‘The Confused Breakfast’ podcast serves up movie nostalgia

“The Confused Breakfast” blends humor with nostalgia for a homegrown audio experience. Hosted by Sean Prior, A.J. Vens and Mike Schulte, the award-winning podcast dissects classic films from the '80s, '90s and 2000s. 

Since its first episode released in 2020, Confused Breakfast has evolved into an award-winning production, being named Podcast of the Year at the Iowa Podcast Awards in Cedar Rapids on Sept. 15.

The origins of Confused Breakfast trace back to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mr. Schulte, the drummer for Iowa rock band The Pork Tornadoes, found himself without a creative outlet due to the lack of live performances. 

Around the same time, he got to know Mr. Prior and Mr. Vens by being a guest on their own separate podcast promoting local music and art, and the three decided to pool their talents to launch Confused Breakfast. 

“I kind of had this idea that I wanted to do something more global. You know, everybody loves movies. Everybody loves talking about classic movies. I love classic movies. I want to start a movie podcast,” Mr. Schulte said. “And I immediately thought of Sean and AJ because of the work we've done together. AJ actually had recording equipment; I didn't have that. He had a basement that we could record in. Sean is a crazy movie knowledge buff, and I'm like maybe we could do something fun [together].” 

They released their first episode on Oct. 1, 2020, after planning the show’s format and segments and deciding on a name. 

“The Confused Breakfast” is a mix of the trio’s favorite movies: “The Goonies,” “Dazed and Confused,” and “The Breakfast Club.” However, Mr. Prior noted that it was also the old password for some of his former podcast’s social media. 

The show's format is both nostalgic and analytical, focusing on one film per episode. Mr. Vens said each episode begins with a discussion of their initial reactions to the film, followed by a scene-by-scene breakdown. 

“That’s really the premise of the show, and I think a big difference that we've always had is we're three pretty normal guys. We aren't film students,” Mr. Vens said. “We're mostly three average viewers of a movie, and we give our perspective…We're probably trying to make it fun at the same time, we're not overly critical at the same time, we're just trying to have fun with it too.” 

Mr. Prior also has a facts-based segment going over the production details and budgets for each film. 

“Something that I like to say is every movie is someone's favorite movie. Even the worst ones,” Mr. Prior said. “But to someone out there, that's their bread and butter… and I think that’s really cool.” 

By the numbers 

When Confused Breakfast began, it was solely posted to audio-sharing platforms like Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and Stitcher, but the trio quickly expanded to video sites like YouTube and Vimeo as well. 

By 2024, the podcast had amassed more than 600,000 followers and 350 million collective views across those platforms. They currently receive about 100,000 monthly listens on audio-only sites, and about 5 million monthly video views. 

Their YouTube channel has accumulated more than 26,000 subscribers alone. Their biggest platform by far, however, is TikTok. 

Mr. Schulte said that it was their strategic use of joining TikTok that really boosted Confused Breakfast’s success. Despite initial hesitations about the platform’s younger audience, the team committed to posting daily clips from their episodes and quickly racked up the views.

“You quickly realize while you’re getting on there, that [TikTok] is for everybody. And how smart the algorithm is,” Mr. Schulte said. “We made the pact to say, well, ‘We're gonna do one video a day for like a year, we're just gonna put them out there’…Truthfully, had we not done that, we'd probably still be doing it, but not to the level that we are right now.” 

So far, the podcast has reached 386,000 followers and 13.1 million likes on clips posted to TikTok. 

"It’s been a slow, crazy ride over four years," Mr. Vens said, emphasizing that their success did not happen overnight.

In keeping with their growth, the trio now records two episodes per week and works with production company Upload Media in a professional sound studio. 

“We find people who are professionals, like [our producer] is now,” Mr. Prior said. “And so to have that help, and to have this space, and to make it grow into what it is here is just — it seems daunting to look at it as like maybe an outsider — but it feels great to have that support.” 

