Who Got Inducted Into the 2024 Podcast Hall of Fame

Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome to the stage our 2024 ModCast Hall of Fame Master of Ceremonies, Dr. Drew Pinsky. Our laws as it pertains to substances are Draconian and bizarre. The psychopath started this. He was an alcoholic because of social media and pornography. PTSD, love addiction, fentanyl and heroin. Ridiculous. I'm a doctor. Where the hell you think I learned that? I'm just saying, you go to treatment before you kill people. I am a clinician. I observe things about these chemicals. Let's just deal with what's real. And we used to get these calls on Loveline all the time. Educate adolescents and to prevent and to treat. You have trouble, you can't stop, and you want help stop it? I can help. I got a lot to say. I got a lot more to say. Thank you, guys. First of all, I want to tell you what a pleasure this all has been. And congratulations to not just the inductees, but everyone that has been around this event. It's just so extraordinarily positive. I just am just really so thoroughly impressed with the podcast community. And as someone that kind of moves around in different areas of media, I got to say, this is by far my favorite. So thank you for being what you are. And is it, isn't it great having the freedom to go directly to your audience? I talked about it this morning. To me, that was such an astonishing reality. So let's get to it. Again, this is the 2024 Podcast Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and tonight marks the 6th induction ceremony. And of course, people like my longtime friend Adam Carolla will be inducted. Jesse Thorn of NPR, The Bullseye, and Aaron Mankiewicz, Lore podcast TV series, also each have contributed quite a bit and influenced the podcast world. And the reason I was brought in was I was told that Adam was getting an award and wouldn't I want to present it to him. Adam's not here, you'll notice. Sort of getting used to that with Adam. I know, Susan, you ever get used to that? So she— we're never doing anything with him again. Well, here we are. But I'm glad we are here nevertheless. And I want to thank the sponsors of the event, Lipson Hall of Fame Induction Committee, Podfest Expo and Women's Meditation Network. And of course, it's a privilege. We'll have the privilege tonight of hearing from the Hall of Fame inductees. And again, I've said this is a distinct tradition. Podcasting has emerged over the last 20 years as unique and a diverse medium, an intimate medium, as I mentioned this morning. And it allows creators to really get into subjects in the long form, things that they might not have a chance to dig into in other medium where you're worrying about hitting ad and satellite feeds. And we are just there with our audience. Each of our 8 inductees tonight has contributed to the tapestry of podcasting. They've gone beyond the constraints of traditional broadcasting and explored diverse topics, deeper connections with their audiences. And they're not just shows that they're putting out on podcasts. They are really vibrant communities that they have built. And as we celebrate these luminaries, we will also celebrate the medium of podcasting, storytelling, sharing knowledge, building communities. Our inductees have exemplified these qualities, pushing the boundaries of what podcasts can achieve. So I would like to proceed with tonight's event, recognize the remarkable achievements of these 8 individuals. The induction of the Podcast Hall of Fame is an accolade for their contributions and a recognition of podcasting's unique influence of the modern media landscape. Each inductee will be introduced as part of the ceremony. Then we will welcome each inductee to the stage, or via video in my case, to offer their thoughts on having been inducted. And you'll get a glimpse of why we are celebrating these great creators. So to our inductees tonight, I say congratulations. This is a well-deserved honor., and the stage awaits you tonight. Uh, so I am— I've shortened some of my comments. I know you've been anxiously out there waiting. There's no point in me belaboring this any longer. Let's get on with this. Welcome to the stage, two Hall of Fame inductees: Rob Greenlee, 2017 inductee, chairperson of the induction committee of inductees, and Rob Walsh, VP at Libsyn and 2016 inductee. And they are going to share their mission of the Podcast Hall of Fame and honoring past Hall of Fame members. So welcome them to the stage, please. Well, thank you, everybody, for being here. This is a podcasters podcasting event, and it's not without some challenges, as podcasters know, with putting on a big production. And this is why I like doing recorded and not live. Well, you just got to go with the flow and make it work, right? And, and be patient and, and, and accept that things don't always work. Technology doesn't always work. Yeah. So we're excited to be here and to bring back the Hall of Fame. It's been, it's been a year. We had the last Hall of Fame back in 2022. And but prior to that, we didn't have a Hall of Fame for like 4 years. So, the last time we had it prior to 2022 was in 2018, and that was in California, right? Yep. It's good to have it back again, and we'll hopefully make this a yearly event going forward from this point on now that we have a new home. Thanks to Chris and Podfest for the new home, Podcast Hall of Fame. So, we're excited from the the big picture of what this event, the Hall of Fame, represents to the podcasting community. And I think one of the things that the community has expressed to me over the years is just how we as an industry value the contributions of people that have started this medium and really built it and really inspired so many others to create podcasts and to build successful shows. And that's really what the Hall of Fame is about, is to recognizing those individuals that have contributed significantly. We've inducted about, I believe, 41 inductees so far at the end of this event. Yes. Okay. And so that is, you know, we got a long way to go. There's a lot more inductees. So I don't know if you want to talk about, Rob, the process that we go through to select inductees. The process is they are voted in by other Hall of Fame members. So that if you're wondering how someone gets voted in, they are voted in by the peers. And what each voter is looking for is gonna vary, but it ultimately at the end of the day, what we're looking for, I know as I'm looking for as a voter is did the person really dedicate to the podcast space? Did they help bring more people in, listeners or podcasters or both? Into the space? Have they gone above and beyond and dedicated a lot of their life, spent 3 to 4 in the morning drinking Red Bull to get out their, their show? Did they do this? But most importantly, were they a positive impact on the podcasting space? And every one of these inductees, you can say that about, that they, they have dedicated their lives and really made podcasting better for all the other podcasters. And I think that's a key point. Yeah. And you'll notice that the inductees that we're going to talk about tonight are coming from various parts of the industry that contributed sometimes not as, you know, publicly behind a microphone, but significantly around the technology of podcasting and how it works. And I wanted to quickly read the Hall of Fame eligibility requirements because that is a question that comes up a lot. It says that the criteria for entry into the Hall of Fame is a combination of mainstream popularity, being considered a great podcaster and/or contributor to the industry by its peers, or excelling in the medium of podcasting, as well as having a historical significance in the positive manner of the medium. Candidates should have something to offer in all three of the above categories that I mentioned. Or be so outstanding in one or two that they deserve inclusion. To be eligible for entry into the Hall of Fame, a nominee must have completed at least 5 years since the first involvement in the medium. But longevity should not be considered a sole qualification, you know, to be inducted. So I just want to thank everybody that's in the podcasting space. And then I want to thank most importantly those that have been inducted today for all the positive you've done into the space to help grow it. I mean, that's really— and some names you may not know because they were doing stuff behind the scenes. You may be new to the podcasting space and not have heard of a name, but they help these— all these people have helped build the space. Yeah, I agree with that. And both Rob and I were honored a few years ago of being inducted in the Hall of Fame, and we got up and gave our induction speeches. So we that each one of these inductees, even though they're podcasters, are a little nervous about getting up in front of you and talking about themselves because, because it's always a, you know, it's, it's one of those humbling things to do, and it's a great honor. So yeah, thank everyone in this room for coming out and honoring these people. Yeah, thank you. And now, welcome to the stage 2018 inductee Dave Jackson from School of Podcasting to introduce our first 2024 inductee, Michael Butler. Thank you. Michael Butler started podcasting in 200 4. Exactly. He is the original music podcaster. 