Philly podcast vets team up for 'Game of Thrones' recap show

Today, thanks to the pervasive reach of mobile media, connecting to kindred spirits with congruous tastes is as easy as pulling out a phone. Twenty years ago? The process was a little more analog.

"Back then, it was harder to meet people who had similar interests," says Chris Ryan. "You basically had to spot someone wearing a T-shirt of a band you liked."

That imprecise, pre-Internet system is what led Ryan to befriend Andy Greenwald. In the time since, the Philadelphia products have grown into trusted pop culture tastemakers.

Accomplished writers and podcasters, they hit their stride at the defunct Grantland, the urbane ESPN imprint overseen by Bill Simmons. Now back in the mix via Simmons' soon-to-launch site, the Ringer, and Channel 33, its associated podcast network, the old buddies are taking on a new challenge.

On Monday, they will introduce a weekly HBO show recapping Game of Thrones built around what they have always done best: talking to each other about stuff they enjoy.

Greenwald, who lives in Brooklyn, and Ryan, based in Los Angeles, remember the first time they broke bread. Technically, it was grilled cheese.

Greenwald, a Wynnewood native and Friends Central grad, was working at the long-gone Borders in Rosemont the summer after his first year at Brown when a friend showed up with a friend of her own: Ryan, whom she figured Greenwald would like as they both enjoyed the band Pavement. (This might be the most vigorously 1990s way to be introduced to a stranger.)

"We sniffed each other out," says Greenwald, who recalls Ryan complimenting the band T-shirt he was wearing that day: the indie outfit Versus. They got to know each other at the Villanova Diner, and agreed to keep in touch.

As it turned out, Ryan, who grew up in Fairmount and attended Friends Select (his father was late Inquirer critic Desmond Ryan), had more than just Pavement in common with his new pal. "We liked so much of the same stuff - loved all the same books, loved all the same bands," Greenwald says.

In addition to mirror-image media appetites, the two shared a passion for music criticism. That led to a post-graduate position for Greenwald at Spin magazine in New York, where Ryan eventually settled. "We helped each other realize that there might be a way to make a living doing this," says Greenwald.

Ryan returned the favor in 2011, when he encouraged Greenwald to contribute writing to Grantland. That led to the early 2012 launch of Grantland's "Hollywood Prospectus" podcast, featuring Greenwald and Ryan riffing on all things entertainment; and the popular "Watch the Thrones," featuring humorous but meticulous analysis of HBO's gargantuan hit.

The podcasts featured Greenwald and Ryan's easy rapport, a natural and often silly back-and-forth that folded inside jokes and references to their Philly upbringings into intelligent discussion about films and TV.

Grantland, which came to an acrimonious end in fall 2015 after Simmons had a falling-out with ESPN, left fans who had grown accustomed to eavesdropping on Greenwald and Ryan's weekly tête-à-têtes in the lurch. But they were quickly appeased once Simmons looped the pair back into his new media company.

Their new podcast, "The Watch," launched five months ago, is already pulling in around a six-figure audience. (Ryan is working as executive editor of the Ringer, which should be live by early summer; Greenwald is involved only on the audiovisual end.)

Greenwald and Ryan hit all sorts of talking points with their new podcast. Centered on but not limited to TV, the show touches on mainstream topics (Star Wars, Hamilton, The People vs. O.J. Simpson) and niche material (BBC's London Spy, Sundance's The Last Panthers). It's all cut with smirking doses of hometown pride - Butterscotch Krimpets, Robbins Rocks, Dorney Park, roast pork sandwiches, and the mysticism surrounding the term jawn have all come up.

The duo's most ambitious undertaking to date kicks off next week. HBO, the network that will run Simmons' still-in-the-works weekly show, has tapped Greenwald and Ryan to host After the Thrones, debuting on HBO Go, HBO Now, and HBO OnDemand on Monday, a day after the series' Season Six premiere.

The weekly show will feature Greenwald and Ryan, plus a slew of GoT-versed guests, analyzing the salacious, blood-spattered, and often extremely convoluted goings-on in author George R.R. Martin's land of Westeros.

"We really see this as an opportunity to continue what we were doing last year - really surfing the wave of fan obsession and fan engagement," Greenwald says. "It's probably the most fun show there is to talk about at the moment."

Regardless of the format, the size of their audience, or the topics they're kicking around, both feel fortunate they've been able to parlay the conversations they've been having for two decades into paying gigs.

"Generally, it's what we've been doing in diners and bars and road trips up and down I-95. It'll be 20 years this year," Greenwald says. "The fact that we get to do it as part of our job? It's still unreal."