MTP 487: Don't Write On the Bananas! with Rich Urick

·1 hr 27 min·5 clips

Sheila discovers she first messaged guest Rich Urick exactly five years ago to the day.

Sheila opens with Steve beside her. She introduces Rich as a first-time guest, an active Facebook group member, and someone the show already seems to count as part of the monorail crowd. Then the episode finds its sweet little wrinkle. Sheila and Rich realize their Facebook Messenger back-and-forth began five years earlier, which gives the whole interview a warm, slightly surprised friend-history feel. Nobody rushes it. The conversation drifts through Rich's earlier podcasting, including a strange run-in tied to someone who played Herman, then circles back to why he still likes having a microphone nearby. Lights Camera Pop gets time, too. Rich gives Mike a quick shout-out, says the show has reached its 37th episode, and talks about comics, movies, and pop culture as the lane they keep coming back to. That part lands because he does not dress it up. He says sports, cars, and hunting were never really his thing, especially where he lives, so podcasting became a way to find people who got the references. Sheila keeps the chat moving with practical follow-ups, asking whether the movie podcast continues before easing into the Disney project Rich wants to start. He is not quitting one thing to chase another. Rich makes that clear, and the answer feels like someone sorting out a few creative lanes without turning it into a grand plan. The Disney side sounds overdue, less like a new stunt and more like a corner of fandom he has been saving. Near the end, after a loose bit about not handing out addresses and putting visitors to work, the conversation softens into staying present and keeping the moment alive. Rich keeps it plain. He hopes everyone is doing well, enjoying life while they are here, and remembering that they are all in this together.

As heard by us

A first-time guest connects feeling outside the usual crowd with podcasting, community, and a coming Disney show.

Monorail Tales uses a first-time guest spot to sketch how fandom can turn into a place to belong. The guest explains wanting a show for people who felt outside the usual local interests, then connects that feeling to Lights, Camera, Pop, the comics, movies, and pop culture…

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Why you'd press play

Press play when you want Disney fandom framed through a first-time guest's podcasting story.

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