WDYM What Do You Mean?
WDYM What Do You Mean?
Episode 100!!!
A hundred episodes later, the mic feels different—steadier, sharper, and a lot more honest. We look back at the spark that started during lockdown, then walk through the five episodes that shaped WDYM. It’s a reel of the show’s heart: music, everyday chaos, and the lessons that come with saying what you really mean.
We open up about what the first hundred taught us—consistency moves numbers, specificity drives engagement, and honesty builds trust even when it stings. From there, we set a clear roadmap for the next chapter: a tighter cadence, more “nerdy” deep dives.
If you’ve been riding with us from day one—or just found us at episode 100—this is your invite to help shape what comes next. Subscribe, share with a friend who loves a bold take, and tell us what segment you want to hear more of. Your feedback steers the next 100.
Be Apart of the Show!! Text and Talk!!
Email me! Thewdympodcast@gmail.com
Intro by Kobeofei via Fiverr
Season 2 Artwork: Ishida1694 via Instagram
You're listening to the WDYM, the What Do You Mean podcast? Hamilton's number one podcast. Now sit back and relax. Here's Hamilton's own Michael Gillespie.
SPEAKER_03:And welcome to the WDYM. How y'all doing? I hope everybody's doing good. Hope everybody's doing well, man. It's a great day. It is a great day to be podcasting. Great day in general, man. It's it's nice. Down stretch, down run, down the road to 2026, man. That's crazy, isn't it? But but today, today's episode is very significant as well because this is my 100th episode. So it brings me back to a time where like when why did I start doing this? You know what I mean? It was um just a you know, we is during the COVID era and everything where we were all stuck inside and everything. I was like, what am I gonna do? Because we couldn't go outside, couldn't do anything or anything like that because of fear of coronavirus and everything. It was just like, what am I what do I want to do? So I was like, I remember talking to uh my friend Yashua of the So Mixed Up podcast. Like, we were used to talk about the day. He's like, Yeah, I'm getting ready to start a podcast. I was like, wow, really? He's gonna start a podcast. So I was like, well, if he can start a podcast, well, why can't I? And so I would listen to his his and his wife Margarita's uh podcast and everything, which is awesome, which is titled again giving out some shout outs for the So Mixed Up Podcast. Okay, episode 76. Uh they just dropped one a couple days ago. Entitled Halloween time once again. So give them a listen. I don't they would appreciate it, I would appreciate it. Uh so mixed up podcast, man. I like I I enjoy what they do. I'm a fan, I'm a listener, and all that good stuff. I do have a couple episodes to catch up on. But yeah, uh, you know, I gotta give shout outs, always give shoutouts to Yashua for um starting a podcast and putting the idea in my head. And from that point forward, I decided to do my own podcast because of his suggestions. And lo and behold, a hundred episodes later, here we go. Here we are. And needless to say, there's been up and downs dealing with this and everything, and um rightfully so, you know. Um, when you do this for fun, it it's what it is, it's for fun. You know, you don't take it seriously, you get a couple views here and everything, and you're just you're just proud to have something consistent and you build something, right? So on April 17th, 2021, I did my first episode, The Death of DMX and Internet Dating in the 2000s. Wow. Uh I listened to that recently, and yeah, it's a little bit, it's a little bit of a rough listen to. I mean, you know, when you're doing it, there's no script on how to do things right. You just get in there and do it, and then hopefully you turn that fun into a passion. And we will talk about that today. But yeah, that's the first episode. So today we're gonna talk about the top five episodes, give a little recap on those, um, talk about the podcast in general and what the future is, what the future is for the WDYM, and we'll see what happens for the next 100 plus episodes. I didn't think, you know, looking back at it, I would never have thought I would do this a hundred times. But I have fun. I have fun doing this, I have fun with the topics I talk about, if it's nerdy stuff, political stuff, sports stuff, Hamilton stuff, baiting stuff, all that stuff. I am very, very happy where I am with the podcast. Now, is there uh room for improvement? Obviously. Obviously, there's room for improvement. We will get into that here soon, but we're gonna go first one tackle the top five episodes of the WDYM. And two of them, well, all of it's most of them are related to work, but definitely a couple of them are linked together because of life, right? So let's go ahead and get into the top five episodes of the WDYM. Starting first with number number five is the top ten most annoying Christmas songs. And I can tell you right now that it has to be. Now I don't remember I don't remember exactly the uh I'm not sure about what is number number one, but let's go ahead and dig into that. The most annoying Christmas song at the WDYM. And when I say that, it's how I feel when I hear it. It's no other than my ex-wife every year. Every year, and it's right after Thanksgiving. We don't I mean really it's right after Halloween. This song comes on every year. And I think this is this is it's controversial. This might be her most popular song, and her whole catalog, Mariah Carey, all I want for Christmas is you.
unknown:I just want you for my own all you could ever.
