Podcasts | Off The Bench and Small Time
A look into the episodes and development of my podcasts: Off The Bench and Small Time.
Like my work in photography and film, I wasn’t made to be in front of the camera. But maybe, I could exist behind a microphone. My time in podcasting and radio began in college and has continued ever since, spanning the life of a 100+ episode sports radio show, and my continued work on a sports short story podcast.
Off The Bench | Sports Radio + Podcast
The premiere sports talk show on XLR Lander University Radio | from 2019-2023.
Alongside my college roommate, Off The Bench was created to be a first-of-its-kind sports talk radio show at Lander University. Through the means of the on-campus radio station, we wanted our platform to have “lunch table style“ debates about the sports and athletes we loved. Game predictions, in-depth analysis, guests and trivia were all apart of the show’s growing list of topics, with each new year bringing more and more improvement.
For two hours every Wednesday, for almost every week of our college career, we would gather our notes for the week and debate around the world of NFL and college football, motorsports, college basketball and more. We tried to be professional at times, we acted off script other times. But it was the time of my life, and I enjoyed every second we got to be on air and represent our ideas and our school.
History of the Show
Our first episode aired on September 25th, 2019. It was a muddled mess of “umms“ and “uhhs“, with myself and my cohost Jameson just looking to find our footing. We both thought we were Stephen A. Smith or some other TV personality. We weren’t. Beginning with our second episode, we recorded every minute, both audio and video, and created am Instagram to help promote the show and highlights topics we spoke about.
In the Fall of 2020, the show’s cohosts were changed, and Chris Fortenberry and Liam Worley joined the show full time, adding along with them more talk on the world on motorsports, golf and much more. From their, Off The Bench became one of the biggest shows on XLR Lander University radio, drawing in listeners from dozens of countries worldwide.
Despite two director changes at our radio station, our show persevered, quickly becoming the longest-running show on the station for our final 2.5 years, as well as tallying up the most ever episodes in XLR Lander University Radio history, ending at 103, and becoming the first show to ever hit 100 episodes.
Small Time | Sports Storytelling
The small, yet impactful stories of sports and how they shape athletes and the sports they're involved in. | from 2021 - present.
Beginning in 2021 as a class project, Small Time quickly grew into a passion project that I just couldn’t look away from. The idea stemmed from other podcasts such as This American Life and The Memory Palace, in which I saw a cavity in the field of podcasting. I wanted Small Time to be a show first of its kind. One that put together classic sports stories, iconic moments, and legendary athletes all contained in a short-length story. Like reading a chapter out of the book of sports history.
History of the Show
In a podcasting class in college, our final project was to create three, 10-20 minute episodes of a topic of our choosing. I didn’t want to record just a few 15 minute monologues and call it a day, so I searched through my saved podcasts on Spotify for inspiration and noticed something: there were no short form sports podcasts out there. None. So I worked to create a concept, and then a first script, and then a debut episode (I got an A btw!).
The first three episodes, titled Two Panthers, I Didn’t Lie That Day, and How Heinicke were posted simultaneously for the show’s launch, and each of the following eight episodes were posted at varying times throughout my college career.
On September 2, 2022, I released Football City USA. This was by far my most intensively-researched and thoughtout episode, going over the football history of my hometown, Rock Hill, South Carolina, and the tragedy that followed. It remains one of the most special pieces of media I’ve ever created.
The show has taken a bit of a hiatus since 2023, but its always in my mind and I plan to restart it soon!