Best Ryan Hecht Podcasts (2025)

1
Adventures Assemble Episode 7: Plotting Nerdy Adventures and Building a Nerdy Empire 19:05

Play Pause

11d ago19:05

19:05

I'm back from Japan and not going anywhere this week—except deep into YouTube land. In this episode, I share my mission to grow the Adventures Assemble YouTube channel from just 12 subscribers to the magical 1,000 needed to unlock monetization. I'm talking content strategy, upcoming nerdy adventures, and the weird, wonderful places I’m planning to …

1
107 Halter Technical with Doc Justice 23:36

19d ago23:36

23:36

Doc Justice is CEO and owner of Halter Technical. His company’s products are used on-sets all over the world. The Elite Monitor and Scene Monitor headphones are built for creative pros but durable enough for the rigors of set life. The Microsone Discreet Audio Monitoring System is the world’s smallest rechargeable Bluetooth earbud with crystal clea…

1
Adventures Assemble Episode 6: Kyoto Regrets, Udon Rewards, and the Curse of Celebration Sickness 25:14

19d ago25:14

25:14

I’m back from Japan! In this episode, I recover (barely) from the post-Star Wars Celebration plague and take you through the final stretch of my two-week nerd adventure across Japan. I recap my day trips to Kyoto, Nara, and Kobe—including sacred deer, curry that broke the internet, and the Osaka fried food fantasy known as kushikatsu. Plus, I share…

1
Adventures Assemble Episode 5: Sick in Japan: Star Wars Celebration, Ramen, and Rolling With It 25:55

28d ago25:55

25:55

✏️ Episode Description: In this deeply personal episode of Adventures Assemble, I check in from Osaka with a raw and real update on my first week in Japan. From the highs of epic ramen and electric baseball games to the lows of jet lag and a 102° fever, it’s been a wild ride—and not quite the one I expected. I talk about attending Star Wars Celebra…

1
Adventures Assemble Episode 4: The Final Countdown Before Japan! 20:53

2M ago20:53

20:53

In this episode, I’m just 48 hours away from getting on a plane to Japan—and I’m feeling a wild mix of excitement and nerves! I break down my full itinerary, from Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo to day trips out of Osaka, a visit to Hiroshima, and wrapping it all up in Kanazawa. I’ve got my ticket, passport, money, and smartphone—everything else I’l…

1
Adventures Assemble Episode 3: Two Weeks to Go—Planning, Panels, and Panic! 18:33

2M ago18:33

18:33

It’s officially happening—I'm just two weeks away from heading to Japan for Star Wars Celebration 2025! In this episode, I talk through everything I’ve got planned so far (and everything I still need to figure out). From panel reservations that didn’t go my way to plotting late-night food tours in Tokyo, the itinerary is finally starting to come to…

1
Three Weeks to Tokyo: Star Wars Celebration 2025 Plans and Panic 28:44

2M ago28:44

28:44

Description: In this second episode of Adventures Assemble, I’m just three weeks away from boarding a plane to Tokyo for Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025—and wow, there’s still a LOT to figure out. Join me as I talk through the panel reservation madness, what’s been announced so far, and my thoughts on all things Star Wars—from the original trilogy…

1
Adventures Assemble Begins: Star Wars, Japan, and Controlled Chaos 25:52

2M ago25:52

25:52

Welcome to the very first episode of Adventures Assemble! I’m Ryan Hecht, and I’m heading to Japan for Star Wars Celebration 2025—and no, I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. This podcast isn’t a polished guide from a seasoned world traveler—it’s a real-time journey from someone figuring it out as he goes. In this episode, I introduce the show…

1
Taking Inspiration from Greek History With Evaggelos Vallianatos 49:03

3M ago49:03

49:03

The ancient Greeks had a profound influence not only on their own world, but also on what would become Western culture as a whole. In this episode of Point of Inquiry, Jim chats with Evaggelos Villianatos, a Greek scholar who sheds an interesting light on how his ancestors helped shape the science, arts, language and governments of the modern world…