SPEAKER_03:So we're not gonna listen to that. You can do your own research for that one, but yeah, that's my number five, and that's my number one most annoying Christmas song because I don't even think it's a good Christmas song, it's just Mariah Carey, and Mariah Carey can sing really well. I mean, you know, ex-wife and all. She can sing really well, and yeah, but it's just so annoying that it every time, and it's like it we glaze over Thanksgiving, and I love Thanksgiving time, I love you know the smell of turkey and rolls and all that good stuff, but it's glazed over, it's glazed over, and it's like that's the most like disappointing thing about it. It's like we go straight to Mari Carey in this song, and it's so annoying, it's so annoying that that is played every time and just completely glazed over everything else. So that's my number five. Number four is again this is what a season season two, episode nine, which is titled I make fun of old people. And here's the sound bit for that.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, you heard that mbutu was an African.
SPEAKER_03:So when he came in, he was he was he was real cool. He was real cool. African guy, he goes, hey, excuse me, sir. He'd be like, hey, I do not eat red meat. I said, okay, no problem. I I do eat chicken sometimes, but I do like fish. Do you have any fish? I'm like, Mbutu, I got fish for you. I got a whole bunch of tilapia. I totally forgot about that guy. Yeah. Understand that when it comes to senior living and everything, you're gonna come across so many characters, you're gonna come across so many people. And I'm not just talking about residents themselves, I'm talking about the staffing too. You're gonna come across so many people. But Mbutu in this story, he just he just loved fish. And at the time where I was at, the only fish we really had was tilapia. And I hate, if you know anything about me when it comes to serving fish, I hate serving tilapia. Once you find out what tilapia really does in the sea, you will never eat tilapia again. And I mean that wholeheartedly. Tilapia is disgusting. If I go to somebody's house and they're offering tilapia, I'm like, yo, I'm leaving. Now, how do you feel about that? I'm leaving. So, yeah. Season two of that, and then here's the here's a kicker about this. I could if if I'm successful enough, I could just take the stories from Senior Living, because I've been doing this for about five, six years now. I could just tell stories from Senior Living and just do a podcast specifically on that alone. It's freaking hilarious how people act sometimes when they're in a senior facility. That, yeah, and it's freaking hilarious. So that's my number four. The next one and the next one, number, what is that, number three? Number three was filmed or recorded January 9th of 2024, season two, episode 29, titled The French Frial, The French File Conspiracy. Um this is the ep this is one of the most popular episodes. And in uh in hindsight, it cost it basically cost me my job. One of my jobs, I should say. Here's the soundbite from that episode. Some things need to connect, right? You know what I am, you've been here about sixty, seventy days, and things need to connect. And she goes on a little tirade about spoons. She goes, you know what, Mike? I don't have enough spoons today.
SPEAKER_02:And I'm looking around, like, hold on, I thought I ordered some plastic spoon and I have plenty of metal spoons. I'm confused. Like, what are you talking about? It's like Okay.
