E368. Freedom is Messy and Hard - John Papola

Walk-Ins Welcome with Bridget Phetasy

Conversations with people from all walks of life.

News, Comedy Interviews, News Commentary, Society & Culture, Comedy

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 11 December 2025

⏱️ 117 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dad Saves America podcast host, John Papola, joins Bridget for a wide-ranging conversation about everything from the Crusades to life advice for teenage boys. They discuss John’s career trajectory, how he went from MTV, to Spike TV, to documentary filmmaker and ultimately to starting his podcast after COVID hit, why he wanted to take on harder subjects as topics, why 1998 was the peak of Western Civilization, the truth about the production industry, the coolest project he’s ever gotten to wor...

Transcript

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0:00.0	All right. I'm with John Popola, everybody. Welcome to Walkins. Welcome. It is a pleasure, Bridget.
0:05.7	And I'm in your amazing studio. So I feel fancy. I've got makeup and hair. This is an upgrade. This is what I strive for.
0:14.6	We do fancy here. It's part of the thing. How long have you guys been located in in Austin?
0:21.2	I have actually been here since 2011.
0:23.4	Oh, okay.
0:24.5	So...
0:25.8	From where?
0:26.7	I was working in New York City and living in New Jersey for the seven years.
0:32.1	In fact, the five years in True Bridge and Tunnel, four hours of daily commute life was the reason why we moved to Austin,
0:40.1	more than anything else.
0:40.9	It was like, this is destroying my life.
0:43.6	And why did you decide on Austin?
0:45.0	Because this was pre, I mean, Austin's been cool for a while.
0:50.3	Here's the thing.
0:51.2	I came here in 2001 and people were saying, oh, you've already missed the bubble on Austin.
0:56.3	In 2001, they're like, oh, Austin was cool in the 90s.
0:59.8	You already missed it.
1:01.1	And now I look back and I'm like, if I had only bought a house and a bunch of property
1:05.4	in Austin in 2001 and then I came again in 2000, I to say nine and again people said oh you already missed
1:12.8	the bubble on Austin yeah I so um we were going to start I was working at Spike TV I was one of
1:21.5	the creative directors at Spike the first network for men yeah and in fact I've kind of I kind of
1:26.3	adopted the old Spike colors for Dad Saves America,
	...

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