A podcast starring a former Saturday Night Live cast member that began with the purpose of shining light on children who were raised without a strong father figure has evolved into a celebrity hang.
“Thanks Dad with Ego Nwodim” has now produced nearly 50 episodes, recently welcoming SNL legend Will Ferrell as a guest. But the podcast has transformed into celeb-heavy stories and insights into Nwodim’s career backstage.
Recent guests also include Nwodim’s former SNL castmate Alex Moffat, and BFF Heidi Gardner last October.
Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio, “Thanks Dad” was originally promoted as Nwodim’s attempt to find people to be her “Dad for the Day” with “heartfelt conversations with them about their experiences with their own dads and as parents themselves.”
For Nwodim, who spent seven seasons on SNL and ranks among the most beloved cast members, the chance to host a podcast arrived in 2024, when she was beginning to examine her next career moves when she may leave Studio 8H.
“I didn’t have a relationship with my dad, and it doesn’t bother me the way movies and television want it to bother me, but I’m curious about it,” Nwodim said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter in 2024.
In “Thanks Dad,” Nwodim seeks insights from many of her earliest guests, for the best advice they ever had, or things learned along the way. In recent episodes themes have steered toward dating, diet, and friendship. In the Gardner episode, Nwodim revealed that she loves to FaceTime, even if she’s in the shower. Admitting she’s placed FT calls where her “vagina and titties” were on full display.
Nwodim was at SNL through historic Season 50, but chose to not return to the cast in the fall of 2025. She’s since been working on her podcast, as well as voice work in a handful of motion pictures, including for Hoppers as the Fish Queen.
Other SNL cast members have thrown themselves into podcasting since departing the show. The list includes Vanessa Bayer, Amy Poehler, Dana Carvey and David Spade, Rachel Dratch, Beck Bennett and Kyle Mooney, Jim Breuer, and Joe Piscopo.
Nwodim’s podcats drop every Monday (or so), and so far about 15 episodes constitute a “season.” A clip from the recent Will Ferrell episode is shared here:
