On rare occasions this site allows me to have an ulterior motive and push some of my favorite things. This is one of those times. The Wire is one of the best shows of all time, period. Not the hottest take, but if you’ve been dragging your feet on whether or not to watch it, stop reading, and starting binging. Nobody is really asking (but there’s nothing stopping me either), so here my other favorites: Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, The Sopranos, and Mad Men. That’s the entire list — obviously in my opinion — of the top tier shows of all time. So you can imagine my joy when I first heard about The Wire: Stripped, a podcast recapping the entire HBO saga episode by episode, often joined by TV critics, super fans, and even the cast themselves.

Though podcasts recapping TV shows isn’t entirely new, there is a very tangible threshold separating the everyday ones with the truly exception. The Wire: Stripped belongs in the same conversation with Discover Pods’ beloved, Binge Mode. Better yet, The Wire: Stripped just launched today! Meaning you can start with season one episode one and not need to catch up.

I got a chance to meet Kobi, one of the hosts of The Wire: Stripped and talk about the podcast, their inspiration, and even forced him to power rank his favorite Wire characters. See below for our Q&A.

Discover Pods: What’s your tweet-length synopsis of The Wire: Stripped?

Kobi: Kobi and Dave revisit every episode of the game changing TV Show “The Wire”. Along the way we hear from cast members, super fans and experts to strip back what made the show so special.

DP: Do you think The Wire could comeback, albeit likely with a whole new cast?

Kobi: Do you mean should there be new stories set about Baltimore PD as helmed by David Simon? I’d rather there wasn’t as the way the show ended was superb, fitting and tragic. That said i’d watch the shit/hell/heck out of it if it did come back!

DP: As British fans, do you think The Wire was perceived any differently than in the US?

Kobi: I don’t know to be honest! I know that every person I have met from across the world who has watched the show has had a deep an profound relationship with it. I’m not sure there is anything that divides people. Maybe people in the US could tell that Idris Elba and Dominic West were not American. That sure surprised me when I found out!

DP: Power rank your top 5 favorite Wire characters

Kobi: I hate you for this but – and depending on the day it will change! I’m gonna keep it just to Season 1 at the moment…

The Bunk, Bubbles, Kima Greggs, Daniels, Omar

DP: Did you try to model The Wire: Stripped off any other show analysis podcasts?

Kobi: I guess we’d be compared mainly with “The West Wing Weekly” in that we’re going through each episode one by one and all of the episodes of the show we’re talking about has finished. The format of each of our episodes is different though.

DP: What’s the biggest challenge you face as an indie podcaster?

Kobi: Reaching people! Firstly reaching out to cast and people that we want to feature in our show and secondly to listeners! Hopefully Discover Pods can help with that!

DP: Where can listeners find you?

Kobi: They can find us online on Twitter/Facebook/Instagram @TheWireStripped and simply search for The Wire Stripped on all the standard Podcast places such as Apple Podcasts and Acast

DP: Anything else you’d like to add?

Kobi: Yes! We’d love to hear your voices on the show. We have a section called “The Burner” where we’re inviting listeners to give us their input and ask questions. I’d love Discover Pods readers to ring through. You can leave us a voice memo on WhatsApp or via Facetime Audio (if you have an iPhone) at +447534 831658 – it will be free. We’d love to hear from you!