Try Hard

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SELF-IMPROVEMENT
EVERY TWO WEEKS

Alex Sujong Laughlin has conversations with people about the ways they're redefining themselves, from major life changes to picking up new hobbies. Be a try hard. We double dog dare you. Created by Alex Sujong Laughlin and Defector Media.

9 FEB

Bonus: You Can Just Publish Books?

Breaking this brief winter freeze with a bonus episode featuring a conversation with Madeline Porsella and Mabel Capability Taylor, the creators of Mandylion Press, which "unearths lost literary gems written by women and weirdos in the (very) long nineteenth century." Check out Mandylion's books here: https://www.mandylionpress.com/ Listen to their podcast, 1-800-1800: https://open.spotify.com/show/4evGmpMz51afDLClA3RVce***Sign up for ICE watch training***: https://statesatthecore.substack.com/p/community-defense-and-ice-watch Send me voice memos about the things YOU'RE trying at podcasts@defector.com, or you can message me or tag me on Instagram @alexlaughs. https://www.instagram.com/alexlaughs/ Try Hard is hosted and produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin. Editorial and production support from Audrey Mardavich, Tom Ley, and Jae Towle Vieira. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Our show art is by Lille Allen and our theme song is "Photo Booth" by Avery Friedman.Try Hard is a proud member of Radiotopia.

38 min
01/12/2025

Ronald Young Jr. Comes Clean

We've talked a lot about trying this season, but not enough about failing. In the season one finale, Ronald Young Jr. comes clean about failing his Try Hard project. Episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15ysREUJm3-I9T8K6xCGT4Qbtlu1fZfuKETkb1MvaV1c/edit?usp=sharing You can contribute to Radiotopia's fall fundraiser with a tax-deductible donation here! Get tickets to Ronald's show Heartbreaker in DC on Feb 21: https://www.unionstagepresents.com/shows/heartbreaker-a-tragic-love-story-from-ronald-young-jr/ Send me voice memos about the things YOU'RE trying at podcasts@defector.com, or you can message me or tag me on Instagram @alexlaughs. https://www.instagram.com/alexlaughs/ Try Hard is hosted and produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin. Editorial and production support from Audrey Mardavich, Tom Ley, and Jae Towle Vieira. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Mixing by Samantha Gattsek. Our show art is by Lille Allen and our theme song is "Photo Booth" by Avery Friedman.Try Hard is a proud member of Radiotopia.

36 min
17/11/2025

Zakiya Gibbons Goes On A Date

Zakiya Gibbons is rusty with dating women, so she goes to a queer speed dating event to shake the cobwebs off. Episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1THYaMJZoV3e_45wsLsScbYxphcywyMIhltrJN0b4Ygc/edit?usp=sharing You can contribute to Radiotopia's fall fundraiser with a tax-deductible donation here! Send me voice memos about the things YOU'RE trying at podcasts@defector.com, or you can message me or tag me on Instagram @alexlaughs. https://www.instagram.com/alexlaughs/ Try Hard is hosted and produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin. Editorial and production support from Audrey Mardavich, Tom Ley, and Jae Towle Vieira. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Mixing by Samantha Gattsek. Our show art is by Lille Allen and our theme song is "Photo Booth" by Avery Friedman.Try Hard is a proud member of Radiotopia.

32 min
03/11/2025

Josh Gondelman Plays Basketball

Josh Gondelman used to love playing basketball, but he can't seem to bring himself to play in his friend's long-running pickup game. Check out Josh's standup special, Positive Reinforcement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RAvNlgpdKKo Episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1KPusncOHye0q-x9GVxODOTuG-NMoLMjMUEVWlfg2f4I/edit?usp=sharing Send me voice memos about the things YOU'RE trying at podcasts@defector.com, or you can message me or tag me on Instagram @alexlaughs. https://www.instagram.com/alexlaughs/ Try Hard is hosted and produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin. Editorial and production support from Audrey Mardavich, Tom Ley, and Jae Towle Vieira. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Mixing by Samantha Gattsek. Our show art is by Lille Allen and our theme song is "Photo Booth" by Avery Friedman.Try Hard is a proud member of Radiotopia.

