You just thought I was going to bed after the last post, but I just couldn’t. While fixing my computer, I have been listening to podcasts via my iPod for the past few hours. I have been trying out shows and thought I would give the Chris Pirillo Show a listen. Some of you may know that Pirillo enjoyed a short stint on TechTV. He also appears to have some sort of a cult following that culminates in an annual event called Gnomedex… a reference to his likeness to a gnome perhaps? He sorta grew on me while on TechTV, but I have never understood the appeal of Gnomedex…


Well, on to the show. I listened to the episode which featured a phone interview with David Winer. Chris and Ponzi (girlfriend/wife?) chatted with Dave about all manner of things. I could listen to Winer talk all day and will look into his podcast (I think I heard reference to him having one.) The show in general however, was a bit scattered. Ponzi appears to want to morph the show into a Dawn & Drew type and frankly that might be a bit more entertaining.

Chris is obviously more concerned about the business end of things and is constantly making sure that it stays family friendly. He touches the surface of tech issues, but it seems like he is simply saying things for the sake of letting people know of his vast knowledge.

He also seemed to have some issues with southern people. He may have some good tech connections, but he certainly hasn’t travelled in the south much. His implication that those folks south of the Mason-Dixon line are of lower intelligence is insulting to a large portion of the United States. Perhaps friendly people who go out of their way to help a neighbor is dumb to this Californian, but they seem alright to me.

I think the podcast has potential to develop into something decent, but for now he just needs to focus and find his voice. Techies are not going to want the G-rated chat with Ponzi when they can get more risque content with Dawn & Drew and more in-depth techie content with a dozen other podcasts. As a personality, Pirillo is average and tends to work too hard to create “good radio” – Ponzi is much more natural and entertaining.

Bottom line – he needs to decide if he is reality radio or professional radio… his mixed message is hard to sit through for an entire hour.

Rating 6 out of 10 microphones
Microphonelittle.gifMicrophonelittle.gifMicrophonelittle.gifMicrophonelittle.gifMicrophonelittle.gifMicrophonelittle.gif