What happens when you combine the Dan Savage “Savage Love” podcast with NPR’s Car Talk? First, a hilarious mash-up. Second, a lot of attention.
This is exactly what happened to 2 Philly locals, Emily Luker and Aaron Moskowitz, the creators of Savage Car Talk – a simple enough idea (which basically has the questions from Savage’s podcast answered by Click and Clack from “Car Talk”) that has garnered some much deserved attention around the interwebz.
We got a chance to speak with Emily and Aaron for this week’s “Geek of the Week” feature.
How did Savage Car Talk come about?
Aaron: The idea is pretty old. I’m a lifetime listener of Car Talk but have little interest in cars. I thought it would be interesting if they just took sex/love/relationship calls and thought I’d record fake callers. I told Emily about the idea and she suggested we just use Dan Savage’s callers. I wasn’t that familiar with The Stranger Podcast (Savage’s podcast) but it was clear the callers have questions I could never have written and great deliveries. The authenticity of the calls adds a lot to Savage Car Talk.
Emily: I thought that Aaron’s original idea was really inspired. Because I’ve been reading and listening to Dan for years, my brain kind of automatically inserted him into the equation. I think that the juxtaposition between his callers’ sincerity/desperation and Tom and Ray’s utter flippancy can make for some pretty funny moments.
And is it true that Dan Savage knows about the broadcasts?
Aaron: He posted a link to our tumblr on his blog; so we assume he does…it might just
be one of the tech-savvy, at-risk youth who posted it.
Emily: I sent him an email about it soon after we set it up; I think we’d only done two episodes by that point. Within a few hours of my sending it, he had posted a link to us on his blog, though he never responded to my email directly. I think initially I had fantasies of him mentioning us on his podcast but that dream hasn’t been realized.
And I understand you were asked at one point by Tumblr to take the site down?
Aaron: Yeah a few weeks ago we got an email from Thomas at Tumblr telling us we’ll need to take down all the clips! This was followed up with an email saying we could work something out with Car Talk.
We posted a disclaimer and Emily talked to Doug “the subway fugitive, not a slave to fashion, bongo boy frogman” Berman (creator or Car Talk). He said it was “hilarious” and “really clever” though many listeners found the abortion episode offensive.
Emily: That’s pretty much the gist of it. He said that the guys at Car Talk like the show and that they don’t have any problems with it personally, but that they are getting complaints from their listeners about some of the material; I guess the abortion stuff is touching some nerves. He said he doesn’t want us to have to remove the clips because he can see that we are just having fun and he doesn’t want to get in the way of that. I said that we’re happy to post a disclaimer. He doesn’t anticipate further problems now that CT has claimed its distance but he’s keeping my number on hand in case we need to revisit this issue.
Wow, you guys causing drama? Ha ha, so how long have you been living in Philadelphia?
Aaron: I’ve been here since 2004 and Emily has been around since 2003
What are some of your favorite spots in Philly?
Aaron: We mostly hang out in Northern Liberties. We frequent Dos Segundos, Abbaye, N3rd and North Bowl for pinball (and air hockey!). We’re at Go Vertical more than a few times a week too.
Emily: I could probably subsist entirely on tacos from Segundos.
I have my boring 9-5 job. I wake up, I drive to work, I sit in a cubicle, and I do it all over again the next day. When? When will I find a career that suits my personality so well? I’ve always enjoyed harnessing magic, bottling Children’s dreams, and Unicorns.
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