DC-based Podcaster Ronald Young Jr. shares his podcasting journey and the power of storytelling

Rob Lee: Welcome to The Truth in This Art. I am your host, Rob Lee. Thank you for joining us for conversations at the intersections of arts, culture, and community. Today, I have a great conversation for you. My next guest is a critically acclaimed audio producer, host, storyteller, and an avid pop culture enthusiast. He is the host of the television and film review podcast, Leaving the Theater, host of the storytelling podcast, Weight For It, and is also a regular contributor to NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour as a guest panelist. Please welcome Ronald Young Jr. Welcome to the podcast. Thanks for having me, Rob. It's great to be here. Thank you for coming on. Thank you for making the time. And, you know, it's a pleasure. This is like sort of that that follow up where, you know, the whole process of you reach out on LinkedIn. You know, people either don't respond or they do. You responded. We chopped it up and now we're here. So I'm loving this. I'm loving we're able to do this.
Ronald Young Jr.: It's the magic of LinkedIn, man. It actually worked. All of those friend requests or connection requests, whatever they call them on LinkedIn, you fold through them to find one of value, and one out of 100 are pretty good, and yours is pretty good. So I'm glad to be here.

Rob Lee: Most appreciated. Most appreciated. So I want to dive right in with sort of I'd like to really get a sense of where things begin for a person, you know, your host, your storyteller, audio producer, like, you know, you're you're you're in a lane that I that I'm traveling in, but I kind of want to switch like in a Freaky Friday sort of way with you for a bit. But tell me where it all starts as far as like one of your earliest memories of of storytelling, like You know, is there a story that comes to mind growing up? Is there one of those moments where you're like, I want to I want to share this this story about a movie when you were a kid or something? Well, what's one of those early moments where you saw like sort of the power of storytelling? And when did you discover you had a passion for it?

Ronald Young Jr.: Probably my earliest interaction with storytelling was in church. As a child, I grew up, and as a part of the Pentecostal faith organization called Church for Our Lord Jesus Christ, and I was with my parents in church all the time. They got saved when I would have been not even one years old, and my sister was two. And so we were, from the time we could remember, inside of a church. And inside these churches, they had something called praise and testimony service, where they would sing songs and then testify about the goodness of the Lord. And in those testimonies, they would kind of, typically the best ones that I liked, which is why I got excited about testimony service, is when someone got up and started telling a story about their job, or telling a story about their life, or telling a story about a car accident that they were in. And without fail, the best people that testified were the ones that really had me just eating out of the palm of their hand, just like, all right, and then what happened? And then what happened? And knowing that at the end, there was going to be some some version was always the same that either God saved me, God delivered me, or God is going to deliver me, or I am trusting God through this out throughout this. So this kind of like gave me the basics of the ability of what storytelling is because that's all I looked at it is I didn't look at it as anything more powerful than that. It wasn't until I got older that I understood what a testimony actually meant and what it meant to the faith and all of that. But as a kid, it was just another story. And so I was kind of addicted to movies, magazines, anything that was like somebody was telling me some sort of story, anything that had a narrative I was really attracted to. And so that's why I love movies, that's why I love television. As a kid, there was a program from Focus on the Family, which is kind of a problematic organization, so no shout out to them. They had a show called Adventures in Odyssey, and I would listen to that on car trips because, you know, it was Christian-based, and I would love being immersed in these worlds where they were like, you know, They were super sound rich and really designing, um, like just all of these, these worlds for kids to get immersed in. And the reason why that was exciting was because it was my first introduction to audio storytelling and realizing like the capacity of. of the radio and of audio to tell stories like this. There was a program on WAMU, which is the local NPR affiliate here in Washington, D.C., where they did a program on Sundays, which I think they still do, called The Big Broadcast, and they would play all these old-timey radio shows, Gunsmoke, Lum and Abner, Space Patrol, all of these shows that I had never known about or heard of. But this was television before television was a thing, and it was all audio once again. So those three things, I would say, Adventures in Odyssey, Praise and Testimony Service at Church, and The Big Broadcast are really what attracted me to storytelling as a whole, and then in particular, audio storytelling.

Rob Lee: Oh, thank you. Thank you. I say it now. And, you know, I had the experience of being an educator in the podcast space, and it'll be something I continue doing. And, you know, I'm being the old man in it, though, which feels weird, 39 this year. And, you know, they're 18. I'm like, oh, you were born when? And, you know, when I'm sharing sort of what got me into it, it's very similar things. It was, you know, I and some of it just discovering later, but always having that sort of base. Like, you know, you hear about War of the Worlds back in the day. It's like, oh, this was this was TV. This was audio, but this was TV. And, you know, I I remember rediscovering the audio versions or discovering rather the audio versions of the Twilight Zone. And it's like this was from 1961. I was like, yeah, it was. And like, let's get it. And you see something you know, different in it. There's no shortcuts in it. You have to figure out a way to get this over that someone's mind's eye can go along with it and rock with it. And, you know, I remember when I was younger, because I'm very much audio centric, you know, when it comes to any of this stuff, like people like the video stuff, and that's great, but I'm very much audio first. And even back in the day, you know, locally, I'm a diehard Orioles fan. I would just listen to the games like that's cool to have the visual. It might be blacked out here, but I always have the audio and just something about being able to it hits different as it were.

Ronald Young Jr.: Yeah, I think between there was always something about one for me as a kid having strict parents It was easier for me to sneak audio things than it was For me to sneak television, you know I mean so they could be in the house and I could be up in my room and I could be like listening to the radio And listening to there was shows. I used to listen to late at night called their stuff like I Love line with dr. Drew and Adam Carolla and I used to listen to that I was before Adam Carolla was super problematic But it was a it was I would listen to that and that's like a lot of how I got some of my sexual education and then there was another show called love slot love talking slow jazz, which I think was on WPGC and 95.5 once again here in the DC area and I used to listen to that and I I remember That was it was so immersive because it won Anyone who works in radio knows that you know radio was just not the most fun job It just really isn't you're really creating these immersive worlds, but the brief time that I had in radio I'd be so excited about going to the radio station on a Friday night and as like a young adult and I get there and be like y'all are literally lying there's no party happening here this is all mixed there's no dj like what's going on it's all but like if you're at home or if you're on your way to a party yourself or if you're in your car you're just like man they having a good time over there I want to be over there with the dj with the with the radio folks. So like what I think the the burden of audio and what we have to do to for a listener. I mean it is a it's a far greater burden than what television has to do. You know what I mean? Because like we have to always constantly be describing and immersing the listener and assisting their imagination to build the world that we're like suggesting for them. So like shout out to radio DJs, audio producers, program directors, music directors, everyone everywhere that like all that it all takes to kind of build these worlds for listeners that a lot of folks are just taking for granted, you know.

