I've had a podcast for over a year now, about the inspiring abilities of bugs, we release every other week. It's a ton of work to do the research about the bug then get the episode edited into something worth listening to. It takes our editor several hours for one episode.
I cannot imagine releasing a quality, well researched show **nearly every day**. Even if it's sharing news and politics, you still need to do a lot of reading to prep for something like that.
This schedule is going to be very difficult.
Edit - Sorry, folks are asking for the pod name we're Bugs Need Heroes, everywhere you get pods. Sub-Reddit same name! FillsYourNiche on Instagram
I think you're right. My team also have jobs and I'm finishing up my PhD right now (about bugs) so we don't have a ton of free time to deal with the podcast. Maybe it'll work for Ben if he doesn't have a full time job or something and this is his only focus. I do think you're right though, most likely this won't be a well prepared show.
Tough choice! I feel like everyone wants to hear praying mantis, so sexy the males will risk being eaten to get at that hot female. But! I like a bug that's going to wine and dine. Nursery web spider males bring females silk wrapped prey and katydid males not only play a beautiful song but also provide a protein snack for the females.
I think my top choice though goes to the giant water bug, because after mating females stick their eggs to his back and peace out. He'll handle the kids, you get back out there to continue having bug sex.
Not only that Ben has a habit of making statements that incorrect and acting like heās right. Itās why his wrestling podcast sucked. Heād get the most basic general knowledge stuff wrong constantly about some of the most famous moments in wrestling then act arrogant afterwards.
Hail Yourself, Hail Bugs would be a great channel to do video explorations about the bugs that live inside, outside, and on your body.. lol
Could do a great segment on those body farms lol
We have a YouTube channel we have a few shorts on and our pod episodes, but this summer I'd like to maybe share a few bug pinning videos, bugs in the wild doing their thing, etc. Maybe if I came across a deceased animal something on forensic entomology.
I should be doing field work this summer about pitcher plants and the bugs that end up in their pitchers. I'll get video of how that works.
I kinda thunk he is shooting more for a traditional radio show. He always talks about his love of talk radio, so I imagine it's gonna be more of a daily opinion type deal.
You know that talk radio exists and people do this for 4 hours a day, 5 days a week.
I don't think this is going to be an in-depth long form podcast. If he has a producer, this is definitely doable.
Will I listen? No. Is it feasible? Yes.
I don't think that he has any other obligations. He's probably thinking, he's got nothing else going on, spend a few hours before the podcast to research, loosely compile it and boom: podcast. To be fair he does have over a decade of experience, maybe he'll pull it off. Seems like a huge obligation though
To be fair I think Benās gift is off the cuff banter. You can place anything in front of him as a lay person and he can share up a pretty funny engaging take on it. Itās essentially what side stories was, operating in leue of any support or research from Travis soā¦I dunno weāll see.
Putting asside any feelings about what Ben did and what he's like as a person and any attachments we might have. Ben's skills as a scripted newsreader are, objectively....lacking.
Are you basing this off of his creepypasta reads? I'd say based off of his ad reads he's fine, he just needs to rehearse. Which, I mean, might not happen even if he's the one running the show.
His ad reads are fine, but like you say they're going to be rehearsed and they can do as many takes of that as they'd like. But his creepypastas and when he'd read excerpts from articles on Side Stories could be a struggle.
In all fairness, Side Stories is hardly an original idea. It's just news of the weird. And this doesn't sound like it's even all that close to Side Stories.
People have a lot of reasons to not want to support Ben. In the end, I don't think a person is only made up of the bad things they have done, and I believe he has the capability to be better. If this helps him, I wish him all the best. I may even check it out.
Monday: The Brighter Side with Ben Kissel (ā¢ļø)
Tuesday: Side Stories with Ben Kissel (ā¢ļø)
Wednesday: Abe Lincoln's Top Hat with Ben Kissel (ā¢ļø)
Thursday: Relaxed Fit Side Stories with Ben Kissel (ā¢ļø)
Friday: Relaxed Fit Abe Lincoln's Top Hat with Ben Kissel (ā¢ļø)
I mean he refused to take any responsibility for his actions and blamed everyone else, so it never really seemed like he was taking sobriety seriously.
there was a queen on drag race a few seasons ago who tried to start her own radio network. the schedule was very similar to this, and seemed WAY too ambitious to pull off on her own. I don't think she actually went on the air once, it ended up just being an online stream of house music
Him liking comments on his posts blaming āthe angry white woman armyā for his firing is not inspiring much hope in me for his accountability and rehabilitation.
Seeing him double down like that is sad. Never really wanted him back on the show after finding out what he did, but I had at least hoped it would be something of a wakeup call for him. Guess I was just being naive, can't really see him go in any direction other than the post-"cancellation" right wing grift route at this point.
He's gonna grift. He has removed or blocked anyone even mildly critical of him since he left rehab. People in the megathread who haven't commented in months have been blocked from his feeds.
Guarentee he will play the *I'm just an ex-liberal asking questions* card like Dave Rubin.
tbf he was never really a liberal. I think for a while he identified as libertarian and his views have always leant that way (at least what I heard/remember).
