Many Sided Media Expands Into Official Podcast Network

The team behind My First Dungeon and Talk of the Table is creating a new network of TTRPG-themed podcasts to help elevate and lift other creators in the industry.

Many Sided Media, a podcasting organization operated by Brian Flaherty, Elliot Davis, Abby Hepworth and Shenuque Tissera, announced on Monday that it was launching the Many Sided Network, a new program that would add five established podcasts to a newly established network that would help the creators to generate advertising revenue, share listeners and help encourage collaboration between TTRPG podcasts of all sorts.

The network will be adding:

• Dice Exploder by Sam Dunnewold, which is a show focusing on talking about single mechanics in a TTRPG

• Tales Yet Told by Kendo Smith, which is a “queer-led AP podcast” focused on telling stories at the “intersection of queerness and horror”

• Dorkspawn by Dillin Apelyan and Robin Ekberg, a video game book club podcast where two people discuss their favorite games (like Dragon Age or Mass Effect)

• Mage Hand High Five, a live-action D&D fantasy western campaign that’s GMed by Casey Papas

• Maia’s Game Room, a “narrative actual play anthology” focused on story-driven games from indie and major publishers and run by Maia Wilson.

The five shows were selected specifically because they matched with MSM’s three core values of innovation, artistic intention and care for one’s audience, according to Davis. It’s also about supporting the creators’ vision and assisting them with content creation.

AP networks are far from a new concept in the TTRPG space. The Glass Cannon Network, the One Shot Podcast Network, and the Homebrew Network are just a few podcast collectives that bring together creators and performers under a single name to help them organize and create new content. What gives MSM a unique role in the space, Davis claims, is how focused MSM is on non-Dungeons and Dragons content. While My First Dungeon started with D&D, Flaherty and the other members (Davis, Hepworth, and Tissera) have focused on creating content for games that aren’t usually featured on other podcasts. It’s allowed them to build relationships with publishers who hold similar values, such as SoulMuppet Publishing (Mad as Hell, Paint the Town Red) and Mythworks (Slugblaster, Wildsea). Those special relationships can lead to ad dollars, leading to an appropriate income for the creators (something that most actual play creators can only dream about.)

“The ultimate goal [of the network] is to create a rising tide to lift all of these our shows up alongside each other,” Davis emphasized. That includes assisting each podcast with ad revenue, promoting each other’s shows, collaborating between programs, and using the network to help convince publishers and sponsors that MSM and its affiliate shows are worth their time. The creators, meanwhile, will still hold complete control over their content.

MSM’s vision is lofty, although it faces many road bumps going forward. The TTRPG industry continues to face heavy strain because of the Trump tariffs, forcing companies to tighten their budgets. Digital advertising spending is also declining, although marketing firms note that podcast spending appears to remain rising year-over-year.

Davis on the State of Actual Play

Actual play podcasts, or shows dedicated to recording sessions and campaigns of TTRPGs, are an essential part of the industry. However, it is also oversaturated at times. Plenty of Twitch creators and podcasters are eager to create the next Critical Role while fighting for a thinly spread audience.

Davis still believes there is plenty of space for more actual play programs in the market, even though it might seem oversaturated.

“An artistic medium where there are only three to five household names, depending on the person you talk to, is just getting started,” Davis argued.

But what makes an actual play stand out in this growing economy, where every digital platform seeks our attention daily? Davis argues that creators need to find their niche and lean into it. They also need to make something respectful of their audience, whether it is avoiding too many inside-y jokes and ensuring that they do something interesting in the first ten minutes of the episode.

What should someone do if they want to start their actual-play? Davis has a few recommendations:

• Avoid building around the “table of friends.” This notion often leads to all-white tables, which isn’t good for encouraging diversity. But also ensure you have chemistry with each other before recording.

• Seek feedback from industry veterans, as they’ll help you refine the product and make you better.

• Find people doing what you do and live in a community with them. “Be on each other's shows, give each other advice, celebrate each other's wins, listen to each other's shows, and learn from what the people around you are doing,” Davis emphasized. This includes shows similar to yours in size, not just the “big dogs.”

The History of Many-Sided Media

Many Sided Media came to exist through My First Dungeon, a podcast launched by Brian Flaherty in 2021 to train a friend in how to make a one-shot dungeon. The show later evolved over the months into short seasons focused on various TTRPGs, where Flaherty and his cast played games like Wanderhome, 10 Candles, and Honey Heist.

The show would become the foundation for MSM, which later expanded in partnership with Davis, a veteran podcast producer who had previously worked with other business brands to create podcasts for Marriott Bonvoy, FX, and other major corporations. While it was a consistent gig, he found that the branded shows failed to capture why people listen to podcasts.

“Podcast listeners want a parasocial relationship with somebody in their ears,” Davis argues. “It's like an intimate listening activity. There has to be a personal connection. In my mind, people fall in love with hosts, they fall in love with characters, they fall in love with stories. And I think it was hard to imagine making a podcast with a brand at the center that people would fall in love with.”

That thread of thought is vital for MSM, which has made a name for itself by creating podcast “seasons” sponsored by TTRPG publishers. My First Dungeon stands out in comparison with most AP shows with its focus on smaller games. The cast will play a new game developed by independent publishers, often in partnership with them. The current season is focused on Slugblaster, a game about teenagers, bugs and other sci-fi elements.

One of those seasons would eventually become Bitcherton, an improvised comedy show launched in 2024 inspired by Jane Austen and Bridgerton. There is also Talk of the Table, a podcast hosted by Davis and Flaherty that’s focused on talking to TTRPG game designers and influencers about what matters to them.

The company is currently run by Davis, Flaherty, Hepworth, and Tissera, although it has a cast of 10-15 who regularly appear on My First Dungeon. It hopes to expand into other geek-related media in the future, but much of that will depend on what the company experiences in the coming days.

Thanks to Elliot Davis for chatting with us! To learn more about Many Sided Media, visit their website.

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CORRECTION: The article was updated with a few spelling errors, as well as game attributions.