Behind the Broadcast – How Josh Carlson Found a New Role in the MTB World

Downtime - The Mountain Bike Podcast

Downtime MTB

Sports, Leisure, Fitness, Health & Fitness, Hobbies, Wilderness

4.9 • 628 Ratings

🗓️ 1 July 2025

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

From racing between the tape to calling the action from the booth, Josh Carlson has experienced mountain biking from every angle. In this episode, we dive into his unique journey from pro Enduro racer to one of the key voices in the sport’s global broadcast. Josh shares what it’s like working behind the mic for Warner Brothers, how he connects with athletes and audiences, and why storytelling is at the heart of great coverage. We also get into the evolution of Enduro, the grind of balancing family life, racing and media, and what it takes to build a personal brand that truly represents the sport. This is a behind-the-scenes look at what goes into broadcasting the sport we all love, so sit back, hit play, and enjoy this conversation with Josh Carlson.

You can also watch this episode on YouTube here.

You can follow Josh on Instagram @joshcarlson__ or on his YouTube channel here or website here.

Podcast Stuff

Supporting Partners

Worx

If you ride bikes, you need a Worx Hydroshot. It’s a cordless pressure washer that pulls water from anywhere, a tap, bucket, or even a stream and it runs on the Worx Powershare battery system.

As a Downtime listener in the UK, get 15% off the Hydroshot range with code downtime15, or 10% off everything else that Worx has to offer with code DOWNTIME, all at uk.worx.com.

Listener Offers

Downtime listeners can now get 10% off of Stashed Space Rails. Stashed is the ultimate way to sort your bike storage. Their clever design means you can get way more bikes into the same space and easily access whichever one you want to ride that day. If you have 2 or more bikes in your garage, they are definitely worth checking out. Just head to stashedproducts.com/downtime and use the code DOWNTIME at the checkout for 10% off your entire order. And just so you know, we get 10% of the sale too, so it’s a win win.

Patreon

I would love it if you were able to support the podcast via a regular Patreon donation. Donations start from as little as £3 per month. That’s less than £1 per episode and less than the price of a take away coffee. Every little counts and these donations will really help me keep the podcast going and hopefully take it to the next level. To help out, head here.

Merch

If you want to support the podcast and represent, then my webstore is the place to head. All products are 100% organic, shipped without plastics, and made with a supply chain that’s using renewable energy. We now also have local manufacture for most products in the US as well as the UK. So check it out now over at downtimepodcast.com/shop.

If you want a bit more Downtime in your life, then you can join my newsletter where I’ll provide you with a bit of behind the scenes info on the podcast, interesting bits and pieces from around the mountain bike world, some mini-reviews of products that I’ve been using and like, partner offers and more. You can do that over at downtimepodcast.com/newsletter.

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Our back catalogue of amazing episodes is available at downtimepodcast.com/episodes

Photo – Warner Brothers Discovery

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Coming in, trying to fill Rob's shoes is huge. But man, it is hard to look at the forums
0:05.5	because it's just endless negative feedback. The core has been what we've been built around.
0:09.9	We are a core sport. We are a core audience and we're a community. I actually would like it to
0:15.0	go less people at a World Cup for that.
0:20.7	Hey everyone. I'm Chris Hall and this is the downtime podcast, the podcast for the true fans of
0:25.7	gravity mountain biking, taking you deeper into the sport than anywhere else. This episode is
0:30.1	supported by Works. If you've been to any mountain bike race in the UK, you've probably seen
0:34.7	a Works Hydro Shot in action, and for good reason.
0:42.0	The Works Hydro Shot is a battery-powered pressure washer that can pull water from pretty much anywhere.
0:45.0	A tap, a bucket, a water tank, even a stream.
0:46.4	It's super versatile.
0:51.1	It runs on Works is clever PowerShare battery system, and it's impressively efficient.
0:54.1	I've cleaned multiple filthy bikes on a single charge. Whether I'm at
0:55.0	home or out in the van, post-ride, it's always easy to get things cleaned up. It's light,
0:59.5	compact, and just gets the job done. As a downtime listener in the UK, you can get 15% off
1:05.2	the entire Hydroshot range using the code Downtime 15 at the checkout. As a downtime listener in the UK, you can get 15% off
1:12.6	the entire Hydroshot range using the code downtime 15 at the checkout. That's downtime in lowercase,
1:18.2	followed by the numbers 1 and 5 with no spaces over at UK.Works.com. That's Works about W-O-R-X.
1:25.4	And it's not just about bike cleaning. Works has a huge range of tools powered by the same battery system. From leaf blowers to chainsaws to power drills, it's all there to support your trail building, maintenance or DIY projects. UK listeners can get 10% off everything else from works using the code downtime all-in capitals. So that's downtime 15 lowercase for 15% off the Hydroshot range
1:45.5	and downtime all in capitals for 10% off everything else. Both codes are valid at UK.org.com
1:51.5	and that's works spelled WORX. Go and check it out. More than ever, the support I get from
1:56.8	Patreon is key to helping me keep this podcast going. So if you're enjoying the show,
	...

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