38 min
20/10/2025

Rax King Plays the Banjo

Rax King learns a song on the banjo to play at a jam.Check out Rax's new book, Sloppy: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/751421/sloppy-by-rax-king/ Episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ajUijzXj3ynxpHQIvh-cQBwWdrztnZCiUzJBoQNeTQo/edit?usp=sharing Send me voice memos about the things YOU'RE trying at podcasts@defector.com, or you can message me or tag me on Instagram @alexlaughs. https://www.instagram.com/alexlaughs/ Try Hard is hosted and produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin. Editorial and production support from Audrey Mardavich, Tom Ley, and Jae Towle Vieira. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Mixing by Samantha Gattsek. Our show art is by Lille Allen and our theme song is "Photo Booth" by Avery Friedman.Try Hard is a proud member of Radiotopia.

41 min
06/10/2025

Sabrina Imbler Goes Hunting

Sabrina Imbler is afraid of bugs, but they are working on a book about bugs. What to do?! In this episode, they attempt to catch and pin dragonflies. Episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Zyi-6wY81SosLtcs1y0vZXufOcFwobddFQMCeO7NHzc/edit?usp=sharingSend me voice memos about the things YOU'RE trying at podcasts@defector.com, or you can message me or tag me on Instagram @alexlaughs. https://www.instagram.com/alexlaughs/ Try Hard is hosted and produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin. Editorial and production support from Audrey Mardavich, Tom Ley, and Jae Towle Vieira. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Mixing by Samantha Gattsek. Our show art is by Lille Allen and our theme song is "Photo Booth" by Avery Friedman.Try Hard is a proud member of Radiotopia.

39 min
22/09/2025

Ceara Jane O'Sullivan Tries to Cartwheel

Ceara Jane O'Sullivan takes a gymnastics class in an attempt to finally master the ultimate cool girl trick: the cartwheel. Check out Ceara's podcast, Petty Crimes, here: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/petty-crimes/id1612693094Episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/10zWovNgFBG7w9b41zkZ5Fs95LX6uhj6y5UHykd0URIU/edit?usp=sharing Send me voice memos about the things YOU'RE trying at podcasts@defector.com, or you can message me or tag me on Instagram @alexlaughs. https://www.instagram.com/alexlaughs/ Try Hard is hosted and produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin. Editorial and production support from Audrey Mardavich, Tom Ley, and Jae Towle Vieira. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Mixing by Samantha Gattsek. Our show art is by Lille Allen and our theme song is "Photo Booth" by Avery Friedman.Try Hard is a proud member of Radiotopia.

31 min
08/09/2025

Diana Moskovitz Rides a Bike

Diana Moskovitz never learned to ride a bike when she was a child. Can she make her K-drama Han River bike riding dream come true? Episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CR1x7BM2vyw_t44kvnvXehKfZLjkTLbYgwQCid3vgEQ/edit?usp=sharing Send me voice memos about the things YOU'RE trying at podcasts@defector.com, or you can message me or tag me on Instagram @alexlaughs. https://www.instagram.com/alexlaughs/ Try Hard is hosted and produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin. Editorial and production support from Audrey Mardavich, Tom Ley, and Jae Towle Vieira. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Mixing by Samantha Gattsek. Our show art is by Lille Allen and our theme song is "Photo Booth" by Avery Friedman.Try Hard is a proud member of Radiotopia.

27 min
25/08/2025

Yowei Shaw Hosts a Party

What happens when a wallflower tries to stand in the spotlight? Check out Yowei's podcast, Proxy. Episode transcript here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q866ZRKA_MsysRPo1QQlBBESRfIksmQeZNFmbS_DUOg/edit?usp=sharing Send me voice memos about the things YOU'RE trying at podcasts@defector.com, or you can message me or tag me on Instagram @alexlaughs. Try Hard is hosted and produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin. Editorial and production support from Audrey Mardavich, Tom Ley, and Jae Towle Vieira. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Mixing by Samantha Gattsek. Our show art is by Lille Allen and our theme song is "Photo Booth" by Avery Friedman. Try Hard is a proud member of Radiotopia.

