Take Me To Coffee

Video Game Audio Design: Zack Quarles

Episode  |  October 31st, 2019  |  55 mins 27 secs

audio design, mentorship, strogg, video games

Ever find yourself playing a video game and thinking to yourself, "Man, I love this game but I don't know why - and it's not just the visuals"? Turns out the audio design of a game can make or break your experience, and Zack Quarles, or ZQ to his friends, is the man behind the games you've loved through the years, including Killer Instinct, Quake and more. Listen in for advice to aspiring sound designers, why video games are getting more like digital theatre every day, and insight into the Strogg language ZQ created from scratch for Quake.

BONUS EPISODE #2: Our Very Second Episode with Christina Anthony of Mixed-ish

Episode  |  October 24th, 2019  |  1 hr 25 secs

improv, los angeles, mixed-ish, multi-hyphenate, pilots, second city

Little did we all know that Christina Anthony's life was about to be forever changed, when she agreed to be our second test guest back in March of 2019 and sit down for coffee with us. She had just shot a backdoor pilot for a new show called Mixed-ish, but no one knew if it would be picked up. SPOILER ALERT: SHE'S SO FAMOUS NOW! But back in that moment, Christina sat on her bathroom floor in her Hollywood studio apartment and dished out hilarity and wisdom about what it means to never quit, what she'd ask Barack Obama and Mr. T if she could take them to coffee, and how she came up with her nickname for Lin Manuel Miranda.

BONUS EPISODE #1: Our Very First Episode with Jermaine Blackwell

Episode  |  October 24th, 2019  |  56 mins 40 secs

actor, how to make a podcast, jermaine blackwell, new york city

Friends, we're ten episodes in and that means it's time for a BONUS WEEK! Gather round for a very special commentary track episode, wherein Andrew and Jess pull back the curtain and let you listen in to the very first episode they ever recorded, with NBC Diversity Scholarship winner and actor Jermaine Blackwell. Here's a hint: It was absolute chaos. It starts with a fire alarm going off and Andrew's apartment almost catching on fire. Go us!!!

BONUS EPISODE #3: Our Very Third Episode with Jay Klaitz from Jessica Jones

Episode  |  October 24th, 2019  |  42 mins 45 secs

broadway, jessica jones, mentorship, waffee

Broadway, TV and Film actor Jay Klaitz took time away from his brand new (super cute) baby to chat with us in our third ever episode of Take Me To Coffee. We talked all things theatre (he is a legend of Broadway with Lend Me a Tenor, Rock of Ages and High Fidelity under his belt), why he volunteers his time as a mentor to younger people, what it was like to shoot on Jessica Jones and Vinyl and what's ahead for his new production company.

How We Built This

Article  |  October 23rd, 2019
By Jess Ryan
how i built this, how to make a podcast, mentorship

This week, we're releasing our first three test episodes we ever recorded for #tm2cpodcast. In today's blog, we're looking back at the process of making this podcast from scratch, and giving you our top three tips from what we learned!

Comedy: Dana Powell

Episode  |  October 17th, 2019  |  1 hr 15 mins

acting, comedy, improv, la, modern family

Modern Family. Veep. Bridesmaids. Dana Powell is a comedic powerhouse who has graced the screens of some of our favorite shows. Today, we're sitting down to coffee with her... well, no. Laying down to coffee with her? She did the whole episode in her bed in LA, so not really sure what the right thing is to say here. And by "with her", we mean Dana, her cat Daphne, her evil cat Cutters, her dog and her lizard. Together, we all dive into trying not to get eaten by coyotes at your survival job, picking up Christmas presents for Joey Lawrence (WHOA!), making motherboards for NASA, how a waiter at a Modern Family party became a collaborator, what it was like to be on the set of Bridesmaids and why she was hiding a small flying squirrel in her boobs during college classes. It's a wild one, folks. Strap in.

Marian The Grammarian (and Dana Powell as a Ninja)

Article  |  October 16th, 2019
By Jess Ryan
grammarly, parody, technology, the music man

In which our dumb free association on the episode becomes a very ridiculous (but also kind of intriguing?) branded musical for Grammarly, featuring this week's guest, Dana Powell from Modern Family.

