just.

He's a bigger guy.

He looks like this.

I got his whole description down.

He looks like he's in a blue plaid shirt.

He just keeps talking about blue plaid, blue plaid.

She goes, oh, my God.

I don't know who that is.

I don't know who that is.

And she was like, wait.

And she immediately, all of a sudden, like, knew who that was.

Looked him up on Facebook and said, this was him.

This was him.

It looked exactly like him.

And he was wearing blue plaid in almost every single picture of him.

Like, different blue plaid shirts.

It's all he wore.

Was blue plaid.

And so that was like, amazing to me because I had this validation and I was like, I'm not.

I mean, maybe I am crazy, but I'm not that crazy.

I have this validation that I was.

I was right.

So I was so excited to tell my friends.

Like, and.

And I've gotten to the point where I just don't.

I don't care if you think I'm crazy because I know what I experience.

Right.

Sure.

So I just.

I told them the story and I was like, this happened.

And I don't.

I think I said, like, I don't care if you believe me or not.

Like, this happened.

Just.

Just happened.

And so Nick.

I guess that.

That touched a nerve.

So Nick and I ended up talking the rest of that dinner, and Ashley was just like, I have no idea what you're talking about.

I have no idea what you're talking about.

We're talking about, like lights turning on because you're walking under them and like all sorts of different experiences back and forth.

And like, yeah, we.

We were pretty sure that we scared the heck out of Ashley.

Yeah.

But she was fine.

She talked to us again.

It was.

Yeah, she did.

But, yeah, I mean, I guess I've always had that interest in paranormal because I've always had experiences since I was a kid.

So I was trying to validate what I was experiencing.

Like, am I crazy?

Should I go to a doctor or am I for real?

And you know, I.

I'm happy to say that I.

The doctor said I'm fine and.

We.

Need a second opinion.

Yeah.

And.

Yeah, so that.

Yeah, so that.

That was like the.

The start of it.

I just.

And.

And Nick called me like a week later and he was like, hey, do you want to do a podcast?

And I was like, heck, yeah, that would be amazing.

Let's do that.

See, I find that very interesting because as somebody who is a distinct unbeliever in everything, you know, I.

I think where my struggle is often is, you know, one.

Not.

Not to an individual is provability.

Right.

Is the prove ability.

I think my biggest concern, as with many things that are belief based, is people who are taking advantage of others.

Oh, sure.

Which is why, like, my wife and I have really enjoyed watching some of the old videos of the amazing Randy James Randi.

He's a.

He was a, you know, an illusionist kind of guy.

You know, he's a magician and was very honest about, hey, I'm not.

I am tricking you.

This is, you know, I'm not performing magic.

Yeah.

I am performing something that'll make you interested and excited.

It's an illusion.

Yeah.

And he was always very honest about that.

And the stuff that was, that he dedicated the rest of his career to was not disproving, but for people who were, you know, taking advantage of people and taking lots of their money and doing these things, he basically said, I have a running $100,000 prize.

If you can scientifically prove what is happening, I will give you $100,000.

And he did that for years on TV and on talk shows and other things.

And I always found the thing fascinating.

It's not that for me, it's the same as almost anything else.

The same as religion to me and other things is if it makes you, hey, your experiences, your experiences, I can't doubt that.

And if it makes you a better person and hey, you can help somebody else and it's gone, well, I'm all for it as long as it's not a deleterious thing for others.

Right.

And that's my focus.

And when you mentioned that is why I felt comfortable bringing it up is like, hey, I'm not trying to make, I'm not trying to take advantage of somebody.

I'm not trying to leverage their money.

But that's where a lot of that, that stuff goes.

Right.

Whether or not, you know, this is where you get into real charlatanism where people who are purely doing, you know, the cold reading tricks and everything else and taking advantage of people who are desperate.

And that's the stuff that always bugs me because I same.

Yeah.

And it's, I think that's ethics is first, regardless of anything else.

Yeah.

And, and that's, you know, ethics should be first in all points.

Right.

And also I'm a realtor, so ethics are first.

Right.

Absolutely.

Realtors don't have a good, there's not a high opinion of us.

You know, been a lot, been a.

Lot of interesting things.

Not that I want to take the rest of the hour and talk about, talk about all the realtor issues over the last couple of years, but it's been fascinating to read about.

