Comedy and Fiction
By the time
Bodega Boys premiered in 2015, the podcast’s hosts—
Desus Nice (Daniel Baker) and The Kid Mero (Joel Armogasto Martinez)—had already conquered the internet. The charismatic Bronx natives, who garnered a fervent fan base from their first podcast and the predecessor to
Bodega Boys,
Desus vs. Mero, were regularly going viral for their tweets and soundbites. The new podcast mostly consisted of the duo riffing for an hour or so about pop culture, sports, and
whatever else was on their minds, and that was sort of the point: it was just two dudes from New York hanging out and chatting like no one was listening—except we all were. The result was infectious: Their chemistry and rapid-fire banter made for a wildly funny show that eventually propelled them to
mainstream success, including a
Showtime late-night talk show that ran from 2019 to 2022. And even though Desus and Mero have since parted ways (creative differences, they say),
Bodega Boys not only feels like an archive of the late-2010s era of pop culture, but remains an influential blueprint for independent creators transitioning to mainstream platforms while staying true to their roots.