You’ve had podcast, yes, but what about SECOND podcast?
This episode of The Podcast About the Podcasts About Television starts with us asking how far we’ve gone off the rails, as The Friendship Onion isn’t even a TV rewatch podcast, but rather a hobbity Lord of the Rings nostalgia trip. We’re reviewing episodes 3 and 4 of the show, a.k.a. the Elijah Wood episodes, and it’s a zip back in time to the pandemic, a.k.a. the ground zero of celebrities getting microphones and recording podcasts to celebrate their careers. But what starts as a harmless, if ad-filled, jaunt down memory lane soon turns into an investigation of a Succession-style conspiracy that we gradually uncover over the course of this episode.
We all know, by now, that this story isn’t about podcasters OR actors, but rather it’s a story about podcast networks. What is the shadowy organization keeping The Friendship Onion in a perpetual state of hiatus? Who filled the first ten minutes of this show with ten different ads? Why don’t these dear hobbits want to talk anymore? Welcome to the story of Kast Media and Colin Thomson, the man who brought the exploitative model of podcast networks to the next level and scammed down-on-their luck rich celebrity podcasters until they hung up their hobbit feet and sailed off to the Undying Lands.
The Friendship Onion
Join your favorite Hobbits, friends and co-stars, Billy Boyd and Dom Monaghan as they take a look back at their time on The Lord of the Rings. Featuring interviews with cast and crew, diving deep into life behind the scenes, and answering the many fan questions, The Friendship Onion will peel back the layers of their friendship, both on screen and off.