Meet the Failcrew – Devin Baker

Greetings, fellow internet denizens! I’m Devin Baker, editor of the Made of Fail podcast. You might know me from fandoms such as DC Comics, Square-Enix (particularly Kingdom Hearts), and my lovely fiancée.

What is your role in Made of Fail Productions?

I take the ball of words that is the raw take of Made of Fail and shape it into something that sounds like a podcast—segments, interludes, intros, etc. It’s a fairly easy task; the hosts are good at moderating the discussion and keeping it lively, though I do have to cut the occasional flub or tangent that goes too far afield.

If you haven’t read our Podcasting Guide and you’re interested in editing, scroll to the top of the screen and click the button for some great advice. It’s how I learned.

What fascinates you the most about your fandoms, or fandom as a whole?

The wank. Not so much the being jerks to people part, but the passion that drives fans. Take Inspector Spacetime from Community. Fans took a 20 second Dr. Who parody and created a whole meta-fandom out of it complete with fan art, fanfic, even music.

Incidentally: Mike, Picard, and John Stewart (but Kyle if you forced me to pick between the two). Also The Great Divide wasn’t that bad and neither was Rinoa. And… go!

What is your proudest accomplishment or achievement?

I’m proud of myself for completing the annual Cincinnati “Flying Pig” half-marathon in 2007. The last mile and a half is the most grueling thing — mentally and physically — I’ve ever done.

I’m also proud anytime I can fix a problem on MoF so thoroughly no one would know that a problem existed in the first place. I’d point out a few of those, but that would ruin my fun.

What do you do when you’re not online?

Wedding planning. Trying to keep up with my ever-growing backlog of books, comic and otherwise. Video games (I think I’m about to fight the final boss in Portal 2. Wish me luck!). Wedding planning. Laundry. Slowly but surely returning to half marathon form. Feeding the cat.

What are your podcast influences?

I listen to a lot a podcasts while running or cleaning up around the house. Here’s a sampling in no particular order: Stuff You Should Know, Savage Love, On the Media, Judge John Hodgman, Marketplace: Money. I also listen to a lot of live NPR. I draw lessons and inspiration from everything I hear. The two shows that have the biggest impact on what I do are NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour because of the similarity of our forms and Radiolab, because Jad Abumrad—co-host and editor of the show—is ridiculously creative and inventive.

What is your dream job?

I’ll commit the ultimate college interview sin and say “I want to help people” because it’s true.

What is your greatest pet peeve?

Reading the comments. There’s like five websites that have worthwhile commentary and commentators, yet I always at least skim the comments. What’s wrong with me?

(I’m including us in the five. Prove me right, Fail-fans!)

Devin can be followed on Twitter (@eso_si_que) and LiveJournal (sora50)

2 thoughts on “Meet the Failcrew – Devin Baker

    • Yep. He’s also the only one to use an Indigo ring offensively as opposed to channeling another Corps’s energy. (I’m behind on my GL books, but I doubt that’s changed.) Dude’s amazing.

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