Laura Cathcart Robbins
Laura Cathcart Robbins is the host of The Only One in the Room. Read her explosive HuffPo piece here. Follow her on Twitter here. Follow The Only One in the Room on Twitter here.
Describe the show in 10 words or less.
Each guest shares an intimate, vulnerable story about feeling “othered”.
Tell us about your essay and what made you think, “this should be a podcast.”
I wrote about my experience of being the only Black person at a 600-person event for Huffpo and the article went viral. Afterward, I received hundreds of messages and emails from people who connected with feeling alone in a room full of people. Until I received those messages, I’d thought I might do a podcast where I interviewed Black people about their “Only One” experiences. After reading them all, I made up my mind to tell those stories as well.
How much did you know about podcasting when you started?
Oh my goodness, almost nothing. I’d taken a six week podcasting course in November of 2018 and learned some of the basics, but I was truly a novice. I listened to my first podcast, Dirty John, as homework for that class.
What do you wish you had known?
I wish I’d known more about interview technique, I really had to learn that on the job. I also wish I’d understood more about marketing and monetization.
How have you changed as a podcaster since you started The Only One in the Room?
At first, we chose to go after guests with name recognition and a high social media follower-count. Now, at almost 3-million overall downloads, we simply get to curate truly riveting and meaningful stories regardless of who they are. I’ve also learned (the hard way) to get to the meat of the interview earlier in the show. No one wants to listen to thirty minutes of “interview foreplay” before hearing the title story.
How has the show changed?
I think we have more fun now that we’re not trying so hard to increase listenership. We’re really able to concentrate on delivering consistent, engaging, quality interviews.
What do you hope The Only One in the Room does for people?
Oh, so many things. I hope it allows people to feel less alone. I hope it creates a community for folks who thought they had none. I want our listeners to walk away from each episode feeling as though they’d just walked in someone else’s shoes. And always, I’m hoping that by telling everyone's Only One stories, people of the dominant culture will hear them and become more aware of what it’s like to be a minority - especially here in America.
What’s a stand-out episode people shouldn’t miss?
Like choosing a favorite child isn’t it? We just re-released one of my all-time favorites, Sofia Rose, The Only Fat, Over-Forty, Latina Pornstar In The Room. Others include, my discussion about white privilege with actor Jon Cryer and my interview with Robert Chelsea who was the first African American to receive a full face transplant.
What’s the secret to a good interview?
A pre-interview! I do one over Zoom with all of my guests. It allows us to bond prior to the interview and gives us time to nail down their Only One story.
What’s the secret to a good pre-interview?
Taking careful notes and keeping it brief so the guest doesn’t feel like it’s too much of a time suck.
Who are your listeners? Any special stories you want to share about them?
We love our listeners so much. Every month we do a Zoom hang for our Patreon members and we’re always surprised by how diverse the members are - so many different ages, geographic locations, races, and ethnicities. And we were thrilled to know that we have so many listeners that identify as male, almost 50%! Our listeners' comments guide our content and help us to decide which episodes to re-release during our season breaks. They’re incredible.
Any advice on how smaller shows can grow?
Once you’ve invested in making sure that your show is a quality product, with regard to audio, Youtube, website etc. I would invest in a marketing campaign to grow your numbers and set the table for more of those sponsorship dollars. We’ve had great success with platforms such as Player FM and on Spotify.
Who’s your dream guest? Let’s manifest it.
Oh, Roxane Gay. But I’m not even sure that I could fix my mouth to interview Roxane, I might be too tongue tied.
Do you think most people have an “only one in the room” story?
I believe that EVERYONE has an Only One story. I get such a thrill from helping people discover theirs.
If you were going to start a new podcast—don’t worry about the logistics or whether or not anyone would listen, what would it be?
Lately I’ve been fantasizing about starting a podcast for women of a certain age. We are a culture obsessed with youth and everywhere I look, women my age (57) are opting for botox, filler and plastic surgery in the hopes of remaining youthful looking. I’d like to talk about that honestly. Not in a judgemental way (who am I to judge, I get botox twice a year), but in an exploratory way. Like this whole “gray pride” movement (which I love, but am not ready to do yet) and find out the answers to questions like, “statistically, are women who do nothing to themselves dating less than women who seek out cosmetic ''help?”
What are you most excited about or hopeful for for the future of The Only One in the Room?
We’ve been talking about doing an Only One In The Room book. I’m not sure how it would look yet, but we keep coming back to it because we have so many incredible stories.
Three specific pieces of advice for new podcasters, please.
Invest in quality audio equipment, it makes such a difference. Get to know other podcasters, collab and cross promote with them whenever possible. Take good care of your guests, they might bring you other guests!
What’s a show you love that most people already know about?
The Cut, I love the stories.
What’a show you love that most people don’t know about?
The Family Podcast, it’s these two brothers out of London, Sammy and Don – they gave me life during the summer of 2020. I loved hearing what was going on with the protests in the UK from a Black perspective.
Anything I didn’t ask you that you want to talk about?
You are incredibly thorough! I genuinely can’t think of anything else, other than to shout out my boyfriend, producer and co-host, Scott Slaughter (who I call Hon). Without him there would be no The Only One In The Room.
Thanks, Laura!