33 min
11/08/2025

Erika Casupanan Sings in Public

Erika spent her life being the person she thought she "should" be. It turns out that doing her own thing doesn't rock the world the way she thinks it will. It's actually pretty cool. Check out Erika's podcast, Happy to See Me. Episode transcript here. Send me voice memos about the things YOU'RE trying at podcasts@defector.com, or you can message me or tag me on Instagram @alexlaughs.Try Hard is hosted and produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin. Editorial and production support from Audrey Mardavich, Tom Ley, and Jae Towle Vieira. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Mixing by Samantha Gattsek. Our show art is by Lille Allen and our theme song is "Photo Booth" by Avery Friedman.Try Hard is a proud member of Radiotopia.

37 min
28/07/2025

Mattie Lubchansky Takes a Yoga Class

Cartoonist Mattie Lubchansky hates exercising in front of people, so in this first episode of Try Hard, she's trying out a real life yoga class full of real life strangers! By the way, you should buy Mattie's new book, Simplicity! Episode transcript here. Send me voice memos about the things YOU'RE trying at podcasts@defector.com, or you can message me or tag me on Instagram @alexlaughs. Try Hard is hosted and produced by Alex Sujong Laughlin. Editorial and production support from Audrey Mardavich, Tom Ley, and Jae Towle Vieira. Justin Ellis is Defector's projects editor. Mixing by Samantha Gattsek. Our show art is by Lille Allen and our theme song is "Photo Booth" by Avery Friedman. Try Hard is a proud member of Radiotopia.

32 min
TRAILER

Welcome to Try Hard

If there’s no shame in trying, why is it so hard? On Try Hard, Alex Sujong Laughlin helps people try the thing they've always wanted to do—from cartwheels to karaoke. First episode publishes July 28! Thank you to Charley Locke, Lilli Grace Barden, Yuli, and Juliana de Groot for lending your voices.

1 min

TRAILER

Welcome to Try Hard

If there’s no shame in trying, why is it so hard? On Try Hard, Alex Sujong Laughlin helps people try the thing they've always wanted to do—from cartwheels to karaoke. First episode publishes July 28! Thank you to Charley Locke, Lilli Grace Barden, Yuli, and Juliana de Groot for lending your voices.

14/07/2025

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Normal Gossip delivers juicy, strange, funny, and utterly banal gossip about people you’ll never know and never meet. Host Rachelle Hampton discusses reader-submitted comedic gossip with guests, diving into the lives and decisions of complete strangers. The second-hand truth really is stranger than fiction. Produced by Se'era Spragley Ricks and Jae Towle Vieira. Created by Kelsey McKinney and Alex Sujong Laughlin. Show art by Tara Jacoby. https://normalgossip.komi.io/

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COMEDY
First-person diaries, sound portraits, and hidden chapters of history from Peabody Award-winning producer Joe Richman and the Radio Diaries team. From teenagers to octogenarians, prisoners to prison guards, bra saleswomen to lighthouse keepers. The extraordinary stories of ordinary life. Radio Diaries is a proud member of Radiotopia, from PRX. Learn more at radiotopia.fm

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DOCUMENTARY
the memory palace

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HISTORY
Song Exploder is a podcast where musicians take apart their songs, and piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. Each episode features an artist discussing a song of theirs, breaking down the sounds and ideas that went into the writing and recording. Hosted and produced by Hrishikesh Hirway.

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MUSIC
What really happens when stories about people’s lives are collected, edited, and consumed? Radiotopia Presents: Shocking, Heartbreaking, Transformative is a five-part non-fiction series created by Jess Shane, about the nuts and bolts of documentary storytelling, the power dynamics between makers and subjects, and rewriting unwritten rules of the documentary and non-fiction content industry.

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DOCUMENTARY
Articles of Interest is a show about what we wear. Produced and Hosted by Avery Trufelman

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FASHION & BEAUTY