In Proximity

YouTube’s daredevil Michelle Khare has tackled the world’s toughest professions and stunts in her award-winning series CHALLENGE ACCEPTED — from mastering Harry Houdini’s water torture cell escape to tackling Tom Cruise’s deadliest stunt. With over 6 million followers, Michelle made history when she successfully petitioned for her independently-produced YouTube series to join the Primetime Emmy ballot for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series. On this episode of IN PROXIMITY, host Paola Mardo sits down with Michelle to talk about her origins as a Buzzfeed producer, the production process for CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, creating viral YouTube content, and her biggest takeaways from running 7 marathons on all 7 continents in 7 days.

This February, we’re celebrating the 8th anniversary of the release of BLACK PANTHER! From the IN PROXIMITY archives, we’re rebroadcasting this conversation with BLACK PANTHER director and co-writer Ryan Coogler and Ta-Nehisi Coates, journalist and the bestselling author of THE MESSAGE, BETWEEN THE WORLD AND ME, WE WERE EIGHT YEARS IN POWER, THE WATER DANCER, and THE BEAUTIFUL STRUGGLE. Ta-Nehisi has also written successful comic book runs for CAPTAIN AMERICA and BLACK PANTHER, and wrote and hosted the WAKANDA FOREVER: THE OFFICIAL BLACK PANTHER PODCAST produced by Proximity Media and winner of the NAACP Image Award and Webby Award. For this special rerun, we combined their two-part episode back into one conversation where they discuss Ta-Nehisi’s writing influences and original rap dreams, the impact of hip-hop and artists like Nas and Tupac on their work, writing process, CREED, and shared experiences telling BLACK PANTHER stories.

SINNERS lead actor Michael B. Jordan and writer/director/producer Ryan Coogler break down the Academy Award®-nominated film and their 10+ year collaboration in this exclusive conversation with IN PROXIMITY host Paola Mardo. Michael dives deep into his acting process for playing dual roles as Smoke and Stack, sharing how he uses character journals, key phrases from archival recordings, and physical details to build his characters. Ryan reveals his screenwriting approach and his never-before-heard timeline mapping the Smokestack Twins’ backstory, including romances with Mary (Hailee Steinfeld) and Annie (Wunmi Mosaku), and their time in Chicago with Al Capone. Ryan also kicks off this very special episode by making lattes, sharing how his love for coffee connects to filmmaking and acts of service for the cast and crew. It's gonna be a real ring-a-ding-ding… so grab a cup of coffee (or Irish beer or Italian wine) and enjoy!

Mike Carson is a multidisciplinary creative director and designer. Last year, he co-creative directed and production designed Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show, which drew over 133 million live viewers, making it the most-watched halftime performance ever and one of 2025’s biggest cultural moments. On this episode, Mike talks to IN PROXIMITY host Paola Mardo about his journey from filming music videos at 19 with Big Sean (including the iconic millennial bop “Dance (A$$)” Remix featuring Nicki Minaj) and working alongside mentor Virgil Abloh, to becoming one of the most sought-after creative directors today. He also shares his creative process behind the Super Bowl Halftime Show, filming a documentary on Kanye West and Jay-Z on their 2011 Watch the Throne album and tour, his approach to production design for live experiences, why his laptop is essential to every project, and the art and business of the music video.

Highlights from this season’s SINNERS episodes including: cultural consultant Dolly Li on Remmick’s infamous “licking” line, script supervisor Steve Gehrke on tracking continuity with Michael B. Jordan’s Smokestack Twins, and storyboard artist and EYES OF WAKANDA creator/director Todd Harris on storyboarding the surreal juke joint musical montage scene. Part of our special "Prox Gems" holiday mini episodes.

Celebrate the holidays with IN PROXIMITY! Kicking off our series of holiday mini episodes, host Paola Mardo shares the best Prox Recs of 2025. Whether you’re looking for new books to read, films to watch, or advice to fuel your creative journey, this episode gathers this year’s pro recommendations on our podcast from Ryan Coogler, Ludwig Göransson, Autumn Durald Arkapaw, Sev Ohanian, Steve Gehrke, Dolly Li, Ammar Mohamed, and more.

Step into the kitchen with Courtney Storer, culinary producer and co-executive producer of FX's Emmy-winning series THE BEAR! In this special holiday episode of IN PROXIMITY, host Paola Mardo learns how to make Italian red sauce pasta while digging into what it takes to bring THE BEAR’S iconic food moments to life. Courtney shares exclusive behind-the-scenes stories from filming the intense holiday “Fishes” episode with Jamie Lee Curtis, training actors like Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, and Lionel Boyce on professional cooking techniques, and working alongside her brother, series creator Christopher Storer. From 4:30 a.m. call times to creating detailed culinary reference guides for Michelin-level plating, discover how food becomes a character in one of television’s most acclaimed shows.

What can a $100K riot-inducing sneaker teach us about storytelling, design, and creativity? Jeff Staple’s 2005 Nike Pigeon Dunk didn’t just drop. It ignited a riot in the streets of New York City and helped rewrite the rules of streetwear, brand marketing, and storytelling through design. On IN PROXIMITY, Jeff joins host Paola Mardo to unpack how he built Staple into a global brand one shoe and collab at a time, what filmmakers and creatives can learn from design and brand building, “the power of the t-shirt” and marketing before social media and the internet, the wild story of his elevator pitch to Yasiin Bey (then Mos Def), and how to navigate hustle culture and find creative inspiration anywhere.