The Stories We’ve Never Told: Behind the JP Emerson Show.

The Cristy Lee Interview That Crashed the Servers and Started Everything

The Catalyst

The road from print journalism to podcasting began with an interview. At the time, it was simply a feature story I was working on with Cristy Lee. The plan was straightforward. Conduct the interview, write the article, send it to publication, and move on to the next assignment.

Then everything changed.

The pandemic disrupted nearly every part of the publishing business, and the magazines I had been writing for closed their doors. Suddenly there was no outlet for the story.

I wasn't willing to let months of work disappear into a folder on my computer. So, we published it ourselves.

We had a simple website and posted the interview online. Nothing about it felt game changing, we were simply looking for a way to share a story that deserved an audience.

Read the original story here,  exclusively on the JP Emerson Show website.

The response surprised us.

Within a day, traffic overwhelmed our servers. The interview spread far beyond what we expected and generated more attention than anything I had previously published in print. For the first time, I started wondering whether there might be another way to tell these stories.

Looking back, that interview became the bridge between one part of my career and the next. Since that day, Cristy and I have collaborated on more than a few occasions, including the official kickoff to Season Five of The JP Emerson Show, where we finally told the full story of how it all began.

Listen or read these or any conversations of the JP Emerson Show here.

© 2026 JP Emerson. All rights reserved.

The Stories We’ve Never Told: Behind the JP Emerson Show is the exclusive property of JP Emerson and The JP Emerson Show. No part of this content may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted without prior written permission.