What Am I Making Podcast

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This week’s pod is a bit of a left turn. Instead of focusing on a conversation this week, I engaged in a bit of an experiment and a dash of collaboration. No worries, though. It’s a one-time thing for now. Rest assured I will be back next time with one of the sort of conversations you’ve already grown to love and expect here at Matty C HQ.

Recently, I had reached out to my friend and previous guest, Barry Hummel about the possibility of adding some sound design to a recorded version of this story. He took my rough draft and added just a hint of sound design and sent it back to me.

While I liked what he had done, I was less than thrilled with my own performance. Nevertheless, I felt enthused by Barry’s additions and encouragement and set to re-recording my narration a second time with a renewed sense of confidence and purpose.

While it was not deflated completely on the first try, that confidence quickly ebbed. The original story was something of which I was immensely proud, but it was not structured to be presented as an audio piece. As I tried to re-record each section, I tensed up. The resultant retakes were eventually jettisoned, and I considered just chalking this up to a learning experience. Or I could just let it eat at me like a gnawing failure. Clearly, this was my move.

This is a classic ADHD/Anxiety symptom/flare-up for me. Try a little. Try a little more. Try a little . . . oh that wasn't good . . . you are a complete failure. Fixate upon it.

Repeat. Do not rinse. Fixate. Do not pass go. Fixate again. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

This is a good episode of what I believe to be a very good podcast. It is not the best work that I will do. It is not the worst. What it is now, is finished work. Work that I have delivered. It’s also very much at the very heart of what I am doing here.

I worry that this space might become too much about my mental health, my journey and my story. Those truths about me are why I do what I do, and they are why I do that work the way that I do it. They are not however, the sum total of me as a person.

I choose to be seen as a musician, a writer, a father, a husband, a designer, a friend, a podcaster, an activist, an empath and more before I will ever identify as a sufferer of mental illness. It is a piece of me. It is a section of my soul that makes up a part of what makes me Matty C; the good and the bad.

Even if I focus on the best of myself as I tell these stories, I will never grow unless I share them with others. This experimental episode has allowed me to explore ways in which I might use audio to tell some of the stories I have already published here, and how it might affect the pieces I will publish going forward.

The conversations that are the cornerstone of this podcast will remain a foundational part of what I am doing here. The spark of that connection is like a drug for me and the high is only enhanced when I get to share those chats with all of you. This episode is a sort of sign to me that there is a way to use this space to tell stories in more than one way.

Thanks for listening and reading, for sharing and subscribing, for your support and encouragement as we continue to build and evolve this space.

I’d love to hear what you all thought of this.

I already know that Ira Glass doesn't need to worry about me stealing his job.

That’s cool with me. I love this work right here.

Cheers,Matty C

What Am I Making is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Kevin Richberg is brilliant. It’s not a euphemism, or a way of saying he’s a pretty smart dude. He is actually brilliant. He has earned master's degrees in chemistry and molecular biology from safety schools like CalTech and MIT. Then, he took that knowledge and brilliance around the world, literally. And as mentioned already, to the far depths of the Pacific.

After a sterling career in academia and oceanic study, Kevin made a career and life as a photographer and travel writer for more than a decade. He traveled to 122 countries and saw sites, people and landscapes many of us can only dream about. Despite all of those accomplishments, accolades and miles, Kevin still felt adrift.

Eventually, he began to build a plan to come home to the Syracuse, NY area and build an edible forest, and also a home. In the early fervor of the pandemic, Kevin and his partner Zach moved into what is now Slate Hill Edible Farm in Marcellus, NY. It is a 27 acre fruit orchard, biodiversity collection, and experimental farm focused on adaptation to a changing climate. It’s an idyllic spot on the rolling hills of central New York. 

While I could talk to Kevin for hours on any number of subjects, I mostly wanted to talk about travel. It was the perfect place for us to begin. We talked about how travel makes us better people, more forgiving and open people. Kevin even has a wonderful theory about how international travel is a surefire way to make America a better place to live and be.

