Everyone's friends! Or at least it seems that way in comedy podcast land much of the time. Guests and hosts are often jumping back and forth on each others' shows, serving as a some oddball closed-circuit guest loop. The kumbayah inner circle spirit can come off a tad clique-ish after awhile but it often leads to some of the more free-flowing playful been-there, done-that conversations on many of the shows.
Two podcasts with great group dynamics working magic - The Long Shot and Pop My Culture - did the host swap these past few weeks. The results of these crossover appearances highlighted the strengths of both shows: a great group dynamic. These shows ran effortlessly, like listening in on great playful nonsequiter conversations among funny friends.
The Pop My Culture crossover highlight included everyone riffing on the Detroit Robocop statue announcement. The Long Shot crossover featured some great reflection and eventual dark humored riffing on the late great Phil Hartman's death.
The delight of most episodes of The Long Shot's is the distinct personality of the four hosts - Sean Conroy, Eddie Pepitone, Amber Kenny and Jamie Flam. Each stakes out his own corner and there's lots of friendly tension at work, along with a great "giving-each-other-crap" vibe. This is highlighted by Sean Conroy's self-imposed mission to challenge Pepitone and Flam constantly.
While The Long Shot crew entertains through tension, the Pop My Culture duo, Cole Stratton and Vanessa Ragland, work as an effortless positive-no-matter-what team. Stratton and Ragland always seem to put their guests at ease right from the start. They embrace the "we're here to have fun" spirit no matter the guest, skillfully transitioning from standard interview segments to their playful pop culture discussions and games.
Check out these two crossover episodes for a fun glimpse into these two team-powered shows.
Pop My Culture featuring The Long Shot - March 14, 2011
The Long Shot featuring Pop My Culture - March 22, 2011
Thursday, February 23, 2012 at 9:28AM 
The Nerdist blog posted a nice write-up of their very own Vanessa Ragland receiving a nomination for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Woman of the Year honor. The co-host of Pop My Culture, Ragland recently launched her campaign to raise awareness and funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society over the next several months. During her campaign, Ragland is injecting a bit of humor, including a mini-fundraising goal of getting her father to cut his ponytail. Check-out the post for more details!
