How to Be Superhuman returns for season 3!

How to Be Superhuman returns for its third season today, Thursday 6th February. We spoke to host Rob Pope to find out what we can expect from the upcoming season…

Who are you and what’s your podcast about?

My name is Rob Pope, although a lot of people know me as “that Forrest Gump guy”, after I ran over 25,000 kilometres, over 422 days recreating the run Tom Hanks made famous in the movie…On the way I picked up a lot of great stories and also lessons that I’m now able to pass on to anyone who wants to listen. My podcast How to Be Superhuman in collaboration with Red Bull is a platform for adventure and endurance athletes from a hugely diverse set of backgrounds to bring their incredible stories to a global audience, whether they’re looking for inspiration or just to be entertained and “wowed”. It’s got a unique and immersive storytelling format that brings you straight into the heart of absolutely mind-boggling adventures. Trust me – listen to these stories and you can’t fail to be amazed. You never know, we might just show a few people the key to the door to becoming Superhuman – we’ve all got magic in us somewhere.

Rob Pope, host of How to Be Superhuman

How did the idea for How to Be Superhuman come about?

Red Bull have always been at the forefront of adventure, and podcasts lend themselves so well to the headspace of people off doing wild things, so it was a natural progression from the incredible video content they’re famed for.

What was the first podcast you ever listened to?

I feel like I’ve been listening to podcasts for so long, they just kind of filtered into my orbit. Coming from Liverpool, I often found myself listening to Andy Grant’s amazing LEG IT podcast which tells the story of people from a real variety of backgrounds and the Blood Red pod from the Liverpool Echo, so probably one of those.

Ryan Sandes – trail runner

Which podcasts do you take inspiration from?

There’s so many great ones out there, I usually go down a wormhole of whoever is interviewing me next, or ones that have recently featured a Superhuman guest. I do like the variety of guests you get on Chris Williamson and Rich Roll’s podcasts and have recently got into Happy Hour too. Chris has had me on, so I’ve got those two to tick off!

Who’s your dream guest for the podcast?

We’ve had a lot of them on already, you lucky lot! As a runner, I’d love to chat to Courtney Dauwalter – she’s a force of nature and seems a heap of fun. Climbing terrifies me and inspires me in equal measure so I’d love to rope up with Janja Garnbret or Alex Honnold and with Red Bull being synonymous with motorsport, Sam Sunderland or Max Verstappen would be brilliant, though they’d have hugely different stories. Maybe most of all though – Felix Baumgartner. Jumping to earth from SPACE? Check. Wait…actually? Yes. That’ll do for me.

Do you have a favourite episode of the podcast, or one you are proudest of?

I guess the first one I ever recorded, as a complete novice, was an adventure in itself. I interviewed Mollie Hughes, the British mountaineer who became the youngest woman to climb both sides of Everest and it was wonderful to follow up this year with Cathy O’Dowd, the first woman ever to achieve the feat. Interviewing Mark Beaumont was a real privilege as his was the first ever adventure book I read – his story about riding around the world in 80 days is so impressive. Phileas Fogg with quads for days…

Cathy O’Dowd – the first woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest from both the south and north sides

Which episode would you say is the perfect introduction to your podcast?

Dougie Lampkin’s story about wheelieing around the TT course of the Isle of Man. I was a bit sceptical initially as though I knew of Dougie and how amazing he was, it seemed more like a novelty than a superhuman feat. The thing is – this episode taught me two things: “Superhuman” comes in many forms and that this podcast series has a ton of surprises in store for the audience. If you want to hold fire till the opening of series 3 – Abdullah Zeinab, the Australian endurance cyclist and adventurer is a perfect start. His story is WILD.

As you look back on your podcasting journey, what challenges have you faced, and how have you overcome them to keep the show growing?

When I started, I had no idea on how everything worked, but the incredible crews at Samizdat and Red Bull have been phenomenal, and while I’ve always been a great storyteller in a social situation, I’m pretty confident in saying now that I’m keeping my head above water in the more refined air of broadcasting. We have tried to keep our guests varied, unearthing stories from now, but also deeper back. There is a deep seam of adventure gold that we will continue to mine in the coming years to keep you all on the edge of your seat.

Can you tell us more about what to expect from the new series of How to Be Superhuman?

Well the guest list is stellar, from my area of expertise, we have two incredible ultrarunners, Tara Dower and Ryan Sandes, one of the greatest climbers in the world, Jesse Dutton, who just happens to be blind, as well as Brette Harrington, whose story is as emotionally charged as it is impressive. We’ve got Martin Strel – the Big River man – possibly the greatest endurance swimmer in the world and is brilliantly bonkers. Andrew Cotton, the mega wave surfer whose comeback from adversity rivals that of another of my favourite guests from series one, the triathlete Tim Don – make sure you check that out, as well as the series two slot with Lael Wilcox – before you check out her latest globe spanning feat on season three. We have death defying (literally) kayaker Nouria Newman. You want high – we go as high as we can probably get as Tom de Dorlodot paraglides around the biggest peaks in the world. He could have waved at Cathy! However, we start the series with the insane feats of Abdullah Zeinab and his descent into madness in the Namibian desert. Just listening will make you thirsty, before we get a lot more “chill” at the South Pole with “Polar” Preet Chandi! Like I said, if you can’t get inspired by that lot, you must have done something beyond compare – maybe we could get you on the show – get in touch!

Where can the Pod Bible readers find out more about you?

There’s a great article on the Red Bull site that you can check out.

If anyone wants to say hi, or chat more about adventure, they can message me on my website – www.goingthedistancerun.com or follow me on social media at @runroblarun. I reply to all messages myself – I may present the greatest adventure pod on the planet, but I’m still who I’ve always been and love chatting to people with big ideas and bigger smiles.

Listen to How to Be Superhuman on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and other popular podcast apps >>