The Mike Show

BenM (Ben Meiring) is a songwriter, producer, and film worker from Tulsa, OK. He jumped around in the music scene, accumulating gear and skills along the way. He applies these skills to helping others create music and also to create his own - keeping an approach of always continuing to learn, grow and stay passionate along the way. You can also find him on TikTok making fingerboarding videos - a fun hobby that he is quickly growing a following from.

Mike and BenM dig into the world of music on today's episode. BenM breaks down some of his creative process, including brief explanations of what gear, software, and tools he's using to create. They cover music monetization, side hustles and day jobs, and some of BenM's favorite artists and musical influences. Mike also asks BenM to explain the growing viral trend of fingerboarding and how BenM carved out a little place in that world for himself.

"It all starts with the idea and then you branch out from there. With this fun little interlude piece that I made, I wanted it to build and tell a story without any lyrics or any singing but just to be purely instrumental and tell a story that way." - BenM

"If you have a computer and you have a DAW that you learn inside and out, you don't really need to come and see me. You can start making songs on your computer right now clicking around and dragging notes on the piano roll." - BenM

"When an idea comes to you, you better be able to book it to an open project and be able to lay that shit out. Otherwise it's going to be gone. When you open up your VoiceMemo app, a lot of the times you're like where was this going? I know I had this idea. But it's amazing how quickly that idea can slip away and not be as exciting as you first imagined it." - BenM

"I'm trying to upload more TikToks because that seems to be where actually where I'm having a lot of fun too. You'll have this idea and you're like I don't have to write any lyrics, I can just have some fun." - BenM

"If people like it but you don't, you're not going to like making music. But if you like it and some people do, then you're going to keep people happy. It doesn't matter how many. If it's a million, great. If it's 100, you're still going to feel good about putting out that same style of music." - BenM

"I made a TikTok and Instagram account after I had accumulated what I thought were pretty sick looking slo-mo shots of me doing these tricks. And you can open up CapCut and set some key frames and I'm learning a decent amount actually about video editing in the process." - BenM

"And as soon as you have a community that you're tight with online, it's a really nice feeling. And I'd like if I could deepen that in the music world and focus more on getting more involved in the music community through TikTok and Instagram." - BenM

"I think working on developing a nice finished polished product that you're proud of, if you can get there that's the first step and hats off. I think the next step is either going broke investing into that or just taking it step by step and building that fame and that clout as you go and get better." - BenM

Highlights This Week:

• Mike and BenM talk about what's ahead for Ben in the short term including film jobs and future singles.
• BenM explains some of his process including the software he uses like Ableton and LogicPro with its drummer tool as well as how he uses prompts and a core idea to build a vibe and branch out from there.
• BenM breaks down what his rig looks like and what gear he's working with when recording and creating.
• BenM talks about how a computer has become a key tool for BenM to create music and how learning the basics with a computer and a DAW is more important than "all the shiny toys."
• Mike and BenM discuss how audiobooks are the future.
• Mike asks BenM about his recent work on a film in Hawaii as well as the day job grind while pursuing creative ventures.
• BenM gives his philosophy on how artists need to have their tools ready for when unexpected creative inspiration comes.
• Mike and BenM discuss the delicate balance between consistently putting out art and the perfectionism that goes hand-in-hand with creative pursuits.
• BenM lays out how and where he self-publishes his music from Soundcloud and other streaming platforms to TikTok.
• Mike asks BenM to explain how platforms like Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube allow musicians to monetize their work and how BenM navigates it himself with TuneCore.
• BenM shares some of his most played songs and artists of 2022.
• Mike and BenM discuss how important it is for artists to make music that they like rather than what they think will be popular or do well.
• BenM opens up about his hobby, and a new social media craze: fingerboarding. He explains how it grew from a middle school interest to a post-college hobby to a TikTok that helped him hone video editing skills.
• Mike and BenM talk about how embracing what can be fun and can be childish can actually help to build meaningful online communities.
• Mike suggests a way for BenM to merge his love of music and his love for fingerboarding into one awesome music video.
• Mike and BenM chew over the path to success in creative ventures, how difficult taking the first step can be, and how tough it can be to dedicate yourself completely towards your art.

Connect with Ben Meiring (BenM)

• BenM on TikTok
• BenM Fingerboarding on TikTok
• BenM on Instagram
• BenM on Spotify
• BenM on Apple Music

Connect with The Mike Show

• The Mike Show on Youtube
• The Mike Show on TikTok
• The Mike Show on Instagram
• The Mike Show on Twitter
• Mike Slemmons on IMDB
• Mike Slemmons on Instagram

Connect with MediaU:

• MediaU Website
• MediaU on Facebook
• MediaU on Instagram
• MediaU on Twitter

Doctor K is a psychiatrist and streamer whose work focuses on helping to encourage mental health within the gaming community. From a burnt out pre-med student with a video game addiction to a meditation student at an ashram in India and eventually now a streaming doctor who is renowned for helping gamers, it's fair to say that Doctor K has taken an uncommon route in his career and life. His work ties together his experiences practicing meditation, studying Western medicine, and a long history playing video games to provide unique mental health coaching for gamers specifically directly to his audience on Twitch.