SPEAKER_03:So hearing that, that's hilarious. Number one. Number two, it's it's connected to somebody who I will never name again. Um who how do how do you word this? Somebody who you try to do to do the right thing, but it never works out. Either the can the message is misconscrewed or the message is just in a different language where the person cannot understand. And the funny thing about this whole situation that I learned about the situation is like there's a responsibility to what you do even on this, right? Even this this digital media has consequences. Like I said in the uh Charlie Kirk episode. So I I learned that. Part of it. And I don't appreciate the uh getting fired part, but you know, that happens. But again, in order for you to walk, you have to learn how to. Well, let me think. In order for you to run, you have to walk. In order for you to walk, you have to crawl. And sometimes you're gonna fall when you try to walk. Again, baby steps, you know, that's that's what it all boils down to. And and yeah, there's and while I am still to this day say I didn't do nothing wrong, I will still say that because there's no digital media section in the rule book at that time. I didn't do anything wrong, I'll stick to that. But I'm glad that it happened. You know, I'm glad to learn a lesson from it, and you know, if you're not learning, then you're not trying and all that good stuff. But yeah, that was that was number three. And number three and number two are um are related because they're both the same, dealing with the same thing. It's just different, just a different, I guess, take from it. This is after, which was titled Episode Two, or I'm sorry, season two, episode thirty-nine is uh yeah, uh I got fired. Told the truth. If I arm myself with the truth, you cannot penetrate my shield because I'm telling the truth. One of my friends always says, You a lie and the truth ain't in you. And I'm starting to believe that people live that way. They lie and the truth ain't in you. They can't lie. I arm myself with the truth. I I do that so I don't have to remember the lie. And that is so true. That that is like um so true. Uh again, I stand by what I said, I stand by what I did and everything, and you know, again, there was at the time there was no digital media rules. Again, I will stick to that. I will um ride with that until the last day, you know what I mean? But again, it is part of life. You learn things, good or bad, and then you have to move on, you have to adapt and move on. So you may ask yourself, what was your number one episode? What's your number one episode so far? And it's no surprise to me, it's one of the talking about one of the greatest entertainers of all time. That'll be Michael Jackson. And this was the top ten Michael Jackson songs, and you really can't go wrong with anything of that. That is season two, episode six. This episode, this episode's probably gonna go down as one of my favorite episodes because we are talking music, and who doesn't love music, but more importantly, Michael Jackson's music. Michael Jackson, the king of the king of pop, had numerous hits. That's the thing with Michael Jackson. Like, it doesn't have to necessarily be thiller thriller, Billy Jean, uh, black and white, etc. There's some there's some bangers in his album, off the wall, just to name one. Pretty PYT. So, um, so yeah, that's my top five episodes. And going forward, you see, you see, season two was very dominant, and I'm hoping that when I finish out this season and going forward, that um we could pass those numbers. But season two has some bangers, man. And and there was a lot of breaks and pauses in there, but rightfully so because of things that was happening. Um yeah, so I'm looking forward to moving on, learning as I go, and shooting for hopefully 200. So yeah, that's that's that's my top five episodes. So another thing about this is that um since I started this back in 2021, I've been doing this just for fun, right? I've been doing this for just to have fun, something to do on the on the you know, on the back nine, you know, like a second, just a hobby, so to speak. And now it's like, you know, hey, I've got a hundred episodes in. Uh, I'm learning, I'm still learning how to do this podcast the right way. I feel like I now feel like I found my voice on here, like I found like how to talk and how to how to entertain you guys and all that good stuff. And my numbers show. My numbers show when I'm consistent and stuff like that. That you know, if you're consistent and you're providing good material, the numbers will spike. But that's the thing. Like that's now, like I did my first hundred was for fun. Now it's time to see if I could take this and be serious with it. And I and you know, I've I've probably said that before, or I've said that to myself mentally, that you know, maybe I need to take this to the next level and take it seriously. And like use this as a second second job. You know, that's where I have to treat it mentally. I have to treat this like a second job. And the goal from from 100 to 200 is to get monetized. That's what I want to do. I want to be able to get to a point where that I'm profiting off doing this. But if I'm gonna do this, I have some certain rules to myself that I have to obtain in order to be monetized. Number one is consistency. Consistency is key. Season two was probably my most consistent era of the WDYM. Um, when I was doing episodes at least, at least bi-weekly or anything like that. It's been a while since I've done an episode. I think it's been over a month since the last episode. And I gotta I gotta cut that. I gotta stop doing that and start being consistent. So therefore, my audience can stay, my numbers can stay, and then I can just grow from there. So consistency is key. Number two, I want to get back to doing some nerdy stuff, getting back to doing reviews on movies and franchises and talk about Marvel and the Power Rangers. We just had um Tron just came out in theaters, and I want to talk about that, and I'm probably going to spend some time to talk about that. But I also like doing the personal stories and stuff to make people laugh and everything. That's that's my number one. I want to entertain you guys for a good 20 to 30 minutes tops, maybe touch on something serious or something like that. Like, you know, we had the Charlie Kirk thing and um Jason David Frank of