Survivor Rob Cesternino Looks Back at 10 Years of Podcasting

Survivor: Rob Cesternino Looks Back at 10 Years of Podcasting

A former Survivor contestant, Rob Cesternino has built much more than a business out of Rob Has a Podcast, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary.

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Survivor Rob Cesternino Looks Back at 10 Years of Podcasting

It can be silly. It can be serious. It can be impossible to explain. For a decade, Rob Cesternino has talked into a microphone and an increasing number of listeners in search of community, acceptance or perhaps a way to pass the time have tuned in. This enterprise, which began in 2010 as a way for the two-time Survivor contestant to have an excuse to discuss Heroes vs. Villains, has turned into a profitable pursuit. It has provoked laughter, it has provided comfort and it has promoted understanding, of the deep complexities of strategy and the world around us.

Rob’s words have reached people from New York to California, from Canada to Australia and everywhere in between. His endeavor to cover not only the show he appeared on back in 2003 and ’04, but to encompass a wide range of reality and scripted shows – including some podcasts that are in a genre of their own – has created a constantly-expanding community of followers united in their niche craving to watch someone break down what they just watched.

The eponymous podcast has been integral in supplying talented up-and-coming broadcasters a platform and opening up a space for listeners to connect, celebrate and, if need be, commiserate. On Feb. 12, the same day that Survivor: Winners at War premieres, RHAP will commemorate its tenth anniversary. Its longevity has been sustained, in large part, because the man who calls himself a know-it-all never pretends to have all the answers.

Screen Rant: How crazy is it that you’ve been doing Rob Has a Podcast for 10 years?

Rob Cesternino: I really feel like when I started Rob Has a Podcast, I remember feeling like, boy it’s too bad I started this right at the end of Survivor because this would be great if this was going to go on. But Survivor is weird because it is always a year or two from ending at any point in its life cycle. It’s a miracle that there’s been just as much Survivor with Rob Has a Podcast as there was before Rob Has a Podcast.

Explain to someone who doesn’t follow reality television that closely, what is it about Rob Has A Podcast that brings people from all around the world together?

Rob Has a Podcast has sort of been like sports talk radio about reality TV shows, like Survivor, like Big Brother, where we talk about what just happened and we break down the moves of what we think is going to happen and we interview the different players who came from the shows, hear their stories and have created a community amongst the fans who all are really passionate about the shows, but might not have anybody in their real lives that they run into that they know who follow and care as much about these crazy shows as they do.

Originally, this was a side project for you. When did you realize you could do this full-time?

So, I had been doing Rob Has a Podcast for four-plus years on the side and I had been laid off from the job that I had been working at. And I was at a point where I was putting in so much time into Rob Has a Podcast on the side that – if I was going to go get a job – I was basically un-hirable because, well, I need to be off on Wednesday nights to do Survivor Know-It-Alls and I need Thursday mornings free so I can do the interviews with players who were just voted off. And I was so unappealing as a person to be hired that I said, “What if instead, I put all my time into making Rob Has a Podcast? Could I support my family?” I just had my first son at the time, is it possible that I could do this full-time? So I just ended up doing it with all of my time, starting right at the beginning of 2014.

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Survivor Rob Cesternino Looks Back at 10 Years of Podcasting

How have you grown in the 10 years since starting the podcast?

When we started doing the show, it was just like, nobody is listening. It didn’t matter what we said about anything that happened, and it was freeing and it was intimate and we could say things that were probably more mean about the contestants, make fun of people more because nobody was listening. It’s gotten to the point where it’s so ubiquitous where now, between social media and how many people listen to the show, everybody is listening, in terms of the players and fans, so it’s actually a lot harder now to do the podcast because it’s almost impossible to break down the game and not have people get offended with how we’re covering the season. Somebody always feels like we’re being too hard on them. So what it’s forced me to do is, one, I almost never say something about a person that I wouldn’t be able to say to their face. I can still make jokes, but if I wouldn’t be willing to say it to the person if they were in the room, I usually won’t say it. Usually. And then I just have to try to remember to be fair in the coverage because everybody’s listening.

I think you walk that tightrope really well. It’s not an easy thing to do.

It’s not easy.

What moment in Rob Has a Podcast history makes you most proud?

