Podcast Spotlights

Podcast Spotlight: Three Angry Nerds

October 24, 2017 9:17 am

Last updated on November 1st, 2017

Nerd-focused podcasts aren’t necessarily new, however, some manage to separate themselves from the pack by producing excellent podcasts. Three Angry Nerds is one of these podcasts that borders on the edges of movies, gaming, comic books, music, and more.

Co-host of Three Angry Nerds, Kurtis, has the nerd chops to provide credibility — along with an interesting perspective — to the podcast. He was previously the Editor-In-Chief for The Motherboard and also wrote for The Cascade. I got a chance to speak with Kurtis and ask him about the podcast, the nerd-based podcast landscape, and the other podcasts out there he enjoys listening to. See below for our full Q&A.

Discover Pods: What’s the tweet-length synopsis of your podcast?

Kurtis: Generally about nerd and pop culture.

DP: What’s unique about your podcast?

Kurtis: We don’t just give the news, we have attitude and are (sometimes brutally) honest.

DP: The “nerd” and pop culture genre of podcasts seems to a competitive space. How do you differentiate yourself?

Kurtis: Many podcasts that focus on nerd and pop culture tend to focus on knowledge, which is fine, but it can come across as pretentious which I noticed listening to many podcasts, so when I founded Three Angry Nerds in 2013 we thought to add some humor and colorful language to the podcast, the knowledge is there but it’s about delivery and making sure we come across as authentic and genuine for our listeners. The ultimate goal being that people are learning and gaining new information about certain nerd topics they didn’t know about before, but they’re also able to laugh and have a great time.

DP: With so much news that might be considered in the nerdom, how do you and your hosts decide what to cover in any given episode?

Kurtis: It’s always a challenge. Obviously we know what our listeners like, for instance news on Marvel TV shows or movies is really popular, same with DC movies and TV shows; but we also see other movies and sometimes it’s about offering up intelligent suggestions. For instance, we saw the film, Get Out, before many people had and were early champions for that film. It isn’t typically a film that a comic book nerd may watch, but it was smartly written and directed and we know that this is what our audience gravitates to. Ultimately if we can give someone some new experiences and things that they can enjoy, that’s a great feeling and it is rewarding to hear people watch something we recommended and enjoy it.

DP: Why did you choose to podcast?

Kurtis: It was the best medium to deliver our content.

DP: What are your five favorite podcasts?

Kurtis: Great question! One of my all time favourites was Three Red Lights (which our name is a bit of a play on), it was a podcast for the website, IGN, it was back in around 2008 or so I listened, it sort of taught me that podcasts don’t have to be strictly about knowledge, you can have fun too! I’m a big fan of WTF with Marc Maron, even if I don’t know who he’s interviewing, the interviews are usually interesting. Buddies of mine Nick and Phil have their own podcast, My Thing Can Beat Your Thing, which we actually had on our network for almost a year. Their podcast is great and a joy to listen to, even if Phil is almost always wrong. Cracked Movie Club is a new one but I again enjoy that balance of knowledge and humor. Finally, Serial, they kind of are the pioneers in a way.

DP: What type of podcast equipment do you record with?

Kurtis: We have a unique challenge in that one host is in Boston, the other Toronto, and I’m in Vancouver. We all use the Blue Yeti Mic‘s, they’re great mics and surprisingly affordable for the quality. Managed to get them on an Amazon sale during Boxing Day for 50% off so that always helps. Use a program for Mac called Soundflower, that takes the Skype Audio and merges it into a channel which my audio is also merged into. That master channel then goes into Garage Band. As for the site we use WordPress and Feedburner, which I know I have to move away from eventually but I’m a master procrastinator.

DP: Anything else you’d like to add?

Kurtis: Since I started podcasting, I’ve always been a proponent of working together with other podcasters, this was a bit less acceptable but now we have great initiatives like TryPod and PodernFamily, but I tell people if you want to succeed in podcasting, you need to work together, so feel free to reach out to me (threeangrynerdspodcast@gmail.com) or to other pods and just network. You’ll find a natural surge in listenership and all from just socializing and trying new things.

Aside from that, have fun. If I’ve learned anything in the 4 years of podcasting, it’s that you need to be having fun, otherwise people will tell and turn away. Maybe your audio quality isn’t the greatest, but if you have fun and engaging content, people will come back. That’s my two cents at least

DP: Where can listeners find you?

Kurtis: http://www.threeangrynerds.com/