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0:46

Hello and welcome back to the Podcast Speakers

0:48

series. I will appearson, President of iHeart

0:51

Podcast. Always good to be with you. As

0:53

usual, we like to get together with some of our favorite

0:55

hosts, talent, producers, thinkers

0:58

in the podcast space and talk about things

1:00

that they're working on, what's going on in their

1:02

lives. And I'm really excited

1:04

today we get to talk to a lot of good

1:06

podcasters and about a lot of great

1:08

podcasts, but today we actually get to

1:10

talk about the best podcast ever. So

1:13

we are joined by the host of the best

1:15

podcast ever. Raven and Miranda,

1:17

thanks so much for spending.

1:18

Some time with us. Thanks so much for having us will

1:21

I love how that was in the podcast.

1:23

Do you actually do everything in unison like that? Is

1:25

that how works?

1:27

That's obviously more lesbians, So it

1:29

just happened exact same right, thanksactly.

1:32

I wasn't aware that that's how that worked. Okay,

1:34

that's learned.

1:36

Something every day every day, That's

1:38

what it's.

1:39

So for those that don't know about

1:41

the podcast, I love the concept of

1:43

this show because when we started talking

1:45

about making the show together, you didn't want

1:47

to just do the usual chat show.

1:50

There's a couple of those out there, in case you haven't

1:52

noticed. You wanted to do something truly

1:54

unique from two truly unique people.

1:56

And I love the concept of this.

1:58

Raven or Miranda, either one of you want to jump

2:00

in and just sort of explain the concept of

2:02

how the wheel works and how words play

2:04

unto this because it's such a fun concept

2:06

for a podcast.

2:07

Well, first of all, I'm so glad that you think so,

2:10

because we totally think so. And yeah,

2:12

basically, as you said, we spin a wheel,

2:14

it generates a random word, and then

2:16

we talk about whatever that word is.

2:19

And this started for Raven and I

2:21

kind of back with our YouTube show

2:24

because we had a little segment on it called Tea

2:26

Time and we would sit down and have

2:28

a drink or whatever and then pick a topic

2:31

to.

2:31

Just talk about.

2:32

To do a podcast version of that was

2:34

basically the only way Raven would be down to

2:36

do.

2:37

The podcast because she was like, it.

2:39

Has to be fun, it has so unique, it has to be different,

2:41

and I was like, okay, cool, let's do that. And it kind

2:43

of has grown into this show,

2:46

which is super fun to do, super

2:48

interesting.

2:49

We're having a great time.

2:50

I like it too.

2:50

Because as guests come on, I

2:53

think Babe says it best. But it evens the

2:55

playing field, like, of course we want to get

2:57

to understand what the celebrities are doing

2:59

in their life, but for me, actually I

3:02

kind of rather find out the information

3:04

about their lives that they don't talk about all the

3:06

time.

3:07

That helps us get to that.

3:08

This is a great way to do it.

3:10

Is it not nerve wracking though, Like the

3:12

fact that Raven, you're basically saying I will

3:14

only do the podcast if we do this

3:16

way, that would I think be very nerve

3:18

wracking for so many people. Do you ever get nervous

3:20

about what the word is going to be or not knowing what

3:22

to talk about or.

3:23

Anything like that.

3:24

No, the only thing that happens is I get angry if

3:26

they try to tell me what the word is.

3:28

They're like, no, we have to cure.

3:29

I'm like, I don't want to know. Like

3:31

I enjoy the not knowing

3:33

of it all. I think being a part of the view and different

3:35

television shows, everything has been so

3:38

scripted for.

3:38

Me, so plotted, that I have to stick

3:41

to a script.

3:41

And with a podcast, you know, they're

3:44

like, well, you need to show your authentic self and

3:46

who you are and not Raven Baxter. And I'm

3:48

like, well, then keep me on my toes,

3:50

because if you tell me my word beforehand,

3:53

I'm going to have all these words prepared

3:55

and I'm going to sound scripted. But if you ask

3:58

me something out of the blue, you'll never know which going

4:00

to get. And we love our editor for those

4:02

moments where we get stuff I'm not supposed to say.

4:04

I love it.

4:05

And so, just to confirm for everybody who's watching

4:07

or listening, neither of you know the

4:09

word.

