Infrequently Asked Questions

What does “Impolite to Listen” mean?

It’s from the opening to Oscar Wilde’s play, The Importance of Being Earnest. Algernon, a dandy bachelor, is playing the piano (badly) in the other room while Lane, his butler, is arranging tea. Algernon enters and asks, “Did you hear what I was playing, Lane?” Lane, ever the diplomatic wit, responds, “I didn’t think it polite to listen, sir.” In that spirit, we invite you to eavesdrop on us; imagine we’re at the bar having a conversation, and you’re one seat over, impolitely listening in.

Can you play music, or do you just talk about it?

Cheeky, but fair. Chris plays trumpet and piano, and Sridhar plays flute.

Are you two actually friends in real life?

Podcasting is real life! But, yes, we met while we were studying at Indiana University’s Jacobs School of Music. We had an epic lunch that turned into dinner, and the night wore on agreeably enough. We ended up being roommates and had countless long conversations about anything and everything, so we’ve had a fair amount of practice for this podcast. There are still legends circulating around campus of the havoc we wreaked.

Which one is which?

Sridhar is usually grumpy and Chris is always Californian.

Why did you start a podcast when everybody has a podcast?

Well, the coronavirus lockdowns had just begun, so we had nothing better to do, really. But we like to think that we make a pretty unique show.

Do you prepare for the show?

We try our best, which is to say, no. We talk and we turn the mics on.

Why do you digress so much?

It’s a conversation, not a term paper.

Are you aware that you’ve said something incredibly, laughably wrong?

Yes. We can’t always stop to look something up without risking the conversation hitting a brick wall. The painful truth is that the process of making a podcast is the process of hearing yourself from the past and wondering, “Who is that idiot, and why does he sound so much like I do?” If we say something that is so egregious as to discredit us, we will usually try to make a correction (needless to say, we don’t know what we don’t know, so let us know if you think we’ve made such an error). A caveat: we are not journalists or scholars—we are merely trying to be interesting and entertaining—so we reserve the right to leave anything uncorrected if said correction is pointless and/or boring. Besides, if you use a podcast as a legitimate citation, that’s on you.

How can I support your astonishingly witty and illuminating podcast?

Great question, and if I may say so, very beautifully put. You can tell all your friends about us and/or help spread the word on social media, you can rate/review us on Apple Podcasts, or you can buy us a coffee. We appreciate your support and hope you continue to enjoy listening to the show as much as we enjoy making it. Cheers!