Jacob Cleveland, psychology junior, hosts “The San Mo Show,” a podcast aiming to educate and entertain its audience through local news and pop culture.
Listeners can expect to engage in a variety of topics each week. Cleveland said subjects depend on the special guest of the week. However, he makes an effort to focus on local and national events.
Cleveland launched The San Mo Show February 2019 during his first year at Texas State. Garrett Watkins, psychology sophomore, was Cleveland’s roommate at the time and got featured on the first episode of the podcast.
Throughout the episode, Cleveland and Watkins discussed the results of Texas State student elections, national politics and crime in San Marcos.
Episodes are typically an hour to an hour and a half long. Currently, there are 15 episodes available.
When he first heard of Cleveland’s idea to start a podcast, Watkins said he was not convinced Cleveland would be as committed as he is now.
“I figured this is just one of those things he’ll talk about, but never actually go through with,” Watkins said.
Watkins said he has been impressed with how well the podcast has improved in terms of structure and organization.
“(Cleveland) has definitely grown a lot more comfortable and the show overall has gotten a lot better,” Watkins said.
When Cleveland first started the podcast, most of the guests on the show were his friends. However, once The San Mo Show gained popularity, he received messages on Twitter and emails from listeners who were interested in being featured.
Cleveland credits his friends for the growth of the podcast. He said they have shown him a great amount of support and helped promote the show on social media.
“I have a lot of great friends who have been really supportive and have helped me grow my audience,” Cleveland said.
Madison Jones, human development and family science freshman, has been listening to The San Mo Show since the beginning. Jones knows Cleveland from high school, but she found out about the podcast through her roommate, who is friends with Cleveland.
Jones said she listens to the podcast on a regular basis and finds it humorous and engaging.
“It’s about things I can understand and laugh at,” Jones said. “I think it’s cool a lot of the people that come on the show are relatable.”
Cleveland said he wanted to create a listening experience centered around the individuals of San Marcos to showcase the charm of the city.
“In a lot of ways, San Marcos is that weird, middle child between San Antonio and Austin,” Cleveland said. “It has its own unique flavor, which I think needs to be shared.”
The San Mo Show has featured several community members, including Texas State student body president and vice president Corey Benbow and Tucker Thompson. Joseph Losoya, also known as Bubble Believer, could be heard as well.
Within the next few years, Cleveland said he hopes the show continues to improve and reach a larger audience.
“I hope we have bigger guests and maybe once elections start, have local politicians come on,” Cleveland said.
Cleveland said the show has allowed him to entertain his audience while simultaneously serving as a platform for guests to sit down and talk about their views and experiences. He hopes the podcast will motivate listeners to stay in the loop and be aware of various perspectives and stories in the community.
Cleveland encourages those interested in creating their own podcasts to stick with a topic of genuine interest.
“The main ingredient to being dedicated is making sure (the project) is something you like,” Cleveland said. “It’s going to become more like a chore if you don’t like doing it but if you find topics you like, it’ll be a lot easier to keep going.”
New episodes of The San Mo Show are released every Friday. The podcast is available on Apple Podcast, Spotify, Google Play and YouTube.
To stay up-to-date on the latest announcements and episodes of The San Mo Show, follow it on Twitter @SanMoShow.