 My favorite moment in our chat is when we both realize we shared a moment with our fathers in Rome. I lost my Dad nearly three years ago and that memory is still a cherished piece of him for me. Kevin lost his Dad very suddenly just this year. It was nice to share a quiet moment of gratitude with someone on the same wavelength of grief. 

Kevin tips us to what he tells Europeans who want to get the true American exceptionalism when they travel to the States. We talk about chasing the dragon of exotic experiences and how much better it is to see the world, when you can share it with someone and see it through their eyes. Finally, we discuss how and when he learned when it was time to come home.

As I was putting the finishing touches on this, I began to realize that in some small way, I am carrying on the work of the legendary Studs Terkel. I make no attempt to place myself in that elite league.

Yet, as I record, contextualize, and compile these conversations I realize that I am helping to tell many of the same stories that Studs was able to capture from everyday Americans about the depression, World War Two or the act of working.  It would be easy to say that Studs collected the stories of “average” Americans. So far, I have found my subjects to be far from ordinary or average.

In having the privilege to spend an hour with Kevin Richberg, it feels as though I am able to expose a piece of goodness and purpose into the world. He’s a brilliant and funny person who is building a life and a legacy.

That is anything but average.

In the same way that Studs Terkel saw how his talents could tell the stories of fascinating folks history would have otherwise forgotten, these conversations are a way for me to show you some of the extraordinary people that the universe has allowed me to intersect with.

I won’t waste my time, or yours trying to figure out why I am built to do this work. I’ll just keep talking to people, recording it and sharing it with you.

Let’s go around the world and back home again with the brilliant Kevin Richberg.

Cheers,Matty CLearn more about Kevin and the farm at slatehilledibleforest.com

Chad Patterson is more than just a friend. He is family. In fact, he’s the very best kind of family, the chosen sort.

We collided into each other’s lives just after high school in the halls of the theater department at Lansing Community College. Our separate paths that led to the same spot on the planet were mirrored in many ways. Sports and pop culture, specifically movies at an early age, drove our curiosity, fueled ur fascinations, and helped us to gain a small understanding of the world around us. We both used our razor sharp wit and flair for performance as a preferred method of conflict resolution or to win over an opponent. 

Somehow those naive and misguided young men have become fathers, husbands, business owners, community leaders, and mentors. Chad has two children, Seth and Del, that are both pursuing careers in the arts. His kids, like mine, were given the gift of art and creativity as a way to see the world anew and to find a greater purpose within it.

Seth (23) is currently in residency at The Florida Repertory Theater. Del (16) is enmeshed in the local media arts and technology program with an eye towards a career in video editing and behind the scenes film work. Lori, Chad’s wife, and my high school classmate oddly enough, has taught elementary school in Grayling, MI for nearly 30 years. The Pattersons are the kind of family you need and want in your community. 

Chad has spent his career literally living and working on the front lines of art and education for a quarter of a century. For more than twenty years he owned and operated Acting Up Theater Company. During the school year, Chad and his co-star worked with elementary classrooms all across Michigan in weeklong residencies. Over the course of five school days, Chad and his team, would work with the teacher and the entire class to write, stage, costume, decorate, and dress a full one act play based upon a moment from Michigan history. In each school, several classes would participate. With that program, Chad built an entire generation of young Michiganders that grew up seeing theater and history come to life, and in the process were able to create a formative experience that will forever enhance their viewpoint on both of those fields of study.

Each summer, with school out, the Acting Up team would custom write a show tailor made for that year’s statewide library reading program theme. Over the course of the program's two decade run, Chad brought live theater and arts education to tens of thousands of students in hundreds of communities across the state. Chad was even fortunate to complete at least one full summer with each of his children, teaching and starring with them on the library tour.

Chad is also the longtime theater director for Garyling high school’s theater  productions, and has worked in a variety of roles working in student development and accessibility for the last several years. On many a night in northern Michigan, you can hear Chad as the voice of the Grayling Vikings high school football and boys/girls basketball broadcasts on Grayling’s Q100 FM.

