Podcasting has been around for just under two decades but in the last 5-7 years, we’ve really seen a surge in listenership and therefore new podcast shows.

In the sea of audio-first talk shows subject matter can range from super-niche topics like one strictly about pens or the production of beef products to more general content like “Stuff You Should Know” or hard news like “The Daily.”

As a podcast by two young, African American, homosexual NYC transplants, “The Read” has certainly made its mark and established a space in the medium all it’s own.

Hosts “Kid Fury” and Crissle West have their own unique backstories that led them to each other. The two have formed such a genuine relationship between themselves and their millions of friends who tune in each week.

October 11th, “The Read” will reach even more fans as the audio-only podcast, turned live event, becomes a TV Show on Fuse.

There are several variables that make “The Read” a hit with millennials listeners, including their transparency with personal life challenges like mental health or their love for musical diety Beyonce as Pastor and First Lady of the Beyhive.

“The Read” is as much interactive as it is entertaining. For instance, listeners write in weekly for advice and sound off in the comments on SoundCloud about current events. Best if all, they hear back their exact thoughts from trusted voices who think just like them.

But how did they get here? Did Kid Fury and Crissle have any idea their “little” podcast would grow into a nationwide tour, movie roles, a flourishing stand up career and a TV Show!? They both say, “no.”

Let’s get to know “The Read” a little better in the interview above.

Kid Fury

Kid Fury, who’s originally from Miami, first captured online audiences in 2011 with viral video “Sh*t Black Gays Say.”

He credits his career’s growth to approaching his entertainment career, be it hosting or stand up comedy, with authenticity. He says that he never took himself too seriously and went at his career with a “chill approach,” creating a genuine intimacy with the listener.

As someone who seems so self-assured, so open, Kid Fury says he is actually still processing his success.

When I complimented him in the interview he would make faces and physically tense up. He admitted that response was because he’s not very good at taking compliments.

He said he’s been working to overcome that through his comedy. Kid Fury says comedy is his therapy. “It has helped me to feel comfortable with whoever it is I am,” he said.

Crissle

Crissle, on the other hand, is originally from Tulsa and talks openly on “The Read” about the culture shock living in a more cosmopolitan area like NYC.

When asked how she has been adjusting to big city life and TV hosting, she said she went to therapy to figure out her “sh*t.”

Crissle has said that she recognized that she was different from her family. She had more questions and issues than most of the people in her hometown but now realizes that that was all part of the plan.

When asked what she would tell her 13-year-old self, she said: “One day it all comes together and everyone making fun of you will be broker than you.”

—and I oop! Sis, twirled on her haters right quick and I got my life!

In the end, the success of “The Read” is a tale of overcoming insecurity, presenting in the world as authentically as possible and working on yourself to kill it professionally.

What did you think of the hosts of “The Read” Podcast?

Let me know in the comments below.