Rob Lee: Thank you. That's that's great. Shout out. Shout out to them all. You know, before I move to this next question. Yeah, you took me back a little bit. One of my early proud moment, like 15 years into the podcast game and. I remember I have a buddy who I went to Morgan State University, the mighty, mighty Morgan State University here in Baltimore. And, you know, he's a radio producer. He's been serious, been sports talk, all of this stuff. And he was like, bro, do you want to come to the studio? We have like an empty slot. You could just come here and just record. And one, he was going to produce the show for us. So right there, as you as I can imagine, you get it like I could just be the talent right now. Yeah, yeah. And I just remember going there and I was like, very new in podcasting, maybe a year in. I was like, this is this is what this could be. This is what this could be. This is amazing. Yeah, it could be a future in this. So this is a hamfisted segue, but. You touched on your experience in working in radio for a bit. So, you know, talk about sort of when you had the inkling that you would be keen on doing this as a as a professional or contributing a lot of time to, you know, working in sort of storytelling, working in audio, working, you know, radio adjacent or in radio. You know, what was that sort of experience like? What inspired you to to dive into the field?

Ronald Young Jr.: Well, I had always, you know, when I was a kid, me and my sister used to record ourselves on a home, like a tape recorder, and we used to play it back and listen to it. So, and then I read the morning announcements in elementary school, middle school, high school, and there was always, always around it. In college, I was trying to be a part of the the college radio station, but they were banned from the air, so they only had internet radio, and it was poorly organized, so I couldn't get a part of that. But I was hosting a lot of events live, so I was doing a lot of live stuff. I was still working with the church. I was still doing a lot of public speaking, a lot of just talking in front of folks, so I got really used to doing it. So when I left college, my intention I just assumed that playtime was over. I'm just like, well, you can't chase this dream of hosting. How do you even do that? Even though several people have told me in college, you should be a mass communications major. And I'm like, that sounds boring. I don't know what that is. And I'm a first-generation college student. So it's like, what does that actually mean in terms of getting a major? No one tells you when you go to college that you can major in anything. They just say, yeah, there's English and criminal justice. Business administration and like nobody goes into and then your super smart friends are like pre-med or pre-law all that but they don't tell you like all the like really niche majors that you could really be in at basically any liberal arts college in the United States, you know what I mean? Like there's so many of them and I didn't know that so I left school and I started to work as an IT consultant, you know what I mean? Which is what you do in the DC area you like get a job working for a government contractor and and you eventually meet someone, you get married, you'll buy a house, you have kids, and then you send those kids to Virginia-based or Maryland-based schools, and then they go do the same thing. That's the process here. But I started working, and I realized that I still really wanted to do hosting. And so I'm like, well, maybe radio is a way to do that. So I took some classes at a local college, and part of it was getting an internship at the local Clear Channel station at the time. They're iHeart now. Hot 99.5, and I worked there as an intern, then as a board operator, and I learned how to cut tape. Well, I was there for a couple of years, and I got laid off in maybe 2011 or 12, something like that. And when I got laid off, I started working more in-depth in the IT consulting, started working at a big management consulting firm. While I was there, I started listening to podcasts. So I'm listening to the classics like This American Life, Snap Judgment, Radio Lab, Pop Culture Happy Hour, all of these great shows. And I'm listening to all these NPR shows and getting immersed in this world of public radio, which is very different from the commercial radio station I had been working at before. And I was just realizing these are two different worlds and they're really doing different things. And that's also when the podcast onset is coming on. So I'm excited about this podcast onset coming. And I'm like, you know what? I know how to cut tape. I can make a show. I'm pretty sure I can make a show So I said that to myself in 2012 2013 2014 comes Cereal comes out now. We're in a podcast boom and I'm like man. It's time to get on it. I really got to do it I really got to do it now 2014 cubs 2015 2016 still have not made a podcast I In 2016, my friend says, hey, man, I'm starting a podcast. I was like, I'll help you. So I start helping him with his. I look at all his equipment. I start editing his podcast. And finally, in 2017, I start my first podcast, Time Well Spent. So I'm working on Time Well Spent. Time Well Spent is a cultural commentary told in a narrative format. Think heavyweight, think this American life. It's just me telling stories about my life. Those episodes are still available if people want to listen and go back. But I'm just telling stories about my life and kind of teasing out the lessons. So they're supposed to be really vulnerable, really emotional, all of that, but also funny, and you'll have a good time. And I was trying stuff out. If you listen to the first eight episodes, no episode is the same. They're all different. But I was just trying stuff out, just trying to figure it out as I went. So I did that for a while, and that was 2017. I did that for a while. 2018, I decide, I've done these episodes, and actually it was in mid-2017, I did these episodes. I really need to understand the structure of telling a story. Well, I'd already been listening to Snap Judgment and all of those, and I've listened to these great storytellers tell these stories on stage, and I just hadn't done it yet. But there was a local storytelling organization here in DC called Story District, and they had a one-on-one class. So I was like, if I take that class, I bet you they'll teach me the basics of storytelling mechanics, and I can use those to make time well spent even better. So I joined Story District. I tell my first story on stage. I'm excited about that. I'm bit by the bug. I have this new community, and I start using these tools to kind of make time well spent better. And while I'm doing that, Story District's like, hey, we're starting a podcast. And I said, hey, can I help you make it? So essentially, I worked with them for free to make the first two seasons of their podcast, Story District Presents. And I'm able to put that on a resume now. So now I'm feeling good. I'm rolling along, got time well spent going. I'm working on Story District Presents. 2018 rolls in and I'm like, you know what, this year I need to go to a conference. I need to get amongst other podcasters. I need to figure out really how to do this thing. So I'm looking at podcast movement and I'm like, maybe I need to go to that. Prices are kind of crazy. I'm like, all right, I got to figure this out. And my friend comes along and says, Hey, have you heard of third coast? And, and there's a, uh, another podcast conference. It's very, it's kind of small. It's 800 people, but it's called third coast and it's in Chicago. So in 2018 in fall, I go to this conference called third coast. And when I get there. All of the people that I was listening to in 2012 are at this conference. Glenn Washington from Snap Judgment, producers of This American Life are there, names that I've heard all of my time. And I'm just, I had business cards, and I'm ready, and I'm like, hey, I have a show. I had just released two of the best episodes of Time Well Spent called Bypass. So I just released those, and I'm excited. I'm telling people about it. I'm giving out cards. I'm making friends. I'm networking. And by the time I leave that conference, I said, at the end of 2020, I'm going to be working full-time in audio production, full-time in audio production. I know how I'm going to do it. So I'm like looking for jobs and trying to apply. I'm like figuring that out. 2019 comes. I go to Third Coast again. I do a live show and start my second podcast, Leaving the Theater. I start the second, which is just me reviewing television and movies as I'm leaving the theater, meant to be always on. 2019 comes and goes. We go into 2020. I'm still saying by the end of this year, I'm going to be working full-time audio production. Well, January 2020, still on track. February 2020, hey, Kobe died. Hey, something's happening in China. What's going on? Hey, we're in a lockdown. So yeah, which is always like the marker of death for most things. I'm like, well, I guess that dream is going to have to be on hold because I got to work and figure out what's going to happen with this. But I had, I had said it out loud too much because in June I got fired from my IT job and immediately I start scrambling. I talked to a couple contacts of mine and there's two audio production contracts that are wide open and I applied bid for both of them and I get them both. And I started working full time in 2020 audio production as a freelancer. And I haven't really looked back since I've, you know, hosted shows since then, bigger shows than mine. And I mean, if we fast forward to 2023, that's when I launched probably my biggest show, which is Weight For It, W-E-I-G-H-T. And Weight For It kind of, if people listen to Time Well Spent, they should feel a familiarity because Weight For It is time well spent, but it's just, it's just about one subject. You know, it's not really just me just shooting from the hip. It's me telling stories about one particular issue that's near and dear to me. So that's my journey to now, and I'm still trying to move forward, move ahead. I'm always trying to figure out what's the next thing to really make money, be stable, buy a house, support a family, and continue to grow the brand.