19 years and 961 episodes later, he is still going strong. He worked on the PodSafe Music Network at the very first podcast network, better known as PodShow and Mevio, and they actually got major labels to clear their music for podcasters to play. I wish they would bring that back. Before there was an iPhone, Michael Butler was interviewing people like Iron Maiden, Ted Nugent, Donovan, Lita Ford, Bret Michaels, Gilby Clark, Tiffany. Yes, that Tiffany. Uh, Twisted Sister. Um, he got to interview Anvil at the Fillmore Auditorium in San Francisco. And podcasting builds relationships and relationships lead to opportunities. And Michael is a huge fan of the band the Wild Hearts, and he got to interview Ginger, the lead singer. So think about that a second. Your, your hero is on Skype with you. And what was great about this is through that relationship, through his podcast, I thought I would just share a story that really wraps up the Rock and Roll Geek Show. If you're a person that grew up listening to vinyl with headphones, reading the, uh, the liner notes, rockandrollgeek.com. So he's interviewing Ginger. Ginger finds out that he's a bass player. He played in Exodus and Jetboy and a whole bunch of other bands. And Ginger's coming to the, uh, the El Rey Theater in Los Angeles, and he's also going to be playing the Viper Room, and he needs a bass player. So imagine this, your hero, one of the guys you've loved to listen to all the time you're growing up, says, hey Michael, you want to play bass in my band? Oh, but wait, there's more. So, so think about this, right? So he plays there, takes advantage of the opportunity, and does a great job. Well, then Ginger has this special show in London and needs a bass player. So he goes, hey Michael, you want to play my band again? Now this is before all that sweet, sweet podcast money from Rogan, you know, this is 2009-ish, right? So Michael might be a little short on the fee for the airlines and the hotel and the whole nine yards. And just as they had one time, Michael's computer went kaput and his engaged audience got him a new one. And so when Michael said, man, you guys aren't going to believe this, I got an opportunity to go play with Ginger again in London. But, and of course, the audience came through, got him a ticket, got him up because we knew we were going to get paid in a story. We were going to get paid on a really good story. And to me, that's really what the Rock and Roll Geek Show is about. Yeah, Michael is the ringleader, but it's really— you get all sorts of great reports from all around the world about concerts. And so I thought about this: rock music is raw, it's authentic, it's entertaining, and it moves you. Michael Butler And the Rock and Roll Geek Show is raw, so authentic, so entertaining, and he moves me. So that is why it's my honor to induct Michael Butler, the Rock and Roll Geek, into the Academy of Podcasters Hall of Fame. Wow, I can't follow that speech. I'm not a public speaker, so I may either puke or cry. So I gotta take a sip of this fine Tecate. Ah, it's like the fourth one of the day. You know what they say about the fourth one, right? Always the best. So as a musician I pay attention to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and you see all these bands who get passed over year after year, and they all say the same thing. When you see an interview, they talk about the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and they go, I don't want to be part of that organization. It means nothing. It's a big circle jerk, this and that. And then they finally get inducted and they all get up there and they say, what an honor it is to be included in such a fine, esteemed group of talented people and what a respected organization this is. So after almost 20 years of doing a podcast and getting passed over year after year, I'd just like to say how honored I am to be included in this esteemed group of talented people. Ah, I'm glad that didn't bomb. So I remember back before it was called podcasting, they had this thing called BloggerCon at Stanford University, and Adam Curry was doing this talk about this new thing called podcasting. Back then there were like maybe 6 people doing a podcast. Now, as you can see, there's maybe 6 people who don't do a podcast. So this guy Dave Slusher, who's at his show called Evil Genius Chronicles, he gets over on the microphone and he says, I listen to the Rock and Roll Geek Show and I feel like I'm friends with Michael Butler and I've never met the guy. So Adam Curry gets on, he says, hey Michael, you here? Can you stand up? So I stand up. Everybody in the room applauds. I'm like, what? They're paying attention to me, this kid who's doing a show in his bedroom. I'm like, I don't know if you saw that movie The King of Comedy with Robert De Niro. His mom's yelling at him from upstairs, keep it down because I'm trying to cook dinner and watch TV. My wife and kids were telling me to keep it down doing the podcast in my bedroom. I was a shy little introverted misfit and It felt so good. I couldn't believe people were listening. So next thing I know, Adam calls me about 2 months later and says he's starting this podcast company called Podshow. So after the meeting, I'm running around the street. I'm like George Costanza on when he got the job hand modeling. I'm like, ooh, I've hit the big time, man. I never hit the big time, but I did get a lot more confidence and I kept doing my podcast. And next thing I know, I'm getting feedback from people who listen to the show who were misfits and introverts just like me. And one of those people was this guy named Shane from Australia. I don't know where this guy is now. I haven't heard from him in about 15 years. I think he worked. I think he did like some kind of Chinese bootlegging stuff. Like, I think he might have gotten like rubbed out or something because it's been a while. I haven't heard. But he got this idea that he was going to get guests on my show, like my rock and roll heroes. And we would tell them this lie that I had a show on Sirius Radio because no one knew what a podcast was. So next thing I know, I'm talking to all my rock and roll heroes. And fast forward about 2 or 3 months later, Podshow gets a channel on Sirius Satellite Radio. My show's on Sirius. I couldn't effing believe it, man. So here I am, uh, 20 years later. And oh, and, and so another thing, all these people sitting at my table right here, I never met any of them. They're listeners of my show except for my stepdad. They're listeners of my show. And all those people that I've met, every single one of those people has been like the coolest people I could ever meet in my entire life. And since then, this little misfit has, has built a community of like-minded misfits who love rock and roll. And love to talk about it. And that to me is the best thing about doing this podcast. So I'm really grateful to be here and thank you for having me. I hope it's okay if I could thank a few people first. I'm going to break down and cry like an effing pussy. I know it. So I first I'd like to thank Adam Curry and, and what's this other guy's name? Dave Weiner. For inventing podcasting. I'd like to thank all the record labels and bands and PR companies who send me music and ask me to play it on my podcast. I would like to thank Todd Cochran, Rob Greenlee, Rob Walsh, Dave Jackson. These guys do it from the heart, and I appreciate them. Most of all, I'd like to thank all the friends