4:10

Your guests don't know the word. None of this

4:12

when you're jumping in.

4:13

We even had we did an episode

4:15

with somebody and their team was

4:17

like, well, we need to know, we need to know, and

4:19

we're like, okay, fine, So you know, our producer

4:22

had to tell the team, but we

4:24

said so many times in those emails,

4:27

please do not tell the word to

4:29

the verson, like we really want them to be surprised.

4:31

And we didn't know either. Our producer, Jensen is

4:34

amazing.

4:34

Ever, we never know the words the

4:37

only and that was never even going to be a

4:39

thing, like we always knew that, we never

4:41

wanted to know those words. They had to be and

4:43

it was the games that for

4:45

me at one point, I was kind of like I need

4:48

to know a little bit more of the details of

4:50

the games in order to then understand

4:52

like.

4:52

How to play it. But Raven

4:55

was like she didn't want to know anything.

4:58

So Raven's like totally in the dark.

4:59

I'm I know a little bit about a game just so I could

5:01

actually like play.

5:02

I'm a slower I learner I've been Raven.

5:04

I think there's something interesting to not

5:07

knowing and having to show.

5:08

Up with the words. I one hundred percent

5:10

agree.

5:11

You know, you see a lot of the times in the industry.

5:13

You know, oh my goodness, this person's picture is

5:15

so pretty and it looks like such a snapshot

5:18

of what's happening right then and there. But the truth

5:20

is that it's been curated, it's been photoshopped,

5:23

it's been this, it's been that, And to kind

5:25

of counteract that, for myself

5:27

and for the audience, we're taking

5:30

all that away and going back to what reality

5:33

actually is.

5:34

Also, we don't want to have people on

5:36

our show who are just having repetition of

5:38

the same interview or conversation. They yeah,

5:41

they're talking points exactly, and we don't want

5:43

talking points.

5:44

We want you to come.

5:45

In and have fun as a listener,

5:47

as a guest on the show, and kind of just

5:49

like be taken for a ride where yes, you know,

5:51

I'm a person who wants to sit down and

5:53

have like meaningful and intentional conversation.

5:56

I'm a little bit more that style than

5:58

Raven. But we have like perfect blend

6:01

in our show where we can have a random

6:03

word like pencil, and somehow pencil

6:05

can get us to childhood trauma, but

6:08

Raven all then bring us back into you know, the

6:10

art room, and it's this kind of full

6:12

circle, very cool journey

6:14

that we all want it to take together.

6:16

Yeah, is the goal always to get it to childhood

6:18

traumas that's sort of what it's like, pencil or anything

6:20

else, just always trauma.

6:24

My line child trauma.

6:26

Raven clearly exhibiting her childhood trauma

6:28

by having a stuffed animal here today, so it's.

6:30

Like childhood trauma.

6:32

I think it's important though, Like I know that's a joke

6:34

and it's hilarious, but at the same time, anything

6:36

can lead to anywhere. That's the

6:39

point, anything can lead to anywhere. Everything

6:41

stems from our childhood. But it's also

6:43

about lightning that moment as

6:46

well. So, like my wife said, she's more grounded.

6:48

Although she's hilarious to me, but I'm

6:50

like the comic relief because I'll like fart in

6:52

two seconds, But like you know what I mean. It really

6:54

is the conversation of no matter who you are,

6:57

no matter where you come from, we've all had

6:59

an ex experience with a pencil or these.

7:02

Yeah,

7:20

so your very different personalities.

7:23

Obviously a married couple, is this the first

7:25

time you.

7:26

Collaborated other than the whole marriage thing on a

7:28

project like this?

7:29

No, we did a YouTube channel together

7:31

and that lasted for a little bit.

7:34

I was editing, she was coming up with the ideas,

7:36

and it was just kind of a mess.

7:38

A project of this magnitude for sure.

7:40

I mean marriage is a project right like

7:42

we did that. We're doing that, and we.

7:44

Also we have a production company

7:47

and we're working with each other when

7:49

it comes to content on another platform

7:51

as well.

7:52

Very cool. I love that.

7:53

So what was surprising to me was

7:55

we talked about the fact that it could be nerve wracking

7:58

to get a word like this, and you mentioned people's

8:00

PR teams and their management teams.