This episode Mike and Doctor K cover a plethora of topics from the organic way Doctor K's Healthy Gamer has grown to his philosophies on mental health. They discuss the unorthodox way Doctor K found himself in the field of psychiatric medicine as well as his own struggles with mental health and video game addiction. Doctor K talks about how his experiences in India influenced how he looks at mental health and where he believes the American psychiatric system can grow and adapt to better meet the changing needs of patients, the trials and tribulations of living in a technology-filled world, and how to responsibly adapt Eastern ideas with Western medicine. For more from Doctor K, check the links below to check out his Twitch, Twitter, and join his communities on Discord and Reddit.

"After working with gamers for a couple years, I started to realize that a lot of what they need is not necessarily therapy but just understanding. There's just so many basics about how technology interfaces with your mind that we don't understand as a society." - Dr. K

"In the West we have formal education in subjects like mathematics and science. Soo every kid is taught mathematics and science. But even if you look at our formal study of psychology, we don't teach you about you. We teach you about general principles of populations." - Dr. K

"What I really discovered in India was a formal education in the self. So how does a human being work? Where do thoughts come from? What's the relationship between thoughts and actions? Where do desires come from? How does one overcome your desires? Why do we give into our desires? All that basic stuff. And I thought it was fantastic. So we take that approach. Understand yourself in a very practical way if you want to improve your life." - Dr. K

"People can't wait 10 years for a solution, even if it's the most beautifully produced solution. So there was a real sense of urgency. People's lives were being ruined one semester at a time. People can't wait 10 years let alone 10 months and let alone 10 weeks. People need help today." - Dr. K

"So we started on Twitch because that's where my people are and the people that I was trying to help. And by my people, I mean gamers." - Dr. K

"When I started streaming on Twitch, I didn't anticipate having a company. We may have incorporated by that point, so we did some due diligence there, but that was just to separate out my clinical practice from the entity that does Twitch. So some diligence there, but we didn't plan on becoming a thing. If 5 people show up, that's a win in my book." - Dr. K

"One of the big things I learned in India is that we attach ourselves to some kind of fiction. The big problem with plans is that we make them in the beginning, but in the beginning is when we understand the least." - Dr. K

"I don't consider the [generational] disconnect a bad thing, if that makes sense. I've just acknowledged that I'm not going to understand half of what goes on on Twitch. Every year that goes by, I'm going to understand less and less. And that's okay. And so part of what I love about Twitch is that Twitch helps me understand. So if I don't understand something, which is happening more and more, I will literally, I want to say once a week or once every other week, I will just ask Twitch." - Dr. K

"That's the big lesson that we've learned, mental health and mental illness are not things that you need to carry alone. We can come together and support each other as a community. Use tools like peer support to discuss traditionally taboo topics because everyone is suffering from it and we're not talking about it." - Dr. K

"I remember when I was a kid, I always got the feedback that I need to focus more. I would do so much better, I would live up to my potential if I could focus more. And my parents would tell me to focus more, my teachers would tell me to focus more. But no one ever taught me how to focus. They just said you need to be better at it. They never sat me down and said here is how you get your mind to focus on one thing for an extended period of time. And that's what I loved about India. They were like, by the way, here's how you ride a bicycle, except the bicycle is your mind. Here's how you get your mind to go in the direction that you want it to go." - Dr. K

"I don't think that 95% of people that meditate, or even teach meditation or mindfulness for example, really understand the roots of the practice. They just teach what they were taught." - Dr. K

"Generally speaking, I think that meditation is focusing your mind and then transcending the mind… There are a lot of ways that we can step beyond the mind, and I think that finding the right technique is really the goal." - Dr. K

"I think that there's certainly a lot of pressures to being a content creator, but I think in our case the reason the feeling hasn't changed is because we started this because what I saw is that there's a generation of people who are struggling with their mental health. And the stories that I heard were kind of scary… I don't mean this as an indictment of my field, but what we really saw is that psychiatry was getting too slow, too expensive, and too old. " - Dr. K

"Instead of criticizing [the American psychiatric system] on the sidelines, let's see if we can make a difference. And that's where we started. That was at the top of my mind the first time I streamed on Twitch. It's at the top of my mind when I'm going to fly to Twitch Con tomorrow: How can I help people today?" - Dr. K

"I hope to live in a world one day where I am no longer needed. That's my goal. Where I don't need to explain to people how to meditate because everyone knows. So honestly, my long term content goal is to no longer need to make content. That's the goal. I should be completely obsolete." - Dr. K

Highlights This Week:

