I realize that I’ve missed The Flash Podcast’s last few birthdays, but in my defense…these past 2 years have been insane because of a global pandemic and so much more. Although I guess I don’t really have an excuse for not making a post in December 2019 when the podcast celebrated its birthday. Actually! We were just getting into Crisis on Infinite Earths so HA! But all lame jokes aside, this year, I did really want to capture the journey thus far as The Flash Podcast turns 8 years old. I actually did go back and listen to Episode 0 of Season 0 recently and OH MY GOD, did 2013!Andy sound so damn different or what?!
I don’t know what drives me most crazy about it: the horrible microphone or just the fact that my voice sounded like I was pinching my nose or something. Either way, things have changed in an epic proportion since that episode. I still get asked sometimes how The Flash Podcast is older than The Flash TV show, and it’s simply because I really wanted to start early as I had faith in this show, that didn’t just change the Arrowverse but my life on so many levels. As I release this today, we’re 13 episodes away from hitting the podcast’s 300th installment, and I’m still shook about that. (A reminder about Episode 300; we 100% want you part of it so definitely tweet or email us your favorite TFP moments over the years and what you love about The Flash and the podcast!) While so many chapters have closed while new ones have opened, The Flash Podcast has still been a consistent part of my personal life and my professional career, and it warms my heart that I can type this fact, Flash fact, if you will.
Since the last time we celebrated the podcast’s birthday, The Flash Podcast has changed a lot, to say the least. Our line-up of hosts is obviously the most significant change since the 2018 anniversary post. Since Breeze and Lacy joined Tatiana and I, The Flash Podcast has reinvented itself in ways that I didn’t see coming. One concern I always had for the podcast when it’d get into its later years is the possibility of dwindling down. Any TV show that gets as far as The Flash does eventually does see a change in its following, which is perfectly natural. But when that happens to a TV show, it usually also happens to a podcast covering said series. But instead, I’m so thrilled to say that the opposite has happened as The Flash Podcast has not only gotten bigger; it has also been given larger opportunities!
Our numbers have exploded in ways that bring me joy and tears every week. And it’s because I’ve the best podcasting partners a brother can ask for. Tatiana, Breeze, and Lacy are one of the core reasons why The Flash Podcast still stands today and has grown to the point where our downloads are higher, as is our social media presence. I don’t know how I got to be so lucky to find these three powerful, geektastical, beautiful, passionate, hilarious, and supportive sisters, but somehow I did. After most of our weekly recordings, I always make sure to let them know that I’m the luckiest dude in the universe to have them in my life while podcasting about this show we all love so much. If you’re reading this, remember that We Are The Flash Podcast, forever and always. While we don’t hear them on-air enough, I don’t know what DC TV Podcasts would be without our own Picasso and Maestro, Mr. David Jones and Mike Schmidt, two father figures I’m proud also to call dear friends. Every graphic, logo, video, and score you two come up with, you’re a blessing to work with and brainstorm fun ideas with, whether it be for The Flash Podcast or DC TV Podcasts. You both still scare the living crap out of me in just how talented you two are, but it still never gets old whenever you send me your latest creation and I’m so proud to know you. HOWEVER, we got to fix this whole “don’t hear them enough on-air” thing, I’m just saying!
While the pandemic has sadly prevented us from seeing each other in person at conventions and whatnot, I feel the support for The Flash Podcast from The Flash family more than ever. One of them is a friend who happens to be The Flash showrunner, Mr. Eric Wallace. In the last two seasons, we’ve been fortunate to interview Eric more than once, including our big 1-hour long chat where all of us got to come together with him and share some laughs while breaking down the latest season. Eric, your friendship and support mean the world, and you have eternal gratitude. To people on the show that I know have shown the podcast love over the last couple of years, including Grant Gustin (who gives the best hugs FYI,) Candice Patton, John Wesley Shipp (who we finally got to chat with a few months ago,) Danielle Panabaker, Jess Carson, David Rapaport, and so many more: thank you to everyone who has worked so hard for 10+ months for the last 8 years, especially since COVID struck the world. I can’t even imagine the challenges that come with that, as I’m just the reporter who gets to report the news or analyze the TV shows or films produced during these challenging circumstances. I wish I’d go back to December 2, 2013, and tell my younger self that not only does his passion project become a success but that he’d also get to engage, bond, and in some cases even befriend some of the talented people behind The Flash. So to every one of you who works on this amazing show, we can’t thank you enough.
As I write this, I realize that The Flash, as Grant himself put it last year before Season 7 started, is ‘closer to the end of this journey than we are to the beginning,’ and before anyone freaks out: no I have no idea if Season 8 is the final season or not. At this point, I feel a Season 9 is coming, but that is just my prediction, nothing more than that. But at some point, I know all of us will have to be ready to say farewell to Barry Allen’s adventures in one way or another. Hopefully, it won’t be for another season or so. However, what I’ll say is that as we get to The Flash Podcast’s 300th episode, we’re not going anywhere, even after when the TV series concludes. With The Flash movie still coming up as well as the Scarlet Speedster’s presence in other mediums and our love for DC, The Flash Podcast will keep on running (YES A PUN) for as long as we want it. Also, last time we celebrated the podcast’s anniversary, the scene between Grant and Ezra Miller hadn’t even happened yet, and now, the Flashes of Two Worlds have come face-to-face with each other! Will it happen again? The world will simply have to wait and see.
With all that said, I’ve one final thank you, and that is to every single listener/reader who has supported The Flash Podcast for almost 10 years. Whether you started in Season 0 or came in at any point in the last 8 years, you’re a significant factor in why The Flash Podcast still stands today. I really can’t stress enough that every retweet, like, share, reply, email, download, Apple Podcast review, you name it, has made so many things possible for a podcast that started in a 20-something-year-old’s bedroom in 2013. Because of your support and dedication to us, it has allowed us to do so much with the world of The Flash, whether it be interviews, bringing you the latest news at it comes out, and so much more. As I always say; you’re the greatest podcast listening audience in the whole Multiverse. Not even in my wildest dreams did I ever expect to be blessed with so much from this one podcast that is now part of my DNA for the rest of my life and I’ve you to thank for that.
To get even more personal, I was a lost soul in 2013 as I was still trying to find myself after graduating high school in 2012. I was still early in my journalistic career and didn’t know where I was going. But I kid you not when I say that The Flash Podcast literally changed my life for the better. Not only did it give me a platform to geek out about a superhero TV show, but it gave me friendships for life, connections in the industry, sources, a voice, and most of all: helped me find my identity. For anyone who has been listening since 2013, you’ve literally gotten to see me grow up throughout my 20s as I’m *gulp* only two years away from turning 30. Whenever I’ve got a terrible day, going to record The Flash Podcast every week, especially in the last almost three years, always brings back the light and remind me of this incredible chapter that I get to live with y’all. This podcast not only gave me everything I mentioned but it also somehow got me into podcast producing with DC TV Podcasts where I currently produce over 10 podcasts. That is perhaps one of the crazier sentences I have written in this post thus far. However, it doesn’t change how proud I’m of every host that I work with on every podcast that has come to life; DC TV Podcasts are the Paragon of Podcasters (as Brother Nate so brilliantly puts it), and we don’t mess around.
So once again, to my hosts, to our media team, to our Flash friends, to our DC TV Podcasts family members, as well as all of you listeners: a massive and heartfelt THANK YOU. With that said about 8 years later and 287 episodes later of The Flash Podcast, what would an anniversary post be if I didn’t end it with a good old-fashioned tradition, which is Mike Schmidt’s epic theme song for The Flash Podcast before telling you all:
May the Speed Force Be with You.