of the Rock and Roll Geek Show who support the value-for-value model. Without your show, this show would die a horrible— without your support I wrote this, haven't looked down at it yet, so take that, everybody who reads their, uh, without your support, this show would die a horrible, putrid, stench-filled death. Mad at Dad is dead. Long live Mad at Dad. I take a sip of this fine Tecate to you, friends. Stay frosty. Here again from the School of Podcasting is 2018 inductee Dave Jackson to introduce our second 2024 inductee, Daniel J. Lewis. Did you miss me? All right. I'm here to talk about the many ways Daniel J. Lewis has helped the podcasting community and literally just some of his accomplishments along the way. He started off with a show called the Ramen Noodle back in April of 2017. And then later Daniel was listening to some of these podcasts about podcasting, but they weren't really talking about what he wanted to talk about. How dare you? Right? So he started The Audacity to Podcast, which is kind of a lucky name because at the time everybody was searching for the software Audacity and they're trying to figure out how to podcast, but really it's one thing to be lucky to have people click play once. It's another thing to have them come back and keep pressing play again, again, and again. And Daniel is very detail-oriented. And so I, I was checking over the Audacity to Podcast. This is actually true. He did an episode where he was measuring the download speed of the media host and I believe measuring in milliseconds. Milliseconds, and he said each test was performed 10 consecutive times because, you know, 9 wasn't enough. And those results combined and calculated regional and global averages, and he goes on and on, and of course there was a chart. He puts the D in details. Other shows he's been part of include the Podcasters Roundtable with Ray Ortega and some guy named Dave Jackson, And he did not one, but two shows about the TV show Once. And what's amazing about this is that show started off great and got bad quick. And Daniel had people listening to a podcast that they had quit watching. So he had an engaged audience. I thought this was cool. While other podcasters create products and then they hope they can somehow attract the audience that wants that product. Daniel did the opposite. He attracted an audience and then said, what do you need? And so he did everything from web design, artwork. He created a WordPress plugin called Social Subscribe and Follow. He created an SEO for Podcasters course, the Podcaster Society. This one was hand-built for him. In fact, you've probably seen his stats this week at Podfest, Podcast Industry Insights. Again, the man loves stats and details. Recently he launched Podgagement. Why? Because he listened to his audience and he gave them what they want. It gives you tools to engage your audience. And if everybody knows about audience engagement, it's Daniel J. Lewis. And while he loves podcasting, he absolutely adores his son. And when he was awarded full custody, He stepped away from podcasting for 5 years to be a full-time dad. He's now back producing the Audacity to Podcast, co-hosting a show called The Future of Podcasting with some guy named Dave Jackson, and is involved, I'm very happy to say, with the Podcasting 2.0 initiative. Because again, Daniel is doing what he does best. He's thinking outside the box, he's listening, and he's building a community and helping the podcasting space move forward. So once again, his peers have voted him into a respected establishment, and that's why it is my absolute honor to induct Daniel J. Lewis into the Academy of Podcasters Hall of Fame. Words are powerful. So powerful that they can change minds, inspire action, win friends, and create opportunities. Or they can destroy all of that. But it was with the spoken word that our universe was created. And it is with the written word that our eternities can even be changed. I've long had a fascination with words. I think it started with my fascination with the art of audio when a childhood best friend introduced me to Adventures in Odyssey, a children's audio drama for Christian kids. I would fall asleep listening to episodes with an earbud in my right ear, which I still think is maybe why this ear canal is a little bit bigger than the other one. Every night I could quote these episodes verbatim. And that audio drama even led to my first business as a teenager, selling and marketing. I also started public speaking when I was only 13 years old in front of a grading committee of one, the Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, my father, who along with my mother, I'm so happy to have here tonight, and my sister watching nearby. And Dad, Mom, I must confess to you, you've been part of my social experiment. Now that you know what a podcast is and have listened to some yourself, all without my being a good son and pressuring you to, I know that podcasting is truly mainstream. So, thank you for your contribution to science. I discovered podcasts in 2005 when my 2.5-hour-long daily commute to my dream job— the dream job was great. The daily commute, however, was draining my soul, and local talk radio was frying my brain cells with advertisements and sportsball stuff. But a coworker started raving about this thing called podcasts coming to iTunes 4.9. So I checked it out, and I was immediately hooked. I got so deep into podcasts that my day job had to put a firewall on iTunes because when you would download the episodes, which I would always download my favorite episodes, it would crash the network and break the internet for us. But that didn't stop me. I would get to early. I would get to the office early or stay late just so I could download all the episodes of my favorite podcast, which I then loaded onto my laptop computer, which I then put in the passenger seat of my car so I could listen to the episodes while I was on that commute, the episodes coming through the speakers in my laptop computer. Because after all, at home I had an insufferable dial-up internet connection and couldn't really download any podcasts back then.. And yes, it truly was a dark and savage time back then. Like probably all of you, I immediately started thinking of the podcast that I could host because I felt like I had something to share. I understood the process enough, and I even heard podcasts that validated some of my ideas. However, the torture of perfectionism kept me from launching any of those ideas until I heard from two people around the same time, Luria Petrucci, then going by Callie Lewis. And the other was a local friend I had just met because I wanted to know if anyone in all of Cincinnati was on this new thing back then called Twitter. And that friend was Cliff Ravenscraft, the podcast answer man. Are we still contractually obligated to say that whenever we say his name? I think we are. But they both said in their own ways, just start. So in April 2007, I finally did just start. But again, my struggle with perfectionism meant that even that 10-minute clean comedy podcast was basically a pod fade in progress with only 9 episodes in my first 2 and a half years. Nonetheless, podcasting forever changed my life. And I believe that podcasting was even a thing God used to save my life. He had podcasting there for me when I messed up a relationship and the depression turned my dream job into a daily torture. But a wise friend told me, Daniel, the world needs the ramen noodle. God provided podcasting as a path from that job to my new dream of entrepreneurship. Podcasts and my audience, many of you were there for me when I went through the deep wounds, shame, and betrayal of an unwanted divorce. And when others tried to slander and destroy me, And podcasting is still there for me, enabling me to help others and serve my greatest earthly calling, loving my son who is here tonight. And it's because of the sacrifices that I make for him and his dreams, and because of my self-doubt from past events that I questioned whether I would ever get to be behind a microphone again or on stage again. But podcasting kindly pulled me back in like friends and loved ones around a warm campfire. So I guess what I'm saying is, podcasting, would you marry me? I could go on for hours about why I love podcasting and how we can all make it better for everyone, which is exactly why I have a podcast to do exactly that