It's not about sports (although I would love to tackle Aggie athletics in a podcast - but TexAgs has that covered!) but rather current events and hard topics. The two of us pride ourselves in looking at controversial issues from the "gray" areas, before forming opinions. It's not one side or the other, but taking it issue-by-issue. We try and do that, while laughing at the same time.

Check us out. I always brag about the Aggie network, so I wouldn't be surprised if that's what makes the most impactful dent in our growth

We're only two months old. I run the podcast - Ryan Lafield, FTA class of 2012 - and my co-host is a t-shirt sip. He admits it and is the nicest exception to the t-sip rule that there is. He knows his place, and I give him crap about it constantly!

So check us out if you have some time. Especially in the off season! We are on all social media and can be found anywhere podcasts exist.

We're called Stay in the Gray Podcast.

http://stayinthegray.Podbean.com

stayinthegraypodcast.com

Facebook: @stayinthegraypodcast
Instagram: @stayinthegraypodcast
Twitter: @staygraypodcast

Thank you all for any interaction you can give. I'm this industry, it's all about that interaction. Also, we welcome ANY and all feedback. We're passionate about this show, and I want Ags to be proud that a fellow Ag runs it.

Thanks and Gig 'Em

Ryan Lafield '12

Very cool. Best of luck, I will subscribe.

Thank you, sir. Very nice of you!

i'm bored this afternoon and need to grind out some REST API calls to get some metrics for my business.

So... trying Episode 4 in the background. Will report back.

Wow, this is great stuff. Thank you! We want feedback, as we are definitely trying to get better and better. I flat out deleted 1-3 because we were just being silly and added nothing of substance.

You're right, the idea of two guys talking about these things like most of the country…not always completely informed. I've gotten better at doing a little more research before shows, and that will continue. Thanks for giving it a shot!

Hey, I'm 1% of your audience so far.

I've been following a number of podcasts for the past 5-15 years and a common thread among the folks I find interesting is that they fit at least one of these categories:

• Subject Matter Expert
• Very opinionated
• Larger than life personality

Some of the folks I've followed are comedian Joey Diaz, former gossip columnist AJ Benza, journalist John Ziegler, former radio talk show host Tom Leykis, former JuCo Football Coach Jason Brown, sportswriter Jason Whitlock, former NBA 1st Overall Draft Pick - Kwame Brown, and my main nan Uncle Hotep and his partner Hotep Jesus (although I don't really care for HJ).

What I like about Uncle Hotep is that he has expertise in an area that I can't. Might not sound like a SME credential but he's "A Black Man from Exton, Pennsylvania". Uncle Hotep is able to fill a gap in my knowledge that I could never fill myself.

Of course the downside of being too opinionated is that you get fixated on something and alienate your potential audience. I stopped listening to Tom Leykis after 5 years of being a paid subscriber because he had over the top TDS. I'm about to stop listening to John Ziegler for the same reason. When 50%+ of your content is how much you hate Donald Trump, I'm out. I got it the first time, don't need to belabor the point.

Another one I jettisoned was Ben Shapiro. I grew weary of the 10% of his show where he covers the anti-semite issue of the day. I get it, your Jewish. Some people don't like Jews. Some people also say stupid stuff. I just don't have time to listen to the persecution complex and I'd rather listen to somebody who is taking action about something. Also, Shaprio's vax advocacy probably turned me off too.

As far as Joe Rogan, he's cleaned up his act a lot since moving to Texas. Prior to that, I'd only tune in if he had an interesting guest. Otherwise, I get it, you love BJJ and weed. I don't need to hear about it every damn episode.

The sun is still shining out here in Cali and I've got some programming I need to finish on this Friday afternoon so, I'm about to jump ahead to another one of your episodes.

I jumped ahead to Episode 12.

Africa trip sounds hilarious (I've been to Africa a couple times and it's nuts)
I worked with a guy from Sri Lanka and the way he pronounced it sounded like "City Lanka"

Only Fans discussion was kind of entertaining
Reminds me of a discussion I had with a female friend where I explained to her some of the niches that my friends were into. There's something out there for everybody.

