Episode 383

Armchair Expert Podcast, Content Case Study

Are you an Armcherry too?

It’s officially time to do a content case study on one of my favorite podcasts, Armchair Expert. This has been a long time coming. I officially became an “Armcherry” — a megafan of the show — in 2020.

The journey this show has been on has been incredible to digest. The highs, the even higher, and taking their show to the top podcasts in the world!

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The Beginning

The show first launched episodes on Feb 6, 2018, with a 3:35 trailer with Dax & Monica explaining what to expect of the show. From the get-go, the hosts took two different positions:

1. Someone with lots of confidence and conviction — the Armchair Expert (Dax)

2. Someone to call the other out on their BS — the Fact Checker (Monica)

Dax Shephard and Monica Padma play their respective roles beautifully. Dax is an actor, comedian, filmmaker, and podcast host. My favorite role he ever played was “Cheetoh” in Idiocracy.

Monica Padma is an actor, podcaster, and producer, and she’s my age. So listening to the show from her perspective and her references helped me relate even more to what the hosts talk about.

They’ve had several show-stopping guests including: dozens of celebrities, Barack Obama, & Bill Gates.

Changing & Pivoting

The Armchair Expert Umbrella has expanded from the catalyst show that started it all. And, for the first time ever, I’m really excited that I need to FACT CHECK myself for today’s episode. I messed up.

In the audio recording, I left out several shows that lie under their podcast catalog. Check out how their original show has changed since they’ve had multiple spin off segments and episodes.

• Armchair Expert
• Armchaired & Dangerous
• Experts on Experts
• Monica & Jess Love Boys
• Armchair Anonymous
• Flightless Bird
• Race to 270
• Race to 35
• Nurture vs. Nurture
• We Are Supported By

EPISODE NUMBER

Okay, I messed up — again! *Face Palm* 

I said in today’s episode, “When I’m recording this episode, there are 381 episodes published to date.” Um, I don’t know where I got that number. Well, actually I do. I was lazy Googling. 

The correct number of podcast episodes to date for Armchair Expert is 529, which means between this show and all the others, there has to be over 600 episodes they’ve published to date. Again, my bad! (But what a fun episode throw in some fact checking, right?)

The Spotify Deal

In May 2021, the two hosts announce on Instagram that they’d be going exclusive to Spotify starting July 1, 2021. My initial reaction was frustration. I’m not a Spotify-first podcast listener. And I don’t like the idea of exclusive shows.

There’s some speculation as to how much money the duo made on their Spotify deal, but it was an undisclosed amount easily in the tens of millions.

My favorite part of the show is that the hosts get guests to open up and be really raw and human. One of their key phrases is “the messiness of being human.”

 NO VIDEO PODCASTS!

I respect that they refuse to video their sessions because things get awkward when a camera is around. To paraphrase Dax, “video is too distracting. I don’t want you worrying about the logo on my shirt instead of listening to the conversations.”