thing. And I do a lot of other things too, to help pour into the podcast industry and pour my heart into it. And many others have challenged, inspired, and helped me. And I wish I had the time to tell you all the reasons, but I want them to know that each played an important part in my story. Dad and Mom. Focus on the Family. Jerry Goldstein, Ken Ham, Dan Zirdel, Mark Cicera, Steve Jobs, Rob Martin, Leo Laporte, and the original cast of Twit. Luria Petrucci, Mignon Fogarty, John Wilkerson, Jeff Roney, Joel Lineweber, Matthew D. Jordan, Jason Rennie, Daniel Johnson Jr., Cliff Ravenscraft, Angelo Mendato, David Denne, James Kennison, Dan Miller, whom we lost just last Sunday, Justin Lucas Savage, Steve Stewart, Emily Prokop, Todd Uterstadt, and Jenny Carr, as I once knew her. And I'm so grateful for the talented people I've gotten to work with: John Buchanis, Ravi Prakash Singh, Steve Moody, Mark Decote, Steve Lee, Dave Lee, Lex Friedman, Jessica Kufferman, Heather Osgood, Dave Jackson, Ray Ortega, Jeremy Laughlin, and the many other co-hosts in my past podcasts and Noodle Mix podcast network. Also Gordon Firemark, Todd Cochran, Rob Walsh, Rob Greenlee, Mark Asquith, James Cridland, Eve O'Terra, Jordan Harbinger, Dave Jones, and of course the podfather, Adam Curry. In the morning! And it's been my joy to educate, advocate for, and innovate for all kinds of other podcasters. Through my podcasting products and episodes of The Audacity to Podcast. And I will now read the names of all my audience members. I started my deeper journey into podcasting and continue to seek innovation in the industry for you, because I want you to someday be on someone else's list of inspirations. And I believe that podcasting enables anyone, even from our closets or our basements, to stand up for life and liberty, to speak for the voiceless, to inspire with knowledge or laughter, and to change the world, even if you change the world for only one other person, because I've been that one other person many times. And that is why I strive to give you the guts and teach you the tools so that you too can have the— say it with me if you know what's coming— the audacity to podcast. To God and God alone be the glory. Thank you. Thank you. Here again, 2017 inductee Rob Greenlee of Spoken Life Media to introduce our third 2024 inductee, Doug Kaye. All right. All right. We inducted another Hall of Famer tonight. I'm thrilled to welcome a true podcast visionary. And his name is Doug Kay. I'm sure many of you maybe not have heard of Doug, but I'm honored to induct him into the 2024 Podcast Hall of Fame. Doug's groundbreaking work in 2003 with IT Conversations and the later Conversations Network was a pioneering early podcast network that fused technology and business discussions in powerful digital dialogues. So really getting to the core of what podcasting is all about. These platforms were more than just digital recordings. They were knowledge hubs. And that's what he was building was a knowledge sharing platform. And so he had shows. I had a show on his network back then myself, and really, I think, had a significant influence on the shaping of technology, because he's a technologist as well, and podcasting. So he was, you know, that's one of the common threads about the early podcasters is that they were oftentimes geeks. I was a geek. Many of the people that have been up on stage here were really geeks as well. So you had to be a geek in order to do this because we were hand-editing RSS feeds. But Doug also co-founded a company called Gigavox Media which had a couple of other networks underneath that, that larger company, Open Source Conversations, which was a big issue. That topic of open source software was huge back then in IT Conversations. And he started a Podcast Academy, which is, you know, there's one now, but he started one way back then. And he also co-created with Bruce and Malcolm Sharpie and Norman Lorraine, the Levelator audio enhancement tool, which is still available today and used. I use it for many of the podcasts that I use today, and it was invented like back in 2006. So it basically adjusts the audio levels of WAV files. So it basically combines normalization, compression, and limiting processes to a very simple process of drag and drop your WAV files into this this optimization software. The Levelator software was built based on Doug's work. And this is what was really revolutionary about what Doug did, is that he was dynamically assembling varying levels of audio segments to create unique episodes. So he would record these separate segments that would be maybe at different volume levels and he would dynamically insert them together and then normalize them with this Levelator technology that would create a complete professional-sounding episode. So he could create this in a, you know, like a section production type of thing. And I tried to participate in this myself and sometimes I didn't meet his expectations because he's very, very detail-oriented and he's an audio engineer. So I learned a lot from Doug as well. Doug also has a very diverse background in IT and as a programming person as well and held various executive-level jobs in Silicon Valley and laid the foundation for really the innovative contributions based on his technology to podcasting. He's also a book author. He authored a book called Loosely Coupled: The Missing Piece of Web Services. So he was very early in the kind of SaaS web services area as well that gave deep insights to web services and enterprise computing, and it really reinforced his status as a tech thought leader back in the early days of technology. So moreover, Doug is also a passionate photographer., and he continues that today. Uh, he, and it really showcases his artistic abilities as well as technology talents in ways. So let's applaud Doug Kay and, uh, a well-welcomed and well-deserved inductee into the 2024 Podcast Hall of Fame. Congratulations, Doug, if you're watching this, um, on this extraordinary contribution that he has made to podcasting. Let's now hear from Doug via a video to accept his induction, as he could not be here to join us. Hello, and thank you for this great honor. It's a pleasure to be here, if only virtually. I thought I'd give you a little background into the Conversations Network in a hope that it might inspire some of the things that you're working on today. IT Conversations was very successful, so I was looking for additional tech content I started talking to Tim O'Reilly at O'Reilly Media, who was producing a number of conferences, and asked if we could stream those conferences as well as record the audio and make it available on demand. Tim was initially very reticent. He was concerned we would be cannibalizing all of his registrations, but eventually he was willing to do it so long as we didn't announce the recordings and streams in advance. We did it, we put them online, but after 6 months we saw that the on-demand downloads were 100 times, 2 orders of magnitude more than the live attendance and the livestream combined. So we were then to go out and produce even more of the O'Reilly conferences because it actually increased their registration for future events. Based on that success, we created the Conversations Network, a 501(c)(3) corporation with 2 primary goals. One was to help fledgling podcasters produce good content. And by fledgling, in those days, I meant people like NPR, WGBH, Stanford, Cal Berkeley, and so forth. And the other was to do our own recording and distribution of content. In 2012, we realized we had helped hundreds of podcasters get online. That included O'Reilly, WGBH, Stanford, and so on. So we decided to close the Conversations Network and transfer our 3,300 programs to the Internet Archive, where hopefully they'll be available forever. And along the way, 215 people volunteered to help us produce our content. That included recording engineers, editors, producers, and especially people like Paul Figgiani, our senior audio engineer, Darusha Wame, our senior editor, Phil Windley, who took over the hosting of IT Conversations, and Bruce Sharp and Norman Lorraine, who helped me produce the Levelator, which has now been downloaded for free over 500,000 times. It was a great run, and I want to thank all of you for this award. To introduce our fourth 2024 inductee, Laurie Sims, please bring back to the stage, from Libsyn, 2016 Hall of Fame inductee