Local recognition, global reach

"The Confused Breakfast" was named Iowa Podcast of the Year last month, a milestone that took the hosts by surprise despite their online growth. The trio collectively said it was an incredible honor. 

“I didn't think it would hit us the way that it did,” Mr. Vens said. “You don't make a podcast for awards. That's not why you start the podcast. If you're starting this for awards or money, you're doing it for the wrong reasons. But I didn't know that having that happen would actually affect me or us in the way that it did.”

While their audience extends far beyond the Corridor, all three hosts remain strongly connected to the local community. 

Mr. Prior and Mr. Vens were born and raised in the Cedar Rapids area, while Mr. Schulte moved here from St. Louis as a teenager, but considers Iowa his home. All three hosts agreed that there are ups and downs to recording the podcast in the Corridor. 

“There's major pros to being here, like you can have a lower cost of living and still create and send things out to the world,” Mr. Schulte said. “But the negative being that, we do interview some famous people from time to time, and it's real tough. The only time we can do that is when they come through, which is not very often.”

The podcasters have traveled a number of times to record special projects outside the Corridor. In 2022 they flew to Los Angeles to appear as guests on comedian Bert Kriescher’s podcast. They also visited Astoria, Oregon, to record an episode in the original “Goonies” house that year. 

Mr. Vens noted that while they might not be able to make the same celebrity connections as easily in an environment like Los Angeles, the market in Iowa hasn’t become oversaturated with influencers — giving Confused Breakfast a leg up with its unique location. 

“If you were in LA, though, and you said, ‘I have a podcast,’ everybody has podcasts in LA, right? Who doesn't have a podcast?” Mr. Vens said. “It's that kind of thing, so it's kind of a double-edged sword.” 

The podcast is still recorded in downtown Cedar Rapids, but the Midwest and Iowa in particular is one of their lowest listenership regions. Mr. Schulte said they want to expand their local audience, and let people in the Corridor know about Confused Breakfast.

“The old way of us doing things was you grow outward: your city loves you, and then your state loves you, and then your region loves you,” Mr. Schulte said. “Now it's like we're almost going the reverse route, but I want Iowa to know about us, to know that we're here.” 

Looking ahead 

Although the podcast has become a bigger part of their lives, all three hosts continue to maintain day jobs in the Corridor. Mr. Prior works for a plumbing supply company, Mr. Vens is employed in business services for UScellular, and Mr. Schulte balances his time as a local Realtor and as a musician. 

As "The Confused Breakfast" moves forward, the team plans to keep refining their format. Small changes had already been made over time, such as increasing the frequency of episodes from bi-weekly to weekly, and then to two episodes a week. 

The hosts said that one day, they aim to create a network of local podcasts to continue expanding their brand. They also want to bolster their connections with other content creators and businesses in the area.

“Maybe create a network someday; that would be huge, to have our own network of shows, all local, that we can put out to people and employ local people and everything,” Mr. Prior said. 

For Mr. Schulte, one of the most rewarding aspects of the podcast is its ability to serve as an everlasting record of their lives, to remind them of how far they’ve come. 

“The best thing for me about doing this podcast is it's been a bit of a time capsule for us,” Mr. Schulte said. “When we started this I didn't have any kids. [AJ] was only engaged. Didn't have any kids. [Sean] was a single guy, and since then, the people we've grown into: [Sean] is now married. [AJ] is married with a kid. I have two kids.”  

In addition to Confused Breakfast’s personal significance, Mr. Prior said the nature of film adds another layer of meaning. 

“I feel the podcast may be a time capsule, but movies are a timestamp to me,” Mr. Prior said. “Especially when you look back on when you watched this, you kind of feel the same feelings you were feeling when you watch it again. That's nostalgia talking to you. Or, like [Mike] was saying, I wasn't married when we started this. And now I view movies different. Now I watch movies with my wife and see how she thinks of them. It's special.”