Rob Lee: That's, that's great. And you know, you're you you've teased out a few of sort of these future questions I'm going to have for you that definitely want to get a little bit more on. But, um, as I give you a chance to kind of catch it. Yeah, absolutely. You think about you know, 2020, like I started this podcast in 2019, and I've recently hit 700 episodes in that time frame. And half of them are good. We'll see. It's a lot of episodes, man. It's a lot. It's a lot. But it's a thing that I enjoy. It's a thing that it's a thing that I love. And, you know, as you touched on it earlier from the Sort of radio perspective. It's it's hard being in radio. So it's even harder being in podcast and But but I'll say that I started this podcast and it was an activation if you will Trump says something goofy about Baltimore. I didn't like it. I got annoyed and I was like, let's just prove it. I You know, instead of just being being PO'ed and getting the hypertension, the black guy hypertension, I was like, let's just disprove it. So did that. It was slow going initially for that first, you know, six months. And similarly, I was trying out things. Who do I want to talk to? And I was asking like James Lipton like questions. I was just trying to like figure it out. What was my flow and my rhythm? Who do I want to talk to? Who I think has a good sense of the pulse of a community? So, you know, that goes the way that it goes. And I'm like, maybe. And I was still doing two other podcasts at the time. One was the Star Wars that I started in 2009. And another one was a movie podcast, both of which I enjoy, but some of the speaking similar language, pop culture slant and sort of current events with the the main one I was doing. So 2020 comes around. You know, you think that, oh, it's going to be less. That's the boom. People are home. People want to share their story. People connect and make the world feel smaller. And it starts to have that human dynamic. And I can remember those points. And early on, when I was doing, you know, my other two podcasts or even other sort of one-offs that I had done in that whole journey, just getting the reps in, you're not really sure if people are engaged. Yeah. Once you're part of a community like the community that you're in and being able to broaden out into other communities, suddenly you're like, oh, people are listening. I can't say things like that or I can't approach things like that. Or I mean, this is pretty much who I am anyway, but I should definitely be as neutral as possible, you know, you know, in doing this journalistic integrity and approaching things in that way. And really taking not myself too seriously, but what I do very seriously. And that's the thing. That's the thing that I've kind of learned. But I think the click happened. And that was about 10 years into the podcast journey. And then since then, having that foundation and doing this. It's been rewarding, you know, being able to have access and have people take you serious and say, hey, yeah, I would love to spend some time with you and talk about what I do. And even the sort of responsibility component where folks come on, this is like the first time that they've been interviewed, you know, and it's on this platform. I'm like, wow, you could really blow this responsibility. Yeah. Yeah. So I want to get your take on this, you know, since you're an appreciator of stories, you're a storyteller. What makes for a good story? What are those those traits that that interest you? Like, what are the stories that you avoid as well? Like, you know, what is it? What is it about, you know, a story that really catches your eye or detracts you to pull you away from it?

Ronald Young Jr.: I am most attracted to telling stories and hearing stories that are, have some sort of vulnerability in them. I have less interest in stories in which people are not Growing emotionally or not telling some sort of story that like at least Teases some emotional growth or something that they've learned And I don't mean and there's a lot of stories where they they get to the end of insane And that's what I learned and I'm like, I'm not talking that clear But I mean just from the start of a story to the end of a story. I really want to hear a journey of that the storyteller goes on in order to be the person that's standing in front of us telling the story. And I think most people that tell their first story want to just kind of tell you from A to B some things that happened, or they want to tell you about an existential journey that happened in their head. And I think the really skilled storytellers are very good at telling you something that happened and giving you enough details for you to realize that they are now changed. Whatever that may mean, even in the ways they're picking the details to tell the very beginning of a story. I tell a story about prom, and in the beginning of the story, you can tell that from the way that I'm telling it, I'm telling about my repressed childhood, how my parents were very strict, all of that. But from the way that I'm telling those details, You can tell that I have a feeling about that now or I am not that person anymore And so as I'm telling the story and have the perspective on it I'm able to actually kind of pull out more details that make the story a little bit more rich and As we go. So I'm interested in people like going on that journey and saying not just I don't want to just know what happened to you. I want to know why it impacted you and I want to want you to weave that into the story about what that actually means without being so overtly stated because I think a lot of times I think that the audience should be doing some work. I think there are movies and television shows and books that spoon-feed the morals to the audience, and those are all written for children. And they're B-movies in a lot of ways. It's not necessarily the top movies that are just being subtle and telling you what the lesson is. But make the listener, make the audience do a little bit of work to say, Oh, and make those connections in their in their head. I feel like if you can get an audience to be sitting down looking at you and say, oh, and you could see the wheels turning and see the connections being made and seeing them actually get with you, then you've done a very good job of telling a story. And those are the types of stories that I like.