Rob Walsh. It's working. I have the honor— didn't have that joke written. All right, I have the honor to introduce our next inductee, Lori Sims. For over 15 years, Lori was the COO and president of Libsyn, and per day-to-day operations, as everyone in the company can tell you, Lori ran the show. She was the guiding hand that really steered the company. And for 15 years, Lori was my direct boss, which my wife reminded me that they really need to come up with a Podcasting Purple Heart Award. Uh, Lori is— she, she transformed Libsyn when she got there from a startup to a viable and thriving business. Which in this industry pre-iOS 8, that was not easy. How many people remember PodShow or Mevio or Podango or GarageBand.com or Signaleaf or Blip.tv or Podcast Spot or on and on and on? There have been so many failed companies in this space. And when the devs were off figuring out the next SOPY or playing trash poker, or I was on some wild soapbox rant, Laurie was there, the adult in the room that allowed Lipson to grow and thrive. And how many people, though, can say that they were COO of a company whose ticker symbol was FU? Which I guess, given all the F-bombs that we delivered from Joe Rogan and Marc Maron, was kind of fitting. On a serious side though, Laurie was always a strong protector of free speech, of privacy protection for the listeners, getting behind GDPR and other privacy rules, protecting the space from itself in many ways. And speaking of protecting the space, Laurie helped in the fight against the infamous patent troll behind the scenes where she didn't get any glory or, you know, noticed from until now. It's safe to say the podcasting space would not be what it is today without her guidance and leadership. And I didn't make a joke about you needing the soapbox. Um, please join me in welcoming Laurie Sims to the Podcast Hall of Fame. Dave Jackson warned me about this award, so I'm going to try to gingerly put it up here. Can everyone hear me? Good evening. I would like to start out by congratulating the Hall of Fame honorees from the past. And tonight's fellow inductees. Also, congratulations to Podfest on their 10th anniversary. I am thrilled to be here tonight with so many familiar faces, names, and talented storytellers. Full disclosure— really more of a disclaimer— I'm an engineer like my father, and I possess many of these stereotypical engineering traits. He and I are outnumbered in our family. My husband, who is also here, is very outgoing. He's known for a sense of humor and often in demand for toasts, roasts, and to emcee events. He, along with my mother and sister, embraced the social side. I can also safely say, as Rob Greenlee pointed out, a little bit of a geek here. But engineers and podcasters have a lot in common, really. We love bright, shiny new things. We embrace technology. We like process, problem solving. We value quality. We are creative by nature and necessity. We are opinionated, and we have a lot to say. When I joined Libsyn in 2007, I found my people, so to speak. But there's one thing that's a little bit different. Podcasting is about the spoken word and the listener, about creators and the audience. Some belong behind the mic, like my husband and many of you, and some belong behind the scenes. That would be me. So when Rob called and said, what are you doing on January 26th? I thought, oh no, he's going to ask me to get on a panel or speak at a trade show. So when he said I was being inducted to the Hall of Fame, I gave a sigh of relief and I thought, oof, dodged a bullet on that one. But here I am. On the stage and behind the mic. To say I was surprised is an understatement. I am truly humbled and honored. The truth is, it is I who have had the privilege of working with the team at Libsyn, many of you podcasters, your teams, our partners, and our competitors over the 15 years that I was at Libsyn. Podcasting is more than an industry. It is truly a community, and you've heard that several times tonight. I was able to do something I loved with people who were passionate about what they do, and look how far you've come and how much you've accomplished. From the early days of RSS readers and iTunes as the only game in town, we now have mainstream podcasting with over 50 aggregators today. I won't give you a history lesson, but podcasting is ever-changing. And none of this would have been possible without the Libsyn team and the podcast community behind the scenes supporting the technology and the business of podcasting with Libsyn hosting, distribution, and measurement. You have challenged and inspired us to tell stories with new use cases, creative processes, and business models. I am proud to have worked with the podcasters who are past and present Libsyn customers, and particularly the Hall of Famers who are on staff at Libsyn. And now I am honored to be counted among you. I am proud to have been one of the first female business leaders in podcasting. We have seen gains in female listenership, creators, and leaders. We've expanded diversity across the board. And while there is more to be done, podcasting has come a long way. To Rob Walsh, thank you for your kind words tonight and for your friendship. I also want to thank Rob Greenlee and Dave Jackson and others for their gracious comments leading up to the induction ceremony. To the Podcast Academy, I am truly grateful. To my colleagues and friends at Libsyn and to my family, thank you for your support, and particularly to my husband for his unwavering encouragement. Thank you. In closing, I am thankful for the opportunity to have been part of this journey. I will be listening. I can't wait to hear what you guys do next. Thank you. Good night. Here now, Podfest founder and event organizer Chris Chris Mitsos. My first Hall of Fame was seeing my friend Dave Jackson from the School of Podcasting get inducted a few years back, and seeing Dave Jackson almost show some emotion by almost crying was a personal highlight. For me, the Hall of Fame serves as a reminder that there are individuals that laid the foundation for those of us that came after. I know many of these people started a decade before I even started helping people at meetups. And I remember a decade ago people saying, I don't understand what this word podcasting means and how much will it cost me to listen. So I could only imagine what they went through in the infancy of the medium. And coming from Greek immigrants, I was very fortunate to go back and visit my grandparents who had a very small farm. Then my parents came here to America to set up a life for my brother and I to have a better life. And what I am very aware of is things just don't happen. People like tonight's inductees had to set a foundation for the next group to build upon it. So I can't tell you how much Podfest appreciates the foundation you laid down that the rest of us walk on. So for that, we thank you. And we just want to wish the inductees more amazing podcasting. Success so we could listen. But, um, thank you for laying the foundation for the rest of us. Podfest is truly proud to host the Hall of Fame and proud to see so many amazing people have done so much amazing work in the medium. Thank you. And now let's welcome to the stage 2017 inductee Elsie Escobar to introduce our 5th 2024 inductee Maria Hinojosa. Hello folks, how's it going? Oh my goodness, I, I have to say I was more nervous to do this than, um, when I was inducted into the Hall of Fame, I have to say. So Here we go. Yes, here I go. It's about 2006 on a bus in LA. I loaded my iPod 5G with podcast versions of NPR radio shows because that was really about the only thing that was there during that time. And I heard a voice that would change my life. Maria Hinojosa. As a correspondent on NPR, she wasn't just reporting the news, she was shattering stereotypes and celebrating Latino identity. I saw myself reflected in her stories and heard my culture authentically represented. Maria's storytelling resonated deeply with me. A Salvadoreña grappling with the nuances of my own identity. She taught me the power of language, affirming, affirming that switching between Spanish and English was not only natural, but something to embrace with pride. She showed me that my command of English, accent or not, didn't diminish my Latina identity. Through her work, I was introduced to a mosaic of Latino voices, each challenging the stereotypes I grew up