8:02

Being nervous about that.

8:03

I thought it would be really difficult for you to get

8:06

big names to come on the show because part

8:08

of a team's job is to protect

8:10

their clients and worry about what they're

8:12

going to be asked and make sure there's no curve balls.

8:14

But you've got everybody from Demi Lovado

8:17

to the Megan Trainer to Jojo see what Like

8:19

the list goes on of these A plus

8:21

talent that are coming on the show.

8:23

Can you talk a little bit about that?

8:24

Are you surprised you've been able to convince people to

8:26

come on and just talk about something they have no idea

8:28

what it's going to be when they come on the show.

8:30

So here's the deal.

8:31

Will I am somebody

8:33

who doesn't like being told no.

8:36

I was very determined from

8:38

the beginning that when I was going to go

8:40

after whoever, I was going to go by offering

8:43

a very warm and kind

8:45

invite to come onto this podcast,

8:47

that I was going to get who I wanted to get,

8:49

regardless of what any team member

8:52

might say. So it was a process

8:55

of course, but honestly, everyone was

8:57

so receptive and we were like, hey,

8:59

it would be right to have Kiki on, let's go Jojo,

9:02

And I mean everything also was like so serendipitous

9:05

with how our bookings kind

9:07

of went, because we would like run into somebody randomly

9:10

who we were talking about, like Kiki Palmer, and we're

9:12

like, oh my.

9:12

God, and then yes, she wants to do

9:14

it. And when it comes.

9:15

To the format, honestly, everyone has

9:18

been very down.

9:20

They're like, that's super cool, let's go.

9:22

No one has been particularly scared of the words.

9:24

I mean, you also have to see that a lot of the people

9:27

they know that they're coming into my

9:30

and my wife's home innocence,

9:32

And I think my career over the years

9:34

has proven that I don't like shock value

9:37

type of interviews.

9:38

I'm not that type of person.

9:40

And I think that the reputation

9:42

that I've created over the years has

9:45

set a blanket and a comfy

9:47

blanket for these celebrities to come on and be like.

9:49

You know what, this is fun.

9:50

And also when we were coming up with the idea,

9:52

I would like to be on this show as a guest because

9:55

it's something different.

9:56

This isn't just the view, this isn't Howard

9:58

Stern.

9:58

You don't have to worry about that, Like I don't

10:00

care about the tweet that just happened.

10:03

I care about what toilet

10:05

paper you use and I use

10:07

the same kind. That's kind

10:09

of the conversation and how does that connect

10:12

to your childhood trauma?

10:13

Speaking of that, I mean, it goes to some really

10:15

interesting places. Without any spoilers

10:18

here, Timmy Lovado's word was boundaries.

10:21

That's a pretty heavy word. Can you talk a little

10:23

bit about where the conversation went on that one?

10:25

It went everywhere, It went everywhere.

10:26

Demi shared how she struggled with

10:29

boundaries and setting boundaries

10:31

with other people, particularly those

10:33

that she loves, and that was really

10:36

relatable to Raven and I also how

10:38

you set boundaries with fans and

10:40

people who love you, because you want to let people

10:43

in, but at the same time you have to

10:45

like draw the line somewhere.

10:46

My version of boundaries was like, if

10:48

I put too many boundaries up, am I ever going

10:50

to experiencing anything new? We'll like

10:53

over this trauma that's put these

10:55

boundaries up in the first place, and how to

10:57

navigate that.

10:58

And that was a different side of boundaries

11:00

because that brought us into the conversation

11:03

of intention behind certain things,

11:05

like sometimes you know that you have to set a boundary

11:07

with a parent because they

11:09

don't speak to you in a way that you want to be spoken

11:11

to. But at other times you set

11:14

a boundary that actually isn't for your

11:17

best self. It's more like you're hiding behind

11:19

something, so being rapidly honest with

11:21

yourself. Another boundary that you brought up

11:23

was like land boundaries, like borders

11:27

and things of that nature, which was also interesting

11:29

because that's another form of a boundary, so

11:32

it's not just like psychology boundaries.

11:34

I will say though, like some words

11:36

like boundaries lend itself

11:38

to more serious conversations,

11:41

and we try to explore it as best as we can,

11:43

and then there's some words that just lend

11:45

us to fun and exciting moments, and you might

11:48

get a couple of serious things here and there.

