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The Romesh Ranganathan Show

ShxtsNGigs On WORST Fan Interactions, Imposter Syndrome & Touring

6/14/20261 hr 18 min

How did ShxtsNGigs become one of the biggest podcasts in the world? James and Fuhad join Romesh to talk about taking ShxtsNGigs from a side project to a global phenomenon, selling out arenas, building a loyal audience of millions and navigating the pressures that come with success. They discuss imposter syndrome, awkward fan encounters, life before podcasting and the challenges of balancing friendship with business. They open up about mental health, finding purpose in work and why positive male friendships matter more than ever in times of the manosphere. Plus, a classic question from Shanthi, stories from the road, the reality of podcast touring and a game of Misquoted. A Ranga Bee Production in partnership with Platform. Chapters 00:00 Intro 02:23 ShxtsNGigs call out Romesh 03:11 Sweating 05:07 Imposter syndrome 07:04 Rom’s bad job 10:15 A gift for ShxtsNGigs 11:35 Rick Glassman’s pod 12:52 What were their podcast goals? 18:23 Going on tour 20:43 Tobi hate 21:33 Can Romesh be a friend? 29:16 A Shanthi question 34:21 Trying not to be rude 36:37 Strange fan interactions 46:26 Work and friendship 48:33 When Fuhad was done 52:22 Positive male role models 59:02 Misquoted 01:10:00 An exclusive 01:13:47 Outro 📺 Follow us for new episodes! 📲 Head to our socials: https://linktr.ee/theromeshshow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Clips

Podcasts Saved My Life
Hen-Party Bite Horror
Toilet Cry Coping Method
Escaping The 'Ick' Label
Power of Male Friendship

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Romesh Ranganathan· Host0:00

    Plaque is small. I've never seen a small plaque Oh, yeah. Okay. Is that- [laughs] No, it's not a dig. No, it's a cur- it's a genuine inquiry.

  2. James· Guest0:06

    It's curiosity.

  3. Fuhad· Guest0:07

    Curiosity.

  4. Romesh Ranganathan· Host0:07

    I think they're just giving out smaller ones now.

  5. Fuhad· Guest0:09

    Yeah, they're giving smaller I think that's why.

  6. Romesh Ranganathan· Host0:10

    Oh.

  7. James· Guest0:10

    That's a piss take.

  8. Fuhad· Guest0:11

    Yeah.

  9. James· Guest0:12

    Sorry, Rah.

  10. Fuhad· Guest0:12

    Interesting.

  11. Romesh Ranganathan· Host0:13

    I've got to be honest with you. It's the first... I didn't really... I for- I didn't notice that we'd put it up. 'Cause how many subscribers have you got? [laughs] [laughs] Four million?

  12. James· Guest0:23

    No, no, no.

  13. Fuhad· Guest0:24

    Two million. Two.

  14. James· Guest0:25

    Two point something, yeah.

  15. Romesh Ranganathan· Host0:25

    So I said to them, "I don't really think we should put the plaque up- Yeah ... for 100,000. It's, like, embarrassing."

  16. James· Guest0:29

    No.

  17. Fuhad· Guest0:30

    No.

  18. Romesh Ranganathan· Host0:30

    We got, we got a 100,000 plaque up as well.

  19. Fuhad· Guest0:32

    Yeah, we keep- Yeah, but you've got other plaques now, right? Yeah, but we didn't before.

  20. Romesh Ranganathan· Host0:35

    We didn't, exactly.

  21. James· Guest0:35

    I know, but I just- No, I think it's something to be proud of, dude. It's a bit mucky, man.

  22. Romesh Ranganathan· Host0:38

    No, no, no, no.

  23. James· Guest0:39

    No.

  24. Romesh Ranganathan· Host0:39

    Are you- 'cause soon you said we've been doing this seven months. 100K in seven months, come on, man.

  25. James· Guest0:43

    Yeah, okay.

  26. Romesh Ranganathan· Host0:43

    Yeah. What we talking about?

  27. Fuhad· Guest0:44

    Ratio.

  28. James· Guest0:44

    It took us, like, two and a half years.

  29. Romesh Ranganathan· Host0:45

    Exactly.

  30. James· Guest0:46

    Yeah, okay. But still.

  31. Romesh Ranganathan· Host0:47

    We're, we're happy with it.

  32. Fuhad· Guest0:48

    You should be happy.

  33. James· Guest0:48

    I was disappointed with it, to be honest with you.

  34. Fuhad· Guest0:50

    You're disappointed that you hit a milestone?

  35. James· Guest0:51

    [laughs] I'm disappointed we've got the plaque up. [laughs] [laughs] Guys.

  36. Fuhad· Guest0:54

    Girls.

  37. James· Guest0:54

    Hello, my name's James.

  38. Fuhad· Guest0:55

    And my name is Fahad.

  39. James· Guest0:56

    Uh, together we are Shits and Gigs.

  40. Fuhad· Guest0:57

    We are.

  41. James· Guest0:57

    And apparently we're gonna be on the Romesh Ranganathan Show.

  42. Fuhad· Guest1:01

    Let's go.

  43. James· Guest1:02

    Enjoy.

  44. Speaker 41:03

    [upbeat music] It's the Romesh Ranganathan Show.

  45. Shanthi Ranganathan1:13

    Oh, shut up, Romesh.

  46. Romesh Ranganathan· Host1:15

    Okay, I'm gonna do intro.

  47. James· Guest1:17

    Yeah.

  48. Romesh Ranganathan· Host1:17

    Uh, you, you've got as many opportunities as you like. If you don't like what I'm saying- We can- It's, it's supposed to be positive. It's supposed to put you in a good mood for the podcast.

  49. James· Guest1:27

    All right, cool.

  50. Fuhad· Guest1:27

    But you're skeptical?

  51. Romesh Ranganathan· Host1:28

    Oh, I'm not skeptical. It's

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