Yeah, I've been, I've been through it.

I'm a director on the board.

Like, I, you know, I deeply understand.

I'm in there.

Yeah.

And so that means that my ethics have to be on par, but also just I believe in being a good human.

Yeah.

And you are.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Yeah.

I strive for that.

You know, I, I, but in general.

Yeah.

As far as like my, I guess I, I don't know what to call it.

Spiritual practice, because I'm not religious.

I was born and raised very religious, and I got out of that in college when I started to have my eyes opened in a different way.

And so, like.

But overall, I'm not.

I don't do it for money.

I don't do it for, like, clout.

I just.

If somebody's there and they need help, I'm going to do it and I'm going to say it, you know, And I do have clients that in real estate that will be like, is this house haunted?

And I will sit there and I'll focus on that house, and I will let them know what I feel.

If I feel something.

Yeah.

If I don't, I don't, you know?

You know, and I guess in a lot of ways that could work against me in real estate.

Right?

Like, yeah, this house is haunted.

You do not want it.

You know, like, yeah, but.

And I've had that conversation with people.

So, you know, I don't bring it up in my day job unless somebody, like, brings it up.

Sure.

But, yeah, with.

As far as, like, that sounds terrifying.

I've always loved, like I said, spooky stories, and I loved that Nick loved spooky stories.

And, you know, I listened to podcasts like that as well, and I thought, God, how fun would it be to do something similar?

Right.

And it could be just, like, local.

But we've talked to people internationally, and it's just so cool.

And we had Christine on as well.

Oh, it was so fun.

It was fun.

I would do it anytime you guys want me back or something, because it is.

It's just fun.

I love a spooky story.

I love having spooky experience.

Well, I shouldn't say that.

You say, I love having spooky experience.

Then you haven't experienced it into your life.

I got my.

I got protections.

I know what I'm doing.

Yeah, I'm not.

I think.

I just.

I.

If you listen to our first story on the podcast where we talk about our own experiences, that experience that I had where I saw what looked like a little boy in my own bedroom really made me feel like before.

I just wouldn't talk about it as much.

Right.

I.

Oh, I like spooky things.

Whatever.

I like ghost shows.

But I wouldn't say, like, I didn't want people to think I was weird.

You know, I'm actually pretty.

Like, I don't know.

Yeah, we still struggle with that now.

Like, sometimes we'll talk about, like, should we.

Should we put this on LinkedIn.

Yeah.

You know, like, should we talk about this?

And I've.

And I have cut things out, like, you know, saying, oh, maybe we shouldn't talk about, you know.

Yeah.

And we probably shouldn't, but it's just, like, there's still.

We're still learning that comfort level.

Yeah.

But, yeah, I just.

There's a line.

Yes.

And.

And I'm.

I'm very professional.

And, you know, I do all these things.

I'm in a band, I do improv, and I just.

I don't really put it out there.

But after that experience where I saw that ghost boy, I was like, I don't care who knows.

I'm going to.

I know what I saw.

I know.

I was wide awake.

I know.

You know, and I was like, that was kind of a launching point for me to say, like, I do not care what people think.

If this comes up in conversation, I'm telling it.

Well, I think what we're gonna do is I don't care what people think either.

We're gonna go commune with the ghost boy, and we're gonna be right back.

All right, we're back with the second half of our conversation.

We're gonna talk more.

That sounds terrifying.

And then we're also gonna have the tables turn, and everybody's gonna talk to me about different stuff.

And I was just mentioning in the break that sometimes I love the challenge of not knowing the questions or what people are going to talk about during a podcast.

I know it can be scary sometimes if you don't know what's coming up or you don't know too much about them.

Sure.

I love sitting in the producer's seat sometimes.

And even as the host, I love the challenge of not knowing what's going to come out of somebody's mouth and then pivoting and talking about something.

Like, I didn't know I was gonna bring up the Amazing Randy today.

But, like, it's also, I love, you know, that wide range of knowledge that can be so fun.

To jump around in these kind of conversations is such a delight.

And that, to me, is.

Is the crux of lifestyle journalism.

And it's something I strive to teach.

You know, I have students, interns coming in.

Is.

Yes, you can go into it.

An interview with someone in.

In the.