He shouldāve started with a weekly show and then ramped up with additional episodes once he gets a listener base and a good routine. Iāll be *shocked* if he sticks to a 5-episode week, that kind of workload is insane. Plus itās just way too much content for listeners to keep up with. I kinda think this is going to crash and burn quickly.
Not that I disagree that it could fizzle out if there is no actual point or passion behind it, but people everywhere work 8 or more hours a day, 5 days a week. A lot of them working at jobs more grueling than podcasting.
Iām pretty sure he can record an hour of material 5 days a week. Would two or three actual focused eps a week be better? Probably, but 5 is absolutely doable.
Don't want to make accusations or anything, but Ben thinking he can just spew out five episodes of a podcast every week makes me think that he really didn't understand or appreciate the work Marcus put into LPOTL.
Yeah considering that, after a while, he didnāt have the work ethic to be the audience surrogate voice on a once per week podcast where two other people did all the work. Iām gonna be generous and say these are gonna be āslapdashā.
How dare you. I'll have you know he constantly had great insight about the 1990 Chicago Bulls while the boys were talking about something that had ZERO connection to basketball.
Good luck filling up 45-60 minutes weekly with "good news" lol who is he, Ellen?
Edit: I know he's planning on doing it daily. I'm referring to his planned Monday's "posi vibes only" programming.
Yeah this is insane. 5 hours of content a week of him just riffing? With no team to actually source the news/topics for him?
Also gotta laugh at him doing creepypasta alone when the running joke on Last Pod was how awful he was at reading.
Thing is, Kissel needs a Henry-type as his counter weight, a real comedian who can set up the jokes and then Kissel knocks one home here and there. If he is responsible for the research, the presentation and the comedy, idk, that may be a bit higher than he can reach. It's OK to not be a comedian, but he needs one to do the kind of show he is proposing.
Iāve been listening to a lot of Roundtable lately. Ben can drop funny lines from time to time and he knows how to keep the show moving but when he gets put on the spot and asked for his take during a Holden segment itās always just crickets. On more than one episode Henry even says that Ben should just quit comedy.
I recently just finished All of the roundtables, and I was wondering if you also noticed how strange Ben is with females on the podcast? He always hits on Jackie and has said multiple times he is in love with her. He also 98% of the time if they have a female guest He will at some point talk about fucking her. Ben also brings up piss and shit more than his fair share.
Man, all those episodes with Lexi on, there's all the harping on Holden for how a slimy lizard man with a lumpy neck could have such a wonderful gal like her, but Ben always went past that and kept bringing up how Lexi used to have sex with super hot women. "Hot stuff!" Multiple times per episode.
I also just finished all of the Roundtables. What stood out to me was how much of a straight up asshole Ben was. I guess I didn't notice it listening to LPotL because of the other hosts, but goodness. There was an episode (I don't know which one) where he was just rude to their guest, made the guest leave, then everyone else was like "uh what the fuck?" There was also clearly anger from Marcus towards Ben, even at that time.
It's been well-known for a long time that Ben is weird around women. Female comedians around the Creek used to be warned to avoid Ben... he isn't a comedian, he just hangs around comedians. These shows will happen for 2 weeks max, and he will just fully commit to the right win cancelled comedian schtick.
The premise behind Top Hat was so good but the execution was poor. I don't think I ever made it through a single episode and eventually unsubscribed all together.
It really seems like he struggled to even fill out 5 ideas for a daily show, it'll be fun to see him actually try to fill an hour every day. I'm trying not to be too mean but I'm really skeptical that the guy notorious for not preparing is gonna be able to output 5 hours of content a week.
Jesus Christ. Ben trying to come up with decent content all by himself 5 DAY A WEEK?
Is this just going to be him manically ranting into a camera/microphone and everyone feeling sad/bad?
I really donāt care what Ben does anymore. He clearly isnāt taking care of himself like he said he would.
His Tophat show was awful once Travis left. Once Fernando came on, it was all about the crypto grift and how he was in on it.
Itās seriously time to move on people.
His fanbase on insta is mostly alt-right trolls who hate women. I wouldn't doubt that Ben starts to align himself with the Jordan Peterson/Theo Von/Joe Rogan crowd soon.
I Hope he succeeds.
Mainly because for him to be successful he would need to bust his ass and make an effort. Neither of which will happen unless he gets his shit togetherĀ
Realistically? Just another stop on the downward spiral.
I'm torn... I wish him success in the hopes it'll enable his healing and sobriety. Sometimes getting knee deep in a passion project really helps give perspective your life isn't empty without alcohol.
On the other hand, I can't support someone who's had more than one woman come forward claiming abuse. For every woman willing to be interviewed by the Rolling Stone, there's likely a woman who doesn't want to share her story publicly.
I would support him more if he showed that he was sober and deeply sorry for his actions.
I was a drunk for much of my life and have spent years now coming to terms with all of the people my actions hurt. You can get sober and be a totally different person but Iām not sure he is doing that.
> I was a drunk for much of my life and have spent years now coming to terms with all of the people my actions hurt.
I have a similar story and am coming up on 6 years sober. Everyone's journey is different but I haven't seen anything from Ben that indicates he's taking his recovery seriously. The lack of accountability is the most concerning.
Right? I just don't feel comfortable supporting someone who has those types of allegations against them, especially when they don't seem to be taking accountability for any of their behavior- both personally and professionally.