1
A Primer on Cold Reading 37:39

4M ago37:39

37:39

The art of cold reading has convinced millions of people that gimmicks like crystal balls, palm reading, tarot cards, and other alleged paranormal abilities are real. People walk away from astrologers, mediums, and psychics saying "there's no way he could have known that" or other exclamations of amazement. But are these skills really paranormal, o…

1
106 Ryan Monette - Production Sound Mixer / Post Audio / Sound Designer / Composer 53:24

5M ago53:24

53:24

Ryan Monette is a Production Sound Mixer, Post Audio Mixer, Sound Designer and Composer based out of Orlando, Florida. He uses a Sound Devices MixePre 10 II, Sound Devices A10 TXs and RXs, DPA 6060 lavs and a Sanken CS3e shotgun mic. Ryan also uses Tentacle Sync time code boxes. Listen as Ryan shares about his audio career working in the studio, on…

1
David Miles on Point of Inquiry 54:50

6M ago54:50

54:50

For most of human history, infectious diseases have wreaked havoc on humans. But beginning in the late 18th century, more and more of us beat back illness by getting immunized with vaccines. Today, vaccines are -- or should be – a part of every thinking person’s health regimen. But exactly what are vaccines and how do they work? How are they tested…

1
105 Jessie Van Der Vyver - Production Sound Mixer based out of Kansas City, Missouri and London, England 29:17

10M ago29:17

29:17

Jessie Van Der Vyver is a Production Sound Mixer based out of Kansas City, Missouri and also London, England. Jessie uses a Sound Devices 888 mixer/recorder. He also uses Sound Devices A20 wireless TXs and RXs including the A20 mini transmitters. Additional wireless includes Lectrosonics TXs and RXs. For time code boxes he likes Ambient Recording L…

1
Steve Hill on Point of Inquiry 1:05:19

11M ago1:05:19

1:05:19

When a business owner, ex-marine, and retired peace office is questioned and later arrested for what appear to be bigoted reasons, there should be recourse in our system of justice to right such a wrong. But Steve Hill is having a hell of a time finding help with his well-documented struggles. Should the fact that he is a black man and a member of …

1
104 Rodolfo Piedras 2 - Production Sound Mixer from Vancouver, British Columbia 1:09:43

11M ago1:09:43

1:09:43

Rodolfo Piedras, Production Sound Mixer from Vancouver, BC, was originally on the podcast on Episode 28 in 2019. He returns this episode to catch us up on what he’s been up to the past few years. Each episode we talk with location sound mixers, boom ops and other industry pros about the various aspects of recording sound on-location for feature and…

1
Robert Sapolsky POI 54:43

12M ago54:43

54:43

1
Leo Igwe on Point of Inquiry 1:01:58

1y ago1:01:58

1:01:58

1
103 Alex Haralson - Production Sound Mixer based out of Knoxville, Tennessee returns for an update 45:12

1y ago45:12

45:12

Alex Haralson, production sound mixer based out of Knoxville, Tennessee, joins us again to catch up on new projects and how the strikes and industry shift has affected his work. Alex was originally on episode 92 so check that one out too. His website is https://www.sonolocus.com/ Each episode we talk with location sound mixers, boom ops and other i…

1
There Are Definitely Atheists in Fox Holes 54:26

1y ago54:26

54:26

1
Kate Cohen on Atheism and the Rewards of Honesty 1:00:09

1+ y ago1:00:09

1:00:09

Almost 30 percent of the U.S. population is religiously unaffiliated, but only a fraction of those so-called "Nones" identify as atheist or agnostic. Fewer still feel comfortable revealing to the people in their lives that they don't believe in God. Kate Cohen was one of those people. Though she had determined that God was a human-made fiction from…

1
Sarah An Myers on Secularism and the Millennial Mind 38:15

1+ y ago38:15

38:15

Members of Gen X and older grew up in an America in which being religious was the default and atheism was, as best, on the fringes. A lot has changed in the last couple of decades, and for many Millennials and members of Gen Z, being nonreligious is really no big deal. Folks in younger generations are accustomed to living among people of various re…

