Saying Goodbye to The Long Shot and Demi on Punch Up the Jam

When you are as unhealthily emotionally attached to podcasts as I am the ending of a favorite can feel like the death of a friend, or, if the podcast isn’t ending but a host is leaving, a divorce. That might sound melodramatic but due to paralyzing social anxiety and a more or less complete dearth of social skills, I have distressingly few real-life friends but am very friendly with any number of podcasts. 

So when I saw that The Long Shot, one of my favorite podcasts, was ending it inspired intense, mixed emotions. My primary emotion was of course sadness. I was sad that a podcast that has been a cherished part of my life for nearly ten years wasn’t going to exist anymore. 

I was sad that these wonderful, soothing, funny, gentle, deeply human voices that brought me so much amusement and laughter and comfort through the years would not collectively be an essential part of my podcast diet going forward. I was sad because one more thing that I love and wanted to be in my life forever was drawing to a close. I was sad because I was going to miss the individual members of The Long Shot—host Sean Conroy, Amber Kenny, Jamie Flam and Joe Wagner—and the grand gestalt of one of the best, most overlooked podcasts of all time. 

But I also understood. I can speak from experience when I say that doing a podcast is an enormous amount of time and effort and work and it can be very easy to feel like all of that effort is wasted because nobody is listening to your podcast. 

The New York Times recently published a much-maligned article about a podcast that ended after six episodes because the hosts did not become rich and famous and wildly successful immediately as anticipated. If people become discouraged because massive success doesn’t come with hitting “record” that first episode you can only imagine how frustrating it must be to put out an excellent podcast for nearly ten years and not have it get the attention of success that it deserved. 

On a purely selfish level, I would like for the Long Shot to continue forever but as someone who cares about Sean, Jamie, Amber and Joe I know that they have to do what’s right for themselves as human beings and artists and no one could possibly accuse them of not giving the podcast every chance to succeed. They didn’t just give it a shot: they gave it a shot for a very long time.

Endings do not necessarily represent failures. Sometimes things run their natural course and as much as I would love for The Long Shot to continue, I understand completely why it is coming to a close. It’s bittersweet, of course, but I’d like to focus on the sweet part as well as the bitter; I’m profoundly grateful that The Long Shot existed in the first place, and that they gave fans like myself who related to the podcasts on an almost pathological level so much joy and so much distraction through some pretty tough years. 

I’m bummed that the Long Shot is ending. I’m also saddened that Demi Adejuyigbe will be leaving Punch Up the Jam, one of my all-time favorite new podcasts, less than two years into its glorious run. 

As with The Long Shot, I am disappointed but I understand. Listening to Punch Up the Jam I wondered how it was possible for Demi to not only record a consistently hilarious podcast every week more or less in his spare time but also to record a laugh out loud funny parody/mash-up/remix every other week or so as well. 

Demi’s co-host Miel Bredouw is an extraordinary talent: funny, smart, enormously likable and profoundly gifted in both comedy and music but Demi has the kind of talent that makes you wonder how it’s even possible for one human being to be so good at so many things so effortlessly. 

Demi has Donald Glover level talent, Justin Timberlake level talent and, if I’m not mistaken, those dudes use that talent to make movies and record hit albums and not be half of a very funny podcast. I want Demi to be ridiculously successful, or rather I want Demi to achieve a level of success commensurate with his EGOT-level gifts so if he has to stop doing an amazing podcast in order to write and star in movies or create television shows or make albums or do whatever it is that he wants to do, I understand and support him in those endeavors. 

I hope Miel keeps Punch Up the Jam going in Demi’s absence. My two pledges to the Punch Up the Jam Patreon account—one from the Happy Place account and one from the Happy Cast page—aren’t going anywhere. 

I’m rooting for Miel and a Demi-less Punch Up the Jam the same way I’m rooting for Demi to succeed post-Punch Up the Jam. 

It sucks when things you love go away but I’m going to try to handle these changes with uncharacteristic graciousness. Besides, I’m thinking I might try to wean myself off the soothing, supportive voices of the Long Shot by inviting the quartet to guest on Nathan Rabin’s Happy Cast. If I can’t listen to their podcast anymore, maybe I can finagle them into appearing on mine. 

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