Madison Beer, John Cho & S'mores?
On today's episode of Who's There, our weekly call-in show, we open with banter about Dakota Johnson and mummies. (Naturally!) Next up, we take comments about MEMPHIS (yes, we know it's an ancient Egyptian city now), JELL-O (yes, it sounds like Lindsey made with Jell-o, jelly, or an aspic depending on your definitions), NINA NESBITT (yes, Ed Sheeran wrote not one, not two, but three songs about her), BURNA BOY (yes, his albums are more essential than Ed Sheeran's), and BARILLA (yes, it's homophobic after all) before taking questions about Diane Warren's recent, uh, mixup (let's not get too into it because anything related to you-know-who is way too bleak), Lucy Liu's lesbian art (look!), John Cho's frustrating place in Themdom, and who the hell Madison Beer is... even though we've gone through this before... we think. Finally, we play a game of Who/Them that ends with an unexpectedly intense discussion about s'mores? We never know where this show will take us.As always, call 619-WHO-THEM to leave questions, comments and concerns. We may address your call on a future episode!
Previous Episode
Deacon Phillippe, Javicia Leslie & the Bass Pro Shops Pyramid?
Next Episode
Amanza Smith, Saweetie & Mason Morfit?
About The Show
âThe idea is that youâre in a grocery store, youâre looking at the tabloids, youâre looking at the covers, and youâre saying, âWho are these people? Iâve never heard of any of themââthose are Whos,â says Lindsey Weber, co-host and co-creator of Who? Weekly, Apple Podcastsâ Spotlight show for July 2022. âAnd, the Thems are kind of the opposite: the Brad Pitts of the world, the kind of prominent A-listers that everyone knows who they are,â adds Bobby Finger. âSo, people that make you say, âWho?â and people that make you say, âOh, them.ââThis is the driving concept behind a podcast that, like so many good ideas, started life as an inside joke between friends and found success because of that palpable chemistry. âWe're really trying to mimic the calls you have with your friends talking about the gossip,â says Weber. âIt's just two friends on the phone, quite literally, talking about celebrity gossip.âWeber and Finger first met on the internet, in the golden age of Tumblr, brought together by their shared love of tabloid culture. When the two eventually met IRL through mutual friends, they decided to create a weekly newsletter for their Tumblr and Twitter followers. âIt just started as a joke where you'd send a photo of someone and say, âWho?â, or send a headline and say, âWho is this?ââ says Finger. âAnd those stories ended up being the ones that made us laugh the most. The only reason it turned into a podcast was because a mutual friend of ours who had a podcast at the time said, âThis should be a podcast.â And, we were like, âOkay, we don't know how to do that, but we'll figure it outââand we've been figuring it out ever since.âLike many podcasts, Who? Weekly has a recurring character that serves as the showâs guiding force and baseline for WhosâRita Ora, the showâs patron saint. âWe do a segment every week, âWhat's Rita Ora Up To?â and we've done it every single week since we started the podcast,â says Finger. âShe kind of spawned so much of the vibe of the show because she's covered everywhere, and always in a different way.âWith episodes airing every Tuesday and Friday, thereâs always a new Who to be discovered and discussed. The Whos and Thems have also taken on a life of their own, going far beyond pop culture with everyday metaphors like the Whos and Thems of frozen food or constellationsâbasically anything that listeners call in and ask via their âWhoâs There?â segment. âAt some point pretty early on in the run, we thought it would be fun to have a call-in segment to make it feel more like a radio show,â says Finger. âIt became clear that making it kind of a dialogue and a two-way conversation made it more rewarding. It just sort of developed a life of its own, where the show just got funnier and weirder. It just became so much more fun for the two of us once we let the listeners, whom we call the Wholigans, who call themselves the Wholigans, kind of join in on the fun.âAnd Who? Weekly would certainly not be the show it is without its endlessly creative in-house editing and production that perfectly infuses the personalities of Weber and Finger. âIt's our humor in the way we speak to each other, but also there's so much humor in the edit, like what clips you choose, the music, the sound effects,â says Weber. They also have an assistant in their cast of characters, Timmy, who has his own presence on the show (as well as behind the scenes), to help with the weekly gathering of material, sifting through hundreds of calls, and basically all things Who.For Weber and Finger, itâs all about their fans and staying true to themselves as well as the spirit of the show. âOur goal is just to keep the show fun for us and fun for the listener, and keep people entertained and up to date about their favorite Whos,â says Weber.