Chatter Box: Dope As Usual Podcast
From toxifillers.com with love
As many of us know first-hand, smoking weed and deep conversations have always made for excellent bedfellows. Thanks to podcaster Thomas Araujo—aka Dope as Yola—this time-honored tradition is now going viral as the podcast host and cannabis entrepreneur reaches new heights with his hit show, “Dope As Usual.”
Available to stream on Spotify and YouTube, the program’s success has skyrocketed as of late thanks to support from the platform itself, which Araujo says has come to embrace a show that’s already caught fire with fans. Nonetheless, the slow progress of getting mainstream acceptance for a cannabis talk show has led him to offer bonus “unrestricted” episodes to paid subscribers on the show’s website.
But “Dope As Usual” continues to see impressive numbers in spite of these obstacles. To date, the show boasts more than 110,000 listeners and some 5.6 million streams on Spotify alone in addition to their 373k YouTube subscribers and 40+ million hours of watch-time.
Looking back, Araujo says he can trace the eventual success of his current podcast to an earlier YouTube series called “Story Time” that saw him finally step in front of the camera to share personal memories from his own life in the pre-legalization era.
“For the first five years, I did content where I never talked on camera,” Araujo says. “‘Story Time’ was my first time doing that. People kept asking me to do more. Eventually, I got comfortable.”
That’s around the time his future “Dope As Usual” co-host/producer Marty O’Neill sent him a fateful DM suggesting they make a podcast together. O’Neill brought a wealth of valuable experience to their partnership as a former graphic art designer for heavyweight comedy podcasters Joe Rogan, Theo Vaughn and Adam Corolla.
“I looked at his profile and thought, ‘You want to work with me? I’m just a pothead,” Araujo says with a laugh. “’These guys are real comedians.’ But he was serious, and that’s literally how this all happened.”
Today, the two of them are enjoying robust success as one of Spotify’s top cannabis comedy podcasts and a major draw on YouTube as well—so much so that they’re finally expanding their small crew—even hiring a booking agent dedicated to “Dope As Usual.”
It makes sense given the podcast is just one of numerous cannabis-related ventures the budding entrepreneur is currently overseeing.
Besides his “Dope As Usual” podcast, Araujo also has a clothing company, another YouTube channel, a THCA company and a forthcoming rolling paper brand to oversee on a daily basis. But the ambitious workload hasn’t stopped the interview-savvy stoner from booking a slew of amazing guests, including Steve-O of MTV’s Jackass, Mario Lopez of Saved By The Bell and the late comedian, Ken Flores.
Even when guests on the show can’t consume—as was the case for both Steve-O and Lopez—Araujo says he’s happy to make exceptions if it means getting to talk to interesting people.
“We’ve done more than 50 sober episodes for certain guests,” he says. “When Tony Hawk came, he couldn’t smoke because he’s signed by Disney, so we just didn’t smoke with him. You have to respect the person’s time and their lifestyle.”
When asked who his dream guest for “Dope As Usual” is, Araujo doesn’t hesitate. “I want to talk to Arnold Schwarzenegger,” he says.
Maybe, just maybe, he’ll be back.
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