Daily Inspiration: Meet Charles Bryant

Today we’d like to introduce you to Charles Bryant.

Hi Charles, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
16 years ago, I was working as a writer for an educational reference website, when my boss asked my co-worker and friend (co-host Josh Clark) if he could start a podcast using the articles we were writing as the foundation. After a handful of episodes with other co-hosts, Josh and I became a team. Podcasting was in its early stages and we had no training as broadcasters, but we dove in headfirst and very quickly amassed a following of loyal listeners who seemed to connect to our casual approach and sense of humor we brought to the topics we covered. Since then we’ve grown alongside the industry, finding ourselves in a position as veterans of a thriving new entertainment medium. Now we do live shows all over the world in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and in February 2023, we became the first podcast to reach the 3 billion download mark. We had a TV show for one season on Science Channel, have written two books, launched a board game in partnership with Trivial Pursuit, and even managed to get our own category on Jeopardy. And in 2023 we were presented with the Podcast Academy’s lifetime achievement honor, The Governor’s Award.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
We’re very lucky because our road to podcast success has been surprisingly smooth. Early on there were no stakes and nothing really to lose, so there was no pressure on us to achieve anything. It was literally just a side-assignment at work. We’re fortunate to have gotten in there early and build a dedicated listenership, long before the days when every other person on earth seems to have a podcast. The show grew very organically via word of mouth, and the main reason I have the best job in the world is because people listened and told friends, family, and co-workers to listen. And continue to. We’ve been smart enough since then to really keep it simple and the same. Humans like the things they love to not change, and we recognized that early on. Is it easy to put out two highly-researched episodes on topics that are sometimes above your smarts level for 15 years? Definitely not. But it beats working for a living.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m known as the co-host of Stuff You Should Know, a podcast that was started in 2008. I’m most proud of the fact that we’ve never missed a publish date in 15 years and every Tuesday and Thursday we’ve delivered a (hopefully) funny and educational show. The idea of leaving behind several thousand episodes of something that hopefully makes people smarter and also laugh is something I think about a lot.

How do you think about luck?
Luck is a funny word. I always say that we benefitted from great timing. Starting a podcast in 2008 feels like buying a cheap property in what would become a great neighborhood. I guess we were also good at what we did, but the timing of everything meant everything.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.stuffyoushouldknow.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chuckthepodcaster/