Rhett And Link Cultivate Trust, One Video At A Time

Out of all the podcasts led by YouTube stars, we’re particularly partial to Ear Biscuits, hosted by the inseparable duo of Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal. Each week, we will bring you a recap of the latest Ear Biscuits episode, as well as an invitation to listen in and join the conversation.

The most recent episode of Rhett and Link’s Ear Biscuits podcast wraps up the duo’s most recent round of audio entertainment. In order to celebrate the finale, the two YouTube stars brought in their most important guest yet: themselves. In an extra-long, 103-minute installment, Rhett and Link field questions from some of their previous guests, dishing on their lives, their relationship, and their work in the process.

As Rhett and Link explain from the onset, this episode isn’t just the end of Ear Biscuits’ second season; it’s also the beginning of a hiatus for the podcast. As they continue to work on their AM talk show Good Mythical Morning, they’re also looking for some time to work on some scripted projects, and with those in the pipeline, finding time for long-form conversation becomes more difficult.

What, then, do we learn in this final Ear Biscuits hurrah? Thanks to YouTube stars like Grace Helbig, Hank Green, and Hannah Hart, we find out quite a bit about Rhett and Link. One by one, the guests from previous Ear Biscuits episodes step up to ask the hosts their own burning questions. Many of these queries cover superficial topics like embarrassing stories and juice, but Rhett and Link fans pick up plenty of interesting factoids. We learn, for example, that the slap fight at the end of this video set off an

With some questions, however, the conversation goes deep. Helbig asked the two hosts to discuss times when they felt like failures. In response to her question, Rhett and Link referenced Commercial Kings, a TV they did for IFC that was canceled after one season. As Rhett explains, the show’s cancellation turned into a learning moment. “There’s no guarantees that anything is going to work, and the best chance you can give it is trusting yourself and doing everything you can to executing your vision,” he says. “I also approach everything with a [mindset of], ‘If this doesn’t work, it’s a step to something else.’” He’s not wrong. The end of Commercial Kings allowed Rhett and Link to launch Good Mythical Morning, now the cornerstone of their online video presence.

Many other former Ear Biscuits guests looked to unlock answers about Rhett and Link’s longtime collaborative relationship. Green’s question, for example, asks Rhett and Link to explain how they built the trust needed to form such a strong bond. In their responses, they made sure to note how their respect for one another comes naturally. “Trust is something we’ve never had to work on,” explains Rhet. “I think that’s just a result of the time and the track record…We’ve pissed each other off, but we’ve never violated each others’ trust.” Link adds in an emphasis on the pronoun ‘we.’ “We created this,” he says. “That’s just a decision to protect against competition and credit…this is an extension of trust. There’s something more important than one of us getting credit or getting more accolades than the other person and that’s us creating what we see in our vision.”

Because they seem to trust each other so deeply, it is exciting to see where they go next, even if it means no podcasts for a while. They’re sure to put out good work, even if the occasional slap fight gets in the way.

The newest Ear Biscuits episode can be found on iTunes and Soundcloud.