We at the Weekly are Luddites at heart, for better or worse—our web editor is a steampunk queen, for chrissakes. So that's why we've never truly jumped into every journalistic flavor of the month (remember when infographics were a thing? How about charts? Serialized stories written by different reporters? Publishing your stories directly onto Facebook?). Heaven forbid we try to concentrate on what's made us a moneymaker for 21 years—great stories in Orange County that make a difference, tell readers about this bizarre place we call home, and raise DESMADRE.
But one thing we've always talked about, going back to the days of our original Costa Mesa office, was a radio show. We come across so many great stories and interview so many fascinating people, that a lot is always left out of the paper and website daily. Various Weeklings have hosted shows over the years at KUCI-FM 88.9, and I even had a show for two years on KPFK-FM 90.7 until I was unceremoniously forced to resign by the Weekly's previous editor if I wanted to become managing editor (true story!). But now, in this Golden Age of Podcasting, we are primed to conquer the Orange County airwaves.
Ladies and germs, behold Episode Zero of OC Speakly, the Weekly's weekly podcast—weekly!
Great, if obvious, name, right? Hey: I wanted the OC Weekly Smile-Time Variety Hour, but was voted down.
For those who haven't played it yet: consider Episode Zero our mission statement. Every Tuesday, we will post a half-hour podcast organized around a general theme. Next week, for instance, is hate in Orange County; the week after, in honor of the shutdown of Irvine Meadows, we'll reminisce about all the great clubs and venues we've lost in OC over the decades, from the Golden Bear to Crazy Horse to Metropolis and Club Rubber. We'll be topical, timeless, titillating, and tontos—essentially, OC Weekly on the airwaves. We'll interview all the OC crazies we love, offer food reviews, allow listeners to call in and rip us apart, give some trivia questions—and who knows what else?
I'll be the host, but all Weeklings will participate, with staff writer Gabriel San Román producing (calling back to his KPFK days) and art director Dustin Ames taking care of all the tech shit. He told me to tell you to subscribe to our podcast over at www.ocspeakly.com, and that we'll be up on iTunes once we have three episodes in the can. Give us a listen, wontcha? And spread the word!
