In the ever-evolving world of podcasts, few have made as significant an impact as “Da” Podcast. Today, we have the pleasure of sitting down with the charismatic host, Steve, who has captivated audiences with his unique blend of humour, insight, and authenticity.
In this exclusive and raw interview, we delve into the stories behind the episodes, the inspiration driving the content, and the behind-the-scenes moments that make “Da” Podcast a unique show for your listening ears!
Tell us a little bit about yourself.
I was born and raised in Toronto to Portuguese parents, with two much older siblings. My mom got cancer while she was pregnant with me, and the doctors only gave her months to survive.
She ended up living for another 27 years before she passed. My childhood was all about taking care of mom. I was my mom’s caretaker since I could walk. Since it was all about my mom, naturally myself and my brothers didn’t get the proper parenting we needed. Mostly myself as my brothers were teenagers and got it when they were younger. But with no guidance, my dad was working 12 to 16 hour days to support us all. My brothers went down a dark path and chose a life of crime. While I was left to learn life all on my own.
I always tell people I was raised by wrestling and video games. No one taught me how to be a human being. I was always behind. So in turn, I was always picked on. Not to mention, I almost got killed in a car accident which left me unconscious for a few days at the age of 4 and from that I had a lot of head trauma and started to stutter.
So, imagine a 5 year old in school that can’t tie his own shoes, barely speaking English (we only spoke Portuguese at home), and had a stutter, exactly!
By the time I reached high school, I thought I figured out life, but I was wrong! A whole new bunch of problems started to arise.
My brothers were in and out of jail, police were constantly at my house and I kept hearing from people that I was going to be even worse than them. So now it went from people making fun of me because I didn’t know anything to people thinking I was going to be the next “Scarface” or something.
I graduated high school with very good grades, could have gone to any university I wanted to, but my parents decided to move back to Portugal and enrol me in the army. My mom wanted to die in Portugal as she thought her end was near.
I lived there for a year but after that I couldn’t do it anymore. At the age of 18, I left Portugal with $300 in my pocket and came back to Canada!
Three years later I met my beautiful and amazing wife and the rest is history as they say! I have no regrets because I would have not met the love of my life. It was when I met her that I truly felt safe and loved.
Took me 21 years to get it, but I finally got it! 24 years later we are still happily married, and have an amazing life.
As for my family, I have no relationship with my brothers and my dad only calls when he needs something. My oldest brother has a daughter. My niece and her family are the only people I consider family now (besides my wife and in-laws, of course). Because of my brother never being there, I helped raise my niece and consider her more of a daughter than anything. I wanted to make sure she felt love growing up because no child should feel unloved or alone like I was.
Due to my traumatic upbringing I never wanted to have children or cared to have them. Luckily my wife felt and feels the same way for her own reasons. A match truly made in heaven!
Tell us a bit about your “Da” Podcast
“Da” Podcast is just a laid back casual conversation about topics I love to talk about with interesting people. Mostly about pro wrestling, video games, comedy, the Portuguese culture and really anything that falls into nerd culture.
What inspired you to start the podcast?
I’ve always wanted to be in entertainment in some form or another since childhood. Never had the opportunity since I left home at a very young age and needed to take care of myself, so my dreams were sort of squashed. Until approximately eight years ago when my cousin called me out of the blue. He said, “Yo, you wanna start a podcast with me?” So of course, I said yes! My cousin and I recorded a couple of episodes. We got very good feedback and we started our journey. About two months in my cousin didn’t want to co-host anymore.
I was stuck because the format we had was that I’m a Gen-Xer and he is a Millennial and we were giving our opinions accordingly, it was hilarious. But I wanted to continue so the next couple of months I tried to talk about trending topics and other comedic bits.
But it wasn’t fulfilling for me so I needed to shake it up. I started reaching out to comedians, wrestlers, video game creators and more to see if I can have them as guests.
Here I am almost eight years later with a weekly episode dropped for over 400 consecutive weeks!
What do you hope people gain from listening to your podcast?
Honestly, never thought about this. I was really just doing it for myself. But I truly hope people see how real and genuine “Da” Podcast is. If not, hopefully people get a laugh and it puts a smile on their faces.
What is it about wrestling that you love?
Everything!!!! I love the athleticism, the story telling, the emotions you feel, the pageantry, it’s all amazing! There’s literally something for everyone, how can you not like it!
If you could bring one wrestler, past or present, that would be the best representation of you, who would it be? Why?
This is a tough one as I’ve been a fan of wrestling for over 40 years! As a Canadian, I gotta say Brett Hart only because I truly believe that I’m the best podcaster there is, was and ever will be! Besides Bret it would have to be John Cena, as corny as it sounds, because of everything I’ve been through, I truly believe in his motto of “Never Give Up!”
We have listened to a few of your podcasts and your guests have been truly inspiring. Who has been your favourite or most memorable so far and why?
It’s a cliche answer but I don’t really have a favourite, I love them all! I usually say the last person who has been on. But I do have to say that re-occurring guests are my absolute favourite as the pressure is off and it’s really just a catch up rather than getting to know each other.
Do you have any crazy stories from podcasting that you would like to share?
Not really crazy, but annoying. People don’t realize how much you get rejected in the podcast world. For every 10 people or so I ask to come on, only 2 to 3 people will respond back and then usually only 1 will say yes. So one day, I reached out to a pretty well known English actor and we scheduled a day for him to come on the podcast. He gave me a number to call and use FaceTime as that was the only method he was able to use. So when I called said number it was for a comedy club and they had no idea what I was talking about. Then I reached back out to the guest and he just completely ghosted me!
Who would you like to see on your podcast?
Two of my favourite TV shows of all time are Married with Children and Modern Family, one person who starred in both is Ed O’Neil, iconic Al Bundy. I would love to talk with him on my podcast one day.
A very close second is Robert England. My favourite horror villain of all time is Freddy Krueger. Would be pretty cool to talk with him as well!
Anything new and exciting you want to share?
Nothing in particular. But there will be some live comedy shows that I will be part of in 2025, so stayed tuned to my socials. In the meantime, just keep on listening to “Da” Podcast!✌️
There we have it! A honest, raw and exclusive interview with Steve from “Da” Podcast. We had the pleasure of being on his podcast and if you missed it, you can listen to it here.
We wish Steve continued success and maybe you will be hearing us back on the podcast soon! 😉
Until next time…Happy Parenting!
~ Momma Braga
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