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Snackin' & Yakkin'
Some episodes stay on the rails. This one happily did not.
When Devin Dukes and DJ Dukes, the father-son team behind Shrimp City Report, sat down with Big Ben Kennedy on Snackin’ & Yakkin’, the talk bounced from Charleston media to wrestling, ghosts, barbecue, old encyclopedias, and a bowl of homemade crab dip that got rave reviews. What tied it all together was Charleston itself, and the idea that local podcasting still matters when it sounds like real people talking.
Why Shrimp City Report works
Shrimp City Report started after Devin and DJ came back to podcasting from a more niche project, a comic-book show called The Weekly Villain Report. This time, they went wider. A lot wider. Instead of locking themselves into one tiny lane, they built a Charleston show that could cover whatever caught their interest and still feel connected.
That means food, music, art, sports, business, and the odd corners of town that never fit neatly into one category. Their own shorthand for it is entertainment, leisure, and living, which is a smart way to leave the doors open without making the whole thing feel scattered.
The name fits, too. “Holy City” already gets worn out. “Port City” is everywhere. “Shrimp City” is specific, local, a little playful, and tied to the food culture that people here know by heart. It sounds like Charleston without trying too hard.
If you want the full picture, their official Shrimp City Report site lays it out pretty plainly. The goal is simple, and it’s a good one: build a running catalog of Charleston people and Charleston stories.
A Charleston podcast that isn’t trying to be everything
What makes their show click is that it doesn’t pretend to be the final word on any subject. They aren’t acting like professors of wrestling, historians of piracy, or culinary judges handing down law from the mountaintop. They’re there to let people talk, then follow the thread wherever it goes.
That has led to a guest list with some range:
- barbecue names like Lewis Barbecue
- Major League Wrestling guests
- Charleston arts figures
- local business owners
- specialists like “Captain Bird,” talking Charleston piracy
That long-form approach matters. A quick TV segment can tell you what someone is promoting. Forty minutes can tell you who they are. That’s why Devin and DJ talked about warming into conversations instead of rushing to the headline. You get more when the guest has room to breathe.
It also helps that they’re Charleston people. That local credibility, plus the father-son dynamic, gives the show an easy rhythm. Guests seem to relax into it.
The best local podcasts don’t just book Charleston guests. They sound like Charleston.
Best of Charleston, social media, and the hustle behind the mic
Both Shrimp City Report and Snackin’ & Yakkin’ landed in the Best of Charleston conversation, which led to a nice bit of mutual respect instead of chest-thumping. They gave credit where it was due, especially to Charleston Time Machine, which got singled out as a heavyweight in the field.
That was probably the most refreshing part of the whole conversation. No fake rivalry. No weird gatekeeping. Just a clear feeling that Charleston podcasting gets better when people know each other, swap guests, and stop acting like every microphone in town is a territorial dispute.
They were also honest about the grind. Social media is its own job. Editing is its own job. Posting clips, keeping a site updated, and staying consistent is a lot when you’re also trying to book guests and make the show good. DJ handles much of that side, and they joked that every podcast really needs a 14-year-old social media manager. Hard to argue with that.
One funny note rang true: animal clips win. An owl clip from one episode blew up. That’s the internet. You can spend hours fine-tuning a post, then a bird walks in and steals the show. Their Apple Podcasts page shows how broad the lineup already is.
Barbecue, Battery gear, ghosts, and a bowl of Old Bay
This episode wasn’t only media talk. It had the good stuff.
Ben broke out homemade shrimp dip and crab dip, made with Phillips crab meat and enough Old Bay to make his Maryland heart happy. The crab dip won the day. Not politely, either. It got the kind of praise that happens when people stop talking for a second because they’re busy going back for another bite.
From there, the conversation wandered into Lewis Barbecue, which got glowing reviews, then local sports. Devin and DJ proudly repped Charleston Battery support through The Regiment and talked RiverDogs nostalgia, old stadium memories, and how much local teams matter when you’re trying to talk about a city as a living place instead of a brochure.
Then came the fun left turns: Wikipedia in its chaos era, yard-sale encyclopedias from 1972, Charleston ghost lore, the Provost Dungeon, and a ghost hunt story that didn’t quite convert the skeptics but still made for a great tale. Toss in technical difficulties, missing cameras, and a joke about throwing a GoPro off the Ravenel Bridge, and the whole thing kept the loose, lived-in energy that polished shows often miss.
Where they want the show to go next
The long-term vision is bigger than downloads. DJ said it best when he talked about the podcast becoming a catalog of Charleston. That’s the part that sticks.
Sure, there are dream guests. Danny McBride came up. So did Bobby Hartin. Those are big gets. But the more interesting ambition is that someone might discover a local artist, DJ, pitmaster, or business because Shrimp City Report gave them a solid conversation and a real introduction.
Final thoughts
What came through here wasn’t hype. It was community.
Shrimp City Report feels like a show built by people who know Charleston, like Charleston, and want to leave behind a record of the people making it what it is. Add crab dip, PBR, Battery talk, wrestling detours, and the occasional ghost story, and you’ve got a pretty good picture of why local podcasting still has some life in it.