• Doctor K talks about how he ended up in the niche world of mental health in the gamer community, starting with a personal interest in video game addiction and how he took that to public platforms online.
• Doctor K talks about how his own struggles with video game addiction gave him a unique perspective on and interest in working with mental health and video games.
• Mike asks Doctor K about how his time studying with monks in an ashram in India helped to inform his life and philosophies.
• Doctor K explains he ended up on Twitch, using streaming to approach the issue of mental health as a population issue. With the traditional route to research grant funding being too slow, Doctor K thought streaming helped address these problems with real urgency.
• Mike asks Doctor K if he always had aspirations to help people. Doctor Z explains the long road to his career now and how his upbringing as a second generation immigrant initially created an expectation and desire to become a doctor, but how his experiences with a guru in India helped him realize that he needed to build a valuable life devoted to helping people.
• Doctor K explains why he doesn't have long term goals and how his efforts to help people naturally grew into the Twitch he has today, even without a plan.
• Doctor K and Mike discuss the process of developing his coaching program and building his stable of coaches, including his philosophies on teaching and how the program allows him to collect and measure outcomes for research.
• Doctor K discusses how being a "boomer" on Twitch and the generational disconnect between him and the Twitch community creates a positive feedback loop, where he and his audience can learn from each other.
• Mike and Doctor K discuss the potential dangers of sharing too much on the internet and how Doctor K helps to create boundaries with his guests on his livestreams.
• Doctor K shares a story about a surprising place online he found inspiration and community, and why Internet communities and support can be a powerful tool in combating shame and mental health struggles.
• Mike asks Doctor K about his guide to mental health and how he's making his ideas easily accessible to people. Doctor K explains how his guide to mental health features both clinical ideas as well as Eastern and more spiritual ideas like dharma, karma, and finding purpose.
• Doctor K discusses where he sees Western medicine embracing Eastern ideas and where he doesn't as well as the pros and cons of it.
• Doctor K discusses the many types of meditation, how there are many ways to reach meditative states, and how difficult but rewarding it is to find the right type of meditation for you.
• Mike asks Doctor K to break down how the Healthy Gamer team of producers, editors, coaches, and others was put together, grown, and developed.
• Doctor K talks about why he thinks mental health is getting worse because the psychiatry system is now too slow, too expensive, and too old despite the efforts of good people and doctors.
• Despite being against long term goals, Doctor K talks about where he wants to expand his content and where he'd like to be one day as a content creator: obsolete. Short term: discussing directly with the community what they're struggling with and how to create content for that, including dating and relationships, social interactions, and trauma.
• Doctor K and Mike discuss what type of Twitch and YouTube content Doctor K likes to engage with.

Connect with Dr. K (Healthygamer)

• Dr. K and the Healthy Gamer on Twitch
• Dr. K and the Healthy Gamer on YouTube
• Dr. K on Twitter
• The Healthy Gamer on Twitter
• The Healthy Gamer on Reddit
• How to join Dr. K's Healthy Gamer community on Discord

Connect with The Mike Show

• The Mike Show on Youtube
• The Mike Show on TikTok
• The Mike Show on Instagram
• The Mike Show on Twitter
• Mike Slemmons on IMDB
• Mike Slemmons on Instagram

Connect with MediaU:

• MediaU Website
• MediaU on Facebook
• MediaU on Instagram
• MediaU on Twitter

Zach "Hammurabae" is a streamer by craft but a raconteur at heart. He started his Twitch stream to explore storytelling through a mixture of role playing and multiplayer video games, using characters and nations as vehicles into creating game-driven shared narratives. Through this pursuit, he's created a gaming community open to all centered primarily on the video game Hearts of Iron IV. You can find his playthroughs on Twitch and his community on Discord.

This episode Mike and Hammurabae talk about the unique community he's built through his streaming on Twitch and the content he's created on YouTube. Regularly running games with as many as 90 players on strategy games with an emphasis on roleplay, Hammurabae breaks down how he uses his staff of nearly 50 to help facilitate games and organize the community. Hammurabae explains why he thinks learning vital skills like communication, editing, and filming are vital to creating the best content possible. They also discuss consistency in scheduling, how to ask for help and resources when you're just starting streaming or creating content, the effects of obsessing over viewership on mental health, and more. Check the links below to watch more of Hammurabae's content or if you're interested in learning more about his community or joining one of his games.

"As a streamer, as a content creator, as a YouTuber, there are so many skills you need to learn and they're all useful. So I felt I was doing a disservice to myself by not building that skillset because for one it's useful just to have for the rest of your life and for two you will make better stuff if you know it very well yourself." - Hammurabae

"You have a game which is innately story based and it gives you options to express yourself. Some people play games just to shoot things. Or to just watch the story go. But there's many people who would much rather get themselves into that world and put themselves in it." - Hammurabae

"I think our community is very positive and that's something I've been really proud to see happen. It makes it so that people will also defend it because any group has a culture. And ours is at the point now that when toxic people or people who want to screw around want to come in, sometimes staff doesn't even have to do anything. It's the people themselves who say that's not going to happen." - Hammurabae

"For anyone who wants to stream and to do well in streaming, don't do that. Switching around a lot is an easy way just to make people not watch you, to be honest. Because people are habitual. We're all habitual. We build habits for what we do, what we watch, and things like that. And streaming is one of those things that if you watch streaming for streaming, it's to interact. And if it's not happening on the same day, you will lose lots of people." - Hammurabae

"My biggest piece of advice is consistency. And start with YouTube. Consistency on YouTube, like with uploading, with putting up videos and stuff like that. Don't just put up a couple of videos, wait a while, and then do some more. You need a consistent schedule. Match that to what you can do, whatever that is. Maybe that's bi-weekly, once a month. It doesn't matter. But having some kind of consistency, certain days, certain times, that is huge." - Hammurabae

"The YouTube space is just so much bigger. YouTube is a much better platform than Twitch in many ways. And it is, I think in many ways, more rewarding to you to build the skills on YouTube and then go to Twitch." - Hammurabae

