WQED’s Rick Sebak launches ‘Gumbands’ podcast

WQED producer Rick Sebak celebrates Pittsburgh, its people, its history, its products and its seemingly endless supply of unusual charms in his newly launched “Gumbands” podcast.
There will be audio-only programs and video versions of most interviews hosted by Sebak, who is working closely with WQED producer Rich Capaldi.
“I’ve never done a podcast before,” said Sebak, “so we’re learning as we go. Are there rules? We just want to try a new format for celebrating many of the things that I like about this city and the surrounding area.”
First guests on the podcast include Sarah McAlee who makes and sells soups as an Instagram entrepreneur called @brothmonger, and local author Bill Tippins, who has written two books for young readers set in a fictional prehistoric place near where two rivers come together.
“We know that people around here have special affection for words that are called Pittsburghese, and most local folks just know that a gumband is simply a rubber band, although the exact origins of our variation are not known. So I like to say that our podcast is ‘holding Pittsburgh together,'” Sebak said.
“Gumbands” is available at https://www.wqed.org/gumbands, on YouTube, or wherever listeners prefer to tune in to their podcasts.