As we finish up 2017 and reflect on the year, I wanted to take the opportunity to share my gratitude to the interview subjects and audience that have made our podcast a reality! I’ll spare you my appreciative sobbing — what can I say, I’m a crier! — so I’ll pass along my top reflections from the Meatcast’s first year instead.
Top 5 Most Downloaded Episodes
- David Woods - Whole Foods: Two things made this episode as popular as it was. The first was the genuine curiosity we all have about how things end up on our grocery shelves — who wouldn’t want to delve into the brain of a Whole Foods trend-spotter? The 2nd thing was David’s incredible honesty about his amazing journey out of addiction. It’s a truly personal and inspiring story that clearly many folks were interested in hearing!
- Joel Salatin - No surprise here. There’s a reason Joel has been featured in multiple documentaries and books about the natural/organic food movement. The man is as quotable as they come, and his ability to entertain is only rivaled by his ability to educate. That’s why we were incredibly honored to have him on our podcast,and why he was clearly a fan favorite!
- Katie & Taylor - Our inaugural episode! For the majority of folks that discover the Meatcast through newer episodes, this is often the next episode they’ll choose to download and listen to. As always, our founders keep it real and share stories about EPIC’s birth and journey you may have heard, but many more you definitely haven’t. They always have something incredible and insightful to say. A must-listen!
- Robb Wolf - When I pitched the idea of this podcast to our founders, I promised them Robb Wolf would be among our first guests. Who better to help get your podcast launch in the air, than the patron saint of Paleo? Seriously though, Robb came on when I had no idea what the hell I was doing, didn’t know if my equipment was working, and surely was asking all the wrong questions. Despite my best attempts to sabotage them, Robb’s insight, knowledge, and reputation shined through, and it remains an audience favorite.
- Will Harris - There’s a reason Taylor often tells us he could end every EPIC company meeting with a “Will-ism” that would energize and inspire. If Will’s effortless wisdom and deadpan candor don’t reel you in, his southern drawl certainly shall! If there were more of him in the world, this mission of raising awareness for regenerative ag would be a helluva a lot easier. Since he wouldn’t sit still long enough to be cloned, though, we recorded his wisdom here and just asked that folks share the shit out of it! And y’all definitely have — thank you!
My Favorite Interviews
- Two Hives with Tara Chapman - CIA agent turned beekeeper? Tara is a storyteller’s dream! In addition to her fascinating background, she is just someone who clearly knows how to effortlessly balance teaching and entertaining, so you can never tell when you’re learning vs. just having a great time.
- Fish People Seafood with Duncan Berry - After 20+ podcast interviews (which is still such an incredibly small sample) I’ve found that a genuine curiosity on my part tends to lead to the best interviews. That curiosity comes through in the interview and subsequently in the podcast. This was the case with Duncan, as I wasn’t very familiar with seafood sustainability, — luckily, there couldn’t have been a better person to help educate me. Duncan’s thoughtful, thorough, and unique perspective really left me in awe.
- Meatsmith Brandon Sheard - Echoing my sentiment above regarding genuine curiosity, I could’ve easily spent another hour talking to Brandon. It wasn’t just his unique traditional perspective on animal husbandry, butchery, and curing — it was his amazing eloquence in articulating his philosophies in a way that left me both educated and inspired.
Favorite INSIDE EPIC Segment: Hurricane Harvey
- I will never forget feeling the hair on my neck absolutely stand on end as I talked to our co-founder Katie’s mother about her Hurricane Harvey experience. It was so humbling that she was willing to share the amazing personal story with us, and it was indeed a story worth sharing.
What I’m Most Excited about for Meatcasting in 2018: DEPTH AND BREADTH!
On like, 1/100000th the scale, I feel like Kanye after The College Dropout. Double-down on the style of rap that brought you success? Or, fuck it, take a swing at a completely new style, now that you’ve got a captive audience? I’d argue he did both (Late Registration was the double down, 808 was the new swing). And, thanks to you, the Meatcast community, I also think we can do both too! Next year, I hope to dive deeper by finding unique and interesting guests to cover topics that are near and dear to the EPIC heart (i.e. regenerative ag, conscious carnivorism). I’m excited to take a swing at guests that are right on the edge of the EPIC sphere — folks touching human or environmental health that perhaps we wouldn’t have been able to reach in our first season.
To complete the Kanye analogy, in 2018 I hope to get the Meatcast to a place where I’m interrupting Taylor Swift on stage for a reason, any reason, really. Let’s make it happen y’all.
Taylor, I’ll let you finish but… the Meatcast had some of the best interviews of ALL TIME.