with and expanding my understanding of what it means to be Latino. Maria's journalism has been a beacon of representation, especially in how Latino stories are reported. She taught me that illegal is not a noun, reshaping my perception of immigration narratives. Her accolades, including the Edward R. Murrow Lifetime Achievement Award, which she just received this month, and 4 Emmy Awards, barely scratched the surface of her impact. As an early adopter of podcasting technology, Maria harnessed this medium to magnify Latino voices, blending journalism with empathy to tell stories that matter. As the anchor and executive producer of the Peabody Award-winning show Latino USA, distributed by PRX, as well as co-host of one of my faves, In the Thick, Futuro Media's award-winning political podcast, and the Pulitzer Award-winning Suave, she has not only highlighted critical issues, but has also humanized the people behind the statistics. Through Futuro Media, María has built a platform that champions diversity, and inclusivity, ensuring that stories often sidelined by mainstream media find a voice. Her contributions to podcasting and journalism are monumental, making her induction into the Podcasting Hall of Fame not just a celebration of her achievements but a recognition of her role in shaping the narrative landscape. Estoy increíblemente emocionada y orgullosa de que pueda presentar a María Hinojosa en el Salón de la Podcastera. Mientras María no pudo acompañarnos en persona hoy, ella comparte su gratitud y reflexiones en un especial video mensaje. ¡Felicitaciones, María! Muchísimas gracias por tu indelible impacto en nuestras historias y en nuestras vidas. Hey everyone at Podfest, how you doing? I hope you're having a great conference and I wish I was with you because the weather is better there. I am so honored to be inducted into the Podcasting Hall of Fame. Thank you so much for this honor. You know, I think back about when I created my nonprofit media company, Futuro Media, that has since won the Peabody and the Pulitzer in our podcasting. And I remember when people were like, podcasting, what is that? Radio? Forget about that. Audio? Who cares? Well, we've come a long way, right? And all of you are part of this movement that has changed American journalism, American storytelling, the American reality, the American media landscape. We're all doing this together. And a lot of this is about just not giving up, right? Believing in something like a podcast concept. People thought that was completely crazy and it would never get off the floor. In fact, that's what people said about Latino USA. It'll last about 2, 3, maybe 5 years. Here we are beginning our 31st year and we're still growing. But, you know, I think about how the work that we do is so much built on trusting our gut and knowing that we have this platform to tell these stories. I just want you to know that when I was thinking about Suave as a podcast, which ultimately won the Pulitzer. People thought that was a crazy idea. Just the fact that I had been receiving phone calls for 25 years from a guy in prison who was never going to get out. And a lot of that was just trusting my gut that there was a story here and that telling it in an audio form was the way to go, not a video documentary. And in the end, trusted that gut. So I hope you continue to trust your gut to tell those stories, to produce that podcast that you know is a hit just waiting to be told. And maybe not all of our podcasts are big hits, right? But they are connecting with people because that's the beauty of audio. So I'm still creating, still imagining. I've got a lot of new podcast ideas. Some of them are going to be really surprising to you, which is the idea, because I'm in this. I'm in this as a journalist and as a podcaster. And your belief in me is only making me go even harder in 2024 and beyond. So take it from me, you go hard in 2024 and beyond. And thank you so much for this honor. Muchas, muchas gracias. Estoy muy agradecida y que existan muchos y muchos más podcasts en inglés y en español. You got that. Love you. And now to introduce our 6th 2024 inductee, 2016 Hall of Fame inductee Rob Walsh from Libsyn. It's working. I have the honor to introduce our next inductee, Aaron Mankey. Aaron is one of the most successful podcast producers in the world. He began his podcasting career as co-host of the podcast you all know so well, Homework. Okay, maybe a few of you might not have heard of that podcast. It was quickly eclipsed when he launched Lore in 2015, a podcast that has remained one of the top podcasts for the past 8+ years. It's incredible. Lore became the first podcast directly adapted to a television show, which ran for 2 seasons on Amazon Prime, right alongside The Expanse, The Boys, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. That exposure helped bring in new many, many new podcast listeners, thus growing the space for all of us. Thank you. Lore was also adapted as a 3-book set from Penguin Random House, which is ironic, as Aaron said one of the original reasons he did the podcast was to help bring attention to his other books. Um, on a personal note, Aaron's interview on Podcast 411 was the most downloaded interview by a wide margin. Beating out Quincy Jones, Ronald Moore, and Rich Eisen and all other guests. Not even close. In addition to Lore, Aaron also has the podcast That's Just Weird, which probably would go back to that last stat I just gave, Harlots, and Cabinet of Curiosities. In 2019, Aaron also published the first comic book series, his first comic book series through Wellington, through IDW, Aaron has been a great acolyte for the podcasting space, delivering the tough truth to many that there is no shortcut or magic marketing bullet. It takes great content, word of mouth to be successful. And it's hard work. I think Travis Kelce said that too. That hard work has paid off for Aaron with almost half a billion downloads for Lore and Counting. Please join me in welcoming Aaron Manky to the Podcasting Hall of Fame. I was told that this was sharp, and it is sharp. So watch it. This is an incredible honor. I have to begin anything that I say tonight by thanking the people that are in my life who have made this moment possible. I owe so much to my wife and my daughters for their support, their encouragement, their patience with my bizarre stories and my tendency to verbally process work challenges at the dinner table. None of you can relate to that, I'm sure. A big thank you to my best pal in all the world, Chad Lawson. Uh, he has scored my career in the most beautiful music in all of podcast. I will fight you on that. Um, I have to thank my team at Grim Mild, my production company. Without Robin, Jenna Rose, Cassandra, Harry, Allie, Alex, Jamie, and Sam, I would not sleep as well at night as I do right now. Thank you to them. And thanks to my agent, Oren, who works hard behind the scenes to connect me with people and companies that help keep my projects moving forward. And lastly, I am beyond grateful for friends like Amy Bruni, Mike Wolf, Nora McInerney, Lauren Shippen, Elena Urquhart. These are people who encourage me, who inspire me to do better, and sometimes provide a shoulder to cry on when things are not going as smoothly as I would like. Now, when I started Lore almost 9 years ago, I had a lot less gray hair. I also didn't have progressive glasses, and I'm kind of grateful reading a card tonight for that. I had a lot more of something else 9 years ago, though. I had a lot more unachieved goals. I was a struggling freelance graphic designer. I was working on client projects by day. I was writing fiction at night, as Rob mentioned, with the hope that someday someone somewhere might have a chance to read something I wrote. Now, it was a pastime that was full of a ton of hope, right? Hope that someday I might be able to do what I love for a living. Hope that someday I might be able to connect my particular skills and very weird and bizarre interests with other similar people like me around the world. And if the last 9 years are any indication, I somehow managed to make that happen. But here's the thing about hope. We often look at people who have achieved a lot in life and tell ourselves that they simply must be more talented or better trained or simply all-around better people to have achieved everything that they have. And that is mostly a lie. So much of