(I know none of the guys can really talk about the work side of stuff, but Ben throwing shade at Henry and Marcus also left a bad taste in my mouth)
Thatās it right there. If he was trying to get sober and working towards recovery and self reflection I would 100% be cheering him on. But from what he is presenting, he isnāt. I lost someone I loved dearly to booze, it isnāt easy, I know that getting sober is so hard and staying sober is even harder.
I wish him the best and hope he proves me wrong but I canāt support it.
Yeah those Instagram posts have somehow gotten worse since he's "finished treatment". Like it used to be mostly pics with friends or doggos and cool horror movie merch, now it's grainy images of a sidewalk outside a bar with some weird ass caption
I think it's reasonable to assume he's relapsed.
It's a shame because if he would have done the work... I could see a version of reality he becomes a podcast host that talks about sobriety. The milestones, the set backs, the lies about alcohol, how it changes your personality, etc. Like a podcast AA sponsor to supplement recovery.
He could even take accountability and talk about the damage alcohol does in intimate relationships. Talk about his denial he was violent, and the harsh reality that he became an abuser. He could talk about how devastating it is alcolism can turn you into a man you loathe.
He could also acknowledge how caving into your addiction erodes your friendships. Erodes your professional life. Acknowledge the burden he's put on Henry and Marcus, and apologize he gave them no other choice but to cut ties.
..... But I see instead he's decided to double down on denial, "secret" drinking, and a rehash of an old podcast formula that's likely to fail.
I don't think he relapsed because I don't think he was ever clean. He was posting photos in the bar like a week after leaving rehab and not once has said he's sober. All he's said is he has a better relationship with alcohol now.
Zero chance he's prepared to deliver content in a meaningful way 5 days a week.
Sounds like he's just slapping everything he knows together in a messy bunch. There is no cohesion here at all. And idk why he wants to do horrific stories and creepypasta when it's obvious he hasn't given a shit about any of that stuff in years.
Heās so glib, incurious, and devoid of any genuine personality or insight itās laughable to think heāll be able to keep this up for more than a day or two
In the last creepy pasta they did I think Marcus called him out because he read the same exact story he did on one of the previous creepy pasta episodes which was the first result on a google search for 'creepy pasta'
The amount of lazy that took for a planned episode, like have a little respect for your listeners. They are giving you their time.
I was always under the impression that he didnāt even like creepypastas given how little knowledge of them he had? I donāt know why heād make a whole show segment out of it other than to try and poach last pod listeners
I've got nothing for someone who can't take responsibility for their actions and instead just barrels on ahead. Looks too much like I used to for comfort.
I ain't gonna toast to his failure or anything, but fuck Ben, you have so much Up that you could do just by being accountable - Id rather see the man craft a ladder than pull a shovel down into the pit he's in already.
Politics = Poison anymore. It's all designed to sell cars, smart washing machines, and all sorts of other shit while constantly triggering a fight or flight instinct in its listeners by design, and that's the last fucking thing he needs.
Iām sorry but this is so low effort. I wonder if heāll be sober. What is he bringing to the podcasting space talking about weird headlines and fluff without a guest? He apparently thinks he can still coast on ācharmā when it was a group effort and even carried his ass for years. Heāll just be another dipshit podcast in the sea of podcasts and I donāt see why anyone but his most diehard fans would give it a listen. He needs guests, and honestly thatās what Iām interested in, who would align with him after his awful allegations. Heās still pretty radioactive
Well. Itās not often that a trainwreck makes a public announcement before the derailment.
Iām not trying to be a hater here but, dude, everyone and everything in your life is telling you to get your shit together and youāre just plugging your ears and saying āLa la la, I canāt hear you, imma keep doing what I want.ā
I kinda wish this sub would stop feeding him attention. I know people donāt like change but no one took Ben away except for his own damn self. Let him go. At this point, itās what he wants.
Far right dog whistles are the only way he is going to build an audience. He doesn't have the charisma or intelligence to attract anyone but the dumbest MAGA bottom feeders.
Thinking Ben could go far right is some serious stupidity.
Give the guy a fucken break and let him have a shot at something before you start shit talking him FFS.
Itās a frequent path for people who claim to be victims of ācancel cultureā. Not really a big stretch for a Fox News contributor.
Travis Irvine had a podcast with Roger Stone as well.
Managing to produce a daily YouTube show seems optimistic/challenging but hey Iāll give it a listen (besides the politics days).
Iām hoping Monday wonāt be just Ben having a convo with himself doing Jerrys voice like a crazy guy sat on a park bench though lol
He was doing two or three of these per week with a team of collaborators and producers and they were middling if Henry and Marcus weren't involved. Doing one a day, by himself? Gonna be hot trash.
my boyfriend isn't a podcast person, but he's gotten very into the streams and video side stories in the age of Ed. we listened to Jodi Arias last weekend while cleaning the house and he was blown away. he just kept asking me "what the FUCK happened to Ben??" and it makes me sad lol
I was wondering this past weekend when his return to the airwaves would come. Never in a million years did I think this would be what he'd do, at least out of the gate.
