I Listen So You Don't Have To: Steve Austin Show Ep. 323

Austin talks to an outdoorsman this week Photo Credit: WWE.com

If you’re new, here’s the rundown: We listen to a handful of wrestling podcasts each week. Too many, probably, though certainly not all of them. In the interest of saving you time — in case you have the restraint to skip certain episodes — the plan is to give the bare bones of a given show and let you decide if it’s worth investing the time to hear the whole thing. There are many wrestling podcasts out there, of course, but this feature largely hews to the regular rotation we feel best fit the category of hit or miss. If we can save other folks some time, we’re happy to do so.

Show: Steve Austin Show
Episode: 323 (May 10, 2016)
Run Time: 1:32:21
Guest: Michael Waddell (11:35)

Summary: Austin catches up with Outdoor Network personality Michael Waddell — a man Austin argues is the face of hunting in America — and they start with recalling how each got into hunting. Waddell goes deep on explaining duck and turkey calls before discussing his own career path and how he evolved into on-air personality. Austin asks Waddell to share memories of the late Dale Earnhardt, and then how he developed his “Bone Collector” brand. After some technical talk about the filming of Wadell’s show, they again dig deep on turkeys before ending with some big picture thoughts and plugs.

Quote of the week:“I never had the goal or dream of being on TV, it just kinda happened, and those doors opened and I had a chance to start doing that, and immediately that recipe kinda hit home and I bonded some really good friendships with a lot of different celebrities and just your averages Joes that just were walking the streets that were great hunters, great funny guys and kinda the rest is history, and we’ve kinda used that recipe to kinda show that everybody’s really the same, we just all have different talents, but at the end of it we love to be outdoors and to be secure, to hunt and fish, and just to enjoy our times with our family and friends.”

Why you should listen: Lovers of hunting, turkey breeding and hillbilly moonshine are in for quite a treat. You know that guy Cohutta from The Real World in Sydney, Australia? Well I do, and Waddell definitely has a lot of that same folksy appeal (likening an aggressive turkey caller to a hot mess in a singles bar scaring off the menfolk without coming off as a rube or a sexist) except he talks more about shooting things. And as far as hunters go, he’s probably the best I’ve encountered at presenting himself as someone respectful of the animal kingdom and the responsibility of providing for a family.

Why you should skip it: This conversation is pretty much all about hunting, and there’s only so much turkey sex talk one person can possibly be interested to hear. Kidding aside, if you don’t like hunting, celebrity worship or slack-jawed yokels, maybe take a pass to Thursday. (Also, there’s one unbleeped curse word, so heads up if you let your kids listen to the family-friendly show expecting it to be clean.)

Final thoughts: I have zero interest in Waddell or his career, but he seems like a nice enough guy and I’d much rather listen to him than hear more about all the porn on Ted Fowler’s hard drive. You can rest easy in skipping this episode, but if you do decide to give it a listen, there’s a better than average chance you’ll at least be entertained a time or two.