"I really didn't put a lot of time and effort into YouTube in the beginning and I regret that. Not just for the limitations of Twitch, but because I feel much more fulfilled with what I do with YouTube." - Hammurabae

"Just slowly build up. I've talked to many people who do and don't have YouTube channels or stream on Twitch and some of them are very nervous about that. They're like: I want it to be perfect. I want this to be just amazing. And then they just don't do anything. And that will stop you before anything else will. So, being ready to accept that in the beginning you will not make perfect stuff." - Hammurabae

"And there's going to be what you want to do and then there's going to be what people want to see. And they're different. They are. They'll always be different. And you've got to find what you can enjoy but also what people want to watch and that helps you. And there is an overlap there." - Hammurabae

"It's unhealthy. It really is. With anything like that, especially if you have expectations of any sort. It is really draining. It will make you less passionate. It will make what you do worse. And it's just not mentally healthy, to be honest. If you're obsessing over your sub count, your view count on Twitch, how well a video is doing… outside the context of analyzing." - Hammurabae

"Finding de-stressors and setting apart your personal life is huge. Even if you're massively successful. Even if you've got a million subs on YouTube, you average thousands of viewers on Twitch. It doesn't matter. This is not your whole life. It becomes a part of who you are, but as a person life has so much to offer. And you are doing yourself a disservice if you are not setting aside time to go experience all the other things that you will be passionate about." - Hammurabae

"One of the things I would love to do, it would be very down the line and would take time to get into it in terms of the resources needed, but I would love to utilize what I've made with the role play stuff and a really good editing team and maybe some animators to make a really serious role play series." - Hammurabae

"I think there is a pretty broad movement away from traditional media things. Big movies, they're becoming less popular in many ways. It's much tougher to do well with them. TV is moving to streaming platforms obviously. But a lot of it is going to YouTube. A lot of people's eyes, which are what matter at the end of the day, they're going to YouTube to watch those sorts of entertainment avenues instead of the traditional methods." - Hammurabae

"Disruption technologies are just so common nowadays. You really just don't know what is around the corner anymore, especially where AI is going. There's been a lot of news about that recently and it speaks to just how much unexpected stuff is right around the corner, I think. Because we're in an interesting time in history. We're going to see some pretty interesting stuff very soon I think, too." - Hammurabae

"I think the core thing that an artist does, or as an editor or a content creator, there's a lot of creativity in any of those jobs. But then there's the aspects that you just have to do to do it. It's the busy work that goes into the process. And if that's the part that [AI] takes away and helps you not have to do so you can focus more on providing the real value and the quality and the artistic expression, that's incredible." - Hammurabae

"The human connection, the human aspect of entertainment that makes it interesting is, hey, you just don't know what they're going to do. You don't. Human beings are wild cards. We'll just say and do stuff that you'll never expect and it will be entertaining." - Hammurabae

Highlights This Week:

• Hammurabae explains how two years ago someone suggested he could explore his existing love of performance art and theater using gameplay and streaming as a vehicle. That then grew into a thriving exploration of storytelling content on both Twitch and YouTube.
• Hammurabae talks about how he finds editing his videos himself has not just proven to be a useful skill set but also actively helped make his content better.
• Mike asks Hammurabae to explain how he established and developed his niche world of historical strategy roleplay gaming in a large multiplayer community, all while streaming and content creating.
• Hammurabae talks about how he and his staff have developed strategies for wrangling a large community of gamers to work together successfully, but also how people sharing a love and passion for what they're doing is key to make the work doable.
• Hammurabae talks about his lifetime love for history and how that, along with a passion for Dungeons and Dragons, helped lead him to his current path of content creation.
• Mike asks how Hammurabae balances the dynamics of as many as 90 players who are essentially acting, playing a game, and interacting as individual members of a large community all at the same time. His answer: setting strong boundaries, a fantastic staff, a positive protective community, and creating a zero tolerance policy for toxicity and hate.
• Hammurabae breaks down the organization of his staff, moderators, and "game controllers" that help him structure his community, streams, and games.
• Mike and Hammurabae talk about the importance of cultivating a fun community that is engaged and passionate. Hammurabae talks about the impressive amount of work some of his community members do, including creating original art.
• Mike asks Hammurabae about some of the logistical challenges of running his gameplay community such as language barriers.
• Hammurabae talks about some content creators that helped inspire his current Twitch and YouTube channel.
• Hammurabae talks about how he plots and schedules his content and streams.
• Mike asks Hammurabae what advice he'd given people who are interested in starting to stream and what they should avoid. His advice? Consistency is key! If you're serious about being a content creator, start on YouTube and then move to Twitch and streaming after you have a strong base of YouTube skills. And seek out resources for learning those skills.
• Mike and Hammurabae talk about how to balance work and life with pursuing content creation and taking advantage of learning through the process.
• Hammurabae discusses how he pushed through how tough it can be to be a small streamer when view counts are low.
• Hammurabae talks about the delicate balance between using analytics as a resource to help grow your channel or account versus obsessing over viewership in an unhealthy way.
• Hammurabae explains how he makes healthy personal space for himself to protect his mental health and wellness away from his content creation.
• Things get a little fun. Mike asks Hammurabae, as a history buff, if he could go back in time to any historical period, where and when he would choose.
• Mike and Hammurabae look to the future and talk about some of Hammurabae's goals and plans for his streaming and content, as well as the future of entertainment in the movement away from old media and towards new media.
• Thinking more broadly, Mike and Hammurabae talk about the historical moment we are in right now and how things like artificial intelligence will affect industries and creativity, as well as a need for strong leadership to guide us through a potential boom in machine learning and working.

