“Ya’ll bitches watch out for this shit. Some dudes goin’ round saying they playin fo real, but can’t handle they pressure. You know what be said: ‘You can’t handle the heat, get the fuck out the kitchen’. Truf.” -Abraham Lincoln

I thought I’d start off with that little inspirational quote since it applies perfectly to this week of The Earwolf Challenge.

This is the first challenge week. The first week we actually put into practice what the crux of the show is going to be about. As nerve-wracking as Week 1 was, Week 2 was a completely different ball game.

Here’s a little inside scoop as to how we make this all happen. At the beginning of the week, Peter Moses and I gave the contestants the criteria for the week’s challenge. We tried to give them as much detail in the instructions to help them create the best content possible. We’re not trying to screw over the podcasts by making these challenges SUPER difficult. The goal of this show is to progress the art of podcasting and try to make everyone as good as they can possibly be.

On Monday we record the “Coaching Sessions” with just Matt Besser and the podcasts (that’s what you’ll hear on Day 1). Matt was extremely adept at being able to dig into the nuance of each team’s sensibility and gave each podcast well-tailored advice.

The podcasts then had until the following Friday to turn in their challenge submissions for the week in order to be ready for the recording on Saturday. We needed to find a way to help the teams with the challenge (the “Coaching Sessions”) and then give them enough time to apply Matt’s advice and create their submission for Saturday (the “Challenge” and the “Judgement” episodes). All of the teams turned in their submissions on time (because they all kick some serious ass), and we were ready for the recording on Saturday.

Now I want you to picture this: you’re a twenty-three year-old, recent college graduate who has to organize a double recording of an untested podcast which involves scheduling ten groups from across the world, living in different time zones along with Matt Besser, Jimmy Pardo and Jason Sklar – three of the biggest names in comedy and podcasting. Let’s just say: Peter and I were a tad nervous. Luckily though, the show went off without a hitch. Aside from Jimmy Pardo’s chair almost giving out on him during the middle of the recording. But, all in all, it was a very successful show.

Aside from all of these logistical feats, there was one other thing this week that made it truly difficult. The competition part. We had to start eliminating teams. Peter and I spent so much time finding these ten podcasts that to eliminate any of them is almost like assassinating our same-sex marriage adopted infant love-child. Yet, alas, like any competition show, someone had to go. The one hope I have is every team, no matter how long they last in this competition, gains some exposure and learns as much as possible from being a part of this crazy new podcast. Enjoy!

You can check-out Episode 2.1 here!

• The Earwolf Challenge

Well, here we are. The long awaited release of The Earwolf Challenge! For those of you that don’t know me, my name is Frank Cappello and I’m a producer for Earwolf. I started working for Earwolf in January when Jeff Ullrich hired me to ship the t-shirts they sold every week. I guess I did a good enough job shipping t-shirts that eventually Jeff made me an audio engineer and a producer – an obvious transition.

Then in March Jeff asked myself and my buddy Peter Moses, who at the time was the research assistant for Sklarbro Country, if we’d be interested in producing The Earwolf Challenge. Um…. yes? OF COURSE we’d be interested in producing a podcast for Earwolf.

“Just hang on a second, there.” Jeff sagely mused. “It’s not all going to be frolics in comedy meadows and delicious podcasting candies. It’s going to be a lot of work.”

“Yea yea yea, Jeff. Whatever you say. We’re in!”

That was the beginning of the end.

Earwolf announced “Project Tippy-Toe” where we asked for comedy podcasters to send us applications for a “super secret Earwolf project”. We were inundated with podcasts; over 120 to be exact – and we listened to all of them. Needless to say, it took a long fucking time; emphasis on the “fucking.”

After we sifted through the silt and the shit (silt being the good ones), we found the ten best podcasts to compete in the challenge. Matt Besser graciously agreed to be the host of the show, and we flew the ten competitors to Los Angeles and put them up in a local mansion.* Thus is where we begin the show.

The biggest challenge was finding two times a week where we could have everyone available for recordings. That includes myself, Peter, Matt and ALL TEN PODCASTS. We had to have everyone available for a solid two hours, twice a week while we record in the studio conducting the interviews with the competing podcasts via Skype. This was not an easy feat, keep in mind that the contestants for The Earwolf Challenge come from all over the world (well, nine of them are from the U.S. and we have one podcast from Australia, but that’s still pretty diverse!). Needless to say recording the episodes has been a nerve-wracking experience.

But now we’re here! The release date! The date I thought would never come! I sincerely hope that everyone enjoys this first week of episodes. More blood, sweat and tears went into these episodes than one would hope for a podcast. This week is an introductory week – a chance for you all to get to know these podcasts before we start eliminating the shit out of them. And then next week, THE CHALLENGE BEGINS!

*Not True

You can listen to the first episode here!

• The Earwolf Challenge