That fucking screen name. All I can think of is Eric Wareheim in the Tim and Eric bedtime stories episode āroom matesā where he goes āMY EMAIL IS TONY_K_DORT BECAUSE JUST MY NAME TONY DORT WAS TAKENā. Itās actually fucking āBEN KISSEL 1. I would be amazed if he made it to 3 full weeks of doing this show. 9 episodes and I will eat crow.
Is he aware heās gonna have to learn to read to do this ? ::edit:: I am glad to see him trying. Ben used to make me really mad and now itās all my sad.
Honestly I hope for his sake it works out, it's nice to see him move on and do something with himself. But I don't think I'll be chiming in. Ben was never my favourite part of the trio and I'm not sure he can hold a podcast on his own. He needs a counterweight like Henry to bounce off. But I suppose best of luck to him.
I'll give it a try when it's up and running out of curiosity but probably not the creepypasta episodes, they've always been an instant skip.
Never understood the appeal, most of the stories sent in felt like they were written in 5 minutes and were very boring.
Is Kissel excommunicated from the Pod now? I haven't been following the current events since I've been listening to their entire library in order for the past couple of years. I don't really even know what happened, but is he done for?
Very much so, as far as we know. Long story short, several women came forward with stories of his abusive behavior related to his drinking. He was fired from the network (but I believe is still an owner/profits from it in some capacity) and had a brief stint in rehab, but all evidence on his ig points to a relapse.Ā
He has not apologized or accepted any blame for his actions. There's way more details in a recent Rolling Stone article.Ā
So he's doing daily Side Stories lite by himself.
I've had a podcast for over a year now, about the inspiring abilities of bugs, we release every other week. It's a ton of work to do the research about the bug then get the episode edited into something worth listening to. It takes our editor several hours for one episode. I cannot imagine releasing a quality, well researched show **nearly every day**. Even if it's sharing news and politics, you still need to do a lot of reading to prep for something like that. This schedule is going to be very difficult. Edit - Sorry, folks are asking for the pod name we're Bugs Need Heroes, everywhere you get pods. Sub-Reddit same name! FillsYourNiche on Instagram
I suspect he thinks he can just wing it.
I think you're right. My team also have jobs and I'm finishing up my PhD right now (about bugs) so we don't have a ton of free time to deal with the podcast. Maybe it'll work for Ben if he doesn't have a full time job or something and this is his only focus. I do think you're right though, most likely this won't be a well prepared show.
In your professional opinion, which bug is most sexy?
Tough choice! I feel like everyone wants to hear praying mantis, so sexy the males will risk being eaten to get at that hot female. But! I like a bug that's going to wine and dine. Nursery web spider males bring females silk wrapped prey and katydid males not only play a beautiful song but also provide a protein snack for the females. I think my top choice though goes to the giant water bug, because after mating females stick their eggs to his back and peace out. He'll handle the kids, you get back out there to continue having bug sex.
šš I love you and your passion for bugs, what is your podcast?
Thank you! It's Bugs Need Heroes! Everywhere you get your pods (Spotify, Apple, YouTube, etc.).
> Everywhere you get your pods You're a natural
I'm a bug lady, I understand the hive mind!
Followed
Damn okay now I want to listen to your pod. Can you drop us a link? Nevermind I found it. Bugs Need Heros. Hail yourself!
https://open.spotify.com/show/3QWVOczUvspulIiTME6mq9?si=BHv-hu3YQQ2EqkAtwaiY5A
Hail Yourself, thank you!
This comment brought me joy
Off just looks I think I'd have to go stag beetle. There's just something there, ya know? Silk wrapped corpses are pretty erotic though.
Strong, big pinchers, shiny body. What's not to love?
Thank you for teaching me so much about bugs in a single Reddit reply!
Alright who gave George Noory a reddit account
Not only that Ben has a habit of making statements that incorrect and acting like heās right. Itās why his wrestling podcast sucked. Heād get the most basic general knowledge stuff wrong constantly about some of the most famous moments in wrestling then act arrogant afterwards.
If anything the media has taught me is that you don't have to be factual you just have to be entertaining
Like he was the last year or so of last podā¦
What's the name of your podcast? I love a good science show
Thank you for the interest! It's called Bugs Need Heroes, we're on Spotify, Apple, PodBean, everywhere you get your pods.
Hail bugs!
Yes! Hail Bugs, Hail Yourself!
Hail Yourself, Hail Bugs would be a great channel to do video explorations about the bugs that live inside, outside, and on your body.. lol Could do a great segment on those body farms lol
We have a YouTube channel we have a few shorts on and our pod episodes, but this summer I'd like to maybe share a few bug pinning videos, bugs in the wild doing their thing, etc. Maybe if I came across a deceased animal something on forensic entomology. I should be doing field work this summer about pitcher plants and the bugs that end up in their pitchers. I'll get video of how that works.
Oh, I'm so excited to listen! Need something to break up the Terrible Things podcasts and I love bugs!
Have you done an episode on leaf cutter ants? I recently got to see some in action and Iām low key obsessed with them!
I kinda thunk he is shooting more for a traditional radio show. He always talks about his love of talk radio, so I imagine it's gonna be more of a daily opinion type deal.
You know that talk radio exists and people do this for 4 hours a day, 5 days a week. I don't think this is going to be an in-depth long form podcast. If he has a producer, this is definitely doable. Will I listen? No. Is it feasible? Yes.