11:50

But one of the things I.

11:50

Said to my wife a long time ago, I was like, this is kind

11:52

of like a sitcom on a podcast, Like

11:55

you never know what you're going to get, you know, the will

11:57

and grace of it all. You're crying in one episode

11:59

and laughinghysterically in another, And that's

12:01

the kind of entertainment that I like, and

12:03

that weak joy. Because we're YouTube

12:05

fanatics, we just switch around and we go left right

12:07

center.

12:08

How do you do both in one episode

12:10

and then you stop listening and feel totally bipolar

12:13

and like you have no idea what the fucks happened to?

12:15

You?

12:15

Are my favorite?

12:16

Those are my favorite.

12:31

So I'm curious.

12:32

You know, Ravin, you've acted, and you've

12:34

directed, you've posted, You've

12:36

done so many different kinds of things, and now

12:38

focus on doing a podcast.

12:40

How's it different?

12:41

What do you see as the sort of the fun part of the

12:43

advantages of a podcast versus

12:46

any other medium you've been in.

12:47

I'm going to keep it one hundred with you will the best

12:49

part about this podcast is that I'm

12:51

not the main captain

12:53

of this project.

12:55

My wife is captaining this project. I'm

12:57

her co captain, po captain

13:00

who comes in and pushes a button and hopefully makes

13:02

people laugh.

13:02

And then I'm also supporting her behind

13:05

the scenes when she's going through her most stressful

13:07

moments.

13:08

And I can sit back and be.

13:09

Like, Oh, I'm glad that's not me, because I

13:11

produce Raven's Home.

13:13

I produce that so Raven.

13:14

I understand the stress that it takes to put

13:16

a show up, no matter what kind of show it is,

13:18

and to give her that space to

13:21

thrive.

13:21

And she's doing an amazing job.

13:23

As for me, history

13:25

wise, you know, the view and being

13:27

in interviews myself and traveling.

13:29

I did the news for like two seconds when I was

13:31

younger. This is all accumulating

13:34

to create this kind of content

13:36

right now. I'm taking what I learned

13:39

over the years. And I feel

13:41

like sometimes when I'm on the podcast, I

13:43

talk so much. I'm like, Okay, here

13:45

we go, here we go, commercial break, and it's like, oh, you

13:47

can kind of calm down a little bit, like it's not that.

13:49

But at the same time, I'm an engine,

13:52

you know what. I mean, I keep the engine going when there's

13:54

lulls, when there's things necessary, and I

13:56

use my expertise there and my wife takes

13:58

care of all the paperwork.

14:00

A great voice of I don't

14:02

know what you'd even call it, but hey, everybody,

14:04

thanks for listening. This is Raven Simone

14:06

and Miranda made it on the.

14:08

It's called a disc jockey.

14:10

Yeah, you're the DJ, the official

14:12

DJ.

14:13

So if you're the DJ, then Raven Miranda

14:15

tell us about your role in the show and

14:18

how you like, what it feels like for you

14:20

to do a podcast, and how it's maybe different

14:22

than anything else you've done before.

14:23

I love it, I really really

14:26

love it.

14:26

I have wanted to do

14:28

a podcast for a very long time,

14:31

so for me, it's really exciting,

14:33

and I'm so happy to have

14:36

found the team of people that we have working

14:38

with us at iHeart.

14:39

So that is key.

14:42

It's different from.

14:43

Things I've done in the past, just because the scale

14:46

of it is much larger. I think that the potential

14:48

audience reach is much bigger than I've ever

14:50

really had. But honestly, the

14:53

work that I've done over my

14:55

life, whether it's like working as

14:58

a personal assistant or working as

15:00

a birth, Duela, or sure working

15:02

in pr for a bit. All of those experiences

15:05

have helped me be better. Here little things

15:07

that you can take from everything, and also

15:09

just listening back to it's

15:11

really exciting to be honest, like, I feel

15:14

like I'm growing and

15:16

as I do this podcast because I'm getting

15:18

to, you know, exercise new muscles

15:20

and think in different ways. But when we listen

15:23

to podcasts, we may not

15:25

always think about all of the steps it

15:27

took to get there. What actually makes

15:29

the difference between something that's captivating to

15:31

listen to or a good story versus

15:34

not and getting to learn the skill

15:36

of really speaking eloquently

15:38

and speaking well and telling

15:40

stories.

