The summary for this episode says, “Randy joins the Armchair Expert to discuss being a child in the deep south in the 60s…” I very well could have been distracted and not listening closely enough, but I honestly think they talked about his childhood for 5 min max. I remember Randy talking about his recent weight loss and using that to compare and contrast how he used to eat (fried food/junk) to what he eats now (healthier). But as for like what his childhood was like, I think that was sorely missed. The majority of this rather short (like 30 min shorter than normal episodes) interview was focused on his professional career which is impressive as hell, but not what I typically go to AE for. I listen to AE for a holistic view of who these well-known people are, not their credits. I want an inside look at who they are, not the regular facts that everybody knows/could know with a quick Google search. Somewhat unfortunately, this episode focused more on the latter.
I wrote “somewhat unfortunately” because spending an hour listening to Randy Jackson talk about his successes in the music industry was still worth it. He has had a lot of success in a variety of jobs: performing, producing and, of course, recruiting. It was cool to hear him talk about American Idol and speak so highly of the team that made it so successful — Simon Cowell, Paula Abdul, Ryan Seacrest (and himself). The four of them were the oil that made the machine of American Idol run as efficiently and powerfully every season on air. He gave credit where credit is due and I can always appreciate that.
Honestly, I wish I had more to say but nothing is really coming to mind. Overall, I liked Randy’s laid-back, comfortable vibe — him and Dax complemented each other nicely. The fact check was a weird conglomeration of Dax doing shitty impressions of other actors. (As I noted in Samin’s episode, I am really not a fan of a fact check that is just one run-on tangent). Compared to other episodes where when I finish, I feel like I could write an essay on them, I finished listening to this episode feeling like I really didn’t get a great sense of who Randy Jackson is. That’s kinda a bummer considering that’s the whole goal here but alas I digress — my life has been insane lately and my mind has been elsewhere so there is a real possibility I missed some things because I am preoccupied with others. Maybe I’ll just have to re-listen again in the future.