success comes down to one thing that none of us can control— luck. But here's the secret about luck that I've learned over the last almost decade of doing this: luck can be hacked. I've often compared this to flying a kite. In order to fly a kite, you need some things, right? You need the kite itself, and you need your body. Get out in the park, and run around and drag that kite on that string behind you. You can control those things, but you also have some things that you can't control, namely the wind. True success is flying a kite. True success in flying a kite comes down to an intersection of those two concepts, the controllables and the uncontrollables. Getting out in the park and constantly running around with the hope that the wind might show up and lift your kite into the sky. It's this idea that you show up every single day, day after day, and work hard, long hours, in order to be ready for that moment when the wind might blow. And I know, I get it, it's a trite metaphor, all rose-colored glasses and all, but it's also true. The only thing that stands between you And that moment of luck is not giving up. So I do stand here today as a product of all of the people in my life who have poured in their hope and their encouragement and their wisdom, but also as a product of the grind of showing up every day, working insanely long hours in order that I might be ready if the wind decides to show up. And that's why I choose to view being here tonight, receiving this award, as validation of all of that hard work, but also validation of all of that luck. And I'm beyond grateful for that. I've worked hard to build an audience over the years that is passionate about entertaining stories rooted in history, even when those stories and that history are challenging to hear. And I've built those stories on an inclusive and diverse foundation. And after nearly a decade of doing this, after a successful TV show, a number of books, half a billion downloads, all of these things that Rob talked about, after doing all of that, I can confidently say that when you build a podcast on that kind of foundation, it not only works, but it thrives. Thank you. To introduce our 7th 2024 Podcast Hall of Fame inductee, Jesse Thorn, please welcome back Rob Greenlee. Yeah, I'm happy to be back on the stage to induct another Hall of Famer. I'm honored to induct Jesse Thorn. Jesse is a longtime host and producer of Bullseye and Jordan Jesse Go podcasts and is co-host and producer of Judge John Hodgman podcast for, for quite a while as well. He's the founder of Maximum Fun Podcasting Network, which produces and distributes dozens of podcasts and helped and really helped the early example of a modern podcasting network. In 2023, Thorne led the company through a trailblazing transition to being a fully employee-owned cooperative company, which was groundbreaking in the podcast industry. He remains at the company both as talent. So he's continuing to be a podcaster and creative executive helping others. The Bullseye Podcast began as the sound of young America in 2000. While Jesse was still a student at the time. So in 2007, the same show became distributed by Public Radio International, making Jesse the youngest national host in a public— in public radio history. Jesse was really a groundbreaker. The show became Bullseye in 2012. And in 2013, it became distributed on NPR, and it currently airs on National Public Radio stations around the country. Jesse also hosts and helps produce a program called Put This On, one of the country's most popular web series and blog about men's style. And as you'll see in in his, his video acceptance. Jesse definitely has style. And he's also hosted The Grid, a culture recommendation program on IFC, and The Sound of Young America on Current TV. So he's had a lot of work with television as well and has had TV appearances on the IFC Comedy Bang Bang, which originated as a podcast as well. Through the Airwolf Network and FX's Archer, which was an animated series. So he's a native of San Francisco's Mission District, and Jesse now lives in Los Angeles with his wife, podcaster and author Teresa Thorne, his 3 children and 2 dogs. So let's give a resounding applause and welcome to Jesse Thorne, a well-deserved inductee into the Podcast Hall of Fame. Congratulations, Jesse. On your extraordinary achievements in being a person of impact in the podcasting medium and public radio, frankly. Let's now hear from Jesse in his video to accept his induction tonight, because he couldn't be here. So thank you. Hey, I'm Jesse. Um, first of all, this is such an incredible honor that It's hard for me to convince myself that it's not a trick. I hope that this video is being shown to actual people at an actual banquet, and that is not some sort of weird con, but I don't really have any way of knowing, so I'm just going to assume that. My congratulations to all my fellow honorees. Aren't we so lucky to be here? My thanks to whoever chose us for this incredible honor. I think possibly the Baseball Writers Association of America. I genuinely don't know. But thank you. Thanks to Libsyn, who are not only the sponsors of this event but also sponsored much of my early career by giving me unlimited downloads for $20 a month. I don't want to make a huge giant list of all the folks who've helped me, but suffice it to say that even when I was a one-man band, I wasn't really a one-man band. In my early lonely years in my apartment in Koreatown. I couldn't have made it through without my wife Teresa, and for that matter, my dog Coco. Um, they really were lonely. It was scary. I was broke. Thanks for everything you did for me. And I want to thank my, my colleagues John and Jordan, my on-air buddies, creative collaborators for, for, I don't know, decades now. I'm so lucky that once a week I get to bask in the light of your talent. I'm so lucky to have them as caring, honest, committed partners. A lot of folks in the early days trusted me with their work. Thank you to them, Nick and Julia, Colin, Marielle, Chris, Brian. I'll never be able to repay you. Thanks to our managing director Vikram, and especially to all of my fellow worker owners at Maximum Fun. I am so proud to share this work with you. And also to my old school podcasting pals, my friends in the industry, Matt and Jimmy, Ira, Jad and Robert, Mark, Roman, Brooke, Helen, Chuck, Reggie, may you rest in peace. That's just some off the top of my head. I'm so grateful to be in community with you. Now, I spent a long time thinking about how to spend this little bit of time at the end here that I have with all of you watching. And I think that this is what I wanna say. First of all, I'm glad this is a business. I'm proud that this is a business. I also hope that when you make decisions in your work, including business decisions, that you will lead with your heart. We're all here because we want to connect with people. We want to touch their lives. You know, we've all gotten an email about our show being the soundtrack to the long drive to a hospital when somebody was sick, or a laugh about our show being the thing that led to a partnership and a marriage and a family. In fact, I bet a lot of people in this room have sent that email. I have. We know that that is why we do this. So I hope that when you do your work, you will remember that We do not work for advertisers. We don't work for algorithms. If we try to do that, we will fail in business and as artists. We work for our listeners. We work for security guards on the late shift, for people doing their dishes, painters in their studios. We work to touch people's lives in big ways and silly ways and heartfelt emotional ways and educational ways. And a thousand other ways. And our work is best when we lead with our hearts. Does that make me sound like a dick? It does. I think it makes me sound like a dick. You know what? To introduce our 8th and final honoree of the evening, Please welcome back Dr. Drew Pinsky. All right. Here we are. