How We Added A Third Co-Host To Our Podcast

In October of 2017, comedian Mike Geeter and I launched a podcast about the Detroit arts and entertainment scene. After a few months, Mike had to bow out due to other time commitments. But before he did, we added a third co-host to our lineup.

Mike and I knew from the beginning that we wanted the show to be a threesome. After all, we were modeling it after a radio morning show and, in typical "morning zoo" fashion, we had always envisioned a show with the two of us and a female co-host. However, because this show required so much prep and had so many moving parts, we wanted to get the mechanics down before bringing a third person on board. After several months, we finally felt that we were ready.

In fact, we were more than ready. In the course of doing the show, we discovered that there were certain topics that we didn't feel comfortable talking about without a woman's point of view on the show. The most notable example of this was the ongoing Larry Nassar sexual abuse scandal at the University of Michigan. It was a huge story, and it fell squarely into one of our main topic areas - sports - but we were reluctant delving into the issue beyond the obligatory condemnation without a woman on the show.

There were less gender-specific reasons to look for a third co-host as well. Sometimes, one of us simply didn't have much to say on a topic and without a third person willing to jump in, the conversation could fall flat. I have little interest in sports, and Mike was not a big foodie, so these segments could be one-sided. A third voice would help us fill out the show.

When we set out to look for a co-host, we had a good idea of what we wanted: a woman who was more knowledgeable than me about sports and more knowledgeable than either of us about music. We put the word out through our podcast and our social media channels, not really knowing what to expect. We created an online form in which we asked people to tell us about themselves and why they would be a good addition to the show. We did not know what kind of response we would get.

A handful of people expressed interest, but one stood out: Becky Scarcello. Becky was a mother of two boys who worked part-time giving walking tours of Detroit's Eastern Market. She was passionate about the local music scene. She also had an encyclopedic knowledge of the city and a lot of good connections. But she had never been involved with anything resembling podcast or radio show before.

We decided to try Becky out, along with two other Detroit stand-up comedians who had expressed interest in the co-host position. We allowed each of them to come in and record an episode with us to see how the on-air chemistry was. I even made a special "Quest for a Co-host" production element to set up the bit. The hope was to build interest among the audience.

In the end, Becky performed as well as we had hoped "on the air" during our podcast, but even more important was the enthusiasm, passion, and knowledge she brought off the air. She came to the table full of ideas, from guests that we should invite onto the show to ways that we could rework segments to make them more interesting. It reminded me of a lesson that I had learned many times in radio: what makes an on-air talent truly valuable isn't just what they do on the air; it's also what they do behind the scenes.

We were extremely fortunate to have found Becky. She was a welcome addition to the show, and it wasn't long before her contributions raised the quality of the show.

LISTEN: Hear the latest episode of The D Brief podcast.

More Glimpses Behind the Scenes:

1. What Happens When You Have to Switch Podcast Co-Hosts?
2. In Podcasting, What You Say Sticks Around. Is That a Problem?
3. Why It's Important to Think About the Shelf Life of Your Podcast Episode
4. Creating a Facebook Video Ad for a New Podcast
5. How We Learned That Our Listeners Hate Music Beds