Just this February, in a move that surprised even Chad, he left his position at the high school to become the morning show host at Q100 every weekday. Did I mention that Chad had never done a minute of radio before he was asked to do games?

You can’t interview your best friend of 30 plus years and pretend you're going to be anything close to objective. The tightness of the relationship manages to tug constantly at the typical stitching of an interview. Inherently, there is a comfort level that exists between an interviewer and a subject that know little or nothing about each other.

The back and forth of that relationship has very clear boundaries, and is temporal. The interview will have a clear beginning and end. More importantly, while each interview experience is unique in its own way, they all conform more or less, to the same sets of strictures. In that sense, this is not a good interview. 

Once a threshold of intimacy between the parties has been breached, especially over an extended period of time, enough walls have been knocked away, that you find yourself with more answers than questions. The fewer discoveries and secrets there might be left to unearth, the more difficult it is to maintain the rhythms of a typical interview.

In reality, I am the very worst person to interview, my brother, Chad Patterson. But, what I can do is show him to you in a way that no one else can. 

Before you dive into what Chad does and why it’s worth knowing about, I just want you to know what he’s like. He’s a really good dude. He is funny and clever, loud and lovable. He’s an attentive and devoted father, and he puts his money where his mouth is and does more in and for his community than almost anyone that I know.

This isn’t an interview so much as it is two brothers having a conversation while other people listen in. I hope we can convey in some small way just how deeply we care about each other and how the intentionality of that love is at the center of our daily lives.

Our relationship is special because we share a deep connection, but that connection has been fostered with work and maintenance over a lifetime. When you hear these two people talking with each other there is complete and absolute trust. That is probably a more rare commodity than we might realize. 

One of my mantras here is that all of the best things in my life that I am not directly blood related to came from chasing down the passion of cool shit. When I first met Chad Patterson I was not quite 19. I was terrified of the future and the present, lost, unfocused and dealing with a host of undiagnosed mental health conditions.

I had largely chosen theater because it seemed the closest thing to a “career” that I could imagine that seemed like it would still be fun. Maybe I’d find a path. I didn’t. 

But I found Chad. And he found me. 

I hope you all have a friend like this in your lives. I feel so grateful that he is in mine, and that I have this interview to prove it. Now, he’s in your life too. Here is a talk, not an interview, my very dear friend Chad Patterson.Here’s hoping this isn’t the last time that Chad and I sit down for one of these. There is so much to talk about, and we’re just getting warmed up.

Cheers,Matty C

The first time I told my bandmates in The Stick Arounds about my blossoming online friendship with Jon Carroll, the other dudes seemed to think it was cool that I had made pals with a veteran who had spent his life working in the music industry. The second time I told them about it, they were somewhat shocked when they finally realized that I had made a genuine connection with somebody that we all saw as “famous” and having “made it”.

You see, Jon Carroll is most widely known for being an original member of The Starland Vocal Band. Yeah, you know, that band that did Afternoon Delight. When that record hit #1, Jon was barely 19 years old. 

When I mentioned my newfound relationship with Jon, I did not lead with The Starland Vocal Band info. For one thing, I didn’t want to sound like a name dropper. Secondly, I had been interacting with Jon for weeks before the connection had been made clear to me between him and his number one hit. 

At the time, I knew very little about Jon in terms of his career and credentials, but everything I was lucky enough to catch in conversation or texts with him was far more interesting to me than talking about a song from nearly fifty years ago. What I knew without a doubt was that he was a wildly talented musician, singer, songwriter, and a fascinating dude who seemed too nice to be real. 

In the years since Starland, Jon has had a vibrant solo career releasing his own albums and singles as well as an impressive catalog of scoring and soundtrack work. He’s been touring with Mary Capin Carpenter, often as her band leader, for more than 30 years. They’ll be back out on the road this summer together again. He also owns and runs a studio in Easthampton, Massachusetts where he produces his own work as well other producing and recording with other artists.