the Power Rangers who committed suicide a couple years ago. Those are the things I don't know, I can touch serious than every now and then. But yeah, I want to get back to doing like nerdy stuff and just entertaining you guys. So that is, you know, one of the things consistency and providing good material that one I like and that I can want to present to you guys. I really want to do that. Uh so I gotta be that. Number three, I gotta be more creative. I think I think um bringing in like funny music, funny intros, and all that stuff, and you know, just keep doing the side the side shows like the uh WDYM sports. I need to get back on that, talk about wrestling, all that good stuff. So that's part of the goals too. Number four is uh I I definitely would like to have a co-host. Um, I always like when I do things with uh with my wife Destiny when she comes on comes on and does the show with us, like the uh Backstreet Boys at the Sphere. That was a fun episode where I get to go back and forth. But then listening to it, I gotta quit being so controlling because the show would be talking. One thing I noticed about me, she'll be like, yeah, she'll be talking that it'll be like, uh huh. Like, uh huh. Like I need to stop that. Let's just actually listen. So yeah. But I do would love to have a co host on them, and I got a plan in mind, so to speak. But uh that's in that's in work. Yeah, that is in work. So hopefully between 100 and 200, I will have those things to be successful. And then the last one is to they have these little podcast summits or anything like that. If I'm successful and working at it and you know being consistent and all that stuff and hopefully monetize, that's the goal. Get monetized between 100 and 200. Then I could do something else, go see other podcasts, go see these summits, have people talk, maybe get some news and notes, and come back and make this show even better. That's the goal. That is the goal of I guess 2026 and going forward is that hey, take this to a certain level, get monetized, get a co-host, and keep it keep it going, you know what I'm saying? That's that's the goal that I want. But I before we even like get off the topic, get off subject and all that stuff, we have to go back in the time machine and hit up hit up one of my favorites, one of my favorites from season two. Oddly enough, season two was really popping out, obviously, and go back to the intro to that one. Like while, yes, I do love my intros, and then every season I do switch out my intros. Maybe I need to rethink that and just keep one intro to therefore to keep it consistent. But I think that's that that's the charm of doing a different season. When you hear a certain theme, but oh, this season two, this season was good because it had a lot of episodes, or season three had that one theme, and I know what I'm getting some good stuff. But me personally, man, when I heard this song, I used to get so hyped ready for the episode when this would come on. Love it, and now I can just talk over it because you guys heard it before.
SPEAKER_01:You're listening to the WDYM, the What Do You Mean podcast. Now, everyone gather around and listen to one of Hamilton's best podcasts. No research to back this up. Your host, Michael Gillespie.
SPEAKER_03:That's me. That's me, that's me, that's me. And that's what I used to say to my hair every time this would come on, like get getting hype for the show and get the energy up and all that stuff. Um, I love that. I love that, love that intro. That's why I always keep it in, keep it in the side pocket just in case I want to bring it back or revamp it for season four. But I already got season four in my mind planning it and everything. So we'll see. We'll see if that if it comes back, probably not. But you know, I already got seeds planned for season four, what intro music I want to use, and you know, maybe I should stop, but I'm not. I like I think that's one of the things that make my show unique, and I'm gonna keep doing that. And one of the things that I want to do, that I'm still working on, trying to figure out how to do it, is to turn my audio podcast into video. Now I have the camera, I just gotta find the setup, like, because like I like the podcast room is is it's in my computer room, right? So it's a little I don't know if I won't put it on camera, I don't want to do green screen and all that stuff. I don't have no problem with it. It's just that you know I would like it to look better. But then I always like to say, I always like to see you the gloss up, so to speak, when you go from this stage to the fifth, sixth stage where you're elevating yourself and your game is getting better and you're used to doing this format, you know what I'm saying? Like like you want to show that growth and all that. So that's what's on my mind for that, like going straight to video. So that's it. That's my hundredth episode. I you know, first and foremost, guys, I can't thank you guys enough for sticking with me through four years of this. This has been fun for me. But now, now take this fun and try to get monetized. That's the goal. You know, they were they I seen someone were like, you should do a coffee or a Patreon. I was like, I don't even know what to do for that. Like, why would you just give me random money for like a hidden episode or behind a firewall? I don't know. I'm still thinking about like what to do as far as if I want to do that or not. Because I always I always like when I see someone on YouTube, like, yeah, I have a Patreon and donate here, da da da da. I always feel like oh dude, this dude's begging for money. But then it's like people do that though. You know, people are are kind enough and bless people enough for that. So what's the harm in doing that? But monetize. That's the goal. Monetize, monetize, monetize, monetize, monetize. So that's the goal. 100 and 200 to get monetized. I'm excited. I'm excited for the future for the WDYM because I've had enough practice. You know, I'll take these first hundred episodes. This was practice, y'all. So it's time to take it serious. Let's see what I can do. Thank you for listening for the first 100 episodes. I'm looking forward to the next 100 episodes. I appreciate you guys more than you ever know. Thank you so much. I'm your host, Michael Gillespie of the WDYM 100. I'll see you at 101. Thank you so much. I'm out, Girl Scout, Boy Scout, peace.