In arts or lifestyle.

I mean, obviously, we're not doing breaking news or politics with your list of questions, but I always encourage a flow of conversation because you're never going to know what.

What your subject is going to say.

Have a conversation, build off of what people are talking about.

And sometimes it's a learned skill for people.

I, as you listeners, have probably figured out over the last half hour, can talk all the time about anything.

But some people, it's really hard.

But I.

I think it's an important skill in podcasting, in writing, in.

In community building, is being able to have a conversation.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

And both our shows, like, both.

That sounds terrifying, and that sounds terrific.

We.

I like having those unexpected conversations, I think, and that sounds terrifying.

We do a lot more, I guess, research around having a story prepared and.

And whatnot.

But I think the fun of that show actually comes from the discussion afterwards where Jess and I are kind of going into, like, oh, what the heck was that guy thinking?

Or, like, whatever, you know, like.

Or, like, how outrageous that story really was.

And, like, you know, that could never happen.

Or this guy's, like, making this up kind of.

You know, it's like.

It's like watching a horror movie.

Like, I remember watching a movie a year or so ago.

I think it was called Barbarian, Just a Modern Series of movies.

And, like, basically, they keep on going down deeper into this basement.

Like, I don't know what's down there.

I'm like, don't go in the pit.

Don't go in the pit.

If you keep going down in the pit, something bad's going to happen.

If there's a pit in your basement and there's stairs to an unknown spot, don't go in the pit.

I don't know.

I think I'm going.

You know what?

I often end up in places in the pit.

In the pit.

I'm like.

Like, I got last shout out to the U of R.

I was in.

I.

I'm dying to talk about this.

If you guys want a short story.

It's a short story.

I am in New Orleans, and this was going into the pit.

So I love going to cemeteries.

I mean, I'm obsessed with cemeteries, as you two know, because I was on the podcast talking about my cemetery obsession.

So I'm in New Orleans.

We go to Metairie Cemetery where Anne Rice is buried, and we.

We couldn't find her mausoleum.

So we go into the big mausoleum, which is called All Saints Mausoleum.

It's one with, you know, thousand, nine thousand people or whatever.

And I.

I didn't get lost, but almost like, I got kind of separated from my friend.

No one was in there.

And I kept turning corners and coming to a wall in.

The smell in there kept getting worse and worse and more upsetting.

And then When I finally found my friend, and again, it was like I felt like if an audience was watching me, they'd be like, no, go left, go left.

Because I was getting really weirdly panicked because the smell was so awful.

And then I.

My friend was like, I don't smell anything.

I'm like, oh, it's dead.

I smell death in here.

It is not okay.

And I can still smell it in my head.

So.

But I'm.

I'm the one.

I go in the pit.

I'll be yelling, don't go.

And I'm like, I was in the pit.

I kept going.

I kept going.

It was bad.

There.

There's my story.

We needed that in the last episode, John.

It hasn't aired yet, but we talked about that sound.

I'm looking up.

Hold on.

There's.

There's something.

God, it's all the Claire's.

You know, there's like, I think five Claire's Psychic Smell Flare.

See that?

That sounds like a very 90s band.

Five Claire.

I know.

I was like, the Five Claires.

Claire Salience.

Claire Salience is when you have the gift of smell.

And, like, you can smell.

Like if grandma's perfume was roses, you can smell roses.

That's me.

Yeah.

So that's.

It's actually more rare than, like, clairvoyance.

You can have more than one Claire.

But I have clairvoyance.

I have clairaudience, which means I can hear.

Yeah.

And I can see.

And so, Claire salience is the gift of smell.

I definitely have that.

Weird smells.

Like you have that.

And taste.

You can.

Like, if some people can taste, I.

Can find that interesting about the smell thing, because the smell is like, what brings memories back to a lot of stuff like that.

Oh, I write about that.

Being the rarest is kind of funny to me.

And then some people, it's very visceral.

Right.

I mean, when they, like.

It's like when I talk about, you know, my wife's better at everything that I am naturally.

Like, she's a naturally better taster than I am.

She's naturally a better writer.

She's a naturally better talker than I am.

I've practiced a lot more.

You love her.

That's such a nice thing.

She's so talented.

But it's.

It's one of those, like, she's naturally better at that stuff.

But then you practice and you do this.

