Life & Work with Tod Perry of Long Beach

Today we’d like to introduce you to Tod Perry.

Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born in 1977 in Torrance, California. I attended North High School in Torrance and graduated from Cal State Long Beach with a degree in Interpersonal and Organizational Communications.

I started my career in media as an assistant at the now-defunct 97.1 KLSX, “The FM Talk Station,” in Los Angeles from 2002 to 2007. It was the local affiliate of The Howard Stern Show, and later, Adam Carolla hosted the morning show from the KLSX studios. Here, I got to do odd jobs for the director of programming, write goofy station promos, and help organize station promotions. This is where I began my career as a writer, building a career in advertising, journalism, and podcasting. From 2006 to 2007, I hosted Low Budget Radio, a comedy show on 103.7 FREE FM in San Diego. After leaving radio, I followed my love of broadcasting into podcasting, which would become a significant part of my professional life. In 2009, my co-host Marc Chambers and I started the Low Budget FM podcast, and it became one of iTunes’ early comedy hits, reaching #7 on the iTunes comedy charts. I would go on to work with L.A. radio legend Brian Whitman (97.1 KLSX, AM 570) on his eponymous podcast from 2011 to 2012.

From 2015 to the present, I have been the co-host and producer of one of the most popular podcasts on Eastern philosophy, What’s This Tao All About? With over a million downloads. I also teamed up with Alison Rosen to create Upworthy Weekly (2021 to 2022), a podcast produced by the incredibly popular website that celebrated “the best of humanity.” Since we’ve moved on to a new project, a Patreon-exclusive comedy show called Alison and Tod: After Hours. Over the past two years, I’ve been the host of Global Results Communications’ PR 360 podcast, featuring interviews with industry thought leaders in public relations and beyond.

My most “LA” achievement in podcasting has been writing, producing, and narrating LA’s Own Marineland, which was celebrated on the front page of the South Bay’s Daily Breeze newspaper. For this show, I interviewed 20 people, including former employees and those closest to the park, covering the oceanarium’s opening in 1954 to its controversial closure in 1987.

The show is the first of its kind to document Marineland’s storied history. It offers insights into the incredible marine mammals that performed at the park from the trainers who knew them best. The podcast also covers the park’s history as an educational facility and its controversial closure in 1987. Marineland was a big part of LA life for 33 years. It was a wonderful experience to bring it back to the public’s attention.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not, what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
In creating LA’s Own Marineland, a significant challenge was determining the show’s structure and which aspects of the park’s history to highlight. What was initially a show about the park’s closure expanded to a history of the entire park. I decided to tell the whole story after talking to the park’s former employees. They had so much passion for their time working there and such great stories, I knew I had to expand the podcast’s reach. I found folks to interview for the show through the “I worked at Marineland” Facebook page, which was incredibly supportive of the show.

It was also challenging to get the show's tone right at a time when marine parks—especially those with killer whales—are so controversial. I wasn’t sure if the show would catch a backlash. So, I tried my best to tell the truth about the complex history of marine parks while highlighting Marineland’s legacy as a center for conservation and education.

Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I may be best known for my work as a Senior Editor at Upworthy, one of the most popular trending content websites with over 15 million social media followers, where I have written over 7,000 articles. But I think LA’s Own Marineland is the achievement I’m most proud of, because it combined my journalistic and podcasting talents into one project. I have received incredibly passionate responses to the show. I’m really proud of it as a document of a specific part of LA history, so the memories of Marineland can live on.

We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from your childhood.
I remember going to Marineland with my father and sister when I was four to see the killer whale show. When Orky, the 14,000-pound male, popped up from the water and breached, it was an exhilarating experience. At Marineland, you really got close to the animals, and I think I was both amazed and frightened by seeing the killer whales just a few feet away. However scary it was at the time, I think that experience would inspire me to tell the park’s story.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://marinelandpodcast.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/todaperry
• Twitter: https://x.com/TodAPerry
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@todperry4404
• Other: https://www.upworthy.com/u/tod-perry