Rob Lee: So I would imagine the ones that you avoid are the ones that aren't that.

Ronald Young Jr.: Yeah, I mean I think it the easiest way to say it is just like I I it's not even that I avoid them It's that I they normally just don't like I don't even register them, you know in most cases like there will be times I'll go to storytelling shows and I'm like that's why I can't go to the really storytelling shows anymore like I used to because I'm so immersed in storytelling that somebody will get up there and tell a story and I'll boil it down to one point and and just be like, who edited this? That was, they'll be like, or something that's meaningful to them. And I'm like, that story was meaningful to you, but there's like eight pieces of context that I did not receive as an audience person. So you just told me a story about a Christmas tree and I don't understand why this matters at all. You know what I mean? Or it was a clunky reference to divorce. You know what I mean? But it's not like enough to actually draw me in and make it, and it's poorly coached, not effectively told any of that. And I say that, This is why I don't sound like I'm roasting storytellers but like this is why like I don't really like going to live storytelling shows anymore because Like I'm realizing one the power of an editor the power of a second set of ears To like listen to your story like before you get on stage or before you're telling it into the movie or writing a book or whatever Having those second set of ears to get in there and say hey, this ain't it. It's not working We're not just pushing it back against you. We're saying that there's more that you can do here to tell this story this I Simple stories that are told by people all the time but like there's the chops that have to be there in order to like make sure that you're engaging with your audience in a specific way and it has nothing to do with I think a lot of people Like they think that it has to do with a certain style and I've heard many different effective styles of storytelling from people who are like just kind of like a little more like halting in their language to people that flow a little bit more. Like me, I'm more of a flow storyteller. I like to just kind of go and tell you more and then maybe come up and, you know, use pauses and timing to tell my story. Whereas some people are like a little bit more deliberate in the way that they're speaking. So I don't care what style you're doing. I don't care. But what matters is make sure that like, it's effective. It is going somewhere. You are teasing the lessons in there. And at the end, I'm not just saying, so what, What are we talking about? You told the story about your Christmas tree. What did that mean? Why is that important? I don't want to make your audience do so much work that I got to go spoon feed you a story structure. So those are the types of stories that I stay away from. Rob, back to you.

Rob Lee: I know, I appreciate it. It reminded me of I had two instances recently in the last few years, what have you, to to to speak in front of an audience, but literally sharing my story. And I don't do a lot of that here. I insert pieces of my stuff. But really, I'm a shadow. And it's about the other person. It's about the guest. And that's unintentional. Right. And So I was invited to do Creative Mornings a few years ago. And I just remember I was just like, they give you all of this prep time. And I'm like, look, I'm more of an improv guy. You know, my background was, you know, around improv. And it's like, yeah, you write a speech, it's prepared. So I'm doing all the research for it and going through it. And I'm like, this is not what I do, though. This is this is going to come off as stilted. This is going to come off this personality that people are coming out to see, I guess. it's not going to sound like that personality. So how do I marry the two? Because I was like, I got to have structure. And by the way, you know, I was one of those kids that at like five, right, I was a masters of ceremony on stage, terrified of that idea now, but then no idea. It's like, eh, whatever. You're big, you're a big kid, go out there. So You know, we're prepping up and it's a bunch of people. It's the last one for the year is at the the main sponsors space. So it just is like the big one for the year. Yeah. And I think it's like five or six times the number of people that went to the previous month's installment. And the theme of the installment is too many. The theme of the installment is the is partially the name of my podcast. I'm like, this is really just mine. It's has truth of the theme. Yeah. My stamp is all over this. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I go out there on stage and, you know, I think when we talked before, I gave you the dynamics. It's like, I'm all legs and arms. I'm like, I don't know what to do. So I was like, all right, can I have a chair? And he said, yeah, you can have a chair. So I sit down. I was like, I can at least cover that piece of it. And then I can focus on the storytelling component because I don't want to lose people in whatever I'm saying. Because mine is just sort of stream of consciousness. That's how I go about things. And I want to have it structured in a way that people can follow. So, you know, and I'd asked one of the previous dudes, I asked Dee Watkins, I asked him, I was like, what did you do when you did yours? And he was like, start off with comedy, start off with something that's going to just get people on your side, and then you can get your your kind of nerves out of the way. And I said something really goofy at the beginning. I was like, you know, as I sit down in a chair slowly and I have like a jersey with me, a baseball jersey and. I have it on my lap and I'm using this as a prop later in this whole conversation. And I was like, welcome you all to my acoustic set. And I say it with the dulcet tones and all of that. And people just start laughing. I was like, okay, I got them. Now here's my bit. And, you know, I'm up there for what would normally be like a 20 minute sort of story being shared. I did about 20, but then I had like about 20 minutes worth of questions that people were asking me. They were just interested in the story and You know, I'm like, I have to be performative. I'm balancing all of these different equations in my head. So there was one. And then it went really well. It was great. I enjoyed it. It went really well. So it was a similar from a bigger organization, one that a lot of people like to go on. It has talks at the end. And, you know, I get invited and they asked me to do very similar thing. I was going to repurpose what I used before, but I was like, at least have a structure. So, you know, I'm working with these folks and they wanted me to change what my story was. the story that's my personal story of how I got started in this whole, oh, take out the Trump stuff. We don't want to have that in there. I was like, well, that was the catalyst for me doing this. Yeah, if you could like, you know, kind of tighten this piece up here. And I'm like, that's cool. Didn't want to write this at all, but that's cool. But it was just editorializing what my story was. And I was like, I don't think this is a fit. So I had like one that seemed like this is the logical next step. but it seemed like too much involvement for folks that felt that they knew better than I did about my own story. So it's that.