In this pool, I'm like, great that I.

That's really specific.

And I love that it's a fun experience for you, but I can.

Like, I like isolating.

I'm an analytical person when it comes to that.

But I also love that all these things can be experiential.

Yeah.

And that it's.

You have to like what you like.

You have to experience what you experience.

What I was kind of wondering before we pivot on to me talking a lot more, is how do you decide what topics you want to talk about on a show like that?

Because the world of terrifying is vast and differs for every person.

Like, how do you decide on what you want to talk about?

Do you want to talk about it, Nick?

I feel like I've just been talking.

No, I mean, I think you just talked about it.

It is so it's sort of random.

Like, sometimes we do have a plan or like, we're going to talk about this.

And then, like, the last episode that, you know, hasn't aired yet, but it will air before this one does.

Like, I'm like, I found a Civil War story again.

And I'm like, this is awesome.

So it can be very random or it could be what we're feeling.

It could be based on, like, one time, I think we selected a topic because we were at improv and we.

One of us, we had experience about the.

The glass, right?

Oh, yeah, the glass.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, that just suddenly, like, fell.

Or it lifted and flew.

At comedy.

At the girls.

Wait, you both saw this?

So the whole group saw this?

Yeah, the power of radio.

Yeah.

And.

And so we just said, like, okay, Fred.

Like, we just named the ghost Fred.

I don't even know what it was, but.

But we all saw it.

It was just a glass.

And like, I went over there because I was like, yeah, I thought it might be like, oh, it was just, you know, when it's like wet.

Too wet, and then the glow, like, the glass just floats on.

Wasn't like that.

It was literally dry glass up throw.

Like, all of us saw it and it was just so weird.

Like, all the people facing.

Because I think we were in a circle, but all the people, like, we were all just like, what the hell just happened?

And it was like, it wasn't right off the table.

It was like feet from the table.

It was not a fall.

No.

And.

And, you know, again, sort of to kind of answer your question even more, because sometimes we have someone like, like you or another guest comes on or some of the encounters.

And, like, we got to have them on the show, and they can appear immediately.

Yeah.

So that's super fun.

Yeah.

Like, my drummer, right.

In the band.

I'm in.

They.

He.

He was like, yeah, I'm totally into that.

And he had great stories.

My favorite thing that happens with our.

With our podcast is when we're just both like, oh, we got to, like, pick stories.

And our stories, we don't talk about what the subject is, but they line up.

They're, like, similar in some way.

Like the other day, the one that isn't released yet, we were both talking about trees.

Yep.

It was weird.

But that's happened more than closets.

It's more than one.

It's crazy that it happens that, you know, so.

But, Chris, we do want to talk about you.

Yeah.

Oh, we're not going to talk about Loraxes.

I thought we were talking about who's speaking for the trees.

The ghosts are speaking for the trees.

Oh.

Oh, okay.

Yes.

But I mean, I guess, like.

I mean, we got connected at the 585 release party, right?

You came up to our table and we were excited because, like, hey, people are coming up to our table.

But I guess maybe I'll just start off with about us a little bit more.

But, like, what made you interested in, you know, reaching out to us?

Well, I think for.

For somebody that's ended up doing this for longer than, like, not as consistent as I would like to be, but I looked back.

Wow.

So I remember slapping a.

Slapping a phone on a table at the commissary for the brick and mortar and macarolen food trucks, which was directly across the street from where I used to work on Emerson Street.

Like, my first one, I slapped it on table and talked to Paul Vroman over at.

Over at his food truck Depot.

But as somebody who's done it for a long time and up and down, you know, more successful, less successful, posting more, posting less.

You know, I've found myself over the last few years kind of ramping up and figuring out what do I want to do with this?

And I love seeing people try.

I don't care if it's podcasting or magazines or writing, but people who are honestly trying to do something that they care about, I just want to talk to them, because that's where I've found myself, is doing things just because I think it's a good idea.

And I just love seeing other people trying.

And I don't.

I've Mentally passed the point of caring about competition.

Like, I want to do something great, and if people want to listen to my version of great, that's awesome.

Hey, if they want to listen to your version, that's also great.

I don't, like.

There's no competition.

If it's great, it's great.

Right.

I think we just need more good things going on and more people trying to drive positivity.

