2017 Grad Continues his Broadcasting Legacy

Podcasts: the radio of the future. Or so it seems at least. Just as radio gripped the minds of listeners for most of the 20th century, new audio media forms–chief among them podcasts–have supplanted radio in terms of popularity, and as we hurtle toward the early 2020s, podcasts show no signs of slowing down.

Everyone knows about the power of podcasts, of course: Free, easily downloadable on your cell phone, and covering a wide range of topics. This new form of transmitting audio recordings to the unwashed masses has become THE essential factor to constructing a media empire. From Barstool Sports to history teachers, nearly everyone is now hip to the idea of podcasting.

Among these podcasting hip-hoppers resides 2017 Scituate High School grad Ben Smith–not a media mastermind quite yet, but not a history teacher either.

Even those with a weak reminiscence will recall Ben’s work at the aptly named “Ben and Andy Show,” a Scituation broadcast production that was the talk of tabloid magazines from Greenbush to Minot, from the West End to the Gazebo. From recognition in the school halls to his very own star on the Scituate Walk of Fame, Ben was destined for greatness.

But sometimes fame and fortune just aren’t enough. Smith felt a calling from something larger, and sometime after he graduated from SHS, he disappeared from the public eye.

Well, Ben’s back, and now he’s got a podcast. Perhaps you’ve heard of it. It’s entitled Down in the DM’s, and it aims to discuss pop culture in the Internet age. Owned and operated out of the University of South Carolina, where Ben goes for post-SHS educational fulfillment, this pod goes where no man has gone before: the DMs.

I sat down with the interdimensional man of mystery himself to find out what makes him–and his budding podcast–tick.

Miles Bowker: How often do you guys make new podcasts, and what do you generally talk about?

Smith: We try to come out with new episodes every Monday and Wednesday morning, meaning we record on Sunday and Tuesday nights. We talk about all sorts of stuff really– whatever we feel is important enough to share. It’s mostly Internet-related–we like to say that we’re providing the guide to be a good Internet citizen.

MB: How did your experience on the Ben and Andy Show prepare you for a podcast?

Smith: It gave me a platform to get comfortable talking on camera because it’s something you have to get used to–it’s not really natural.

MB: When did you decide to get into the podcasting business?

Smith: I started doing No Buckie Warmups with (fellow class of 2017 Sailor) Cam Francis in the summer of 2017. I had been listening to podcasts for a while, and after doing the Ben and Andy Show, I saw how simple the production aspect of it was. I got the right equipment and started putting them on SoundCloud. When I went to school, I met Charlie Miller, who was even more into podcasts than I was, and this fall we decided to start one of our own. I already had the sound gear and everything, so it was a pretty simple process. We just had to submit a few episodes to Apple, and we got approved. It’s just something I wanted to do, so I did it.

Sometimes, it’s tough out there on the web, but Ben and his co-host Charlie do their very best to bring the finest parts of the Internet to the comfort of your podcasts app. Maybe it will make you laugh, or maybe it will make you cry, but one thing’s for sure: Ben Smith has a podcast now.

Check out Down in the DMs on iTunes and SoundCloud, and follow the guys on Twitter @DownerPod