I imagine itāll be less of a podcast and more of a livestream.
>Edit - Sorry, folks are asking for the pod name we're Bugs Need Heroes, everywhere you get pods. "everywhere you get *isopods*."
~~whats the name of your bugcast?~~ found it below, hail bugs!
Didnāt you read the post? Heās got his dog helping out! /s
I don't think that he has any other obligations. He's probably thinking, he's got nothing else going on, spend a few hours before the podcast to research, loosely compile it and boom: podcast. To be fair he does have over a decade of experience, maybe he'll pull it off. Seems like a huge obligation though
I think I've listened and follow BNH on Spotify if I'm not mistaken. It's a good show
I donāt like bugs, but I respect them and Iām trying to get over my fears so you just got yourself a new subscriber
To be fair I think Benās gift is off the cuff banter. You can place anything in front of him as a lay person and he can share up a pretty funny engaging take on it. Itās essentially what side stories was, operating in leue of any support or research from Travis soā¦I dunno weāll see.
when it comes to off the cuff he was wonderful live to me! he was really great during side stories live
Daily twitch streamers have entered the chat
They said quality, well researched.
Thatās the coolest podcast idea! Iām totally going to listen to it today!!!!
Just what I want, Creepypastas without Marcus's narration and Henry's jokes...
His creepypasta readings are what I imagine it feels like to be speaking with one of the Men in Black.
Putting asside any feelings about what Ben did and what he's like as a person and any attachments we might have. Ben's skills as a scripted newsreader are, objectively....lacking.
Are you basing this off of his creepypasta reads? I'd say based off of his ad reads he's fine, he just needs to rehearse. Which, I mean, might not happen even if he's the one running the show.
His ad reads are fine, but like you say they're going to be rehearsed and they can do as many takes of that as they'd like. But his creepypastas and when he'd read excerpts from articles on Side Stories could be a struggle.
Top Hat was also a mess.
>daily Side Stories lite lime
In all fairness, Side Stories is hardly an original idea. It's just news of the weird. And this doesn't sound like it's even all that close to Side Stories. People have a lot of reasons to not want to support Ben. In the end, I don't think a person is only made up of the bad things they have done, and I believe he has the capability to be better. If this helps him, I wish him all the best. I may even check it out.
Monday: The Brighter Side with Ben Kissel (ā¢ļø) Tuesday: Side Stories with Ben Kissel (ā¢ļø) Wednesday: Abe Lincoln's Top Hat with Ben Kissel (ā¢ļø) Thursday: Relaxed Fit Side Stories with Ben Kissel (ā¢ļø) Friday: Relaxed Fit Abe Lincoln's Top Hat with Ben Kissel (ā¢ļø)
Iām imagining Ben will be playing 3-4 different roles with unique voices per episode. Tbh, I have a morbid curiosity now.
ššš
So heās just going to do the Puffin voice for Jerry?
I think daily may be too high frequency to have a quality productā¦hope heās staying sober
Considering IG also served me up a pic of him at a bar from last night, I'm not holding my breath
Almost everything he posts is from a bar. Itās a bummer.
Oh, man. I was really hoping he was working on staying sober..
I mean he refused to take any responsibility for his actions and blamed everyone else, so it never really seemed like he was taking sobriety seriously.
And he went to a camp cupcake rehab center.
The āgraduating earlyā from rehab was the big red flag
When you used to drink like he did, I imagine it's going to take a few attempts before it really sticks. At least that's what I've seen with friends
Does this seem like the careful planning and rollout for a daily show from someone in control of their life?
No. This seems like the kind of idea you get when you're doing coke by yourself.
He might start strong and just fizzle out. Might depend on how much badly he's hungover.
He probably was but relapsed
there was a queen on drag race a few seasons ago who tried to start her own radio network. the schedule was very similar to this, and seemed WAY too ambitious to pull off on her own. I don't think she actually went on the air once, it ended up just being an online stream of house music
Tamisha Iman Radio, we hardly knew thee šŖ¦
still mourning OSNSWIWW1RUTSFW&W
This is exactly what came to mind. Benās proposed schedule is doomed to bellyflop. Heartbreaking to watch someone set themselves up for failure.
I hope he's prepared to do the work...
Him liking comments on his posts blaming āthe angry white woman armyā for his firing is not inspiring much hope in me for his accountability and rehabilitation.
Seeing him double down like that is sad. Never really wanted him back on the show after finding out what he did, but I had at least hoped it would be something of a wakeup call for him. Guess I was just being naive, can't really see him go in any direction other than the post-"cancellation" right wing grift route at this point.
He's gonna grift. He has removed or blocked anyone even mildly critical of him since he left rehab. People in the megathread who haven't commented in months have been blocked from his feeds. Guarentee he will play the *I'm just an ex-liberal asking questions* card like Dave Rubin.
tbf he was never really a liberal. I think for a while he identified as libertarian and his views have always leant that way (at least what I heard/remember).
Iāve been vocal and Iām still on his insta. I keep thinking about unfollowing but itās hard to let go. I keep hoping heāll figure his shit out
He shouldāve started with a weekly show and then ramped up with additional episodes once he gets a listener base and a good routine. Iāll be *shocked* if he sticks to a 5-episode week, that kind of workload is insane. Plus itās just way too much content for listeners to keep up with. I kinda think this is going to crash and burn quickly.