Without intending to begin in any specific spot, Jon and I jumped right into a thread about what a poor substitute livestream performances were for conventional live shows after the first year of the pandemic. We agreed that it was a wonderful temporary fix in a confusing and awful time, but now that they are no longer required for our safety, they should be used to supplement live performance viewing options, not replace them. 

That springboard sent us into a pool of discussion on the cheapening of art, an issue that I have talked about here from day one. The lesson from this bit is superb. 

Have the proper perspective for your worth and give proper worth to your perspective.

Deep shit, right? 

Please be sure to also listen closely for a beautiful story that Jon tells about how in a store, he barely heard a Van Morrison track, but his musical antennae was smarter than his conscious mind and it took him a while to catch up. Jon also shared a difficult, but important anecdote about his sister telling him what’s what when he needed it most.

I consider myself a conversational heavyweight. That is not to say I am a great thinker, orator or debater. I simply have a ton of interest, a gift of the gab and an unending curiosity. It’s part of what makes me so very well suited for the work that I am doing here.

These inherent skills can often overwhelm casual conversation. Jon Carroll is a man who can more than keep up with me. 

He is a conversational master. Sure, the man can play a piano like a sumbitch, but listen to him weave in and out of topic and always return to stick the landing like some weirdo linguistic lovechild of Mark Twain and Mary Lou Retton. It’s also just a treat to listen to him talk.

Jon’s natural ability for storytelling, his fascinating life story and more than forty years on the road in rock and roll make for hours and hours of wonderful tales. Here is roughly one of those hours that I got to spend with my friend, and now yours, Jon Carroll.Below, you can find some links for Jon Carroll as well as a bit more info on the spot where Jon and I connected. If you have been enjoying my stuff here, there is likely to be some stuff over there that hits you in the sweet spot as well. Thanks so much again to all of you for your kindness, generosity, and support. Be well.

Cheers,Matty C

Jon Carroll OnlineWebsiteTwitterInstagramFacebookSchultze Gets The Blues (The film Jon discusses near the end of our chat)

Jon and I got to know each other through the community involved at Stand Up With Pete Dominick. Pete has been a guest on this very show - the first guest, in fact - and he has been instrumental in helping me get this endeavor off the ground and build an audience.

If you like the work I do here, I think there is a great chance you’ll enjoy the work that Pete puts out on his podcast every weekday. He talks to some of the very smartest people in politics, journalism, climate science, podcasting, comedy and more. It’s great stuff on a wide variety of issues. And he does it every damned weekday.

Please go give it a listen wherever you get your pods and subscribe.

I love listening to Barry and Abigail Hummel talk about records and beer. Certainly, it helps that there are few things in this world I would rather do than talk music over a pint. But the real joy of Pops on Hops is the connection and conversation between a daughter and her dad. 

On each episode , the Hummels choose a record, and then pair it with a flight of beer from a specific brewery and Barry and Abigail go through the record track by track and talk about their feelings, impressions and attachments to the songs. What begins as a conversation about music and beer often leads to deeper discussions and a connection between a parent and child that is palpable, and beautiful.

As the father of two adult daughters, Pops On Hops might seem tailor made for a dude like me. While I do fit the demo pretty perfectly, there is truly something here for everyone. Some of my favorite moments on the pod came as Abigail and Barry discussed songs or records that I had no feelings about at all. The honesty of the two of them as people, listeners, and family is genuine, and really lovely. And yeah, it helps a little that Abigail’s favorite band is REM. 

During our discussion we hit upon the quest to make nerds of our kids, the power of encouragement and the generational cost of devaluing art. We also talk about the power of making a commitment as it relates to your creative output and the vulnerability of sharing something you love and the fears of how that might backfire. Most importantly, we discuss the art of bullshitting your way there until you have it figured out. Something at which I have thousands of hours of practice.