Connect with Hammurabae

• Hammurabae on YouTube
• Hammurabae on Twitch

Connect with The Mike Show

• The Mike Show on Youtube
• The Mike Show on TikTok
• The Mike Show on Instagram
• The Mike Show on Twitter
• Mike Slemmons on IMDB
• Mike Slemmons on Instagram

Connect with MediaU:

• MediaU Website
• MediaU on Facebook
• MediaU on Instagram
• MediaU on Twitter

Jose "Taco" Cruz is a social media producer for two of network television's longest running shows, The Price is Right and Let's Make a Deal. Originally from the Midwest, Jose moved to Los Angeles to work in film where he discovered a talent for making his own content, combining his talents of video production, photography, and editing.

This episode Mike and Jose chat about the life of a social media producer, what the process is making content for corporate studios like CBS versus personal platforms like Jose's lifeofataco, what are some crucial skills to content creation, and how Jose's professional portfolio helped prepare him for his current job. They also talk about the ever-changing landscape of monetization in the field of social media and how to balance the work grind with personal creative projects.

"The Price of Right… it's been 51 years now. So I'm like, cool I just joined this old show. And then Let's Make a Deal, it's been 14 years now. I try to involve them. How do we make this more youthful? Even though they want to have a Dad vibe. That's amazing. I love that. But how do we make this youthful for a young audience?" - Jose "Taco" Cruz

"I collaborate with some of the talent. Let's do this. It would be so much fun. Sometimes it's a hit, sometimes it's a miss. But it's honestly, we just have to do some of this fun stuff. What do we want to do? What do we want to get out of this" - Jose "Taco" Cruz

"So on TikTok, I started to just do, like everyone did, stupid videos, silly videos. And I'm like this is fine, it's a cool new thing. And then TikTok introduced live. I never really went live on YouTube and I never really went live on Instagram because I never really saw the reason why. Why would people want to watch me? I'm just a boring guy. But then one day, I was like let's try. I think I was just coloring on my live. And people were like, that's really nice coloring. So I said, do you guys want to help? What color should be next? And I got engaged with a lot of these people watching." - Jose "Taco" Cruz

"I personally would rather just cut the middle guy and just do it myself because I already know what I'm doing with the editing. So I don't want to wait a couple hours for something that's a minute to 90 seconds to be edited when I can just do it myself." - Jose "Taco" Cruz

"No that's a cool thing, too. Especially when you're a content creator, you're kind of doing it all. You're writing a script for the video. You're directing it yourself. You're filming it yourself. You're acting in it. You're literally doing every single thing. How did we get here? How did we become all these things?" - Jose "Taco" Cruz

Highlights This Week:

• Jose and Mike talk about how Jose found himself in the world of social media producing, explaining how the combination of his personal interests in early social platforms like Instagram and YouTue with his professional experiences editing grew into a love for content creation.
• Jose breaks down how the pandemic and the rise of TikTok helped direct his focus on content creation and social media producing, which eventually led to a job at CBS.
• Jose and Mike discuss how Los Angeles remains a hub for film, television, and production work.
• Jose walks Mike through the process of making social posts for his shows. How do you present a show that's over 50 years old on social platforms to younger audiences and still make it feel fresh and relevant?
• Jose explains how target demographics affect what social platforms his teams concentrate on and how to curate content for different platforms.
• Mike asks Jose to explain the unique challenges of social content producing compared to film and television, including immediate audience feedback and commentary.
• Jose and Mike discuss the type of social media they like engaging with and watching. Jose explains the FYP page and how TikTok curates content for its users. For Jose, interests include film and TV ships, cats and dogs, LGBTQ and Latinx communities, and Pokemon.
• Jose explains how he started engaging with people via lives on TikToks and how that's continued to grow.
• Jose and Mike talk about the changing landscape of monetization in social media at large and in TikTok.
• Mike asks Jose what his long term plans and visions for his work in social media.
• Jose talks about how he balances his professional career with CBS content producing with his own content producing aspirations, including setting schedules and making healthy work-life boundaries.
• Jose talks about how editing skills, while not an absolute necessity, can be a fundamental tool to efficient, effective social media producing.
• Jose and Mike discuss how content creators must be a Jack of All Trades as well as the pros and cons of that.
• Jose explains how the many hats he wore while working for AwesomenessTV helped prepare him for the job he has now.

Connect with Jose "Taco" Cruz

• Jose "Taco" Cruz on TikTok
• Jose "Taco" Cruz on YouTube

Connect with The Mike Show

• The Mike Show on Youtube
• The Mike Show on TikTok
• The Mike Show on Instagram
• The Mike Show on Twitter
• Mike Slemmons on IMDB
• Mike Slemmons on Instagram

Connect with MediaU:

• MediaU Website
• MediaU on Facebook
• MediaU on Instagram
• MediaU on Twitter

Mariana Colin is a video essayist and film scholar, who transformed her video essays about movie monsters into her Master's thesis and then again into a successful YouTube channel, The Morbid Zoo. Interested in both cinema as an artform and modern cultural behavior, Mariana's work focuses on film, especially horror, through an academic lens, unpacking the social and cultural meaning and significance of it in our world.