Ronald Young Jr.: It's tough because I don't like that either. And I feel like the one way that I've said when people like I'm working with organization now that's doing some editing on one of my stories and I don't like any of their edits. I think they're lame. But the only reason why I'm doing them is because what I will be able to accomplish as a result of those edits and as a result of that type of editing is it meaning that I won't have to take notes from people like them again. So like in some cases, I'll like, listen, I'll be like, all right, I'll do your thing. I'll do it your way and all that. But just know that when I make my own version of this, I'm not going to do it the way that that you're doing it at all. It's kind of why I'm fiercely independent. You know, for a long time, I wanted to be a part of a collective or a network so bad and weight for it as a part of PRX's Radiotopia. But that is an ad sales distribution and marketing partnership, meaning that they have no say on my production schedule. They have no say on, like, editing, editorial, any of that stuff. That's like… And I purposefully keep them out of that because I still want it to be the show that I want to make, ultimately. And… It always is tough typically with storytelling generally when there's a lot, when there's too many cooks or people that are trying to shape it in a very specific way that isn't kind of what you intend at all. And the only advice I can offer to folks is to continue on the path that you want to go on, like continue on that path. There are going to be some times you say, no, I'm in a situation right now with organization that they want me to do something for them. And my urge is to say no. And I'm likely going to say no, even though we've done some negotiating and I've gotten a couple of things that I want, But ultimately, I don't want to work with them. Not this time around. I want to work on other things. And sometimes it's scary to say no when you've been independent so long, and you've been like, everything's been a yes so long, that when you get to the phase where no is actually even an option, it could sound like a fairytale. You'd be like, wait, I can. This is a thing that if you would have offered this to me six years ago, I would have said yes and taken any stipulations they had. You know what I mean? You got to drive yourself. You're not gonna put me up You're not gonna pay me anything and I have to you know, lug all the equipment in and set it up myself Sure, like what a platform, you know what I mean? Whereas as now you get to a place where like you keep telling your stories and stuff where you don't necessarily have to take that for people so I think it's a dance like there's Sometimes you understand like there's a trade-off with some of the stuff that you have to change about your story in order to get a bigger audience and sometimes You don't have to say yes, you can say no. And when those opportunities open for you to say no, embrace them. Embrace them. Say no. Say heck no. Say no.

Rob Lee: That's great. That's a really wise piece of advice there. And I got two more real questions that I want to ask you, but I definitely want to comment on that one piece there. That sort of first example, that was the, you know, I'm a quarry, so I like to run that run this. I was like, I'm riding the wave is what I was doing. I was like, I'm kind of getting these opportunities. And you're absolutely right. It was like everything felt like a yes. It's like, man, I can't miss. And then it gets to a point where. you feel like you're doing a hat in hand thing. And I'm very much an independent individual myself. And when things don't line up, it don't make sense. You know, there have been some instances where I got pretty substantial awards and funding for things. And, you know, sort of there was a few too many hoops. I'm like, no, I'm learning from this one, though. And this is what this is going to be the next go around with a different entity and or things that I'm not comfortable with there. You know, when it comes to some of the community stuff at times, you're like, oh, we know each other. We've seen each other. Hey, I saw you at the con or I saw you at this. And then it's like we've I guess verbally broke bread, you know? And it's like, oh, oh, hey, man. It's like very weird vibe energy. And I'm like, oh. Oh, this is what we're doing now. Yeah, this is what this is. And I find that there are some folks that I have a conversation with and we can get to a real conversation. And we talk about that as a theme within the scene and in multiple scenes. And it's just that's the behavior. that some folks engage in. So as a result of that, I just try to insulate myself from it. I still do this and I still enjoy this. And the folks that I connect with that kind of get it, they're like, no, you're crushing this. You're doing this. This is what's supposed to happen. From radio and media giants, they're the ones that's like, wow, you're crushing this. This is great. You're an independent? And then you have folks who aren't really in that industry that almost have you second guessing what you're doing. And I just find that I avoid most of that because I think it's a little, it's a little noise. It's fine to hear it. You know, if it's like some, something, uh, constructive in it, but distill it down as you do in your, your storytelling. Um, that's like not a lot here. It's like, you just don't get what this is.

Ronald Young Jr.: Yeah. Like you really have to be delusional if you're going to chase your dreams. Uh, and, and I think what I found is that like, there's just some people that aren't going to believe. Until you get to where you're going and for me and you those goals are like Far beyond any of the accolades that people will see that make them think that we're killing it air quotes so Because of that it means you kind of have to stay on track and I operate in a lot of times in my own head like a supervillain I Basically say they'll all see someday all of them And I've had like people very close to me just be like Ronald even me and I'm like all of them you Yes, you all of you you'll all see and that's kind of how I have to operate in my head Because they're just so many people that like even when I got fired from my job in 2020 I was dating a woman at the time who was like, yeah, and then you know, you could just find another job and you'll be okay And I'm like, I'm not doing that. I'm done with that and she was like, well, I mean, I'm just saying like it's just a backup plan I'm like, there's no backup plan. This is what I'm doing now and And I'm like, and if you believed in me, like you were at my live show, you know what I'm capable of. This isn't some sort of hobby. You know what I mean? I'm, I'm going into this head first and I'm trying to see what all I can accomplish in this space until it's dry. You know what I mean? And when it's dry, maybe I'll teach. Like but like for now like I'm just gonna keep going as far as I can go and so like I don't know man I feel like generally like just it just resonates with me when you say like there's people outside the industry They're like, what are you doing? And people are saying you're killing it You really just got a block at some point block out everybody and even the even the good things Celebrate them, of course, which I I don't do a good job of myself. I But at some point, I mean, I am unmarried with no kids, so there's no one that's going to root for me like me. So so at this point, I like I'm like I'm I'm sold out for the cause of Ronald Young Jr. And I think that you have to be for yourself as well.

Rob Lee: Thank you. That's that's really great. And I want to take I want to steal that from you. I was like, I'm going to push things like a supervillain. I had that supervillain energy for a while and I got domesticated a little bit. Yeah. To just bring it back. Like, I remember when I did the 10th anniversary show, the first podcast, I was like, look, man, it's a train coming down these tracks. You probably should move. Yeah.

Ronald Young Jr.: I'm going to roll you over. Yeah. Like I want I want people I think about I think about Sean White and I the the the Halfpipe guy the who does snowboarding and skateboarding as a matter of flying tomato flying tomato Thank you, and he I remember he he got hated on a lot by a lot of people because they were like, you know Sean White's out here He's got a Red Bull built him his own half pipe and he doesn't skate with the rest of us like he's off doing his own thing I was like, yeah, but Sean why it's the only one they got 100 the perfect 100 score and And in the X Games, none of you hosers did it, but he did it. So I'm like in terms of and I'm like, and it's not like he doesn't have friends. It's not like he doesn't have a circle. He's just not hanging out with the people that you think he should be hanging out with or chilling with y'all or being like in a community with y'all. And I think I want to bridge the gap and say that there are times when I want to be a part of the community. There are times when I want to be with people. But like, there are a lot of people that I want to beat. You know what I mean? I'm just like, I look at them and I support them and I'm not like, and I'm in my mind, I'm like, what can I make that will match or be better or take this to the next level? Because I don't just want to keep Like producing I don't just want to keep making stuff for other people or just having my show And all that like I want to be more than that and I think when I that's why I say I'm very super villain vibes I don't want to hurt anybody and I don't want to step on anybody or anything like that But I'm very much in a zone where I'm just saying I am going to do the best I possibly can and I'm not gonna let anybody get in my way and if that Sounds like Oh Ronald like maybe that's a lonely life and all that. I'm like, well, it's gonna suck now But it won't always suck You know what I mean? It won't suck when Red Bull builds me my half pipe.