These are two truly wonderful people. Their podcast is fantastic. I am humbled to have been a guest on their show more than once, and to get to call them my friends. Enjoy this conversation. I sure did. Cheers,Matty C

What Am I Making is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Andrew Sandstedt is one of those people that makes the cultural clock of a community tick. It seems rare to attend an event of much import in our beloved city of Lansing, and not see his boyish grin surrounded by a frock of white beard. He is a man about town, but never there simply to be seen, only to support, to sustain and to strengthen.

If you have a great arts and entertainment scene where you live, your town has a version of a Sandstedt, so to speak. He’s the guy that volunteers to come do the tedious volunteer work behind the scenes. The one who stays late after all the other helpers have bailed for bed or better options. He’s still there. Building shit, making shit, creating shit, hyping up stuff. Supporting stuff. Stitching a scene together.

That endurance and commitment would be an amazing attribute to any community, but Andrew is also a supremely talented visual artist. His metal sculptures have won numerous awards, been featured at a wide variety of festivals and he’s won the top prize at Lansing’s annual scrapfest in the large piece category - that is works of more than 500 pounds - twice and placed second twice in the same category. Somehow, he’s learned how to transform tossed away scrap metal into butterflies landing ever so gently on a vine. Discarded saw blades are repurposed into trophies for a beard competition as though that was their eternal destiny from their moment of creation. He’s limited strictly by his tools, the raw materials he can acquire, and imagination. His work is well regarded, and he shows and sells pieces regularly at events in Michigan throughout the year. Larger pieces that he has sold are now on permanent display in Lansing’s REO Town neighborhood.

That act of creation through restoration and rebirth is a perfect metaphor for exactly what Andrew does for our community, and the for the artists within it. He takes the pieces of what we all do - things that we as creators often think of as scrap or without value - and he shows it back to us by engaging in it all the time. He is a constant human presence of encouragement.

That life is not lived out of duty for Andrew, or because he thinks he’ll get some eventual reward. He does it because he loves it. It is what is important. These are things that make him love life. If he fails to engage, the things he loves might go away. And so, he is always creating, always building, and most importantly, always giving. 

I am a notorious talker and loudmouth. I am the guy you dread who good naturedly keeps you standing in the driveway for fifteen minutes because it’s just really nice to see you, and I am genuinely interested. That fifteen minutes becomes an hour if I am not careful. Andrew Sandstedt may be the only person I have ever met that I could accurately describe as a bigger talker than me. 

It was inevitable that he and I would meander all over the joint, given our tendency for chattiness and the wide range of meaningful issues that would surely arise. Listening back, I think we did a pretty good job. I tried to edit a few things down for brevity, and I was able to maintain the clarity and direction of the discussion.

Andrew’s sobriety of eleven years and how that journey has shaped his worldview is the fulcrum of this episode. We discuss what that path has looked like for him, how what he learned during his stint of in-patient rehab has stayed with him and the ways that it helped him build successful habits and a better worldview. We talk about taking care of yourself and making time for your own art even when it might puzzle your family or friends.

While there are moments in this chat that will feature some spots in and around our area of Lansing, Michigan, please remember that the stories we are telling here are very likely the same sorts of challenges and success happening in your own community. Think of Lansing as a stand-in. At one point, I even mention that Lansing’s old town section has a real stars hollow vibe. You know your town has a section in it with one of those right? If nothing else , just imagine the Gilmore Girls hanging out with you while we’re talking Lansing details. 

Since I began this show, I have said that I want to find a way to shine a light on my experiences in trying to make a living and a life in the arts and to build a community while doing it. Andrew is an example of what that community can be.

And, he is an example of an asset that we could all harness a bit for our own thing if we all work together just a bit more. That’s not just an opportunity, it’s a gift to have someone like that who wants to be a part of your life and your community. 

I’ve known and loved him for years, and I suspect when you get done listening to this discussion you will love him too. Here is my conversation with artist, metal sculptor and my dear friend, Andrew Sandstedt. 

I would guess that Jared Yates Sexton and I would have either been the best of friends, or hated each other if we had gone to high school together. We would simply have had too much cultural overlap to be apathetic about each other.

