About CFR
Note: This bio is ancient and must be updated!
Chicken Fried Radio (CFR) is a weekly podcast by Toby Heidel (also known as T.E.), Christian Huey, and Abbie Wyndham. Ryan Hill co-hosted the program from August 28, 2005 to May 11, 2006. The hosts are friends who live and work in Austin, Texas, USA. The shows are comedic in theme and fairly fluid in format, though always featuring humorous takes on various strange or unusual news stories. Their podcast is unique both in its freewheeling, "no topic off limits" concept and in its exceptionally close ties to its fan base.
Origin and Development
Chicken Fried Radio began in August 2005 as an experiment, spearheaded by T.E. Heidel, to find out what kind and size of an audience was available to podcasts with little-to-no financial backing. The first two episodes featured only Heidel and Hill, in a more conventional (albeit thematically dadaist) fashion, as a conversation between two friends about various topics of interest. Huey joined starting with the third episode, and Windham rounded out the cast during the fourth.
Initially, CFR was promoted only through word of mouth, to the friends and family of the four hosts. After half a dozen episodes, it was featured on iTunes, where it continues to be available. As of June 19, 2006, a total of 41 episodes had been produced. At present, recordings typically occur on Monday nights, and finished episodes are released on Wednesdays. The episodes (beginning with Episode 
are available on the official CFR website [link]. (Episodes 1-7 are only available on the old CFR website. [link])
Cast and Crew
The hosts are all amateur actors who specialize to varying degrees in voice acting, including the Austin vintage radio drama troupe, Violet Crown Radio Players (VCRP), which was founded by Heidel. However, all four work "day jobs," and pursue their dramatic endeavors (including CFR) in their spare time.
In the course of recording CFR, the hosts have been given or have taken on several nicknames. The first and most common is the self-bestowed "Bushleague Jackasses with Microphones," often shortened to simply "Jackasses", in reference to their initial (and ongoing) lack of professionalism.
Other monikers, such as "The Fried Four" and "The Four Bringers of Chaos," were given by their listeners. In the latter case, the name was bestowed derogatorily by Vox Monitor hosts Eric and Cohry. Fans made the name their own, equating the name with the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, with Heidel as Death, Hill as War, Windham as Famine, and Huey as Pestilence.
Following Ryan Hill's voluntary departure from the show on May 11, 2006, Chicken Fried Radio announced the slot would, for the time being, be filled by a succession of guest hosts.
Regular Hosts
Toby \"T.E.\" Heidel
Along with hosting, T.E. handles sound mixing and post production duties on the
ShareInterpretive Dance