1
Vaccine Hesitancy With Filmmaker Scott Kennedy 1:03:09

1+ y ago1:03:09

1:03:09

In 2019, Academy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker Scott Kennedy was working on a film about the years-long anti-vaxxer movement. Filming with top public health officials–including Tony Fauci–as well as rare interviews with anti-vaccine activists who were persuading parents by the millions to refuse vaccines for their children. And then COVID h…

1
102 Greg Murphy - Production Sound Mixer based out of Melbourne, Florida 40:50

1+ y ago40:50

40:50

Greg Murphy is a production sound mixer based out of Melbourne, Florida. He does a lot of work in live news and also projects for Major League Baseball, the NFL, Super Bowl and NASCAR. For news, he uses a Sound Devices 688 mixer/recorder and for smaller jobs, a Sound Devices 633. For wireless, Greg uses Lectrosonics transmitters and receivers. He l…

1
To The Temple of Tranquility, and Step on It 32:32

1+ y ago32:32

32:32

1
Supreme Injustice 1:01:41

1+ y ago1:01:41

1:01:41

The U.S. Supreme Court -- that over sixty years ago ruled against state-led prayer in public schools -- has swung back the other way with a vengeance. The ultra-conservative majority on the current court has reversed 60 years of progress and put the rights of non-believers in jeopardy. In this episode, Jim Underdown speaks to Nick Little, former Di…

1
101 Michael Reed - Production Sound & Post Audio Mixer based out of Orlando, Florida 29:39

1+ y ago29:39

29:39

Michael Reed, based out of Orlando, Florida, does production sound, post audio mixing and live sound. He’s worked on projects like Burt Reynolds: The Last Interview, Screwball(2018) and Movie Money Confidential. Michael uses the Sound Devices MixPre-10T, Audio Limited A10 wireless, a Lectrosonics DSR4 wireless receiver, DBSM and DBSMD transmitters …

1
Dr. Juhem Navarro-Rivera on the Challenge of Rallying the Nones 54:08

1+ y ago54:08

54:08

The Nones are on the rise! When asked about their religious affiliation, year after year, more and more Americans are choosing “none of the above.” The number of religiously unaffiliated Americans, which includes atheists and agnostics, has been rocketing up over the past couple of decades, and today these Nones make up about one-third of the Ameri…

1
100 Larry Williams, Jr. - Production Sound Mixer based out of South Florida 55:11

1+ y ago55:11

55:11

For the 100th episode of the Location Sound Podcast, we’ve brought back our very first guest, production sound mixer Larry Williams, Jr. Larry uses Sound Devices mixer/recorders and has a 664, a 688, and MixPre-6. He’s all Lectrosonics wireless with a DSR4, 822 and 411 receivers and likes the Sanken COS-11D lav mics. On the boom pole, he uses a Sch…

1
099 - Zaxcom - Glenn Sanders 47:10

1+ y ago47:10

47:10

Glenn Sanders founded Zaxcom in 1986 and has been creating innovative audio technology for the feature film, television broadcast, live performance and post-production industries. With a focus on high quality audio products in multi-track recording, mixing and digital wireless, Zaxcom is proud to be honored with technical achievements from the Acad…

1
098 Adam Hecht - Production Sound Mixer based out of Phoenix, Arizona 44:27

1+ y ago44:27

44:27

Adam Hecht is a production sound mixer and boom op based out of Phoenix, Arizona. He uses a Zaxcom Nova 2 mixer/recorder, Zaxcom 414 receivers, ZMT4, ZMT4x and ZMT3x Zaxcom transmitters, Schoeps MiniCMIT and CMC 141 shotgun mics. Adam also uses dpa 6061, 4071 and 4063 lavs. For IFBs Adam uses Zaxcom URX50s and URX100s. And finally, Adam likes the B…