Sports & Identity: Joon Lee

Episode  |  October 10th, 2019  |  49 mins 44 secs

baseball, diversity, espn, joon lee, sports

Jess is stuck in the wilds of eastern Oregon, so Andrew helms the ship for an incredibly inspiring conversation with Joon Lee. Joon is a 24-year-old Korean-American sportswriter for ESPN, and he takes us on a wild journey through his time at Bleacher Report, why he likes to dig into the personalities of the biggest stars, the representation inception that happened when he covered Chloe Kim and the Olympics in South Korea, and why pornstars are people too. Plus - our producer Emily Ho makes a special guest appearance!

Send Help: Who is Jimmy Garoppolo and Why Is He Superman?

Article  |  October 9th, 2019
By Jess Ryan
asian-american, diversity, jimmy garappolo, joon lee, sports

Five minutes into listening to tomorrow's episode with sports journalist Joon Lee, and I knew my BFA in musical theatre was not going to be enough to decipher the first topic he and Andrew talked about - I literally had no idea what any of the words meant. But, by golly, I spent thousands of dollars on Text Analysis classes, so Pinter and Tennessee out of the way, 'cause today I'm tackling.... F . O . O . T . B . A . L . L .

Wine: Amanda McCrossin aka Sommvivant

Episode  |  October 3rd, 2019  |  1 hr 7 mins

instagram influencer, napa valley, sommelier, sommvivant, wine

Wine always feels fancy, but our guest Amanda McCrossin spends the hour answering our dumb questions and helping us feel like maybe it isn't something that far out of our reach. Plus - we get the top 3 Instagram tips from Amanda, who grew her own following from nothing to 25k, Jess trolls Andrew on their own podcast and we find out good legs doesn't mean the ass is going to be great too.

Community & Entrepreneurship: The Zuckerberg Institute

Episode  |  September 26th, 2019  |  56 mins 44 secs

accountability, community, entrepreneurs, goals, mentorship

Today we have coffee with the co-founders of The Zuckerberg Institute, Randi Zuckerberg's new initiative for entrepreneurs around the globe. We hear about Brian Patrick Murphy's biggest failure in business and what he learned from it, what it was like for Michael Littig to start a non-profit in a conflict zone, and we do a lot of talking about why the struggle is what to love the most when you're building something.

The Mughal Empire: Audrey Truschke

Episode  |  September 26th, 2019  |  1 hr 12 mins

academia, censorship, india, the mughal empire, twitter

Audrey Truschke has created a name for herself on Twitter but it's probably not for anything you'd guess. She's an academic and author whose specialty is Muslim & Hindu conflict, The Mughal Empire and Sanksrit. We get down and dirty to learn about the role of academics in censorship, why people are so upset about her research and who was a better cheater at games as a kid, Audrey or Jess?

Activism: Idealist.org

Episode  |  September 26th, 2019  |  1 hr 14 mins

idealism, non-profits, social entrepreneurship, social justice

Ami Dar, founder of Idealist.org, has always had one mission in life: connect the people who want to do good, and make it easier to do that good. Never was there such an inspiring episode as talking with he and their Director of Organizing, Abby Graf Subak about how they that happen through a job board, grad fairs and Idealist Days around the world.

Founding a Fitness Empire: Mark Fisher

Episode  |  September 26th, 2019  |  56 mins 34 secs

entrepreneurship, fitness, ninjas, systems

It seems like every Broadway friend of ours (including Andrew's wife!) keeps in shape at Mark Fisher Fitness. On our coffee date with the man himself, we found out that's because he is one smart dude, in addition to being a whacky, dada-loving unicorn. We chat about why Mark reads two plus books a week, how the Snatched emails have changed over the years, the ways in which running a business is like a rehearsal room and why Andrew and Jess now say "Skill Aquisition" every fourth sentence.

Female Empowerment: Laura Behnke

Episode  |  September 26th, 2019  |  1 hr 7 mins

empowerment, fashion, instagram, lifestyle, sportscasters, zara

Even though Jess and Andrew did a bit of birdwalking at the top of the episode, things got back on track quickly and we got to hear about Laura Behnke's incredible journey from television sportscaster who was owned by everyone else to entrepreneur and fashion icon who owned it all herself! This episode is a must-listen for anyone who is starting to think there's a better life out there but is scared to make a move.

Beer: Jeremy Danner

Episode  |  September 26th, 2019  |  1 hr 6 mins

4 hands brewery, beer, boulevard brewing company, craft beer, improv, sales

What didn't we talk about on this date coffee with Kansas City beer geek Jeremy Danner? We hit what it means to sewer a batch of beer, what Jeremy thinks a brewery needs to do to go from good to great to amazing, and most importantly we invented the Shut Up And Drink Your Beer Beer (tm) during a really fun hour.