As I began my flight out West for the popular “Further with Ford 2015” conference, I found myself with one problem: good podcasts. Anyone can go ahead and listen to music, trust me, my Spotify is stacked with everything you can imagine. Minus Taylor Swift (okay, I admit “Bad Blood” is my jam but thats’ besides the point.), I have much variety, but sometimes I just like to hear people talking about the topics going around the world. That’s where my “Pocket Casts” app comes into play.
With following over 80 different podcasts, some that only do a podcast once a week, sometimes once a month, I longed for more when I first started taking my listening seriously. Then last Christmas my mother told me about a podcast that her co-workers friend listened to from time to time and loved, “The Black Guy Who Tips”. Me being a guy who prides himself on paying proper gratuity, I was interested instantly.
TBGWT as I know it, and you’ve possibly seen on Twitter, talks about everything that I relate to, without giving me the feeling I got from one podcast I used to listen to in the past. Hosts Rod and Karen are a married couple who live in the South, which my family is based from so I could identify with from being a black man just attempting to do right in the World, and the struggles that come with it, to trending topics like Rachel Dozalal’s identity crisis.
With a special guest almost every episode, “The Black Guy Who Tips” has a podcast almost 3-4 times a week, which is rare with podcasts of this quality. Each podcast usually last about 90 minutes or longer so if you need to pay the time on a commute, or simply get sick of the lack of shows on TV, you can listen to them live through the Spreecast mobile app (while chatting with their community), or through a iTunes, Stitcher, and any podcast app out there. On top of having games that you can play along to, even if you’re a day behind in your listening, Rod & Karen have me reeled in almost daily. I often have my co-workers asking “What the hell are you listening to that’s so funny?“
If you are a fan of The Walking Dead, or Game of Thrones, this is THE podcast to listen to. I’ve tried my hand at enjoying other Game of Thrones podcasts that discussed each episode, but there were so many details they wouldn’t discuss that Rod, Karen, and their buddy Justin do weekly (sometimes with a special guest from another podcast) and as a forever Dany fan, their love for her will make you love her, appreciate Cersei’s pettiness, all while making you feel like you are sitting on the couch beside them watching it. And with The Walking Dead’s summer series about to begin any week now (Fear The Walking Dead), they promised to do a weekly podcast about this as well.
But there’s so much more to their topics. Huffington Post mentioned them as “The barbershop of podcasts”, but to me, they are the older siblings that I should’ve had. Having a spouse of another race, some podcasts seem to drive in the racial thing pretty hard, but with Rod and Karen, not only are they respectful in their discussion, but seeing another couple, regardless of race working together for the greater (podcast) good gives me more motivation to help my woman identify with the way “we” see particular things. It’s become a staple in our home as now not only does she listen, but our bond is that much closer as a result.
Rod & Karen aren’t just speakers for the black community, but they are huge fans of things I like, and that’s the humor of Baller Alert stories, regardless of their articles being good or bad. My mother listened to an episode and commented “hearing Rod tell these Baller Stories in the tone of a woman gives me life”. I’m a little bit offended she’s taking him on as her own son, but he’s like family so I let it slide.
There’s thousands of podcasts I listen to, for example, but “The Black Guy Who Tips” hands down is my favorite. It’s always good so see some of your peers doing good, and with over 200 episodes, and a following that even includes Talking Dead host Chris Hardwick (who also has a podcast “Nerdist”), if you’re in the mood for a bit of diversity, or simply need a change in perspective from what the news tells you about current events, including World Events, Sports, even a story of sword rachetness that happened in the World you may have never heard about, THIS is the best podcast. So if you want to get a true glimpse of Rod & Karen’s podcast, you can follow them at the links below.
Follow “The Black Guy Who Tips” on Twitter today
TBGWT’s Itunes Link
TBGWT’s Stitcher Link
TBGWT’s Podomatic Link