The enlightened, mature side of me is sure we would have been fast friends had our ages and geography coalesced in a different cosmic plane. The more reasoned and logical side of my brain thinks we might have perceived each other as a threat, and thus would have been sworn enemies.

Thankfully, when Jared and I did finally get the chance to connect, we got along like a house afire. Over the course of our conversation, we hit upon the spiritual crisis of consumerism, the erosion of appreciation and the ever so simple act of just listening to the birds. Actually, that bird bit comes up more than once. It’s pretty good advice once you get there.

While we are always skirting around the edges of what might seem like a political discussion, it’s really a conversation at the meeting point of the personal, the political and the philosophical. It’s exactly the kind of conversation I wanted to curate when I first envisioned this project.

If you enjoy this chat, please be sure to check out Jared on the various social outlets, and take a look at the work he’s doing at his podcast and Substack.It would also be really wonderful if you clicked the link right below this sentence and signed up for a free, or even better, a paid subscription.

Thanks for being here and thanks for your support. Please be sure to leave a comment to let me know what you thought of this discussion. Or maybe you have other great ideas for a guest or a topic of discussion. As Ted Knight says in Caddyshack, “Well, we’re waiting . . .”

Jared Yates Sexton is a political analyst and author of the forthcoming book THE MIDNIGHT KINGDOM: A HISTORY OF POWER, PARANOIA, AND THE COMING CRISIS. His most recent book is AMERICAN RULE: HOW A NATION CONQUERED THE WORLD BUT FAILED ITS PEOPLE. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The New Republic, Politico, The Daily Beast, and elsewhere. He is the co-host of The Muckrake Podcast and his writings can be found at Dispatches From A Collapsing State.Follow Jared Yates Sexton:Dispatches From A Collapsing State (Jared’s Substack)TwitterYouTubeJY Sexton WebsiteThe Muckrake Podcast

The first time that I interviewed Maura Quint, we got interrupted. Like a lot. That was a damn shame, because we were hitting on some really good stuff. But after eight or ten internet drops, and a series of awkward and stilted attempts to restart the conversation, I called it off and begged for another opportunity.

In that first chat, Maura and I got going on the concept of adulthood as a destination. That idea stuck hard in my brain between our conversations, and I decided to pick right back up in that same place when we got together again. Maura was game and we were off to the races.

What follows is a fascinating chat about parenthood, the curses and blessings of being a gifted child, getting better at asking for help, and all or nothing mindsets. It goes all over the place, and wasn’t at all the stuff I envisioned we would discuss. Like most of the best things in life, the surprise of it is a large part of what makes it so great.

I sure hope you enjoy listening to this conversation as much as I enjoyed talking to Maura. Both times.

Hope you dig it. Thanks as always for being here, and for your support.

Cheers,Matty C

Maura Quint is a writer, humorist and tax policy advocate. As reader of her work and listening to her think, I would suggest that Maura’s best two qualities are her humor and her curiosity. Both of these traits seem to flow effortlessly from her almost constantly. Once you’ve heard this conversation I am sure you’ll agree that she is hilarious and interesting, but you’ll also see it’s anything but effortless.

Follow Maura Quint on the various socials (links below) and learn more about her work at Americans For Tax Fairness.

Maura’s TwitterMaura’s InstagramMaura’s FacebookMaura’s TikTok

I’d already had the pleasure of interviewing Christian Finnegan a few months back for an episode of Stand Up with Pete Dominick. Christian had just started a substack called New Music For Old. I really wanted Pete to promote it on his show.

Pete doesn’t feel at home talking about music. Actually, that’s a kindness on my part to say that he doesn’t enjoy it. It would be more accurate to say that watching Pete discuss music is a bit like watching a toddler frame a garden shed. Naturally, I offered my services.

Christian and I seemed to hit it off, of sorts. After our initial interview, we kept up an infrequent social media chat. As I tried to get this thing off of the ground, I realized how much of what Christian discusses in his new special Show Your Work, crosses over with some of the ideas I am thinking about over here.