On this episode, Mike and Mariana discuss how her attempts to reach an audience beyond the cloistered academic community led to creating her YouTube channel. They break down the relationship between new media and educational institutions, how the ever-evolving social media ecosystem is affecting the film industry, and talk about how momentum, excitement, and community curation are key to meaningful growth on YouTube.

"As my academic study moves more towards mass communication, social media and less about textual analysis like… whatever, I'm trying to make things that interest me and make me happy and that I think are important and I hope that, like with any kind of creative pursuit, the voice will just build on its own and become something I'm not in a position to see right now. That's the hope." - Mariana Colin

"I'm certain that more people have encountered my ideas through YouTube than most of my department combined. And that's cool but it's also a little scary, because anybody… anybody can post whatever they want on YouTube." - Mariana Colin

"Horror deals in areas of things we don't understand about ourselves and the way that we react. And I think you can peer into the soul of mankind if you analyze horror looking for reflections of the era." - Mariana Colin

Highlights This Week:

• Mariana tells Mike her origin story. Tired of the closed feedback loop of academia, Mariana joined the "video essay boom" to share her love of and analysis on movie monsters, which quickly grew into a YouTube channel, The Morbid Zoo, that in turn became her Master's thesis.
• Mariana and Mike discuss the challenges presented by her unorthodox presentation of her Master's thesis when it came to the "Super Boomers" of academia making room for new media in educational settings.
• Mariana explains the peer review process and why that helps lend credibility to academic research… and how that operates in direct opposition to the free-for-all of YouTube and new media, in good and bad ways.
• Mariana and Mike discuss how, in many ways, film is a medium of affect and expression and how video essays allow some of that feeling to be presented more effectively than written words.
• Mariana and Mike discuss how hosting on corporate sites challenges the idea of new media, research and analysis, and educational institutions, as well as how social media platforms are changing the structure of our relationship with content.
• With new media and videos emerging as a new form of critical analysis and theory, Mariana and Mike discuss how university libraries and archives will need to adapt and make their way into the modern age.
• Mike asks Mariana to detail how she's seen her channel and community grow in the face of the myths of analytic-fueled formulas and algorithm-hacked channel growth. It's all hard work, patience, and passion, which pays off more than shortcuts.
• Mariana explains how she had to guard her community and content from misunderstanding and toxic rhetoric.
• Mike asks Mariana to break down the process of making her videos, including how these video essays are being filmed, edited, and published. They discuss how film school did, and didn't, prepare Mariana for operating her YouTube channel as well as the film industry at large.
• Mariana discusses some of the other YouTube channels and content creators who helped inspire and shape her channel, including Every Frame a Painting and The Nerd Writer.
• Mariana explains how she thinks the decentralized nature of new media allows for boundary-pushing, resulting in some of the research and analysis to be more adventurous and just plain good.
• Mike asks Mariana to explain the difference in performance between acting and her video essays.
• Mike and Mariana talk about the value of enthusiasm and excitement both in YouTube and academia. Mike asks Mariana how she deals with moments where she doesn't feel that enthusiasm and excitement. They talk about momentum, consistency, and community curation as YouTube tools.
• Mariana discusses how she's inspired to research, un-pack, analyze, and study the things she doesn't understand, like her Run, Hide, Fight video essay.
• Mike and Mariana discuss if it's possible to make art outside of politics.
• Mariana dives into what types of movies inspire her work and capture her imagination. Spoiler: it's horror. But also movies and shows made for kids and family.
• Mike gets down to the important questions: Does Mariana do the Tiktoks? What social media are they interacting with? Does Mariana plan on branching her work into short form platforms?
• Mariana and Mike discuss how the agendas of platforms like YouTube and other capitalist media structures have altered audience habits and the content being produced.
• Mike wraps things up by asking Mariana what her future goals are for her work and YouTube channel.

Connect with Mariana Colin (The Morbid Zoo)

• Mariana Colin on Twitter
• Mariana Colin YouTube Channel - The Morbid Zoo
• Mariana Colin on Instagram

Connect with The Mike Show

• The Mike Show on Youtube
• The Mike Show on TikTok
• The Mike Show on Instagram
• The Mike Show on Twitter
• Mike Slemmons on IMDB
• Mike Slemmons on Instagram

Connect with MediaU:

• MediaU Website
• MediaU on Facebook
• MediaU on Instagram
• MediaU on Twitter

Kyla aka notsoErudite is a counsellor, streamer, and content creator working on trying to establish a nuanced and reasonable space to talk about topics that matter to us most. Gender, dating, relationships, mental health, education, and sociocultural norms." (from notsoErudite's Patreon 'about' section).

