Holly Brown’s new podcast — “Everybody Knows But Me” — was recently named one of Apple’s Best So Far 2026. Using a unique blend of reporting and adapted sitcom-style segments to unpack a deep personal trauma with her signature smile and wink, her show draws on the experience she gained from years spent helping others make their podcasts.

This week on “This Is TV Now,” we talk to Brown about the struggle of giving her best work to herself, the joys of writing for podcast audiences, and the reality of launching a podcast that isn’t celebrity-driven. Afterward, we extended the conversation and and workshopped a new job title.

What makes you optimistic about the future?

Holly Brown: This is a weird answer, I guess, but being optimistic in general is new to me. I’ve lived my whole life thinking that because of the trauma I’ve experienced, nothing will ever get better. And I hate that when you shift your mindset, it actually kind of works. I’ve been able to be like, maybe if I think that good things will happen to me, they will, and there is proof in that. So I think my optimism lies in people being optimistic [and thinking,] “Yes, we can do this.”

Who is the most underrated person in your industry right now?

HB: My showrunner, Pete Musto, and I do not give flowers to men normally. He is just so talented, and he doesn’t realize he is the best, so [that’s how I] know he is. He is so gifted as an audio producer, and I’m like, “How are you not producing the biggest podcasts?” I don’t understand.

How would your haters describe you?

HB: Too tall? No. How would my haters describe me?

GT: Do you have haters?

HB: I think I do. God, I really want to ask them how they would describe me. I genuinely think people might say that I’m too nice. Sometimes it’s people being like, you’re so smiley, as if that’s a bad thing.

GT: A bad thing?

HB: Yeah. Like, maybe I’m not cutthroat enough.

GT: When the compliment is actually a dig. That’s so interesting because that says more about them.
HB: Yes, totally. But sadly, I do see assholes rise to the top a lot. So yeah, my haters would probably say that my aggressiveness is not mean enough. 

What’s your go-to karaoke song?

HB: It’s Heart. “Alone” by Heart, for sure. Followed by “Teenage Dirtbag” [by Wheatus].

Our favorite question to ask: Do you believe in ghosts?

HB: I don’t know. I’ve never had a ghost experience.

GT: Typically your dad.

HB: Oh, shit. Right. I mean.

GT: This question means something maybe different, but.

HB: Yeah, I want to now, like, haunt me, Daddy.

GT: Lol.

HB: I haven’t had a ghost experience. I’ve been the one tricking people into believing they’ve seen ghosts. 

GT: Oh, you’d be a great millennial prankster as a ghost.

HB: I want that on my resume. You’d be a great millennial prankster. Yeah. So, no, I don’t think I believe in ghosts yet, but I’m open to it.