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for allowing me back in front of you again. Again, my gratitude for this evening and for the inductees. So I was just thinking that I'm here to present Adam Carolla with his induction to the Hall of Fame. And I thought at no point did he say, hey, would you accept it on my behalf? No, no, I'll send a video. Thanks, Adam. So I was thinking about what I wanted to say, and I'm gonna keep my comments very short because he didn't feel sufficiently invested to help us out here this evening. We'll see how short his video is. I can't wait to see that. But I talked a little this morning, if you were at that event, about his and my— how we got together and how that happened. The serendipity of all that. And we talked a little bit about the sort of the chemistry or the magic of partnerships. When you find the right partnership, things just kind of work. Other people notice it, they will let you know. And he and I got together in podcasting. It was really, I guess, him that pulled me into podcasting. We had done Loveline, of course, and then he wrapped that up and went to— he essentially replaced Howard Stern in the morning on a syndicated radio show that eventually went away. And he took his little team and just decided he was going to do a podcast and started doing podcasting and was very quickly the most popular. He was sort of before Rogan, before everybody, the most popular podcast on earth is actually in the Guinness Book of World Records for the most popular podcast. And I started thinking, well, what would he say is the model for a podcasting host. What kinds of features would he include in this? And so I've just made a little list. I was sitting thinking about this. And funny, you want to be funny. And we just have seen some great examples of people, great communicators, are entertaining. He would say you need to have low self-esteem because he and I have shared that heritage together. It is— it helps you check yourself a little bit. You always blame yourself for anything that's going wrong, and you, rather than wondering how things could have happened, you immediately blame yourself. In his case, he would say number 3, you'd have to have an impoverished childhood, not necessarily a traumatic childhood, just impoverishment, which is something he gets a lot of mileage out of. I don't know if you ever heard him talk about his grandmother and his mother. You need curiosity. He would say that. And you would need to be somewhat fearless, not heedless, but somewhat fearless in expressing yourself and being honest and moving forward. And the final thing he would put on his list would be something he has pointed out to me multiple times, which is when someone asked him, one of the staff there said, "Adam, you think you have a crystal ball. That's why you're so confident." He goes, No, I have a crystal brain. So he would say you need a crystal brain as you approach your podcasting career. So with those things in mind, my honor to be here tonight presenting the award to Adam Carolla, who comes to us virtually. I hope he sent the video. Susan, call Adam. Adam Carolla's video could not be with us this evening. Would you kindly accept on his behalf? Are you serious? Oh, we got it, we got it. Okay, all right, good. I was going to put him on the phone if that was the case. In fact, I should do that anyway. I'm, I'm going to call him. Give these guys a chance to cue things up. He has a— he has— I know he's performing in Colorado stand-up, and it's pro— yeah, buddy. Can you do one quick thing? Your video didn't quite show up. Can you just thank the crowd for the award, please? Ready? Well, no, they're working on it, but it's not here. I'm in front of the crowd, so we just need— they just need to hear your voice and say thank you for the award. Okay, ready? Here we go. All right, go ahead. Hello? Oh, thank you, crowd. Thank you for this honor. All right, that made him happy. Yeah, he's walking on stage in Mesa, Colorado, but he would— oh wait, here you go again. Face to— tell him, tell him, go ahead. I'm honored, and if I wasn't about to walk out on stage in Mesa, Colorado, I would walk out on stage wherever the fuck you people are. And thank you for the award. Hello? And thank you for the award, right? Oh yeah, and thank you for the award. Okay, all right, thank you. Have a good show. Do we have any videos? No video? That's incredible. There we go. Wow, a Hall of Fame. Little old me from North Hollywood, California. In a Hall of Fame. Jesus Christ, man. When I was a kid, I probably dreamt of the NFL Hall of Fame. Never even knew what a podcast was because it wasn't invented for another 37 years. But I am tickled pink. I've never been in any situation where I ever would have imagined that I could be in a Hall of Fame. And I just want to say this as a cautionary tale— Podcast Hall of Fame Let's keep it real. Don't end up like the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Grand Funk Railroad is not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, but Kate Bush is? Ugh. Do not ruin your brand. Keep it to the people who are keeping it real. That's right, I'm pointing at Maw. That's Mexican for me. I never thought about it, and, and it's great, and it's probably the best day of my life. It's only tarnished by the fact that Dr. Drew's the master of ceremonies. Jesus Christ, look, I don't get enough of that guy. But I will tell you this, um, many years ago, probably 1992, I was doing comedy with the Acme Comedy Theater. I was doing sketch, I was doing improv. And I'd been there for about 4 or 5 years. And I said to the theater director, I said, what do you see me doing? Because I don't know where I belong. I'm not really a stand-up. I'm not really an actor. What do you see? I'm not really a writer. What do you see me doing? You see me as a writer? You see me as a performer? He said, you need a job where you just sit and talk every single day. And it doesn't matter the language you use or the words you choose, and you speak your mind every single day and you just blowvate into a microphone. That's the job you need. And I said, thanks, but that job doesn't exist. And I realized all these years later he was talking about podcasting. Now, he didn't know it and I didn't know it, But he was saying, you were put on this planet to do this thing that doesn't exist yet. And we were both speaking about podcasting, even though I didn't hear the term for at least another decade after that. God, back in the day, I used to go to Bill Simmons' garage and he didn't even have a second microphone. And this would be like 2000. '05, and I used to have to call into a show with a phone and stand in the driveway while the gardener was blowing leaves on me because he couldn't afford a second microphone. Well, we've come a long way. So this has been my longest running job, longer than carpenter, longer than morning show host, longer than the Man Show, longer than Loveline, longer than gay porn. Passed that about 10 minutes ago. And the fact that you would even consider me to be in the Podcast Hall of Fame, well, I'm tickled pink. So thank you very much, and this award will be cherished. But I hope it's a real award, not some shitty plaque. Thank you. What he would have said was, thank you for recognizing my genius. I know that's what he thinks anyway. So anyway, I'm sure he would humbly accepted it. He is— he loves podcasting. He loves this organization. It's the fact that he picked up the phone was awesome. And trust me, this will not have gone in vain. He really loves this community, this medium community. He was a pioneer in this area and I'm sure he appreciates being acknowledged. So I will accept it on his behalf. But we are bringing this to a close. And of course, I'm grateful to have been here as your master of ceremonies. It's been an honor. And congratulations again to all the inductees, stories, voices that have shaped this medium in countless ways and, and have shaped the lives of those who listen. I know about you, but podcasting has been like graduate school for me in topics that I might have missed in my formal training.. And I just appreciate all of your work. It's funny, when I was sick with COVID I did a lot of digital consumption. I just couldn't do anything but kind of scroll through them. And I was so grateful for people that were creating content. So congratulations for that. And thank you to Libsyn, the Podcast Hall of Fame induction inductee committee, Podcast Expo, Women's Meditation Network. And of course, their support and dedication to the community makes this all possible. So we continue together into the future. Please visit podcasthof— that's homeofficefrank.com— hof to see all the inductees, or Hall of Fame. All 48 are there. Thank you all for being here. Congratulations to the inductees.