In this episode of The Mike Show, Michael and notsoErudite talk about her streamer origin story. They touch on topics of mental health and relationships and the rare crossover of academia in the world of online content creation. notsoErudite also talks about her dream to open a treatment center for troubled youth and

"My goal is I really want to promote good psychological information, promote good thinking, and talk about men's mental health and dating relationship needs" - notsoErudite

"I've heard some streamers say they try to never spend time in their community because they are worried its going to make things more parasocial. Every community I've seen do that is usually infinitely more parasocial." - notsoErudite "Relationships are really really simple and really really messy because in my view you have two universes intersecting and trying to make things work...always be willing to try, and try to find another person who is also willing to try and somewhere in the midst of all that some sort of crazy thing happens and you find joy." - notsoErudite

Highlights This Week:

• notsoErudite and Mike talk about the origins of her streaming career after program directing a mental health program called MentalHelp.
• good psychological information, good thinking, men's mental health and
• notsoErudite touches on the nuance of how to balance a healthy relationship while also taking care of one's own mental health.
• notsoErudite talks about her favorite online content to consume: from science podcasts to Jubilee to John Oliver.
• notsoErudite talks about how she has built a thriving and fun community on Discord and how she balances creating spicy content with educational information
• notsoErudite explains her future plans for her own education and how she might incorporate it into her streaming career. She then touches on the challenges she has faced as a content creator.
• notsoErudite touches on the debate space in streaming and how she started working with notable streamer, Destiny.
• Mike and notsoErudite talk about parasocial relationships and the delicate balance of engaging with one's fans.
• notsoErudite wraps up the conversation by delivering some general dating advice and touches on why we should always strive to find that special someone.

Connect with Kyla (notsoErudite)

• notsoErudite on Youtube
• notsoErudite on Twitch
• notsoErudite on TikTok
• notsoErudite on Twitter

Connect with The Mike Show

• The Mike Show on Youtube
• The Mike Show on TikTok
• The Mike Show on Instagram
• The Mike Show on Twitter
• Mike Slemmons on IMDB
• Mike Slemmons on Instagram

Connect with MediaU:

• MediaU Website
• MediaU on Facebook
• MediaU on Instagram
• MediaU on Twitter

Coltyn Seifert is a podcaster, filmmaker, and entertainment enthusiast. His podcast Scifi and Friends focuses on authentic conversation with compelling guests with topics that run the gamut from martial arts to psychedelics to spirituality.

On this episode, Mike and Coltyn discuss how he started and grew his podcast as well as how Coltyn sees the next step in its evolution. They dive into how new media is changing the landscape of entertainment and how those changes can make creative storytelling more accessible to all. Finally, they wrap up their conversation with how discipline and collaboration are cornerstones of how they see the creative process and how prioritizing placing yourself in uncomfortable situations can lead to growth.

"Editing it yourself, you're exposed to all your flaws and all your strengths. You can either repulse from that and not accept what's there, or you can accept it and take it as a place on a map to where you are and say okay, I'm here but I want to be here. And if you take that truth and do that you can make yourself better."

"I think with any project, new media or old media, personal or professional, a lot of times we get married to the idea of thinking that we know what it is or what it's about or what it should be. And really, it's the process of finding out and discovering what it is about, what the theme is, what the structure is, what the meaning is towards the end."

"If all you have is a podcast, or if all you have are the tools and the technology to do a podcast, by doing that podcast even though you want to make movies, I'm talking to myself, you are building the mindset and the network and the resources to one day be able to do other things. It's mastering something… Musashi said it. Once you know the way in one thing, you see it broadly in all things. It's kind of the same thing. If you can do one thing well, I bet you I can do it over here too."

Highlights This Week:

• Coltyn Seifert and Mike talk about the evolution of Coltyn's podcast journey, from the BODcast (Bag of Dicks Podcast) with Coltyn and his brother sitting around in their childhood bedroom with shotgun mics influenced by Joe Rogan's show to the Scifi and Friends Podcast with a professional studio setup with editors, a compelling rotation of friends, and 75 episodes.
• Coltyn and Mike talk about how editing his podcast episodes in the early days helped him to review his performance as a podcaster and improve his podcast skills every episode, like an athlete rewatching film to correct their form.
• Coltyn and Mike discuss how new media allows for trial and error in a way that traditional media doesn't because it's more cost effective and how that directly provides opportunities for creatives to try new things, grow their skills, and explore new technology and tools.
• Coltyn talks about where he sees his podcast still growing. He talks about how it's fundamental to set goals to improve projects whether it's to simply make it more consistent and higher quality or it's to work towards making your passion project your career.
• Coltyn talks about how he's made honing his crafts a priority and how that pursuit led him to moving back to Joplin, Missouri.
• Coltyn and Mike talk about their goals including big dreams on showrunning, filmmaking, and the power of quality sound.
• Coltyn and Mike talk about how getting started on creative projects is always the hardest step but writing down ideas is essential because a concrete bad first draft is better than an unwritten draft stuck in your head.
• Coltyn and Mike talk about how creative collaboration and flexibility sometimes lead to the best work and rewarding surprises like Steve surviving on Stranger Things!
• Coltyn and Mike discuss how new media has changed the landscape of entertainment and consumption habits from podcasts to social media apps like TikTok to series on platforms like YouTube to Twitch and VR. How projects across platforms can feed off of, stack on top of each other, and cross-pollinate across projects to push originality to another level and build creative ecosystems.
• Coltyn and Mike talk about how all new and old media still lead back to the principles of storytelling.
• Coltyn and Mike talk about how suffering is necessary to growing your skills and working toward your passions.
• Coltyn discusses how he's learned that asking for help and weeding out internal competitiveness with other artists and filmmakers has helped him become a better creative.
• Coltyn talks about his goal of surrounding himself with more experienced creatives so that even if it's humbling, it pushes you to become better and better.