Rob Lee: Yeah. I mean, like I said, you know, it's, it's, it's, it's very, it's very rare in the, in these 700 plus interviews that I encounter very similar energy. It's just like, Oh, we're on the same page. So in these last couple of questions, I definitely, I'd be remiss if I didn't ask a bit more about Wade for it. It kind of goes into the stories that kind of resonate and click with you. There's vulnerability there. There's folks sharing their thoughts. So tell us a bit about that. It's like thoughts on Wade and things of that nature, but I really want to tee it up for you. So tell us about Waitfor, what was the motivation around putting it together and what is the sort of the impact or the feedback or findings that you've gotten in doing it?

Ronald Young Jr.: Waitfor was kind of birthed from another show that I was doing called Solvable at Pushkin Industries, where we interviewed luminaries that were solving the world's problems. And we talked to them about what they did in order to solve them. And we, I wanted to do a series on bodies. So we talked to Gabby Fresh, who is a plus size fashion designer. We talked to Michael Moss, who's an author of a book called Hooked. And we talked to Brianne Campos. uh, who talks about, um, health at every size. And those were three of the highest, uh, downloaded episodes of Solvable. Like, we normally did about 35,000. Those all did 50,000 plus. So, I'm like, okay, people really wanna hear about bodies. So, we gonna, like, this is good. You know what I mean? So, I, um, I approached, uh, Pushkin and was like, hey, I think that we should do a full show that is about only about bodies. And Pushkin said, nah, we good. And unrelated, they also canceled Solvable. So, and it was kind of the best thing to happen because I wasn't at a network, I was able to kind of create the show that I wanted to make. So this was in 2022, and I'm early 2022. And I'm like, you know, sorry, 2021 was when we posted those episodes in August. And then 2022, I start crafting the show. So I start crafting the show together and I decide that, you know, I know maintenance phases, the phase exists, and I know they talk about debunking things about fat and about weight and about weight culture, diet culture, all of that. But what I wanted to do was tell stories because I felt like where the gap was for me was I don't feel like people are telling enough stories about what it's like to be fat or to think about your weight all the time. So I wanted to position Weight Forward to be that show. So I thought of some conversations that I wanted to have. I thought about some stories that I wanted to tell, and I started pulling those together, and I started kind of like listening to other shows. And there was a show called Death, Sex, and Money, which recently got canceled by WNYC, which was a boneheaded move on their part. But Death, Sex, and Money had an episode called The Weight of Love, and they had a producer named Sarah Deely. And I reached out to Sarah and said, hey, would you like to edit Weight for it? And she came on board. We started crafting the stories together. And then we talked to John DeLore, a very good sound designer, well-known within the audio industry. industry. He produced shows that you've heard of. Trust me, he's been on Gimlet Media, This American Life. You've probably heard his name, the Reverend John DeLore. And he, I brought him in, he started doing the sound design. And so we started crafting these stories and in 2023, We dropped it and like people it resonated with people it's really it's still resonating with people they're still people reaching out via email talking about how this is a perspective they haven't heard from a man side talking about way also people that are just saying that we are talking. the thoughts in their head, which I'm like, that is what I wanted to do with this show. I wanted to tell stories and I wanted to spark conversations that we're not having when it comes to weight specifically, because people are very, very eager to talk about fat people, but they don't want to talk to fat people. And they also don't want to talk about their own issues that they have with weight inside their minds that make them fat phobic to begin with. And that's what I wanted to do. And that's why I made weight for it.

Rob Lee: Thank you. It's there. I mean, I relate to it. I mean, and I'll say this real quick because I think it makes sense. You know, I've heard this more than once. And because we're both like larger Black men, these are what podcasters look like. I always hear, oh, you don't look like a podcaster. I was like, I don't know what that even means. Is it the beer belly? No, it's not the beer belly. But it's interesting where You know, I don't like weight loss journey, I hate that. But I will say, you know, sort of that experience and seeing things that, you know, when people are connecting, like I've always been big, right? I've always been a big guy. And, you know, having that voice, having those thoughts and having sort of the dialogue and the discourse, I suppose, from folks that are of that ilk, that do have those thoughts, that do have those feelings, you know, I've been very mindful and considerate of what I consume and how I consume and what I do. But also I find I think about food in a much different way and I think about my weight in a much different way. And it's sort of the other side of it. I've never had the I feel bad about my I've never had that, but I'm told I should. I'm told I should feel this way or. The irony of it is, you know, I've dropped a pretty substantial piece of weight over just out of changing things. It's still big Rob, but not as much big Rob. And, you know, I have more negative thoughts around dropping weight. When someone says, hey, big man, I was like, oh, thank you. You recognize me. You see me, bro. Whereas, you know, when people would say it in the past, I wouldn't have any feeling around it. It's just like normalized. But I almost feel bad when people say, oh, you look, you've dropped weight. I have more comments in the day job from, I work mostly with women. I'm the only dude in there. There's more comments on how much weight I've lost and how thin I look and say, oh, look at you skinny mini. And I say, I don't know what that even means. Thanks, I guess. I guess it's a compliment. But there's no space around that. So even that dynamic of, You know, you being a male, being the host of it, having that perspective. And, you know, as my partner says to me regularly, she'll say, oh, you're a big black guy. You don't have any feelings. He says facetiously because that's how it's treated. And, you know, I'll say this this this last one thing before I move to this final question. I remember because, you know, I get activated. I had my pettiness, had a petty moment. You know, we're superfellas sometimes. And there was a person that I wanted to interview early, early on in the whole podcast thing. And she she's a brouhaha. She works in some, you know, industry or what have you. And I happened to see her at a coffee shop. She was a barista there and unsolicited because I recognized I was like, hey, she's like, hey, let me put some weight on. Haven't seen her in a while. First, first thing that she said to me, well, you put some weight on. And I hadn't seen both of her hands. She she was missing a few fingers or something. I say, oh, you and I quote myself because I was going to be very spicy. It's like you have less than I recall. No, because that's my that's my response. But in it. I had a feeling about it. I went out. Someone just, you know, essentially fat shamed me when I'm going there to make a purchase. Right. And I told my partner and one of the other persons that was with us, we've boycotted that place for the last seven years. Yeah. And and it's it's that it's sort of that that's a it's discriminatory. You can do it. It's fine. But, you know, unless you're hearing people who've experienced it, share it. Everyone else, it doesn't exist. Never happened. Yeah. Yeah. So I want to, I want to throw this, this last piece out there, this last question, the real questions. I got a few rapid fire ones for you. So you got to recognize it and the recognition, right. And you know, Vulture Magazine, right. One of the podcasters to watch for, you know, in 2023, and we're just in the beginning of 2024. So you don't have to watch for me anymore. You're out here. So what what's on the horizon? What is like sort of, you know, what are you in your supervillain plans? What are you looking for in terms of world domination and and podcasting? You know, what is 2024 going to look like for you? What is the what's the goal? What's the aspirations?