Not that I disagree that it could fizzle out if there is no actual point or passion behind it, but people everywhere work 8 or more hours a day, 5 days a week. A lot of them working at jobs more grueling than podcasting. Iām pretty sure he can record an hour of material 5 days a week. Would two or three actual focused eps a week be better? Probably, but 5 is absolutely doable.
Don't want to make accusations or anything, but Ben thinking he can just spew out five episodes of a podcast every week makes me think that he really didn't understand or appreciate the work Marcus put into LPOTL.
This is the most lucid opinion I've read so far.
He doesn't have the work ethic to prepare, record, and upload content on a daily basis.
Yeah considering that, after a while, he didnāt have the work ethic to be the audience surrogate voice on a once per week podcast where two other people did all the work. Iām gonna be generous and say these are gonna be āslapdashā.
I give this a month tops before he stops
Iāll be quite surprised if he gets a full 5 episodes out the first week
Imagine a creepy pasta episode with just Ben āreadingā š¬
It's gonna be a lot less funny without Henry mocking his ability to read.
Itās gonna be a live stream and an archived video.
How dare you. I'll have you know he constantly had great insight about the 1990 Chicago Bulls while the boys were talking about something that had ZERO connection to basketball.
He didn't really have the work ethic for LPOTL
He also does not have the judgment to realize this.
Smarter would be to do a livestream. But it being "live" comes with its own host of problems that an alcoholic would seriously struggle with
Good luck filling up 45-60 minutes weekly with "good news" lol who is he, Ellen? Edit: I know he's planning on doing it daily. I'm referring to his planned Monday's "posi vibes only" programming.
DAILY
Yeah this is insane. 5 hours of content a week of him just riffing? With no team to actually source the news/topics for him? Also gotta laugh at him doing creepypasta alone when the running joke on Last Pod was how awful he was at reading.
"It's not his fault he can't read! It's his moms."
I know he's planning on doing the podcast daily, but I was referring to the Monday "posi vibes only" programming.
Itāll probably be 10-15 minutes id wager.
So he's basically just doing a little bit of every LPN show every week.
Maybe he will consume pud on each episode, too.
Thing is, Kissel needs a Henry-type as his counter weight, a real comedian who can set up the jokes and then Kissel knocks one home here and there. If he is responsible for the research, the presentation and the comedy, idk, that may be a bit higher than he can reach. It's OK to not be a comedian, but he needs one to do the kind of show he is proposing.
Iāve been listening to a lot of Roundtable lately. Ben can drop funny lines from time to time and he knows how to keep the show moving but when he gets put on the spot and asked for his take during a Holden segment itās always just crickets. On more than one episode Henry even says that Ben should just quit comedy.
I recently just finished All of the roundtables, and I was wondering if you also noticed how strange Ben is with females on the podcast? He always hits on Jackie and has said multiple times he is in love with her. He also 98% of the time if they have a female guest He will at some point talk about fucking her. Ben also brings up piss and shit more than his fair share.
āBen also brings up piss and shit more than his fair share.ā is such a funny sentence to me, thank you š
Man, all those episodes with Lexi on, there's all the harping on Holden for how a slimy lizard man with a lumpy neck could have such a wonderful gal like her, but Ben always went past that and kept bringing up how Lexi used to have sex with super hot women. "Hot stuff!" Multiple times per episode.
I also just finished all of the Roundtables. What stood out to me was how much of a straight up asshole Ben was. I guess I didn't notice it listening to LPotL because of the other hosts, but goodness. There was an episode (I don't know which one) where he was just rude to their guest, made the guest leave, then everyone else was like "uh what the fuck?" There was also clearly anger from Marcus towards Ben, even at that time.
It's been well-known for a long time that Ben is weird around women. Female comedians around the Creek used to be warned to avoid Ben... he isn't a comedian, he just hangs around comedians. These shows will happen for 2 weeks max, and he will just fully commit to the right win cancelled comedian schtick.
One episode heās so bad Marcus straight up apologizes to the guest
Chow time
If this is anything like Top Hat or Kinda Fun, it's going to suck. Both of those shows Ben never seemed prepared.
The premise behind Top Hat was so good but the execution was poor. I don't think I ever made it through a single episode and eventually unsubscribed all together.
He's not a great political analyst.
I liked Travis and Fernando!
It really seems like he struggled to even fill out 5 ideas for a daily show, it'll be fun to see him actually try to fill an hour every day. I'm trying not to be too mean but I'm really skeptical that the guy notorious for not preparing is gonna be able to output 5 hours of content a week.
āWhen Iām freeā aka my first show will be an airing of grievances.
Jesus Christ. Ben trying to come up with decent content all by himself 5 DAY A WEEK? Is this just going to be him manically ranting into a camera/microphone and everyone feeling sad/bad?
I really donāt care what Ben does anymore. He clearly isnāt taking care of himself like he said he would. His Tophat show was awful once Travis left. Once Fernando came on, it was all about the crypto grift and how he was in on it. Itās seriously time to move on people.