Those larger themes have also crept into myriad appearances that Christian has made on Stand Up. He’s a regular guest over there most Fridays. It seemed worth reaching out to se if he might like to chat about some heavy, middle aged, creative/sensitive, white dude shit. He said simply, “Very cool”.

It’s a pretty damned great conversation, if I do say so myself. I hope you enjoy it. And no, it’s not all navel gazing.

You can learn more about Christian on his website and be sure to go right now and subscribe to his Substack newsletter New Music For Olds.

edit: No, this blog and podcast is not just a dark money creative outlet from the George Soros universe to prop up the career and podcast of Pete Dominick. We just wanna have smart, thoughtful and funny folks on. This particular Venn diagram was just the perfect place to kick this thing off.

Thanks to Pete, Christian and everyone from the Stand Up community who have been so supportive.

Thanks to YOU for all of your support. Please be sure to subscribe to to our podcast in whichever podcast provider your prefer. As always, make sure you are subscribed here at the Substack as well, free or paid.

Lastly, I would also ask you to humbly consider making a financial contribution to the project if you have the means. This work requires time, talent and years of experience. I can’t keep doing it without your help.

You can click below to see the available paid subscription options. If you’re interested in supporting What Am I Making outside of those subscription options or would like to volunteer your time and/or talents, please message me directly.

Thanks again for all the love. It feels great to be doing this work, with your help.

Cheers,Matty C

What Am I Making is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

When I first began to formulate a way to collect all the disparate ideas in my head and turn them into a podcast, blog, conversation, just something, I was always stuck in the mud. There were a million sparks and flashes. But they felt much more like a hundred fireflies flittering around than a cohesive universe of thought and philosophy.The more I hemmed and hawed, the more impatient I got deep within my bones. After months of ruminating, and obsessing over minute details about delivery and concept and platform, I reached out to Pete and did the simplest thing of all. I asked for help from someone that I admired.

I’d been a fan of Pete’s work for years as a host of a national radio show on Sirius XM called Stand Up with Pete Dominick. Pete and his team at XM were a part of my daily commute and in a way, a group of office mates I loved spending time with but would never get to know. Even my youngest daughter became a fan and developed an endearing affection for Pete and the callers and guests.

Each episode was always sure to include a solid moment or two to begin your day. I learned a few things and laughed a lot. Much of the time I got to share that with my kid in the years she was becoming a young adult.

When Pete’s show was cancelled in the Fall of 2019, it felt like a hole in my work day. I had lost my morning friends. Oh the loss that was coming for all of us in the months to come. I was also hurting for the loss suffered by someone I had come to see as a friend even though we had never talked. Not long after the end of his show, Pete was back to work with a new podcast. Over the last three and half years, the loss of a secure corporate job has transformed him from a simple host into a one man mini-empire operating from a tiny, solar powered shed in Rockland County, NY.

This swift and seismic change has led to the best work of his career, and a community built platform that has transformed his life, my life, and so many more. He’s all of that done by asking people one simple question, “Will you talk to me?”

Pete’s work and success as an independent creator has been an inspiration to my work here. When I asked Pete how to get started, he said, “Just start recording chats and see what happens. It’s the easiest way to find out what you’re doing.” Actually, I am pretty sure that’s a misquote, but it sums up the essence of his sage advice.

I took his advice and that has led us here. Here is my chat with my friend, Pete Dominick. I’ve also included a little intro at the top to give you all a bit of context about the overall mission of this project and I how I arrived at this point.

Be sure to listen and subscribe to the Stand Up With Pete Dominick to get caught up on the great work that Pete has been doing for a very long time. Stand Up With Pete Patreon page

Stand Up With Pete on Apple podcastsStand Up With Pete on Spotify podcastsStand Up With Pete on Stitcher

Here’s episode #001 of the What Am I Making podcast. Enjoy. Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments section. And give us a rating on your podcast app of choice. I mean sure, a great review on all the platforms would be great, but we’ll take what you‘re willing to give.

Thanks for being here,Matty C

What Am I Making is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.