Thomas Martinez and Daniel Rauchwerger are both juniors at Florida State University who began the We Can Do Better podcast over two years ago. This week, I had the opportunity to talk with them about how they got started, their favorite memories and much more.
Her Campus (HC): What made you want to start a podcast?
Thomas Martinez (TM): We were doing nothing the summer before coming up to Tallahassee and we thought, ‘why not start a podcast?’ This is something we can grow since we’re going to be living together in college. So, we decided to do it.
Daniel Rauchwerger (DR): I remember Thomas calling me up on a random day saying, “Hey, do you want to start a podcast?” We’re knowledgeable about sports, we’re kind of funny guys and it’s just two people talking so it’s all in good fun.
HC: What is your podcast about?
DR: I would say it’s about two friends from Miami giving their satirical opinions about sporting events. It’s pretty simple.
TM: And sometimes not sporting events. It could be about our favorite rolls of toilet paper.
HC: Describe the planning process that goes into making an episode. Do you plan what you talk about beforehand?
TM: It depends on how we’re feeling. Towards the beginning, we would plan it more. But sometimes we would like to challenge ourselves and not plan anything.
DR: When you start doing a podcast, even though it’s conversational, you have to think about how you sound on-air and how you sound post-production. So as we’ve been doing more podcasts, we’ve loosened our grip of making our rundown and that just comes with experience.
HC: Do you have a favorite memory or most memorable episode?
TM: It was the week before Florida State’s first football game in 2018. Before this, Florida State had its worst season but I was super confident. I did a rant of how Willie Taggart was going to be this great coach and Virginia Tech had no chance. Then Florida State ended up losing so I just thought that was pretty funny.
DR: Yeah, that was definitely the funniest. But one of my favorite memories was pretty recent. I do the post-editing on our podcast, so I love mics and soundboards, and we got to record an episode at a radio station.
HC: Say you had no budget and could afford anything. What would be the first thing you do with your podcast?
DR: I would build a crazy studio; I would have great equipment and I would invite any guest I’d want to have.
TM: I have a few. I agree with him about having a cool studio. Secondly, I would have a network. If we were able to turn this into something where we had multiple podcasts within one network with other people, I think that would be really cool. Third of all, I would interview Rod Laver who famously won the Golden Slam in the 1960s. He’s so overrated! He won four Grand Slams in the 1960s against a bunch of guys that maybe played tennis twice a week and now he’s sitting front row at every major tournament. I wouldn’t be surprised if we turned on ESPN right now and the only person at the US Open is Rod Laver.
HC: Do you ever feel any kind of pressure with the podcast?
TM: I definitely do. Especially during the semester when there are a bunch of things going on. We have different schedules and there’s pressure for it to be good. But I don’t think it’s due to any external factor and that’s the best part of having our own medium.
HC: What is your goal moving forward with the podcast?
DR: It’s tough being full-time students. We both have pretty busy schedules so my goal would be to continue making more episodes. If it grows to something larger, then it grows to something larger and that’s definitely something we will take on down the road if we get there.
HC: What advice would you give to someone who wanted to start a podcast?
TM: Make it your own. Do whatever you want to do. If you think it’s a good idea, then it’s a good idea. What’s the worst that can happen?
DR: Make sure what you want to talk about is something that you really want to talk about. If you’re talking about a subject that you don’t have a passion for, then you’re going to run out of drive and it’s going to show.
HC: Is there something about the podcast that you’re really proud of?
DR: I would say how long we’ve been doing it, which is two years. Most people don’t do something for that long and we’ve been pretty consistent and even getting better with our quality.
TM: Yeah, we lasted longer than Willie Taggart’s time in Tallahassee so that means we can’t be that bad.
HC: How can readers connect with you online?
TM: @wcdbpod on Instagram and Twitter and from there you can see the link to our anchor which is an app that links you to everywhere you can listen to our podcast.
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