Hello Internet: Podcast Review

• Name of podcast: Hello Internet
• Topics: Conversation, Pop Culture, Technology
• Names of presenters: CGP Grey and Brady Haran.
• Website associated with podcast: http://www.hellointernet.fm/
• Production quality: Medium

I ran into this podcast when I saw an article on Reddit where someone thought the subreddit dedicated to this podcast - http://www.reddit.com/r/HelloInternet/ - was a place to post an introduction of himself to the internet. It got a lot of upvotes because it was funny. Curious about the podcast, I downloaded a few episodes.

I started with episode one, and felt like I’d tuned into the middle of a conversation. Two guys just start talking. I immediately started looking for clues about who they are and what this is about. They’re obviously not in the same place. They mention that they both make videos. They talk about being self-employed. It felt strange. They seemed to assume I knew who they were. Soon, I got caught up in their conversation. And now I’m hooked.

They ramble around a few topics. It’s very interesting. So often they say exactly what I want to say, so I never feel like yelling at my phone. Lots of the interest in the podcast is from the great differences between CGP and Brady. CGP is like a spokeman for INTJs, very reasoned and list-making. Brady is a more sentimental and impulsive guy. Early on, a fan in the reddit group posted a photo of a robot and a caveman, with the label “CGPGrey in Brady's house.” It became a running gag through the rest of the show.

They also offer an animated short on YouTube to go along with the podcast, which is posted a season behind. I never watch because I’ve already listened to the podcast.

You do have to listen to the in order to get the full impact of the podcast. They reference the previous shows regularly.

After listening to a few episodes, I checked out their website, trying to solve the mystery of who these guys are. There’s no bio page anywhere. And there’s a little video with Grey’s photo on its own channel (CGPGreyRevealed CGPGreyRevealed), so I cottoned on that he doesn’t like his photograph taken.

At first I thought maybe the lack of biographical information was amateurism. After a while I realized these guys are social media experts. The first episodes of the podcast were apparently created before the public release, and they already had a website and major sponsors. Now they have a fund-raising Patreon page, a subReddit, a Tumblr, a Twitter account, a Facebook page, a YouTube station, in addition.

What I figured out from listening to the podcast and poking around the web is that these two are pretty well known YouTube video creators. They have many many videos. CGP Grey’s videos are amazing; they are informative animated shorts, available at http://www.cgpgrey.com/, and on his YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/CGPGrey. He discusses history, technology, voting, copyright, flags. Brady Haran has several channels, check out http://www.bradyharan.com for them all. They’re about science, math, cool things. Subscribe, upvote.

As an INTJ myself, I love hearing CGP’s views, and I love all the fandom he gets. We’re rare, we’re generally not appreciated, but listening to these podcasts makes me feel that there are kindred spirits in the world.