Slow Burn Podcast Live in NYC

Last Updated on February 11, 2020

I just got back from a 4 day weekend in New York City. I was there to celebrate a friend's birthday, but booked myself an extra day in the city to enjoy some good food, and find a live podcast event.

If you're going to any large or medium size city, anywhere in the world, you must consider leaving a night open for a podcast event. It's a unique experience, and most cities have some sort of live recording happening on the regular now.

Since there's never any doubt that NYC and Los Angeles will have some sort of a podcast-related event (except maybe on a Sunday or Monday night), I bought my plane ticket without even looking for an event first.

A few weeks ago, I finally hopped online and did a search. There were a few options available, but one stuck out to me: Slow Burn Live.

I knew that Slow Burn had recently done a season about hip hop legends Tupac and Biggie, but I hadn't gotten around to listening yet. So I bought my ticket to the show (less than $40) and told myself I had three weeks to listen to the 8-episode season!

Slow Burn Season 3

Fans of the first two seasons of Slow Burn were probably surprised when the show announced season 3 last fall. The first two seasons were about U.S. political scandals (Watergate and the Clinton impeachment).

Season 3 took a sharp turn, but it was sooooo good. It was hosted by Joel Anderson, and the research and interviews that were included in each episode blew my mind.

If you were too young to remember the mid- to late-90s, or if hip hop isn't your genre of choice, then the 8-episode run will seriously clue you in to the East Coast/West Coast feud, and the violence that eventually led to both Tupac and Biggie being assassinated.

The Live Show

Slow Burn Live was held at the New School auditorium in New York. The vibe when I walked in was super casual. The tickets were all general admission, so I made sure to arrive early so I could get a good seat close to the front.

There was a DJ on stage, playing hip hop music, which was perfectly fitting for the night. The DJ actually stayed on stage throughout the show, playing audio clips, just like the ones you'd hear mixed into a regular podcast.

The format of the live show was pretty interesting. I'd say that two thirds was very much like a podcast, while the last third was a casual chat about the topic and the making of the podcast.

When the show started, Joel Anderson (the host) stood at a podium, welcomed everyone, and then launched into a scripted intro that felt like you were listening to one of the season 3 episodes.

I thought this was a pretty cool way to go about the show. When a podcast has a very tight sound and format (and Slow Burn S3 does), you grow comfortable with it. Anderson created the same kind of comfortable setting in-person, which was awesome.

The next third of the show included a panel discussion with four three other gentleman, all of whom knew or worked with both Tupac and Biggie.

I have to say: it felt CRAZY to sitting in the same room with men who were so close to all the events I'd recently learned about in the podcast.

On stage with Anderson were (left to right above): Reverend Conrad Tillard, who was known as “Hip Hop Minister” in the 90s, for his work brokering peace with rap celebrities; Nashiem Myrick, a music producer who worked closely with The Notorious B.I.G.; and legendary producer Easy Mo Bee, who worked closely with Biggie and Tupac.

Surprisingly, it was this discussion that was the most light and funny part of the night. It was like what happens when you get together with your old group of high school or college friends, and everyone is telling stories and interrupting everyone else to correct their versions of what happened.

I could have listened to that part all night. There were a few distractions during this part though. First, Anderson's microphone wasn't really set up to catch his voice all that clearly (ironic, since it's a podcast).

Anderson was also pretty preoccupied about the time before he had to move onto the last part of the show. Add to that a few people who didn't feel it necessary to turn off their ringers (!!!), and one guy who flat out took a couple phone calls and talked in a regular voice.

Still, I loved this part of the night. I actually wished it had gone on longer.

The last third of the show was a casual chat between Anderson, Slow Burn's producer, Christopher Anderson (pictured above), and fellow journalist and podcaster Bomani Jones.

Jones has literally nothing to do with the show; thankfully, Anderson gave him a proper introduction. Jones' role on the stage was to be the interviewer, thus making Anderson the interviewee. This was the part of the show I enjoyed the least.

Maybe it's because I was disappointed at how they handled a pretty touchy topic. They discussed a main player in the 90s hip hop drama, C. Delores Tucker.

Almost an entire episode of the podcast focused on Tucker. She was a black leader who fought against hip hop, because of the way the genre treated women of color (as well as the black-on-black violence and the profits going to the predominately white record label execs).

The thoughts and opinions of the three men on stage were interesting, but in an auditorium with about 150 people in it—90% of them people of color—no one thought to ask one of the many women to stand up and share their thoughts.

This was a missed opportunity, for sure. I think it partly came back to the issue of time (which was mentioned several times during the live show), but also because no one thought ahead to include a woman of color in that part of the conversation.

The show ended with a very short Q&A session (2 questions, due to lack of time).

I Give Slow Burn Live a B+

I totally don't "give out" letter grades or star ratings on this blog, but I feel like the best way to wrap this up is to say that I'm really glad I was able to see Slow Burn Live.

There were a few technical hiccups, and I wasn't thrilled with the last third of the show, but the first two thirds made up for it. I absolutely think it was worth the price of admission.

If you're looking for a podcast event near you, or in a city you'll be traveling to soon, check out my page about Podcast Events for Fans