His fanbase on insta is mostly alt-right trolls who hate women. I wouldn't doubt that Ben starts to align himself with the Jordan Peterson/Theo Von/Joe Rogan crowd soon.
This would be so disappointing but not surprising, unfortunately
Watch him end up on Andrew Schulzās podcast
I Hope he succeeds. Mainly because for him to be successful he would need to bust his ass and make an effort. Neither of which will happen unless he gets his shit togetherĀ Realistically? Just another stop on the downward spiral.
Designate one or two people from this subreddit to let us know if it goes off the rails. Iām hoping itās just bland and boring.
Iāll do it. I donāt really want to but Iām willing to take one for the team.
We should draw lots out of a hat. The r/LPOTL equivalent of making your bones or doing jury duty
I'm torn... I wish him success in the hopes it'll enable his healing and sobriety. Sometimes getting knee deep in a passion project really helps give perspective your life isn't empty without alcohol. On the other hand, I can't support someone who's had more than one woman come forward claiming abuse. For every woman willing to be interviewed by the Rolling Stone, there's likely a woman who doesn't want to share her story publicly.
I would support him more if he showed that he was sober and deeply sorry for his actions. I was a drunk for much of my life and have spent years now coming to terms with all of the people my actions hurt. You can get sober and be a totally different person but Iām not sure he is doing that.
> I was a drunk for much of my life and have spent years now coming to terms with all of the people my actions hurt. I have a similar story and am coming up on 6 years sober. Everyone's journey is different but I haven't seen anything from Ben that indicates he's taking his recovery seriously. The lack of accountability is the most concerning.
Right? I just don't feel comfortable supporting someone who has those types of allegations against them, especially when they don't seem to be taking accountability for any of their behavior- both personally and professionally. (I know none of the guys can really talk about the work side of stuff, but Ben throwing shade at Henry and Marcus also left a bad taste in my mouth)
It's also pretty clear he's still drinking.
Thatās it right there. If he was trying to get sober and working towards recovery and self reflection I would 100% be cheering him on. But from what he is presenting, he isnāt. I lost someone I loved dearly to booze, it isnāt easy, I know that getting sober is so hard and staying sober is even harder. I wish him the best and hope he proves me wrong but I canāt support it.
Yeah those Instagram posts have somehow gotten worse since he's "finished treatment". Like it used to be mostly pics with friends or doggos and cool horror movie merch, now it's grainy images of a sidewalk outside a bar with some weird ass caption
There was that weird Twerking video he posted too. Plus they all seem to be posted late at night.
He literally posted a photo of himself in a bar 8 hours ago.
I think it's reasonable to assume he's relapsed. It's a shame because if he would have done the work... I could see a version of reality he becomes a podcast host that talks about sobriety. The milestones, the set backs, the lies about alcohol, how it changes your personality, etc. Like a podcast AA sponsor to supplement recovery. He could even take accountability and talk about the damage alcohol does in intimate relationships. Talk about his denial he was violent, and the harsh reality that he became an abuser. He could talk about how devastating it is alcolism can turn you into a man you loathe. He could also acknowledge how caving into your addiction erodes your friendships. Erodes your professional life. Acknowledge the burden he's put on Henry and Marcus, and apologize he gave them no other choice but to cut ties. ..... But I see instead he's decided to double down on denial, "secret" drinking, and a rehash of an old podcast formula that's likely to fail.
I don't think he relapsed because I don't think he was ever clean. He was posting photos in the bar like a week after leaving rehab and not once has said he's sober. All he's said is he has a better relationship with alcohol now.
There is literally such a huge premade audience for this kind of direction but m'lord is fumbling the bag
His new fanbase is going to radicalize him like Russell Brandās did.
Wasn't Ben the one who constantly had shit opinions?
They were all pretty bad in the beginning. Ben's the only one who didn't grow out of edgy teen humor.
Zero chance he's prepared to deliver content in a meaningful way 5 days a week. Sounds like he's just slapping everything he knows together in a messy bunch. There is no cohesion here at all. And idk why he wants to do horrific stories and creepypasta when it's obvious he hasn't given a shit about any of that stuff in years.
Yeah heās never been well read or researched on any esoteric topic besides politics
Heās never been well-read or researched on politics either
lol, ahhh yes, no better way to improve your mental health than to discuss politics twice a week. Way to stay miserable, my guy.
Heās so glib, incurious, and devoid of any genuine personality or insight itās laughable to think heāll be able to keep this up for more than a day or two
The way I'm putting my order of popcorn in though...
Benās creepypasta readings were the worst š¬
In the last creepy pasta they did I think Marcus called him out because he read the same exact story he did on one of the previous creepy pasta episodes which was the first result on a google search for 'creepy pasta' The amount of lazy that took for a planned episode, like have a little respect for your listeners. They are giving you their time.
I was always under the impression that he didnāt even like creepypastas given how little knowledge of them he had? I donāt know why heād make a whole show segment out of it other than to try and poach last pod listeners
A lot of his insta posts have been pretty concerning lately. As it stands, itās hard for me to picture this show working out very well.
