How Dr. Pradeep Ramayya Created a Studio-Quality Podcast
Dr. Pradeep Ramayya spent over four decades in medicine and med tech. But in retirement, he wanted to shift his focus—from managing healthcare systems to helping individuals reshape their thinking.
That’s how The Existential Chef was born: a storytelling project designed to inspire mindset change, now delivered as a fully produced podcast—without any traditional studio setup.
From Blog to Podcast
“I started writing a lot of blogs... but people don't have much time to read through blogs,” Dr. Ramayya explained. “Podcasts was something which really interested me.”
Initially, he tried recording on his own, and tested tools like Google’s NotebookLM. But it felt “plasticky” and artificial.
“I didn’t want two generic AIs quoting sources,” he said. “There was no control over it.”
Enter Jellypod
Then, while browsing YouTube, he stumbled across Jellypod.
“Oh my God—you know, this is exactly what I want,” he recalled. “It was really exciting because number one, I got full control over the content.”
He quickly:
- Cloned his own voice.
- Created Arya, a lively AI co-host with “young person’s lingo.”
- Crafted conversations using uploaded source material.
- Seamlessly blended his real voice with AI dialogue.
“Now actually, I've got a studio—a personal studio of mine with actors. I've got total control over it.”
Why It Worked
What made Jellypod stand out?
“The script—it gave the script a personality. There was a flavor to that... that was compelling.”
He also praised the customization: being able to tweak character traits, structure chapters, and jump in and out of episodes using his real voice.
Listeners loved it. His friends thought Arya was his daughter. His daughter saw herself in Arya’s stories.
“They couldn't... a lot of them did not even realize that it wasn't me speaking.”
A Scalable Creative Process
Dr. Ramayya now treats Jellypod like a production set:
- He intros the episode using his real voice.
- Arya and The Existential Chef (his AI self) take over for a rich discussion.
- He returns to wrap things up with a personalized outro.
“I'm the director, the producer, and then I've got actors. And I can direct the actors the way I want to direct them so that the story comes alive.”
Final Thoughts
“I struggled for a year… I just didn't feel like publishing them because they were just boring,” he said of his early solo attempts.
Now?
“This is the best use of AI, honestly. I'm not ashamed to tell anyone that this is AI-enabled.”
For Dr. Ramayya, Jellypod didn’t just help him podcast. It helped him scale conversations that had once been one-on-one—and do it with soul.