How Griffin Cork Turned Family Time Into Two Hit Podcasts: The Breakfast Dish and The Die As Cast

The Die As Cast Genre: Comedy Type: Pro Podcaster Active Since: 2021 LISTEN NOW

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When you think of the phrase “family business,” your mind might go to restaurants or repair shops, but in the Cork family, podcasting is the trade of choice.

Meet Griffin Cork: producer, performer, and the creative mind behind The Breakfast Dish and The Die As Cast. With one show co-hosted by his mom and the other co-created with his dad, Griffin has somehow managed to turn family time into two compelling audio series.

We sat down with Griffin to talk about why he started not one, but two successful shows, how he keeps his passion alive, and the lessons he’s learned along the way.

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Introducing The Breakfast Dish and The Die As Cast 

When the world went quiet in 2020, Griffin and his mom, actor and theatre artist Karen Johnson-Diamond, were determined to keep the arts conversation alive. That’s how The Breakfast Dish was born — an interview-style show that highlights creators who found innovative ways to connect during lockdowns.

“The original purpose of the show,” Griffin said, “was to highlight all of the online, digital, and eventually socially distanced offerings that people who were previously working in the live event industry were cooking up.” 

Fast forward to today, and The Breakfast Dish has evolved into a heartwarming and often hilarious celebration of creativity in all forms. “Our arts community is both so vast and so tiny,” Griffin reflected. “There hasn’t been any ego from anybody about being ‘too good’ to chat with a mother and her son about bacon and theatre. But at the same time, there are so many incredible people creating in ways I had no idea about.”

That same sense of curiosity and connection fuels his second show, The Die As Cast, co-created with his dad, Kevin Cork. A Dungeons & Dragons 5E actual-play podcast, “It’s a lot simpler and a lot dorkier,” Griffin laughed. “It’s a D&D show with a cast of actors and improvisers, set in Kobold Press’s world of Midgard.”

What ties both shows together is Griffin’s instinct to bring people together—whether through theatre, fantasy, or family.

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Podcast marketing challenges 

Griffin admits that the marketing side of podcasting has been his biggest learning curve. “A lot of the marketing knowledge I have surrounds film and theatre, but those industries are equipped with trailers and images that capture an audience’s attention. How do you advertise an audio-only podcast?” he said.

It’s a question many creators wrestle with. Griffin has experimented with everything from trailers to potential video components, but is still exploring what really moves the needle. “Some podcasters have started adding a video element to their recordings,” he noted. “But is that beneficial enough to double your editing and recording load?”

What’s clear is that he’s not afraid to adapt and learn. “These are the things I’m still slowly figuring out,” he added, “and CoHost is actually helping quite a bit with that.”

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Griffin’s advice for creators

Every creator has that phase where it feels like you’re shouting into the void. Griffin knows the feeling all too well. “It’s really hard right at the beginning when each of your episodes is only getting 5–10 downloads from your family and co-workers,” he said.

His advice for pushing through those early days? Keep showing up. “Every podcast expert says consistency is the most important thing, and I didn’t really believe them at first,” he admitted. “But if you love what you’re doing, people will find you. And some of those people will like it so much that they expect you to stick to the release schedule you promised. Do your best not to let them down.”

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Tools of the trade

Griffin’s podcasting toolkit is a blend of creativity and convenience. For remote recordings, he swears by Riverside.fm. “I remember the days that I had everybody clap at the same time on our Zoom call so that I would know where to line up the individual tracks,” he said. “Riverside fixes literally all of those problems.”

On the marketing front, his best-performing tactic has been creating short, eye-catching videos using Headliner. “Find the most hilarious or interesting section of your show,” he advised. “Headliner helps you design a captioned video that works fantastically on TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts.”

And when it comes to analytics, CoHost’s data has become a vital part of its strategy. “My favorite CoHost feature is the differentiation between Total Show Downloads and Unique Show Listeners,” he said. “That’s a metric I can’t find anywhere else.”

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Keeping up with The Breakfast Dish and The Die As Cast 

When asked about his ultimate goal, Griffin doesn’t talk about download milestones or sponsorship deals: For Griffin, success isn’t measured by charts or followers — it’s about maintaining the spark that made him hit “record” in the first place.

“My primary goal is to stay in love with podcasting,” he explained. “If I have to bring new segments to my shows, I’ll do that. If one of my shows needs to drastically change the format, we can make that happen.” That adaptability, that willingness to evolve and experiment, is what keeps Griffin’s work fresh. 

Make sure to tune into The Breakfast Dish and The Die As Cast wherever you get your podcasts.