And positivity can be many different flavors.

Right.

It can be being seen for, hey, this is my side of the world.

I.

This is how I understand the world.

They're being seen by the scary stories just as much as they're seen by the people who are creating great art or writing or teaching classes, you know, on.

On your show.

And I think that's why I love going up and talking to people.

If they're doing something good, I just want to know more.

I'm greedy.

I just want to learn.

Yeah, that's wonderful.

Yeah.

What's cool about that and what.

What I've learned so much about just over the years, especially being in real estate, is that people are so dynamic, you know, like.

Yeah, you can have that same artist, like Magnus Artist.

And then I believe he does mind of Magnus.

Yeah.

As well.

I was on his podcast.

It's great doing my marketing stuff.

So, I mean, like, people are so interesting, you know, like, they're not just one flavor, you know, you have somebody and they do so much, you know, and.

And that is so cool to just learn.

And.

And you could ask that same person about their.

Whatever it is they're doing, their art, and then you could have that same person back on the podcast to talk about their podcast or their whatever.

I think that's so neat.

Like.

Yeah.

Or just the trying.

Like, you were talking about trying, and.

And.

And all these shows are talking about trying to get the word out there above blank, Right.

Yeah.

And I love.

That's kind of what I love about your network, and I'd love to hear more about that, too.

But, like, you're getting so much information out on so many different topics, and you're connecting people at a, you know, a pretty vast length, both on the one side of the mic and then the other side.

The speaker.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I think what I've.

When I take a step back and look at the journey to where I am now, a lot of the.

A lot of the journey starts with a lot of desperation and a lot of wanting to be connected to things and not having something else.

Right.

When I.

When I was younger, I didn't have a thing.

Right.

I had, you know, I had a friend group.

They're great people, but they weren't, you know, I wasn't the core part of the circle.

I was on the periphery and they were very welcoming and good people.

But I wasn't the core of the friend group.

You know, I was desperate to find, you know, a partner in life.

I was desperate to find something that I cared about hard.

You know, I'd watch sports and stuff.

It'd be, you know, do all that.

But I didn't have that thing that made me excited to be part of something.

And I remember going up, I was dating my wife, we're in an apartment and she was, you know, drawing.

She was writing drawing for a children's book that she was commissioned to do.

And I went up and I just remember I was so despondent that I just didn't have that thing that she had.

And it was, you know, that desire for something.

And I just remembered that I had traveled and wrote about food when I was on the road for two months in scenic Fort Wayne, Indiana.

But I was so alone out there that I just wanted to find places that were comforting.

So I went to places.

And before Yelp became much more polluted with everything else, I remember writing just because I just felt so present when I went to those places and I started writing and then I started writing more and I picked it up after that and then started writing on a blog when blogs mattered.

Yeah.

Oh yeah, I had one of those back in the day.

Yeah, you have one of those now.

Yeah, so, yeah, I guess I did.

Yeah.

So like when indie blogs were like a thing and it was.

I started writing.

I got picked up to write restaurant reviews by city because I was doing full length restaurant reviews just on my own.

I was doing full length detailed reviews just because.

Because I felt like I needed to do it.

And then, you know, over time you start getting more integrated and you find the things that you care about more.

And what I found over time is that doing the work and participating in the place that I'm in, you know, giving to Rochester has given me so much more back than I put into it.

Feeling like you're a part, like you're trying to highlight things.

Like I could write about fine dining all day if I wanted to, but the stuff that made me feel better best was writing about the small minority owned restaurants of Rochester.

Yeah.

And that was the stuff that drove me to want to do the next one.

And yeah, it was one one for them.

One for me.

Right.

Because people want to read about the fine dining spots.

They want to read that stuff.

But I wanted to write about, you know, El Pilon Criollo or, you know, write about a Jamaican spot or write about, you know, this specific place that's doing this specific thing.

So all that to be said, everything I do now is focused on helping others get that same feeling.

Yeah.

That I have about doing this.

And hey, I ran a restaurant service for three years called Nominate because we wanted to do that and help small minority owned restaurants.

That was great.

We got to help them with putting money in their pockets.

Now I get to work with, I get to work with 13 other creative people, creative shows that are trying to get their voice out to their community.

I get to mentor.

