What is up, my fellow nerds? It’s your host here, David Dassau. In lieu of taking this week off from releasing episodes of the podcast, I thought it would be fun to reflect on everything that has transpired in 2019, in an attempt to ready ourselves for the roaring Twenties!

As I have mentioned several times by now during episodes of the podcast, in more ways than one, this year has by far been the craziest for the show.

Coming out of 2018, into the beginning of this year, the show was at an all-time low. Due to our shitty and sporadic episode release schedule, our download numbers were practically at rock bottom. Hell, we had better numbers back when I first started the podcast with the help of Andrew Knollenberg and Connor Miller. And that was basically with a zero following! At the risk of sounding like I’m making up excuses, there were so many things that were standing in my way of releasing consistent content for the podcast: No dedicated recording space, a stressful job that was sucking the life out of me, and several other personal issues that I will not bother you all with. Little did I know that several forms of help were on the horizon…

After the first few months of the year, I realized that something needed to change. Actually, several things needed to change. In February, my good friend (and now co-host!) Ted White came on as a guest to discuss the recently released Netflix film Velvet Buzzsaw, as well as a retrospective on Nightcrawler (also starring Jake Gyllenhaal). Ted and I had such a great time recording the episode that we soon started throwing around ideas on how he could be worked into the podcast on a regular basis. Since he is incredibly passionate about film, we eventually landed on the idea of creating a separate segment for the podcast called Geek Garage Goes to the Movies. Having this segment helped the show out in several ways. Most importantly, it gave me someone else to help share the load of handling the podcast. It also allowed us to release more content on a regular basis, which was what the podcast needed the most at the time.

Things were looking up for a month or two, and then May hit…

In May, right in the middle of selling my house and buying a new one, I was laid off from my job (fuck you still, Cushing Systems). This forced another short halt on podcast progress, since I had to dedicate every waking second to finding a new job. And to top everything off, we had to spend almost two months at my in-laws house, between our old house selling and our new one being built! Don’t get me wrong, I love my mother and father-in-law, and we would have been totally fucked if it wasn’t for their generosity. But two full families living under one roof is incredibly stressful, regardless of the relationship dynamics.

Eventually, things started coming together again. In late June, I finally found a new job, and soon therafter we were able to resume our plans to move into the new house. After moving in and getting settled, the podcast started to gain a LOT of momentum. We started to average about 3-4 episodes a month, which was something that had NEVER happened before in the history of the show.

If I had to pick a favorite and/or defining moment for the podcast this past year, it would hands-down have to be Ted and I attending GalaxyCon in Louisville, KY. We both went on for quite a bit about our experience at the convention during our recap episode, so I’ll keep this part brief. Ted and I had no idea what to expect from attending GalaxyCon, mainly because we were so new to public appearances. But holy shit, did we find out real quick how incredibly beneficial public appearances really are in this capacity. We had the chance to meet and connect with so many new friends and fans in Louisville that weekend, as well as meet a few folks that had already been listening to the podcast (which blew our fucking minds!).

The icing on our podcast cake (or should I say cheesecake? 😂) was our huge spike in download numbers from September to the end of December. Every subsequent month (especially after GalaxyCon) delivered more streams and downloads than the previous month. And man, do I feel fucking proud and blessed. There was a lot that was thrown at me this past year, and a lot of it could have been interpreted as subtle hints to throw in the towel for the podcast. But the show was something that I cared too much about. I had worked too hard on it, for too long, to just give up. And at the end of the day, regardless of how many downloads or listeners I had, I was still having a great time making the show. Which at its core, having a good time was the whole reason for starting the podcast anyways. All I wanted was an excuse to sit around with my best friends, and talk about nerdy shit that had brought us all together in the first place!

So here’s to you, my dear listeners and fans. Without you, this year would have sucked a lot harder than it did. To those that have been supporting the podcast since day one (you know who you are 😉 ), the ones that have recently started listening to the podcast, and everyone in between: You guys fucking rock. If I could buy you all ice cream, I would.

Thank you so much for a crazy, weird, fucked-up, incredible, fantastic 2019. We cannot wait to share 2020 with you all! And as always, be kind, stay geeky, and eat lots of cheesecake.