Alex Schmidt

Alex Schmidt is comedy writer and host of Secretly Incredibly Fascinating and hosted & produced more than 150 episodes of The Cracked Podcast. He is also a a 4-Time Jeopardy! Champion and created the bison emoji, then made a mini-podcast about that experience. Follow him on Twitter here. Follow Secretly Incredibly Fascinating on Twitter here.

When you were on Jeopardy, what was the fun fact you gave about yourself at the beginning?
I won four times, so I got to play five games and share five facts. In the last one I talked about my Grandma Schmidt, which I will always be glad I got to do on TV.

In every fact-sharing situation, I was in a near fugue state, because it was hard to hold a conversation with ALEX FREAKING TREBEK without dissociating a little. I’d watched the show on ABC-7 Chicago every afternoon growing up. I carried around Trebek's book in middle school. Talking to him was like talking to Television Itself.

Three things I always say about ‘Jeopardy!’: Alex Trebek was everything I hoped he’d be. The whole crew works to get every contestant in the best possible headspace to succeed. And you should take a shot at being a contestant! I give free tips on it!

What did you learn about making the bison emoji happen, and the podcast that followed?
Funny enough, podcasting was a big spark for the whole emoji proposal adventure. I got to hear podcaster Mark Bramhill talk with Roman Mars about the process on 99% Invisible. So I had a nice time following in those footsteps. 

Learnings: I learned the Unicode Consortium is a ragtag group of nice volunteers. I learned about the vast range of people who find meaning in American bison. I learned what I’m willing and able to share about myself online (content warning for my podcast miniseries: there are themes of grief and loss in the last episode). Also I got to interview Mark, and got a nice message from Roman about the miniseries, so that brought the podcasting part full circle. 

Why did you start Secretly Incredibly Fascinating?
Two reasons: I received a shove, and I took my time.

I plunged into this new podcast from a hard situation. I had hosted “The Cracked Podcast” for 3 years. Also produced it for 2.5 years, and put together live touring shows. But then new owners bought Cracked.com. Last year, they demolished that podcast. They fired me, all of a sudden, in the middle of an already-hard 2020.

In hindsight I’m really glad I took my time figuring out what to do next. I spent a few months on the question of “what’s the podcast I’ve always wished existed?” After lots of format and approach experimentation, ‘Secretly Incredibly Fascinating’ was the answer. I’m glad I didn’t hurry that. And I’m glad I decided to make a better show that's different from what I was making before.

Why are you a good host for Secretly Incredibly Fascinating?
I have comedy chops, and I have a background in historical research, and I’m genuinely curious about the world. I’ve also lucked into a lot of friendships with funny people who are willing to guest on episodes. Add that all up, and it’s like I was constructed in a laboratory by a mad scientist. Or maybe grown in a vat? I wouldn't know, I don’t follow the mad science journals/blogs. Anyway the wrinkle with that mad scientist is they aren’t after wealth or power. They want to spend a funny hour learning what's cool about vanilla and house keys and that one painting of a farmer. And I think a lot of fun, curious people want what that mad scientist wants. 'SIF' is the show for them.

One reason I like listening to you on podcasts is that you are so funny but also kind and I think this is rare. How do you do that? I often feel like when I'm trying to be funny, it often is coming from a mean place.
That’s a very nice question, and I'm gonna blow right past being bashful about how nice it is.

I’ve never seen much joy or benefit in doing “mean” comedy. And I think positive comedy has a lot of room to grow as an art. We're all still figuring out how good it can get. Also, most cruel comedy I come across feels tired to me. I feel like I've watched that roast before, and it wasn't great the first time.

One thing I like about the premise of ‘SIF’ is the intrinsic humor of any close look at seemingly ordinary stuff. I am not kidding when I say “this is an entire podcast episode exploring the color beige”. I'm also aware that it's a funny way to spend time. I'm glad it's funny!

Are there too many podcasts?
I love that the system is so open. I hope it stays wide open. I love that anybody can dive into it. I think if it feels like there are “too many” podcasts, that’s part of the longtime discoverability issue with podcasts. It’s hard for You The Listener to find everything you'd love. So newsletters like this are great, because they’re one of the few things that helps fix that.

With the sheer number of podcasts out there, every listener has a surprising amount of power to support a podcast. My show is listener-supported, and the handful of people who back it make it all possible. And every time somebody spreads the word about the podcast, it makes a meaningful difference. So if you're a fan of podcasts, you ought to be excited about that situation! Look how freakin' *powerful* you are!

Thanks, Alex!