The Meta Podcast

Denniel Correa

Another episode, another actor! Ishan's friend (and roommate) Denniel Correa graces us with his presence to talk about his early aspirations to become an actor coming from a Puerto Rican background, while also giving us an insight into the theater side of things. Denniel and Ishan also discuss coming from minority backgrounds and the American film landscape calling for more diversity. This week's movie pick is Pokemon: Detective Pikachu. Denniel is in his final semester at The University of Kansas as a theater major. Recently, he has been a part of HyVee, Wendy's, and Ford commercials shot in Kansas City.

Jake McKay

First episode of the new season brings on Jake McKay, a local KC artist who's worked in a lot of different mediums (The intro forgets to mention music as one of them but Jake is a talented musical artist as well). We talk Jake's creative journey so far, his college years, a hint at what he's got coming up, as well as his outlook on how to go about creating. We also get into the current political landscape and how it's going to filter into his upcoming work. This episode's movie pick is Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith.  Link to Jake's sketch comedy work:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vxtLSu2ucNg&list=PL4hiIYoJm4KuT_2mH16LFhvzO1YQgEebS&ab_channel=Rosewood Link to Jake's twitter: https://twitter.com/sohappyimsad

Rodney Alexander

Happy TENTH episode! Ishan’s close friend and collaborator Rodney Alexander joins the show to talk about the anxieties of being an artist, their experiences growing together creatively, being comfortable with yourself, and much more. This episode’s movie pick is Avengers: Infinity War. Rodney is a senior at The University of Kansas in his final semester as a theater major and film minor.

Ryan Njenga

Big episode with a BIG guest. Ishan's close friend and often-collaborator Ryan Njenga stops by. We cover a lot: Ryan's work and its various influences, his experiences starting out making short films in high school, what he's got coming up, as well as his time coming to Lawrence to work on his recent short film collection (FOUR SHORT FILMS (2019)). This episode's movie pick is Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in... Hollywood.  Ryan is a local Kansas City filmmaker who writes and directs his own work under his production bannner NJENGA FILMS. He also directs and produces music videos within the KC metro area.  Link to Ryan's work: https://vimeo.com/ryannjenga

Chase Hofer

This episode changes the format slightly. We pick an artist and dissect their career and work. This episode we sit down with Chase Hofer to discuss Noah Baumbach's filmography and career. Baumbach has been a huge influence on both Chase and Ishan and their work. We do a deep dive into films like The Squid and the Whale, Marriage Story, and Frances Ha. This week's movie pick is not a movie, but we do have a very passionate and lovely de-brief on Better Call Saul.  Chase is a filmmaker, and a Film and Media Studies major at The University of Kansas.