The moment where I was most proud of what we’ve built was during the People’s Choice Podcast of the Year in 2015. It was for the year that had just passed. We were up against Serial. We really campaigned in our community, “Remember to vote, remember to vote, remember to vote” and we ended up winning and beat out Serial at the Podcast Awards. It was a huge moment because it was not just recognizing what the podcast was. It was such a celebration of, “We did it,” because it required the entire community to be focused on, “Remember to vote, remember to vote, remember to vote.” And we ended up really upsetting Serial at its height.

I want to go back to what was, for many, the darkest moment in Survivor history, but also, one of the most incredible moments in Rob Has a Podcast history. The way that you handled the discussion around the merge episode in Island of the Idols was really beautiful. Reflecting on it now, all the preparation that went into making sure that you covered that moment and issue with the time and sensitivity it deserved and the outpouring of support you received from the community, what did it show you about the impact and reach your podcast can have?

That really was the darkest point in the history of my 1o years of covering Survivor. It was the real low point in the entire series. To have the community of Rob Has a Podcast let me know how they’re feeling, where could I hide? I have to cover it. It was a really positive experience amongst some dark times and a safe space for the fans to be able to process what was happening and ask questions about it as we were all experiencing it together. It was just a blessing that we were able to have this community to lean on to have support from one another and I was able to bring in people who are very knowledgeable in talking about these things onto the show with me and answer my questions that I had about this whole experience. I just thought the community handled that whole situation in a really mature way.

You said on your podcast that week that every positive thing in your life has, in some way, come from Survivor. What do you think is the most positive thing you’ve given back to the community?

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I think the best thing that I do for the community and for the people who listen to the podcast is I’m always there. I don’t think I’m the best broadcaster. I don’t think I’m the best strategist, but for all the people who need the podcast, I’m there. I’m going to make a lot of shows. If you’ve got a commute, if you’ve got a bunch errands you need to run and things you need to do, I’m going to have a podcast for you and hopefully, you crack a smile. Hopefully, there’s going to be a moment that’s going to brighten your day. There’s so many people that we’ve been able to connect with through the community, people who didn’t even know there were other people out there who like these shows or other people I could geek out about this stuff with. We’ve been able to foster this amazing community and we’ve got so many people that are going through hard times beyond the mundane. Just really going through low points in life and they’re able to forget about those things for a little bit to listen to this podcast to talk about something that they are really passionate about and that’s the great thing I get to do to give back to the people who listen.

If you had to take a guess, where is this podcast 10 years from now? Are you still doing Rob Has a Podcast? Have your sons taken over the podcast while you host Survivor? Does Survivor even exist in 10 years?

I really do hope that Survivor still exists in 10 years. As much as people complain about all of the issues that they might have with Survivor for a number of reasons, I don’t think people are out on the concept of Survivor. So I do hope that Survivor continues to exist, whether it’s in some sort of a different form or we watch it in a different way, I feel like the concept is such a brilliant and simple one. I hope it continues to exist for a very long time. And what I do hope is that the community we built is strong enough to stay together and continue to have fun talking about – whether it’s these types of shows or other things that are a different type of interest, like we do with Rob and Akiva Need a Podcast or News AF (editor’s note: the AF, in this case, stands for actual factual) – people enjoy having fun podcasts to listen to whether or not Survivor or Big Brother remain on the air in perpetuity.

I’m not going to ask you to dive into season 40 because there are endless hours on your website of you doing just that. But I don’t want to leave without discussing Winners at War. So give us a little tease: what’s one bold prediction you have for the upcoming season of Survivor?

My bold prediction is that (editor’s note: if you are 100 percent out on the Edge of Extinction, close your eyes) the Edge of Extinction won’t be as hated this time around as it was the first time, only because I think with these 20 players, people who we’ve been waiting so long to end up seeing, they come back for another round and we’re going to lose somebody for the first night. I think there are going to be moments that come out of the Edge of Extinction, (it’s now safe to open your eyes) but DON’T DO IT ANYMORE! And also, my hope is after the last time out, maybe there will be some things tweaked to the Edge of Extinction to make it a little bit more palatable the second time out.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/survivor-rob-cesternino-podcast-rhap/

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