I get to sometimes just like, hey, you need a place to publish your thing.

Let's, let's go, let's get it done.

And now I get to do both sides.

I get to do my show.

I get to produce like four or five of the shows and I get to sit here and people come to my house and I get to listen to these amazing stories.

I get to hear people talk about their artistic process.

I get to learn about photography, you know, in the shadow of the Kodak tower, you know, that we all live under here in Rochester.

I get to learn about all of these things.

And it all comes to me, what a luxury.

I get to sit here and be confused about somebody talking about something I've never heard of before.

And I get to ask the question, what are you talking about?

Yeah.

How fun is that?

Yeah.

And it just makes me so.

It makes me so genuinely happy to have a real conversation or be involved and help people do this stuff.

And the honest truth is, made me a better person and a happier person and a more connected person, which opens up the next doors of, hey, what else can I do?

Yeah.

And I'm still figuring that out.

I don't know.

But that's, I mean, that's kind of the words behind how I feel about the experience, about doing this whole thing.

Yeah, well, you're, you're doing great.

I mean, for those who are listening, you can or can't see in this room, there are at least four.

If I'm not missing more.

I only put, I only put up 4.

4.

There's more, right?

5.

5 awards from City magazine.

And it's not just from City.

This is voted right.

Of best local podcast for food about town.

And so you're, you're people are resonating with this And.

And so what I want to do, if you don't mind, is rewind a little bit.

And so Food About Town.

Was that your very first podcast?

Yeah, first one I ever did.

I was.

I learned a lot about how to communicate through listening to radio.

You know, at that point, it was guy talk radio.

But there's something special about that conversation, right.

Where you don't take yourself too seriously.

You can roll with the punches.

You're ready for anything.

So I learned how to have conversations through listening to that, and I just decided to do my own.

And, yeah, Food About Town was the first one.

And, you know, I'd say typical formats, you know, an hour interview kind of style, but it can be on almost any topic.

Food and drink adjacent.

And now you have 13 podcasts on your network.

Yeah, 14 right now, I think, might be 15.

Just launched one with Rory Van Grohl and from Ugly Duck and Greg Benoit from the Irondequoit Public Library.

Cool.

Talking about their experience in the hardcore music community and how it's turned them into the adults they are today.

And without you, we wouldn't know about.

I.

We wouldn't know that side of them at all.

Right.

And so I think this is your.

From my perspective, probably all of us, is that you're achieving exactly what you said you wanted to set out to achieve.

You're highlighting great things, and it's amazing.

I think we're all.

And not just the four people in this room.

I think people are inherently creative.

And whether that creativity is just, you know, picking out, you know, your fun outfits or playing games with your children or grandchildren or writing a novel, if you tap into that, which I think you've done here, you can create something wonderful.

And you require less validation, the more happy you are.

Not to say people still don't strive for it.

I know I do, and I fight with myself about it.

We.

I mean, I think we all do, but.

But you're, you know, from our perspective, you're doing.

This is really awesome.

Like, I feel very privileged to sit in this really amazing room talking to you about what you do for the community.

Well, and I.

I love that too.

Like, I love being able to bring people together and feel like they're having a special experience here.

And like, when I mentioned before, the being afraid, not afraid to not fail.

But like, some, you know, my co founder make fun of me for using the term because I end up using too much, but do the bit.

If you say you're gonna do the bit.

Do the bit.

Like, commit to the bit.

Right.

Show up.

Right.

It's.

You're talking about improv, Right?

Right.

Improv works when you commit.

If you're halfway in.

Yep.

People notice.

Exactly.

They know that you're uncomfortable.

At some point, you have to say, I'm doing the bit.

Yeah.

I'm doing this thing now, and I'm going to do it all the way, and then I'm going to do it 10% more than that.

And then people buy it.

Right.

I mean, I love professional wrestling.

Right.

I love watching it.

And it's better than ever because they're committing to the stories.

They're making it real.

They're making us feel like, make somebody feel something.

If I want people to walk in here and I want their first reaction to be, the fuck do you have this in your house for?

Yeah.

I want that reaction.

Right.

And before, I just had a small table.

Like, you know what?

I want to bring the.

I want to bring the heat.

Like, let them feel like they're coming into something special.

For sure.

They deserve to feel like they're coming into something special.