Ronald Young Jr.: Before I answer that, I do want to say one thing about what you just said, please. Remember when Clarence you remember when Chad Chadwick Boseman? Yes, it's all that way. Yes, and Everybody was like, I mean, why are you losing all their weight? Oh my god, you so thin blah blah blah so-and-so and then he was dead and within the year I just think people need to stop talking about people's weights generally like don't say nothing else about nobody's weight like nobody like I I think generally people will put you on this journey, and they'll be like, oh, you look like you're losing weight. Oh, oh, you put on some weight. I'm like, neither of those statements honestly feel that good, unless you are trying to lose weight. And someone notices that, and then they compliment that specifically. That is the only time. But the odds of that are honestly pretty slim, because you don't know what is causing people to gain and lose weight, to be honest. You don't know if they just didn't eat for the last five days because their mother is sick. You know what I mean? And they've been stressed out. You don't know if, like, they've had a baby and they haven't been able to eat like they normally do, or if they've just been, they've been stress eating, or if, like, you don't know what's going on with anybody. So typically people just need to, like, whether good or bad, shut up about people's weights. Like, don't say anything else. And I think, Even your demonstration of like how you feel when people talk about it is proof that people need to stop talking about it because it's putting you in a journey in your head where you're basically like you're down with your identity is wrapped up in whether or not and I'm not saying yours is every day I'm saying they are putting it on you and it is becoming a thought that you are having when they say to you that Like, hey, what's up, big man? Or any of the other stuff, because you're like, now you're saying it to you, and you're still having a quick evaluation before you're like, oh, I like that. I feel good about that. But what are the thoughts you're having before that, when you're like, when you're thinking in terms of like, what is my identity now, if it is attached to being Big Rob or Small Rob? And like, if you don't, that's the thing. I was Big Ron long before I got fat. You know what I mean? And I think for a lot of people, they're like, I was like, yeah, they're like, well, if you lose weight, you won't be Big Ron no more. And I'm like, why don't you shut up? I'll be Big Ron till I die. Big has nothing to do with my weight. Big was because Big L was calling himself Big L back in the day. You get it? And he was not fat. You know what I mean? So it's not always just… Big was just something people were putting in front of the day. Big boy, your boy out here. There's literally a guy named Big Boy who is short and slim. That's Big Boy from OutKast. He's not fat. He's short and slim. You know what I mean? I'm not a celeb, he's like pretty normal. But like, you know what I mean, you know? So it's like, yeah, Big Sean, another one. You know what I mean? You can go through a bunch of them, and sure, they're gonna be like, what about Big Pun and Big Pop? I'm like, dog, there's so many people. Like, Big Pimpin' is a song. What does that even mean? Fapping you don't mean like what are we talking about? So it's like like be you'll be big Rob until you die if you choose to be big Rob Until you die and I just don't like the idea of anyone like putting you on that journey Just because they don't know how to just look at you and say that shirt looks good on you the end. Yeah

Rob Lee: I appreciate that. And it's it's definitely my face betrays me a lot of times where I try to catch it. I try to put the poker face on and then they'll see it and then they try to backtrack. So, yeah, I'm just saying that that shirt looks really good on you. It's like, no, you were kind of crappy in the beginning. So let's run that back real quick. Yeah. Yeah. Let's just keep it to ourselves.

Ronald Young Jr.: Yeah. OK, you might have to edit, but I'll answer your other question now. So for the future, what I'm looking to do is I want to get season two of Weight For It out. I am also working on a couple of scripts for television, just some speculative stuff that I really just want to get out of my head and onto a page. and see if I can do it. I'm working on new podcasts, of course. The biggest thing right now is Season 2 of Weight For It. That's the thing I'm probably concerned about the most. But I have other projects that are in the works and things that you'll either hear about later in 2024 or in 2025. But I really just am trying to do as much as I can. I got two live shows coming up this year, one for Weight For It, One for leaving the theater, both here in D.C. More information about that will be out soon. And, yeah, I just want to, you know, keep the party going and I want to buy a house. So I want to keep working until I can buy a house and, you know, find my wife, put her in the house if she wants to be there and maybe have some kids and fill it with plants and love. That's the future for me.

Rob Lee: I love it. I love it. So so with that, I want to segue into the sort of the closing portion of the pod. And I got I got a couple rapid fire questions. I got three of them for you. And as I always tell everyone, don't overthink them. They're goofy questions, but I think it gives a. gives a peek for the listener into who the person is, in addition to everything that was said earlier, just adds to it. So I'm going to start off with this first one. Are you more of an early bird or a night owl? I'm an early bird, morning person all day. OK. I'm a midday vulture. Um, so I'd be remiss if I didn't ask this. Uh, you know, I, obviously the pop culture thing is big there and that's a, I feel like almost a whole nother podcast I could interview you on. But, um, what are you looking forward to either in TV or in film for 2024? Nothing.

Ronald Young Jr.: Not one thing. These strikes really, and I support the strikes, but they pushed everything back. I don't even know what's coming out this year. Someone asked me that earlier. They're like, hey, what are you looking forward to in 2024? I was like, what's coming out? Because I'm like, everything's pushed far back. We don't know when Abbott Elementary is coming back. There was a show called severance on Apple TV and we've just spent an entire calendar year with that show not being on television So I'm like, I don't know when that's coming back and I was very interested in seeing the second season based on where they left off the first season Television wise I always was looking forward to the next Marvel movie. I have no idea. I don't even know what this summer looks like Rob I have no idea what's coming out this summer. I think there's a mission impossible I think there was supposed to be a spider-man that already got pushed back. You know what I mean? So it's like I really I'm not looking forward to anything. I might be outside or reading more this year. It just feels like we ain't got much, man. Is Rihanna going to put out an album soon? What do we have, Rob? I don't know.

