The First Podcast

The First Podcast is a talk show and comedy podcast hosted by Lars Housholder and Joseph Rosenblum. The show was created by, and is produced and edited by Housholder, with creative input from Rosenblum.
History
The First Podcast was created by Lars Housholder after he became involved with the production and hosting of a different podcast. He felt shackled by the constraints of the format, desiring an outlet with more creative freedom.
The show was initially a stream of consciousness comedy podcast without any talk show elements. However, beginning with the eighth episode, the show began to feature guest appearances. The First Podcast gradually evolved into an almost pure talk show format, with very few episodes of the original style. Housholder has stated the main motivations for this change, such as marketability and creative expansion.
Format and style
The First Podcast has two main formats. The most common one is an "interview episode" featuring some sort of notable guest, such as a popular musician or politician. These are generally comedic in tone, with numerous recurring segments and gags. However, the show also regularly engages in serious interviews, often when the guest is a political figure or social commentator.
A less common format is the "comedy episode", done either exclusively by the hosts or with one or more guest hosts. Frequent collaborators on this style of episode include Ohan Ghazarian, Engagement Coordinator for the Dutch eSports organization Team Liquid. Initially, these episodes were done in a stream of consciousness style with a wide variety of topics. Later episodes of this variety have served as a chance for the hosts to decompress, catch the audience up on current events related to the show, and discuss previous and future guests.
Rosenblum and Housholder present themselves as a comedy double act, with widely contrasting demeanors. Housholder acts as the “straight man”, with a grounded personality and an on-air demeanor no different than his real life self. Rosenblum acts as the “comic”, with frequent emotional outbursts and liberal use of profanity. The duo have described Rosenblum's on-air persona as “semi-fictional” and exaggerated.
Notable guest appearances
In August 2018, The First Podcast interviewed musician Nick Bertke, known professionally as Pogo. Bertke spoke at length on the problems of internet fame, alluding to a controversial incident regarding his statements on a video relating to the 2016 Orlando attack.
In November 2018, The First Podcast interviewed former California State Senator Josh Newman. Newman spoke extensively about his 2017 recall, initiated in response to Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), known as the Road Repair and Accountability Act and colloquially referred to as the "Gas Tax bill".
Newman reiterated previous statements that the recall was politically motivated, as well as noting that his alleged status as the "deciding vote" on SB 1 was false. Ballotpedia maintains that Newman is correct in this assertion. He also alleged that the recall effort used fraudulent methods to obtain the required signatures to initiate the proceedings, and announced his campaign to run for re-election as State Senator in 2020.
Later in November 2018, The First Podcast interviewed The Elder Scrolls series creator Vijay Lakshman, who explained what the name "Elder Scrolls" meant and how the series came to be, allegedly stemming from a conversation between himself and colleague Julian Jensen about the movie The Blood of Heroes. The name was intended as a reference to the game itself being something of a "blank slate" upon which players could craft adventures as they saw fit. This would eventually become a gladiator-style arena game, which then evolved into a computer role-playing game called The Elder Scrolls: Arena.

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See Also

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