And it's not about me feeling special.

It's about me making them feel like they're doing something special.

Yeah.

And when you came up to us at the table and, like, I can't tell you, and I'm sure you've had this, too.

You can tell you how many people come up to me or over LinkedIn or whatever, say, we want to promote your podcast.

We want to be on your show.

We want it, like.

And I'm like, I'm so turned off from it.

But the genuineness that you express, like, through, like, the passion that you have, I'm like, hey, you know, I wasn't worried with you.

Like, I wasn't worried what, like, how much this is going to cost me, how much, you know, like, all this stuff, you know.

But it.

But it definitely comes across when we meet you in person and you can hear it when we listen to your shows.

And you just really want to get the word out there in a way, even though you own sometimes nothing about what your guests are talking about.

You're the teacher.

Yeah.

And I think so.

I think of an analogy that I was talking to somebody who I don't see very much anymore, but, you know, love the guy.

Love his, you know, his wife.

I knew from college.

I knew him from college.

And a truly.

They're truly great people.

And they had come back and, you know, I'm the same person as I was when they left.

But I'm a different person.

I'm an evolved version of who I was.

And I was talking about all the things I was involved.

And this is a few years ago before.

And he asked a very honest question, right?

The kind of question you don't ask to somebody you don't know really well.

Yeah.

And I was just.

I think it was just remarking on how I was at somewhere and just talking to somebody and just like, learning about them, just because it was random happenstance where I talked to somebody.

And the honest question he had was, how do you care about what they're talking about?

And.

Because he's a very analytical guy, like I am.

And my honest.

My honest reaction was, I think.

And I won't say everybody, because it's not everybody, but almost everybody has something they really care about.

And if I can get them to talk about the thing they really care about, then how could I not be interested?

Exactly.

That is the nail on the head is.

Is, you know, I said before that we're inherently creative creatures.

I think we're also inherent.

We're.

We're students.

You know, I.

I don't.

A friend of mine, many years ago, she's passed away.

She was older.

She was my friend's mother.

And I'll never remember, I should ask my friend, but in her bathroom, she had this framed excerpt from a book.

And it was Merlin the Wizard talking to somebody, like a little kid or something.

I don't know what book it's from.

And he said the kid was saying he was in despair, upset about something.

And Merlin says, when all else fails, learn something new.

And every time I'd go in that bathroom, I would learn something new.

Learn something new.

And you don't have to be.

You don't have to suddenly make it your life, but you can get really involved.

For example, Nick and I talked to someone recently, Susan Kavanaugh, who.

She's into tech and women in tech and all this tech stuff.

And it is so far removed from kind of my life and what I do.

But yet it was so fascinating because she was so passionate, and she genuinely was like, let me tell you, let me teach you this thing.

And I'm like, all right, let me.

Let me be a student.

And I think that's.

That's a position you've put yourself in, is, I want to be a student.

You teach me.

Yeah.

And I also love the challenge of knowing enough about enough things to have a legitimate conversation on almost any topic with Anybody.

And I don't need to know 90% if I know 20% or 10% where I can bring up something to show them that I'm ready.

I'm.

And it's part of respecting just everybody.

I just love having that ability at this point to be able to.

And it's not about the know it all ism.

It's about I really love that challenge of being able to just absorb enough to have that 10% to show that I care.

Right.

Like, I'm not.

I'm not an expert wine taster.

I'm pretty good.

But I know enough to.

To start the conversation with a high level trained sommelier where we can taste seriously and they can teach me something.

Yeah, it's about respecting the people around you enough to know something to say, hey, I want to be there.

I want to be there.

Not just being blank.

It's.

It's both.

And sometimes, yeah, I will get thrown off base.

I'll use an example on one of our shows behind the studio Door, hosted by Molly and her partner Christian, that's really talking about artist process.

And she was interviewing one of her very close friends who was talking about, you know, movement and expression of feminine rage.

And, you know, that that makes sense.

It's not my practice.

But then they were talking about evolutionary astrology.

Those two words make sense to me separately.

The combination of them makes no sense to me at all.

And I was listening to this discussion and trying to absorb it.

And she's sitting where Nick is, right across from me.

My.

The.

The host, Molly.

And she's watching me furiously type into my computer, like, all right, who's the expert in this field?