I have always been a huge fan of podcasts, I have listened to podcasts as far back at 2008 I think it was although I never really listened to them until a few years later. My first real introduction to the world of podcasts was when I was in my last year of university and had to spend hours in the classroom with two of my friends working on our coursework into the very early hours of the morning. It would just be the three of us, myself, Matt and Tom and whilst we were working, the podcasts of The Ricky Gervais show was blasting out into the room. It was in the moment I realised that podcasts can create so much comedy and can really sort of act like a ‘best friend.’ It also sort of created a special bonding moment between the three of us and I am still very much close friends with them today.

Over the years, I have learnt that podcasts can really be so much more then the ‘laugh’ and whilst I do listen to a lot of podcasts to help get me through the tough days, the good days and the times I have to work through the night, I also have found that it can be so much more.

Over the years, the idea of what a podcast is has obviously developed, especially with the pandemic and so many more have arisen and so much more content is now available and in a saturated market it can be hard to find really good shows. I have learnt that sometimes episodes of certain podcasts can really have an effect and over time I have shown my appreciation for these episodes on my social media channels.

I have previously spoken about the podcast episode that inspired me to start writing this feature, and you can read more about it here. This week we are talking about a podcast that I found incredibly interesting in a time of strike and need.

Podcast Episodes That Changed My Life –
Episode: A Second Episode About First Episodes
Podcast: Strike Force Five

The strike in America for the writers , production and actors has been going on for a very long time, there is a lot of reasons as to why they are on strike and if you want to find out more about it then you can by heading over to the SAG-AFTRA website to find out all about it.Although this article is slightly out of date because the writers strike finished the beginning of this month which was great! However, I would rather you read all the information on thoir website as I know some of the reasons why the strike is happening but not all of them so I would rather you read it first hand. All I know is that the industry that I work in is effected by it, even here in the United Kingdom so hopefully all of it will resolve itself soon.

“They talk so much about how the talk shows are made and the issues that they can have that I truly love it.“

Whilst some talk shows tried to come back onto the screen (and upset a lot of people….we will not name the shows but I am sure you are aware of the headlines) there are some others that took the time to try and raise money for their writers and production teams in their time of need. This persuaded me to listen to one of these podcasts and I am really glad I did because it has been a very addictive and interesting show to listen to.

Strike Force Five is a podcast that has been set up by five talk show hosts that are huge in the United States – Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Myers, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert and John Oliver. When I have been in America, I have taken time to watch all of these in real time but a lot of the time I end up watching clips of their shows on YouTube. So it was a nice opportunity to listen to them in real time on a podcast and also really interesting to see them interact with each other.

The podcast exceeds the expectations that I had of the show, I am not sure whether it is because I work in television and for me I am fascinated about the behind the scenes of shows that I find it amazing to listen to it. They talk so much about how the talk shows are made and the issues that they can have that I truly love it. I always adore finding out about how shows are created and this podcast really foes into depth about it and also about the problems as well.

The second episode was when I really started to realise that I was enjoying this podcast as they go into depths about the first ever episodes they did of their shows and all the issues they had along the way. In this conversation, they also discuss other things that I did not realise they would even do for a talk show. For example, Jimmy Fallon discusses that back stage they had a ‘test chair’ where the guests can sit on the show before they are on air to test if their outfits will work when they sit on it. Another host (not sure who it was) also states that they have a bigger version of the chairs that they can swap out if they have bigger built guests on the show such as Shaq.

It is a really interesting podcast, I haven’t stopped listening to it and the first five episodes I listened to in one sitting as they flowed so easily. It is a conversation between friends but you feel involved and there is some really fascinating information along the way.