Linkin Park as inspiration for a shooting. I must have missed that one.

Committing suicide by mass shooting, good point.
We had a guy commit suicide by cop at my local Home Depot last week.

I think you guys have good rapport but your topics would probably work better if you bring in a guest SME to explain the issues, their position and why.

Looks like you might have already done that in the episode where you brought a nurse in to discuss abortion. Sounds like you'll bring in a firearms SME on a future episode.

Diet discussion
Smoking discussion - that was interesting because I'm not a smoker
Enjoyed the driving / parking / drivers discussion
Whataburger
IT support - pain that we all share.

One of the things that I've observed with several of the podcasters that I've listened to over the years is that a lot of them will have a structure to their show, or some sort of recurring bit.

For example, Tom Leykis used to do Money Monday and Leykis 101. Another segment I used to enjoy was "Why do you hate the homeless?".
Reminds me of a radio bit that Tim Conway Jr. used to do which is "What the Hell is Jesse Jackson Saying?" where he'd play Jesse Jackson sound bytes and callers would try to guess what he actually said.

Jason Whitlock does his Approval Rating.
Hoteps Been Told You has a Hotep Court segment and of course their awards show "The Grifties".
Coach Jason Brown does it more ad hoc but he'll do a top ten list of some Football player category.

Just some ideas to add more structure and consistency to your show.
You've both got good radio voices and your strongest suit is your good rapport.

I think you're off to a good start but need some work to take it to the next level.

Wow, thank you so much. This is really great stuff, and we appreciate the time you've put into the critique. The good thing is that a lot of what you've suggested are things we've discussed as well!

We're sitting here about to do a show now and reading this together will only help us. I'll comment further later. Thanks again!

One other thing that didn't dawn on me until later because it wasn't an issue is your sound quality.

Of the two podcasts I've listened to, you guys sounded great.

The early days of listening to Joey Diaz back in say 2010 or so, when Joey was recording in a garage in North Hollywood were rough.

I've been listening to Uncle Hotep since 2015 and his audio is still unbalanced when he takes callers.

I haven't tried listening on headphones yet so that might be a different experience but, on my computer the sound was good.

That's great to hear, as the quality sound is something that people seem to think is consistent. I credit the equipment that invested in, of course. Good stuff.

I take everything you said seriously, and am very appreciative. I have already improved on things like having a wee bit more research handy, and being able to look things up on the fly. I wish I had a "Jamie" to look things up. We will - just not quite yet.

That's interesting that we have the same thoughts on Shapiro - almost identical. And we definitely don't have TDS. But I agree with you about not alienating half of a potential audience - hence the idea of "gray areas" of issues. I have my opinions, but always want to continue to form them through open-ended conversations and being willing to listen to all sides, no matter how crazy it seems sometimes.

Check out that linkin park story. It was mid-90's of course. I'm trying to get better with dates (i.e. Columbine).

We have about 5 "specialists" guests coming on soon. Trying to get all the logistics for hooking into the recording versus coming in studio. But I agree that it will add a lot of credibility to topics that Trey and I tend to discuss as "non-informed" hosts.

So happy to hear that you think the voices and rapport complement each other well. We've been super close for 25 years and I think that helps us in this regard.

We have a few "recurring" segments that we have been getting in there, but I agree, we need to make it more consistent.

Again, you're great. Thanks for taking the time. We definitely want to take it to the next level. It's been two months. Hopefully, it keeps skyrocketing!

Let me know if you get a chance to listen to any others!

I looked up the Linkin Park killer guy.

Found it on Blabbermouth of all places.
https://blabbermouth.net/news/serial-killer-metallica-and-linkin-park-influenced-me-to-kill

Somehow I'd never heard of this guy.

I had forgotten his name, but it's all coming back now. Blabbermouth seems to have everything!

The nonchalant attitude this guy had when interviewed about it is what is tough for me to hear.

I guess he had just become so numb that in the end it didn't even matter