Rob Lee: In the 2020s, Rihanna has more children than albums.

Ronald Young Jr.: More children than albums. Yes, like she might she might have another kid Rob She might have another which I find have another kid But like if she has a somebody said when she hit billionaire status, they were like, she's not even gonna be singing. Happy birthday That is 100% true. So I mean and I'm not saying that to be pessimistic. I just I really have no idea Oh dune dune is coming out. I'm looking forward to that. I I was very excited about the first Dune the worst thing about Dune is that they decided to make it a they decided to make it a a Television show instead. I mean a movie instead of a television show, which I think was a huge mistake a huge mistake But yeah, I'm looking forward to Dune whenever severance comes back that on Apple TV and maybe the next season of Abbott Elementary, whatever that comes out. That's about it, man. There's no Barbie. There's no Oppenheimer. Nolan's not putting out something this year. Like, what do we got, man? I don't know.

Rob Lee: No, you're right. And, you know, I'm looking forward to doing as well. I saw the first one and yeah, I agree. I think that's a good take about it could possibly have been a show. And I think more things should be there. The budgets exist. I mean, there are things that are done very well that Netflix kind of waste money sometimes. Well, that's a different thing. Burns through money, burns through money.

Ronald Young Jr.: Canceling shows that we like.

Rob Lee: Look, HBO's done a little bit of that, too. Like, I liked Raised by Wolves. I think that they could have done a little bit more with it, but getting canceled and being like on Pluto now, it's why.

Ronald Young Jr.: But that's not HBO's fault. That's Discovery's fault. That's when they did that merger, not Discovery, but Warner Brothers, whoever did the merger. And oh boy, David Zaslav came in there and was like, all right, the first thing we're going to do is kill the most recognizable part of our brand. We're gonna go from HBO back to just call it backs like that's dumb So we get in there and I'm like, where's the HBO cuz I don't care about sure if W's catches on here I'll watch it, but I really want to watch HBO and now I don't know that y'all have an identity anymore on this It's like the whole thing is it's not TV. It's HBO so like if you like if you like nerf that entire brand and What are we even doing here, Rob? I don't want to be here if HBO's not here. They literally made prestige television. Why would I want to be here anymore?

Rob Lee: Even from an SEO perspective. It is before M. Yes.

Ronald Young Jr.: What are you doing? And nobody can stop you in that. All right. Come on. Rapid fire.

Rob Lee: Let's go. Here's the last one. The last one I got for you. And this is going through sort of the history, right? Because we've all done it. There is a picture that exists with me with a Mohawk. There is a picture that exists around 2007 or eight where I did my own version of the sunglasses that Soulja Boy wore. And it was for a marketing job that I had. Yeah. I said the name of the company and had, you know, white sunglasses. It was great. I was snapping and all of the stuff. So whether it be work, whether it be real life, what was your worst style choice as an adult?

Ronald Young Jr.: My worst style choice as an adult.

Rob Lee: Was there like a Tigerwood blonde beard moment that she said, I'm going to try it out for a little bit.

Ronald Young Jr.: No, I never did hair stuff. And when I started thinning, I cut it off immediately. So like, I've been bald for… over a decade now and I'm fine with it. You know what, honestly, the worst adult, like I'd say like the one that stands out to me is like after the pandemic, I grew my hair out. And that's where I found out like what I really looked like. And I mean, it's bad. I mean, there's there's like patches everywhere. It got super long. It's the longest I've ever had it in my life. Um, even as a kid, I grew it out a few times and just wasn't like super, super long, but just like long enough. Uh, but even as a kid, it was just like, it was, it was different because there was nothing getting real patchy or anything like that. But like in the pandemic, I grew it super long and then I was dating this girl and she broke up with me. And we were going to have our final closure conversation. And I went to the barber and hooked me up before I went to see her and walked in. She's like, Oh, you cut your hair. And I was like, yeah, that's right. Yeah, it is what you missing out. Like, let me just tell you, if you're ever doing the closure conversation with any of your, with any of your partners, get a haircut first and let them like, look your best, look like you're going to like your first date. So they just remember, be like, this is me at my best. Don't forget. You may have seen me at my worst and that may be why you're breaking up with me. Just know that I am on a spectrum and you're going to be on it. But yeah, growing my hair out was probably my worst style choice. It was a mistake, but I thought we were all doing it. Like we were trying to, you know, stop the transmission, stop the spread. But I could have been cutting it at the house. And I was like, no, this is for solidarity. And I was still paying my barber, Rob. I was still paying my barber. I was in there.

Rob Lee: This is a bizarro world conversation. I did the same thing. And my partner was like, what is this Lester Holt thing that you're doing? Because my hair, it gets straight. I'm getting a cut in the next hour. It's straight. And I was like, all right, cool. And I'm working out every day, you know, outside super hot. And it had a little sheen to it. It had a little slickness to it. So I would pop over there and she's like, oh, you're committed to this. She's like, it's just slicked back. You look like 2003 The Rock. And I was like, wow, your reference is wild. And she rocked with it. She was like, whatever you do. I was like, I might die. She's like, oh, I don't think you should do that.

Ronald Young Jr.: I can't. That's a bridge too far. That's a bridge too far.

Rob Lee: So I think we got it. So let me close out here. One, I want to thank you so much for coming on and being a part of this prestigious podcast. And two, I want to invite and encourage you yet again to let the fine folks know where they can check you out. Podcasts, social media, website, all of that good stuff. Floor's yours.

Ronald Young Jr.: Thank you so much. Um, I was happy that you gave me an opportunity to be here. And if you want to follow any of my stuff, you can find, weight for it, leaving the theater or time well spent everywhere. You get podcasts. I listened to them on Spotify myself, but wherever you listen to podcasts. You can find all three of those, wait, it's spelled W-E-I-G-H-T, and you can follow me on all of the platforms, Instagram, Threads, and what I'm missing, TikTok, and TikTok, yes. There's also the platform formerly known as Twitter that I will not acknowledge the name of now. I am the same handle on all of these platforms, at ohitsbigron, that's at O-H-I-T-S-B-I-G-R-O-N. Instagram is probably my most heavily used one, and I'm getting a lot better at threads, too. So, yeah, come follow me. I love talking to folks. I love chit-chatting. And I really appreciate you having me on the show, Rob. This has been great.

Rob Lee: And there you have it, folks. I want to again thank the great Ronald Young Jr. for coming on to the podcast. And I'm Rob Lee saying that there's art, culture and community in and around your neck of the woods. You've just got to look for it.