1
Getting to Know US Congressman Jared Huffman 36:54

2y ago36:54

36:54

Of the 535 Members of Congress, only one is an out-of-the-closet atheist. His name is Jared Huffman, and he is a U.S. Representative from Northern California. He is also the co-chair (with Rep. Jamie Raskin) of the Congressional Freethought Caucus, a group all secular Americans should know about and support. In this episode, Jim Underdown chats wit…

1
The Great Australian Psychic Prediction Project 58:07

2y ago58:07

58:07

What happens when a group of skeptics from across the globe keeps score of over twenty years of psychic predictions? Any guesses? In this episode of Point of Inquiry, host Jim Underdown speaks to Rob Palmer and Richard Saunders of the Great Australian Psychic Prediction Project about this ambitious effort to track the accuracy of those who claim to…

1
MG Lord on the Weird and Wonderful History of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory 50:48

2y ago50:48

50:48

The Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California may be the world's premiere space exploration facility. From the earliest days of rocketry, JPL has been at the vanguard of designing and building rockets and spaceships. But the lab has a colorful history, and some of its founders broke the stereotypes of what a rocket scientist might be.…

1
Jennifer Michael Hecht on the Power of Poetry and the Weirdness of Existence 1:07:11

2y ago1:07:11

1:07:11

“Many of us who are happy to live outside religion still suffer from a lack of things religion gives its members,” writes historian and poet Jennifer Michael Hecht. “It seems to me the remedy to this suffering is a shift in the way we think about ritual and the poetry of our lives.” Hecht is our guest on this episode of Point of Inquiry. She’s the …

1
New Discovery in the Chemistry of Life 44:37

2+ y ago44:37

44:37

Graham Cooks and his team at Purdue University have discovered a chemical process that has exciting implications for people who believe that life could have emerged spontaneously and through natural means. The idea that the building blocks of life started in a primordial ocean now has a competitor: airborne tiny water droplets. In this episode of P…

1
Broken Promises and False Prophets: Rina Raphael on the Business of Wellness 50:13

2+ y ago50:13

50:13

1
Alice Greczyn on Deconversion and Her Escape From Extremist Christianity 45:44

2+ y ago45:44

45:44

Realizing the faith you've had your entire life is wrong can be devastating for some people. The process of deconversion can lead to panic attacks, depression, and more. What does it take for someone to get through that complicated process? Our guest is Alice Greczyn, author of the memoir Wayward: A Memoir of Spiritual Warfare and Sexual Purity. Sh…

1
097 Sound Devices A20-RX and A20-Minis with Paul Isaacs and Gary Trenda 43:34

3y ago43:34

43:34

Paul Isaacs and Gary Trenda from Sound Devices join us to talk about the new A20-RX two channel true diversity receiver and it’s new features and the A20-Mini Digital Wireless Transmitter with GainForward and SpectraBand Technologies. https://www.sounddevices.com Each episode we talk with location sound mixers, boom ops and other industry pros abou…

1
Skepticism - Behind the Scenes 1:19:05

3y ago1:19:05

1:19:05

What do we do when television shows dealing with extraordinary events focus on the ridiculous to bolster views? In today's episode, we take a behind-the-scenes look at two people with experience in the industry and what they've done to create a more focused skeptical point of view on the air. Our first guest, whose name has changed to protect their…

1
Steven Pinker Discusses Rationality and Humanist Values 1:04:35

3y ago1:04:35

1:04:35

This special episode of Point of Inquiry is brought to you by our friends at CFI Canada from their new podcast, Podcast for Inquiry. They recently spoke with author Steven Pinker and we wanted to make this special conversation available to everyone. Even as a young teenager, Dr. Steven Pinker (@sapinker) prized rationality as a virtue, and consider…

1
096 Ted Hogeman - Production Sound Mixer and Boom Op based out of the Washington, D.C. area 36:11

3y ago36:11

36:11

Ted Hogeman is a Production Sound Mixer and Boom Op based out of the Washington, D.C. area. He has experience on all kinds of shoots, from run and gun documentaries and indie features, to high end short films and commercials. Ted uses a Sound Devices 833 mixer/recorder, Lectrosonics wireless with DPA 4061s and Sanken COS-11d lavs. Ted also uses a D…

