ALTON - Justin Sims and Joe Jack discussed their “Reason 2 Doubt” podcast and the upcoming third annual Reason 2 Doubt Weekend on a recent episode of Our Daily Show on Riverbender.com. The podcast, which is available on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts, features five friends from Alton offering their varying perspectives on current events and more.
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Sims, who hosts the show by the name “J. Sims,” described the Reason 2 Doubt podcast as a “podcast of five young Black men coming together and just giving their perspective on the world from where we see it.”
The show was originally only about music, but several major news events (including a global pandemic) occurred in the four years since the podcast started, and Sims felt the conversation should expand to address those and other events.
“We’ve been through a lot in four years, so of course the conversation can change,” Sims said. “We can’t be like, ‘Hey, you hear the new Drake song?’ It has to change up a bit.”
Jack described the podcast’s format as a casual conversation between friends.
“It was just really organic the way we put it together, so it’s really just a bunch of friends sitting around talking, having conversations, for real,” Jack said. “We’re all familiar with each other’s personalities and we kind of bounce off each other and stuff like that, so it’s pretty cool.”
Sims noted listeners and viewers are most interested in hearing the show participants’ opinions - while they may be slightly toned down from the show’s earlier “raw, uncut” days, he said they still don’t shy away from offering their honest opinions. Even when things get heated, Jack said “it’s all love” between podcast members.
“Overall, we’re like brothers - we love each other, we fight, we argue, we’ve all got differences of opinion. I think that’s what makes the podcast so dope, is because we’ve got five different perspectives,” Jack said, noting the cameraman even jumps into the discussion sometimes. “We have heated debates and stuff like that, but at the end of the day, it’s all love.”
This year’s Reason 2 Doubt Weekend will be held from Friday, Sept. 8 to Sunday, Sept. 10. Day one will see a basketball game at James Killion Park in Alton, while day two on Sept. 9 brings the live podcast to The Conservatory in Alton at 7 p.m. Tickets for the live show are $20 each and can be purchased here. Day three wraps up the weekend festivities with a brunch, though further details on a location are still being worked out.
“[The] first two went great,” Sims said of Reason 2 Doubt Weekend. “Great family events - well, not the live show, that’s adults only - but the first day of Reason 2 Doubt weekend, we do it at James Killion Park, we do a basketball game - but with that basketball game, you get your entertainment,” Sims said. While the podcast crew is in their early-to-mid 30’s and usually plays against younger athletes, Sims said Reason 2 Doubt is still 2-0 so far.
The event also features free barbeque, drinks, and live music, and Sims said Reason 2 Doubt regularly gives back to the community. They’ve previously donated goods to local middle schools and raffled off bikes, new TVs, airpods, and more.
“That’s the whole thing about it, it’s a community event, we’re just trying to give back,” Sims said.
Jack added: “I’m big on community, big on giving back and stuff like that, so we just kind of pulled it all together and made a weekend out of it.”
Reason 2 Doubt can be watched or listened to on YouTube, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts, and more information is available on their Facebook and Instagram pages. The full interview with Sims and Jack can be watched at the top of this story or on Riverbender.com/video.
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