15:41

It's really cool. I love all of it.

15:43

When we think about the things that have

15:45

led to successful podcasts and you think

15:47

about the full package of it and everything

15:50

that you guys bring to it. One of the things

15:52

I love that the podcast industry is

15:54

smart shows do really well, and

15:56

you guys bring this combination of

15:59

like curiosity and intelligence

16:02

and fun and warmth and

16:04

just when listeners tune in, I know

16:06

everybody who tunes in will feel like these

16:08

are just two people I sort of want to hang with, And

16:11

oh yeah, when I leave after half an hour. I'm

16:13

leaving with a smile on my face, and I'm leaving

16:16

feeling probably a little bit smarter because

16:18

there's going to be some interesting things that were brought

16:20

up. I'm so happy that this is sort

16:22

of the concept that you guys have arrived

16:24

with because it feels like such

16:26

a good fit of all these pieces of what

16:29

we've seen over the years work really

16:31

well in podcasting, and there's really

16:33

no other show like it, so and you guys are

16:35

the only ones with a line.

16:36

On the couch. So I feel like that sort of tops

16:38

it off.

16:38

All right.

16:39

I mean that's why it's called the best podcasts every.

16:43

Yeah, it's the only one of that.

16:44

So is there You probably don't

16:47

like being asked this question, but is there a

16:49

dream guest.

16:49

That you're like, you know what?

16:50

You know who?

16:51

I'd like to get off.

16:52

Of the press circuit and onto the couch

16:54

with us to have a conversation about whatever

16:56

that word is.

16:57

Any dream guests you've been thinking about recently?

17:00

I mean today, I'm gonna say Tom

17:02

Cruise. He's so in my head right now, you

17:04

guys, let.

17:05

Me tell you why though, Because we

17:08

don't know Tom Cruise.

17:09

We think we know, But what soap.

17:11

Does he use? You know what I mean?

17:13

Like, how does he feel about powdered

17:16

laundry detergent compared to you

17:18

know, like a liquid, you know what I mean?

17:20

Like for a really long me too, how he

17:22

smells like? But what detergent he uses?

17:24

I want to know what he uses his

17:26

His crisps are always crispy.

17:28

I don't know.

17:28

I just feel like he would be a fun one to

17:31

dive outside of the norm of how

17:33

many bicycles he has the.

17:35

Co sign on that I love

17:37

Tom Cruise. I think you don't even know this about me, but I think

17:39

that Tom Cruise was like my first crush.

17:42

But I mean, I come on, so

17:44

Tom cur need the need for speed all

17:46

the way to the stat.

17:47

That's a good one.

17:48

All right, let's put out the back call right here, Tom

17:50

Cruise, if you're listening, Tom, come

17:53

on, you need to come on the podcast. So

17:55

this guy in the world.

17:56

But I also would love Cardi B.

17:58

Cardi would be super fun.

18:00

I want to ask Cardi B.

18:00

What up? Cardi?

18:01

How you been?

18:02

Oh?

18:02

Just how you've been?

18:02

Okay?

18:03

I love that, I love it. Ask you the first question

18:05

on the podcast.

18:06

You've been thinking about that one for a while. Clearly, yeah

18:09

saw me Carty.

18:11

As you can see for anybody listening, anybody

18:13

watching, this is the vibe of the show.

18:15

It's super fun, it's super smart. Couldn't

18:17

think of two better hosts to host the best podcast

18:20

ever. So definitely check it out wherever you listen

18:22

to the podcast. But Raven Brandon, thanks for spending

18:24

a few minutes with us.

18:25

Thank you so much.

18:26

Will we have to have you on the podcast. We'll talk about

18:28

some cool stuff.

18:29

Yeah, looking forward to it, and thank

18:31

you everybody for tuning in.

18:33

And we'll see you again next week.

18:43

Podversations is a production of iHeartRadio.

18:45

You can find more from the biggest names in podcasting

18:48

on the iHeartRadio app or wherever you get

18:50

your podcasts.