Charles Sidi, his wife Sarah, and their two young sons moved from England to Arizona nearly 20 years ago and fell in love with the Arcadia neighborhood immediately. Since then, Charles has established deep roots in the area. While stuck at home sick, scrolling Instagram a few months ago, he noticed a flood of podcasts on his feed and thought “Wasn’t there a more exciting way to conduct an interview than just sitting in chairs with microphones?” That question sparked the idea for his new show, Ride Around Arcadia.
“I’m a doer,” said Charles, who has worked in building, design, and construction for over 35 years. “Once I got the idea for creating a podcast with people riding bicycles around Arcadia and talking business, we were off to the races!” He called up the production team at Pixelist Media, and within weeks, had a green screen and stationary bicycles set up in The Brokery’s Arcadia office, and was booking guests.
“Each interview lasts 5-7 minutes. After recording, the team edits the video to create a backdrop of a virtual bike ride through the beautiful Arcadia neighborhood.”
Sidi says his goal with the Ride Around Arcadia podcast is to highlight the people and businesses who make up the fabric of the community so others can see what the neighborhood has to offer. The show, which launched July 14, features a new guest each week. So far, he has interviewed a medium/intuitive, a public relations professional, real estate agents, and a homebuilder, among others. Questions focus on the guest’s area of expertise, their thoughts on Arcadia, and a set of rapid fire questions that vary by guest, with the exception of one standard question: “Postino or LGO?”
