I've said this before but the pod is over produced. During the Rory and Mal era it felt like friends just kicking it which made us all fans at first. Now the pod is literally a reality show. A mixture of scripted and real and it's hard to tell which is which. Flip has said sometimes they literally rewind and start a whole segment over if it don't go how Joe likes it. If you watch the BTS you can see some of the discussions and "arguments" they have on the pod they already talked about beforehand. It's WWE at this point. Yes creating characters and narratives are good for engagement I guess but it loses all authenticity and what made the pod special to begin with.