Hi. Dr. Jeffrey here ! Madman and I just want to say thanks for coming to the Official Online Headquarters for the Dr. Jeffrey and the Madman Podcast Hour DJMM for those that are lazy. If this is your first trip to OUR trip, let me give you a little background on just what this is, and how it got started with a handful of frequently asked questions
1) Q: What the heck is a podcast anyway??
A: A podcast is basically a radio broadcast without a radio station. It’s all available online and ONLY online, but it follows the same type of pattern or format as a radio talk show, with music, guests and discussion of topics. You can click on the links available online, or in our case, this website or on the DJMM Facebook page and listen to it right then, or download it for later. The theme of the individual podcasts are pretty much left up to the imaginations of the creators, or the needs of the advertisers who make it all feasible. The difference with our podcast is that we don’t have any advertisers yet, so we do what we want. This is fun to us and we feel like we’re trying to entertain ourselves and everyone else while maybe making a difference.
2) Q: Are you making any money at it?
A: We have an advertising schedule that’s flexible according to the advertisers and their specific needs. If you’d like to advertise, we’d certainly like to hear from you. We’d be silly to turn down revenue for something that we like to do so much.
3) Q: Are you a real doctor?
A: To borrow a phrase from the great Hunter S. Thompson, I’m a Doctor of Journalism, and we all know that’s a pretty un-well field right now, so I’m on call 24/7 at my own clinic. It’s my calling, this attempt to heal the potentially terminal malaise that’s killed so many newspapers and continues to erode the healthy body of real writing. Dang… that sounds good doesn’t it? I should write that down.
Honestly speaking, I have no doctoral degrees. The “Dr.” comes from the movie Back to the Future, in which Christopher Lloyd’s character was something or a scatterbrained mad scientest, named “Doc Brown.” My friends in grad school hung that on me back when, and it stuck.
4) Q: Is the MadMan really “mad” ?
A: Oh HELL yes ! Next question… ?
7) Q: So who the heck ARE you guys anyhow?!
A: My earthly name is Jeff Brown, and although I’ve done many things since graduating from Journalism school… ummm… a ‘few’ years ago, { 😛 }, at heart, I’m truly a writer, so for our purposes that’s what we’re going with here. I’m a native Oklahoman five generations deep, with roots further back than our state has actually BEEN a state. My family arrived here during the lawless Indian Territory days in the late 1800s, Wth a background as sharecroppers, cattlemen (and women) and even an M.D. in our lineage. We’re a curious mix of genteel hillbillies, storytellers and hard working country folks. Ours is an appreciation for people who hit the ground running every day, just trying to be honest folks who want to make more than a difference. That’s who I am in a nutshell. Were you to label me, I’d say first that I’m just a regular guy, more specifically, a proud American who tries hard to be a good writer, friend, son, brother and Uncle Fuff.
My colleague, Matt Mayo, aka “The MadMan”, is a career creative sort who is educated in the graphic arts and high tech applications of a broad variety. He’s our tech guru, and I don’t even want to THINK about approaching a podcast without him. He’s a Kansas boy originally, but we claim him as an Okie now. He’s a hard working family man with a wife and daughter, a cabin in the mountains and a great personality. MadMan is a musician, a creative genius, thoughtful manager and a man of broad intellect. He’s a great guy and a good fit for a podcast partner. I’ll stop gushing now, lest Mrs. MadMan become a little crowded. 😉
About a year ago, I came to work as a reporter for the Stigler News-Sentinel, heretofore referred to as simply SNS; a one hundred year old weekly newspaper that tastefully and professionally publishes all things and happenings in the areas which surround Stigler, Oklahoma; the city in which it is situated. MadMan works in another arm of the company mostly, but his crossover expertise is essential to keeping the paper going. They couldn’t do it without him either. NO one would disagree with that.
Okay, so, about a year ago, MadMan and I became acquainted through our affiliations with the paper. Along with a mutual friend who I like to call Rupert, we frequently share meals and shoot the breeze during break times, and it was during these sessions that Rupert and MadMan allowed me to join their workplace luncheons that often feature tamales bought from the car trunk of a lovely lady named Graciela. We all hit it off very well, and it’s an affiliation which I hope continues until my last breath. Love those dudes.
After a few months, I’d pretty much settled into my own niche at the paper, and was kind of looking to do something different. I’d seen / heard a few episodes of Mark Maron’s podcast, during which he expands and expounds upon his musings as a stand up comedian turned sitcom actor. “What a cool thing to do,” I thought of his podcasts. So I looked into doing my own, although I wasn’t sure what exactly I would focus upon myself. After a passing fancy with that, I moved on. Until a few weeks later when during a regular “Tamale Day” pow-wow, I asked MadMan if he’d ever done a podcast. “Nope,” he said. “Have you?” “Nope,” I replied, “Wanna give it a shot?” “Sure!” was MadMan’s reply, even before he was officially known as The Madman. “Let’s get it going.”
We weren’t certain which direction we were headed with it at first. In fact the only thing we were truly sure of was that we wanted to do one, even though explaining it was sort of tough for our friends who weren’t / aren’t as tech savvy as the average …. tech savvy person. Hence the need for the FAQs into which we are now all entangled. 😉
So, in somewhat short order we got together a few things that are needed for putting out a podcast, and in another week or two we put our our first one, and The Dr. Jeffrey and the MadMan Podcast Hour was born. That was late September of 2015, and even though I no longer work for SNS, since that time, we’ve had a blast doing this gig.
It’s evolved from its most humble beginnings of two guys just sitting in an attic studio and talking about whatever came to mind. As fun as it was, we started slowly incorporating guests onto the ‘cast. Most of them were musical in nature, but others were just folks like us with an interest in the community or at least in saying something that they wanted heard over the pod waves.
So here we are, seven months in, and getting stronger with each segment. It’s a continually evolving beast, and we’re convinced that if you guys have the tiniest fraction of the amount of fun in listening to us as we do in doing DJMM Show, then we’ll soon sweep the globe and become kings of all media.
5) Q: What are you trying to accomplish?
A: DJMM pretty much started out as a vehicle to let far flung friends know what we’re up to, and allow them to take part in our weekly bull sessions, and that continues to this day. But as it has taken shape, the podcast is increasingly focused on giving a glimpse into the rich fabric that IS the rural way of life, particularly SouthEastern Oklahoma. We love to give new musicians a chance to play classic covers and their original stuff, perhaps for the first time on an online media gig. This is a growing effort for us, and all silliness aside, we do take the music very seriously, but no more so than the other things that happen here which we try to help promote. We love our country cosmopolitan lifestyle, and think everyone will enjoy our takes on what comprises it. We’re giving them a glimpse into what it is that makes people want to stay in the heartland of America for a lifetime.
So there you have it: a not-so-brief “how we got here” statement about this show. In short, we’re glad you decided to join us. And now YOU’RE part of us. Stick around. This is going to only get better.
Cheers to you and yours !
– Doc