Connect with Coltyn Seifert (Scifi and Friends Podcast)

• Coltyn Seifert on SciFi and Friends
• Coltyn Seifert on TikTok
• Coltyn Seifert on Twitter
• Coltyn Seifert on Instagram

Connect with The Mike Show

• The Mike Show on Youtube
• The Mike Show on TikTok
• The Mike Show on Instagram
• The Mike Show on Twitter
• Mike Slemmons on IMDB
• Mike Slemmons on Instagram

Connect with MediaU:

• MediaU Website
• MediaU on Facebook
• MediaU on Instagram
• MediaU on Twitter

Brendan Agnew is a writer, blogger, and podcaster. He shares his passion and deep knowledge for film by writing reviews on his own website, The Norman Nerd, and in featured guest appearances on podcasts like School of Movies, Geeks with Shields, and Matinee Heroes. You can find more of his work on Twitter at @BLCAgnew, on his website normannerd.blogspot.com, and cinapse.co.

On this episode, Mike and the Norman Nerd talk about all things film and how Brendan turned that passion for movies and television into a successful blog and guest star spots on popular podcasts. They discuss how difficult new media ventures can be to start, how to balance creative projects with everyday life, and the Norman Nerd's love of animated, visual storytelling. They wrap up with some of Mike and the Norman Nerd's favorite shows and movies of the year and where they see media, old and new, going in the future.

"If you want something that you're putting out there to resonate with people, you've got to do it in a way that's fun for you" - Brendan Agnew

"Lord of The Rings is this beautiful poetic lyrical high fantasy but it's also like the coolest metal shit! You've got demons with fire-whips crashing with these underground wizards. Why are we stopping in this mountain to have a sword fight with a giant spider? Because it's cool. That's why. Shut up."

- Brendan Agnew

"There are so many types of stories that we haven't been able to see fully explored because of such a narrow pinhole that the greatest storytelling media machines on Earth have been focusing on. And so the more we expand that, I think the better for everyone" - Brendan Agnew

"So much of what appeals to me about animation as a medium is how deliberate you can be in doing that show don't tell. Especially if you have someone who knows what they're doing, they can do things in animation far more effectively than you can even in live action because of just the way animation presents frames of film. You can do things at speed that you can't literally anywhere else." - Brendan Agnew

Highlights This Week:

• The Norman Nerd talks about how Peter Jackson helped inspire him to start fan content on message boards and blogs online and how that grew into writing movie reviews for websites.
• The Norman Nerd and Mike break down how passion is key to having the stamina to start and grow a new media venture when the audiences are small. Like Siskel and Ebert!
• Mike and the Norman Nerd discuss Amazon's latest series, Ring of Power, and how it's bringing largescale romantic adventure fantasy back into the zeitgeist and how it stacks up against other popular fantasy series including The Witcher, Game of Thrones, and Xena: Warrior Princess.
• The Norman Nerd shares some of the biggest obstacles he faces in creating new media content, including finding the mental and emotional energy to be creative and discusses some of the projects he's covered recently that he's most excited about.
• The Norman Nerd breaks down how he transitioned from writing about film and television into the world guest hosting podcasts and the creative differences between writing reviews solo and discussing content with peers. He compares it to making music with an ensemble orchestra.
• Mike and the Norman Nerd talk about growing and learning by doing, including how important experience is to perfecting creative ventures.
• Mike and the Norman Nerd share their love of Tollywood films and how Telagu cinema is pushing boundaries creatively, both visually and in storytelling.
• The Norman Nerd discusses the rewards of being creatively active, from guest appearances on others' projects to creating your own, but also the time commitment it takes to create content.
• Mike and the Norman Nerd talk about balancing his process for creative projects with every day life.
• The Norman Nerd talks about one of his more popular pieces of writing about the Disney animation renaissance - how it started, and how it's coming back today. Mike and the Norman Nerd talk about their favorite Disney animated films.
• Mike and the Norman Nerd break down the complications of remaking animated classics as CGI-live action hybrid films.
• The Norman Nerd talks about his favorite films from 2022 so far.
• The Norman Nerd talks about the buffet of Marvel content available since End Game.
• Outroduction including where you can find more of The Norman Nerd's content.

Connect with Brendan Agnew (The Norman Nerd)

• The Norman Nerd on Blogspot
• The Norman Nerd on Medium / Cinapse
• The Norman Nerd on Matinee Heroes Podcast
• The Norman Nerd on School of Movies Podcast
• The Norman Nerd on Twitter

Connect with The Mike Show

• The Mike Show on Youtube
• The Mike Show on TikTok
• The Mike Show on Instagram
• The Mike Show on Twitter
• Mike Slemmons on IMDB
• Mike Slemmons on Instagram

Connect with MediaU:

• MediaU Website
• MediaU on Facebook
• MediaU on Instagram
• MediaU on Twitter