Welcome to the biweekly comedy podcast where the three hosts, Kevin Rosenquist, John Banks, and Greg Mitchell, choose a topic and spend about an hour discussing if humans have learned from the past or if history has defeated itself. Each episode, one host chooses and researches a topic and then reveals it to the other two for discussion. It is always a surprise, so their conversations are truly off the cuff. They have covered the reality of the American Dream, debt and credit, diet fads, and coffee. At the end of each episode, there is only one question left: Have we, as people, learned from our past mistakes?

History Defeats Itself is not only educational, but it keeps you company, too. Kevin, John, and Greg have the kind of banter you can only have with someone who you’ve known for years. This podcast is great to listen to no matter what you’re doing, but especially if you’re feeling lonely.

We were fortunate to talk with Rosenquist about the podcast, how they differentiate from other podcasts, and their future plans in podcasting. See below for our full Q&A.

Listen: Apple Podcasts

DISCOVER PODS: How’d you get into podcasting?

ROSENQUIST: I was always super into radio as a kid and even looked at going into broadcasting but never did. When podcasting started to gain steam I really wanted to get involved but wanted to find the right theme and partners. I enjoy writing as well, particularly screenplays, so I briefly worked on a screenwriting podcast with a couple friends but it never panned out. I reached out to John Banks about doing a podcast and he was immediately excited about it. We got Greg Mitchell involved too because the three of us have been friends for a long time and we’ve always had a great dynamic. We spent about eight months work shopping ideas and doing test episodes until we felt we had our format dialed in.

DISCOVER PODS: In your own words, why should listeners tune in to History Defeats Itself?

ROSENQUIST: I think we have a really good balance of humor and information. We’re not just three dudes talking over beers. Each episode one of us picks a topic and brings it to the group; we refer to that person as the lead. The other two have no idea what the topic is going to be until we start recording; we call those two the blinds. We chat about the past and present and try to figure out if we, as people, learned from our history or if we’re just repeating ourselves. We alternate who leads each episode and that person comes armed with a good amount of research. We really want to know our topic well. The cool thing about having the blinds is that they are in the same boat as the listeners, learning about the topic as we go. And we are, overall, a comedy podcast and I think we’re pretty funny people. We’re very real, we’re humble, we don’t let each other get away with any BS, and we’re relatable. At least, that’s what we tell ourselves in the mirror every morning.

DISCOVER PODS: What kind of feedback have you heard from your listeners?

ROSENQUIST: It’s funny…I’ve had a lot of people question whether the two “blinds” really don’t know the topic. Which I suppose is a compliment! But we really truly keep it under wraps. The spontaneity is key to our show. People definitely have their favorite episodes. Some prefer more history, some like more jokes. I love hearing that though because it shows the diversity of our audience and that we’re striking chords with people for different reasons. Overall the feedback has been really positive which is great for our fragile egos.

DISCOVER PODS: Describe your recording set up? What equipment are you using?

ROSENQUIST: I love talking gear so how much time you got?! I played in bands for years trying to be a rock star so I had a good handle on audio equipment coming in, which was huge given how much goes into podcasting. I’m in Colorado and both John and Greg are in Los Angeles but they’re almost an hour away from each other. So the three of us all record separately. I have a Shure SM-58 microphone going into a Behringer Xenyx 1204USB mixer. I connect with the guys over Skype on a laptop and I have the laptop going into the mixer as well. The mixer goes through a ground loop isolator to cut out any buzzing and then into a desktop computer. I use Adobe Audition as my DAW and to edit. I record my track and the Skype track on my desktop. John and Greg both have SM-58s as well. (Greg originally had a Blue Yeti and I gave him a lot of shit about it because I do not like the sound of those things. So I bullied him until he bought a new mic.) They each record their audio locally then upload it to a cloud server. I download their audio, sync it up to the Skype track, and away we go. My wife is a saint and let me turn one of the rooms in our house into a studio. So I have a pretty solid setup now. I’m super anal about sound quality. If a podcast has bad sound like they’re recording in a cave I check out immediately. If they don’t put time into their sound why should I put time into listening to them? I use the same mindset on our sound. We appreciate the hell out of every person who listens to us so I want to give them the best listening experience I can. It’s not perfect…but we’re constantly working on making it better.

DISCOVER PODS: What’s the biggest challenge you face as an indie podcaster?

ROSENQUIST: As most independent podcasters would say the biggest hurdle is building an audience. I read recently that there’s damn near a million podcasts out there now. Which is nuts. And with more and more celebrities and comedians doing podcasts now it’s tough to get people to choose us over them when looking for a new comedy podcast. We’re active on social media and do our best to spread the word any way we can. We’re definitely building an audience, which is awesome. We’ve grown exponentially over the last month or two. But it takes a lot of time and effort. Another thing about the crazy amount of podcasts out there…the majority of them don’t make it past a few episodes. I think that a lot of people out there see podcasting as easy. They think all you need is a mic and a computer. They don’t realize how much work goes into it, especially if you want to do it right. I hope that eventually podcast players are able to filter out shows that quit after a few episodes. That way when listeners are looking for something new it isn’t so overwhelming and they’ll know that what they’re clicking on is a legit podcast. And it would help podcasts like ours get noticed more so we don’t get lost in a sea of a bunch of shows that aren’t even active anymore.

DISCOVER PODS: Where do you want to take your podcast?

ROSENQUIST: We want it to keep growing and growing. I hope that we’re one of the premiere comedy podcasts that people listen to. Greg and I are already working on an audio dramedy show as well. I hope to have a podcast network at some point with our own shows as well as other shows with hosts that have the same drive and mindset that we do. I love everything about podcasting.

DISCOVER PODS: What other podcasts are you listening to now?

ROSENQUIST: Interestingly I don’t listen to a ton of podcasts these days. I used to. I got a new day job a couple years ago and I went from an hour commute to an eight minute commute. So my listening time has decreased by a lot. I love The Solid Verbal, which is a college football podcast. They got into podcasting very early and I’ve been listening to them for many years. I’ve always admired how impeccable their sound is and I even reached out to them over email to see if they could give me advice. One of the hosts, Ty, actually responded and helped me with my audio setup. It was really cool of him. A lot of my listening habits are based on my mood. When I want to get inspired to write I listen to a screenwriting show called Draft Zero. When I’m in the mood for history I like History in a Hurry. I also dig some of the celebrity ones like How Did This Get Made, Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, and Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend. My co-worker also got me into Disgraceland. I’m not big on true crime and things like that but as a music fan that podcast is way cool.

DISCOVER PODS: Anything else you’d like to add?

ROSENQUIST: Podcasting is an awesome medium and I feel lucky to be a part of it. I’d like to give a huge “Thank You” to everyone who listens to us and supports us. We truly do appreciate every one who takes the time to listen to us three knuckleheads.

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