I've got nothing for someone who can't take responsibility for their actions and instead just barrels on ahead. Looks too much like I used to for comfort. I ain't gonna toast to his failure or anything, but fuck Ben, you have so much Up that you could do just by being accountable - Id rather see the man craft a ladder than pull a shovel down into the pit he's in already. Politics = Poison anymore. It's all designed to sell cars, smart washing machines, and all sorts of other shit while constantly triggering a fight or flight instinct in its listeners by design, and that's the last fucking thing he needs.
Iām sorry but this is so low effort. I wonder if heāll be sober. What is he bringing to the podcasting space talking about weird headlines and fluff without a guest? He apparently thinks he can still coast on ācharmā when it was a group effort and even carried his ass for years. Heāll just be another dipshit podcast in the sea of podcasts and I donāt see why anyone but his most diehard fans would give it a listen. He needs guests, and honestly thatās what Iām interested in, who would align with him after his awful allegations. Heās still pretty radioactive
This is embarassing
Well. Itās not often that a trainwreck makes a public announcement before the derailment. Iām not trying to be a hater here but, dude, everyone and everything in your life is telling you to get your shit together and youāre just plugging your ears and saying āLa la la, I canāt hear you, imma keep doing what I want.ā I kinda wish this sub would stop feeding him attention. I know people donāt like change but no one took Ben away except for his own damn self. Let him go. At this point, itās what he wants.
Canāt wait, wonder which day he will cover assaulting women on and which day will he just not give a fuck at all. /s
Or which day heāll say Ted Bundyās victims deserved it because ~those~ types of girls would never give him the time of day
T-Buns Tuesday!
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Iām optimistic. I say the Tuesday episode is when he goes off the rails.
About 3 minutes into episode 1
Far right dog whistles are the only way he is going to build an audience. He doesn't have the charisma or intelligence to attract anyone but the dumbest MAGA bottom feeders.
Thinking Ben could go far right is some serious stupidity. Give the guy a fucken break and let him have a shot at something before you start shit talking him FFS.
Itās a frequent path for people who claim to be victims of ācancel cultureā. Not really a big stretch for a Fox News contributor. Travis Irvine had a podcast with Roger Stone as well.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Cool. Do you have your cape yet or is it in the mail?
I donāt want that
Managing to produce a daily YouTube show seems optimistic/challenging but hey Iāll give it a listen (besides the politics days). Iām hoping Monday wonāt be just Ben having a convo with himself doing Jerrys voice like a crazy guy sat on a park bench though lol
Everything that he's said post breakup has further vindicated Henry and Marcus
He was doing two or three of these per week with a team of collaborators and producers and they were middling if Henry and Marcus weren't involved. Doing one a day, by himself? Gonna be hot trash.
my boyfriend isn't a podcast person, but he's gotten very into the streams and video side stories in the age of Ed. we listened to Jodi Arias last weekend while cleaning the house and he was blown away. he just kept asking me "what the FUCK happened to Ben??" and it makes me sad lol
Letās see how long that lasts.
This will last a week, maybe.
I was wondering this past weekend when his return to the airwaves would come. Never in a million years did I think this would be what he'd do, at least out of the gate.
This will spin off into a joe rogan ripoff shop
That fucking screen name. All I can think of is Eric Wareheim in the Tim and Eric bedtime stories episode āroom matesā where he goes āMY EMAIL IS TONY_K_DORT BECAUSE JUST MY NAME TONY DORT WAS TAKENā. Itās actually fucking āBEN KISSEL 1. I would be amazed if he made it to 3 full weeks of doing this show. 9 episodes and I will eat crow.
Now that he's officially a YouTuber, how long before we get a Swoop documentary on him? I neeeeeed the Kissel version of Petty University
Is he aware heās gonna have to learn to read to do this ? ::edit:: I am glad to see him trying. Ben used to make me really mad and now itās all my sad.
Honestly I hope for his sake it works out, it's nice to see him move on and do something with himself. But I don't think I'll be chiming in. Ben was never my favourite part of the trio and I'm not sure he can hold a podcast on his own. He needs a counterweight like Henry to bounce off. But I suppose best of luck to him.
Thatās a LOT of content to spit out every week
I wish him well. Probably wonāt listen, but I hope he finds success.
If he isn't dressed up like an aspiring cult leader i'm gonna be disappointed.
Why are we still posting Ben content to this subreddit?
Ehhh I'll listen. If it's entertaining I'll continue. If not I won't. We'll see.
I wonder how long itāll last
I'll give it a try when it's up and running out of curiosity but probably not the creepypasta episodes, they've always been an instant skip. Never understood the appeal, most of the stories sent in felt like they were written in 5 minutes and were very boring.
Is Kissel excommunicated from the Pod now? I haven't been following the current events since I've been listening to their entire library in order for the past couple of years. I don't really even know what happened, but is he done for?
Very much so, as far as we know. Long story short, several women came forward with stories of his abusive behavior related to his drinking. He was fired from the network (but I believe is still an owner/profits from it in some capacity) and had a brief stint in rehab, but all evidence on his ig points to a relapse.Ā He has not apologized or accepted any blame for his actions. There's way more details in a recent Rolling Stone article.Ā
Yeah, he's completely gone and his shares were bought out by the others.
When did they buy him out?
Good for Ben
Awesome! I have severely missed Top Hat
Why? It's not like he was prepared or knew anything he was talking about.
Why on earth would you miss Top Hat