1
Timothy Caulfield on the Infodemic and Spread of Misinformation 1:05:03

3y ago1:05:03

1:05:03

This week's episode is a bit different. Please enjoy a talk from Timothy Caulfield that originally aired on Skeptical Inquirer Presents. SIP is a live online series of talks from some of the brightest minds in the reality based community and is just one of the many great shows that the Center for Inquiry produces. This recent episode of the series …

1
Kelly Weill on Flat-Earthers and Why People Will Believe Anything 49:34

3+ y ago49:34

49:34

In this week's episode, we are diving into the flat-earth conspiracy theory and why people could believe such a thing with guest Kelly Weill and her new book, Off the Edge. In 2019 Jim Underdown and the CFI Investigations Group produced a video where they designed a series of experiments to show that the earth is indeed not flat. CFIIG's conducted …

1
095 Stephen Harrod - Production Sound Mixer and Boom Op based out of Los Angeles, California 38:47

3+ y ago38:47

38:47

Stephen Harrod is a Production Sound Mixer and Boom Op based out of Los Angeles, California. He uses a Sound Devices 633 mixer/recorder, Lectrosonics wireless and Sennheiser G3s for camera hops. Boom mics are the Sennheiser MKH-416, MKH-50 and MKH-60. Stephen also uses a MixPre-10T in a second bag. Deneke and Tentacle Sync for timecode. https://www…

1
Living on Life's Edge | Carl Zimmer on The Search for What It Means to Be Alive 59:27

3+ y ago59:27

59:27

What does it mean to be alive? Does life have a clear definition? On this week's episode, Carl Zimmer joins host Jim Underdown to discuss his new book, Life's Edge: The Search for What It Means to Be Alive to help answer those questions. Can we clearly define what it means to be alive? Scientists have been struggling with this question for centurie…

1
094 Anna Khromova - Production Sound Mixer and Boom Op based out of New York City 38:02

3+ y ago38:02

38:02

Anna Khromova is a production sound mixer and boom op based out of New York City. Anna uses a Sound Devices 833 mixer/recorder and a Sound Devices MixPre-6 as a backup and audio interface. For wireless, she uses Lectrosonics 411a receivers and 400 series transmitters as well as Lectrosonics SSM transmitters. Anna has a K-Tek Stingray Junior sound b…

1
The Case That Jesus Never Existed 53:20

3+ y ago53:20

53:20

Christians believe that Jesus was the son of God who walked the Earth as a human being. Some Atheists believe none of the God bits but that there was a man named Jesus who did exist. There is also an ever growing community who believe Jesus did not exist at all. Not as the son of God nor as a man. On today's episode we speak to someone with evidenc…

1
David McAfee - Hi, I'm an Atheist! 51:12

3+ y ago51:12

51:12

On today's episode we introduce the show's new guest host, Julia Sweeney and her interview with author David G. McAfee on his new book, Hi, I'm an Atheist!: What That Means and How to Talk About It with Others. McAfee and Sweeney speak about the new book, how it helped Sweeney get back in touch with her atheism roots, his journey being raised in a …

1
Science Denial - Why It Happens and What to Do About It 59:45

3+ y ago59:45

59:45

Throughout the modern world trust in science has continued to erode at dangerous speeds. From anti-vaxxers to climate change deniers, there is an ever growing movement of people that deny science at the peril of us all. The shift towards a public with increasing lack of scientific literacy and critical-thinking skills combined with the proliferatio…

1
Banachek - From the Inside of Being a Mentalist 43:32

4y ago43:32

43:32

It’s a rare person indeed who can trick and amaze people on one hand while reassuring them that what they are experiencing is not real. Meet Banacek. He’s not only an illusionist, magician, mentalist extraordinaire, he’s a skeptic’s skeptic who for decades has been instrumental in exposing fraud and deception. In this episode of Point of Inquiry, J…