New Westworld Podcast Aimed at African-American and Ethnic Audiences

SEATTLE - Oct. 20, 2016 - PRLog -- This week Dare Dreamer FM, creators of the audio documentary podcast Radio Film School, launches its first TV companion podcast, Wrestling with Westworld (Cuz We Like to Tussle). As the number of podcasts about HBO's newest original series continues to grow, Wrestling with Westworld purports to be the first podcast about the show specifically aimed towards the underserved African-American and ethnic audience.

"Our goal is to create a podcast where black people who are fans of the show can hear a group of intelligent, insightful, yet funny people who sound like they do," reports Yolanda T. Cochran, a feature film producer, production consultant, and one of the podcasts' weekly regular hosts.

The podcast is the brainchild of Dare Dreamer FM creative director Ron Dawson, who in addition to being a commercial and documentary filmmaker, is also host and creator of Radio Film School (which he describes as This American Life for filmmakers). "I sometimes wonder if the general population doesn't think of black people as being geeks, nerds, and/or die-hard sci-fi fans," states Ron, "But we are out there. In droves. I am a huge sci-fi/fantasy fan and Trekker. Popular podcasts like Black Girl Nerds, Fan Bros Show, and For Colored Nerds are a testament to the size of this market."

In addition to Ron and Yolanda, the show is also co-hosted by Yolanda's husband, JD (an indie filmmaker and sci-fi screenwriter) and Edu Black, a production coordinator in animation. The four filmmakers have been close friends for over twenty years, and that camaraderie and familiarity comes through in the show. "We're not afraid of checking each other, or anybody else for that matter,  and stating whatever is on our minds," comments JD. "Sometimes humor is the best way to deal with and discuss topics as uncomfortable and dark as those explored on Westworld."

From liberal and familial uses of the N-word, to jokes about Westworld technicians complaining about having to debrief nude hosts with "12-inch members", Ron and the crew definitely don't pull any punches when it comes to discussing content on the show. It's apparent right from the beginning of episode 1 wherein the group jokes about the show being on CP Time (the term is generally thought of as a derogatory colloquialism indicating that black people are always late. Their first three episodes appeared after the series was already three episodes in).

Filmmakers' Perspective
Among the four hosts, they collectively have over 100 years of experience in film, television and video production. As such, their analysis of the episodes are often imbued with insights and commentary from an "inside baseball" perspective. Ron comments, "It would be like listening to a podcast about "Making a Murderer" or "OJ Simpson: American Crime Story" hosted by lawyers. Their knowledge of law would provide valuable insights on those shows you might not get listening to podcasts hosted by lay people."

Yolanda says, "Naturally, you don't have to be black to enjoy the show. In fact, I have no doubt people of all races will not only appreciate it, but take some added 'voyeuristic' pleasure of getting a peek behind the curtain of someone else's 'personal space' . Ultimately, our goal is to provide a funny and entertaining dialog and discussion of a popular show dealing with provocative and controversial topics that apply to us today. Who wouldn't enjoy that?"

Despite launching on CP Time, the podcast is now all caught up with the HBO show. You can catch all episodes at http://daredreamer.fm/westworldpod or subscribe in iTunes (http://bit.ly/www-itunes).