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By any measure, Brittany Luse and Eric Eddings are consequential figures in the podcast world.
Its been several months since the Test Kitchen brouhaha.
New episodes are scheduled to drop every Tuesday.
What does it mean to the both of you to return toFor Colored Nerds?
Eric Eddings:Honestly, its exciting.For Colored Nerdswas what got us into this business.
We were just listeners before that.
Its also really exciting to do this atthispoint in our careers.
We had some choice in terms of what we wanted to do next.
There was also this feeling lets be frank that were both starting from a position of strength.
Its a show we own.
We havent necessarily started a project like this since we first createdFor Colored Nerdsseven years ago.
So it feels great all around.
BrittanyLuse:Yeah, its funny.
Also,For Colored Nerdsis a lot more personal for us thanThe Nod.
Its been cool to go back into that time capsule.
How are you approaching these new episodes?
Thats maybe a good way of thinking about it.
We spent a lot of time focusing on what is and what isnt aNodstory.
[laughs] But with semi-open membership.
Eric and I are always in there shooting the shit.
Sometimes we have other people in the room.
Youve mentioned a few times now that you ownFor Colored Nerds.
May I ask what happened toThe Nod?
Were you able to gain ownership over that show as well?
Luse:No, we didnt ownThe Nodat any point in time.
All those ownerships transferred over.
We had initially pitched a version ofFor Colored Nerdsto Gimlet back in 2016.
But Ive always found that idea curious, and I know others have as well.
[laughs]
Eddings:Totally.
Eddings:Look, Im happy about where I am now.
Do I wish my time at Gimlet and Spotify had been a little less rocky?
The shit was really hard Im not going to beat around the bush.
But it worked out for us.
Im overjoyed, for real, to be returning toFor Colored Nerdswith Brittany, with the support of Stitcher.
Where I still get frustrated is when I think about just how not complicated it could have been.
The things we all were asking for were reasonable.
At this point, I cant continue to lose sleep on it.
Weve got 48 weeks out of the year to fill.
Luse:Honestly, for me, it did suck to be reminded of all those experiences.
But one positive is that a lot of things are out in the open now.
I dont have to pretend I feel 100 percent great about my time there.
Also, theres people I dont have to be fake about liking!
[laughs] Ever again, in my life.
The weight is off my shoulders.
Ive gotten to edit other shows, which is something Ineverthought Id get the opportunity to do.
Ive always been curious: What was it like making the Quibi show?
That was such a strange moment in the entertainment business.
Luse:Well …
Eddings:It wasnt as bad as people maybe thought it was?
Luse:We had an extremely positive experience with Quibi.
Now, I do not doubt other peoples experiences.
I trust their reflections.
But we had a really positive experience.
Making a Quibi show wasamazing … up until the point where we had to start making it at home.
And even then, the only issue was that we were working constantly and tired all the time.
That part was tough.
Eddings:For what its worth, the bummer is that its all behind the paywall.
This isnt to shame them for not releasing everything.
They gotta get their check.
But we did awesome work there.
I didnt have to worry about that.
Like, I was tired.
Maybe even a little depressed.
But I had a purpose that felt important and additive to a time that was really consequential to everybody.
I mean, if Jeffrey Katzenberg called me tomorrow …
I, uhh, dont know.
But Im definitely not upset we answered the call when we did.
How do you feel about the podcast world today?
Do you feel its any better than it was a few years ago?
Luse:On one hand, Im inclined to say yes.
Theres a greater diversity of creators, shows, and topics being covered.
That created very serious boundaries that we constantly found ourselves hitting up against for a very long time.
So I think thats a positive.
But there are other aspects of the business that have changed in ways Im not sure I fully understand.
But overall, I still do think things are better.
The conversations around a lot of things I was most concerned about in the industry have progressed a lot.
Weve been doing this so long.
The industry has changed like 7,000 times since we started making podcasts.
Plus, we have a certain level of privilege in the space now that we didnt have before.
Eddings:I echo a lot of what Brittany said.
The overall degree of access has kind of widened, but the question has shifted to amplification.
Who gets the resources to be amplified has gotten a lot more complicated.
How we open that up, and make some of those systems more equitable, is worth exploring further.
Were at a point right now where people are still trying to figure out all the possible business models.
Im just not sold that things are set up that way just yet.
