Inside Mark Caro's new podcast, "Caropop"

If you liked Mark Caro's longform interviews in the Tribune and his "Talking in Space" series in Evanston, you'll love his "Caropop" podcast.

• The veteran local journalist describes it as "an excuse to continue in-depth conversations with creative people whose work I love."

In that vein, we interviewed Caro about his year-old audio series.

Intended vibe: The "High Fidelity" of podcasts, because "I appreciate the opportunity to nerd out on my favorite music, movies, food, what have you."

His biggest surprise: "That so many awesome guests have said yes. Richard Thompson, Sam Phillips, Dave Gregory and Terry Chambers of XTC, Chris Frantz of Talking Heads, Bruce Thomas of Elvis Costello & the Attractions, Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go’s, Colin Blunstone of The Zombies, Jody Stephens of Big Star."

• And the popularity of interviews with "mastering engineers Bernie Grundman, Kevin Gray and Ryan Smith. The No. 1 is with producer Steve Albini, so the audio nerds are out in force."

Favorite episodes: "I've felt grateful for and inspired by each one, but I was delighted by how warm and down to earth Sam Phillips turned out to be given how otherworldly I consider her music."

• "I appreciated the raw nerves exposed by Stevie Van Zandt and Gerald Casale of Devo but also had a blast talking with Amy Landecker, Dave Gregory, Delvon Lamarr, Colin Blunstone, Robbie Fulks, Judd Apatow and so many others."

On his personal podcast feed: "'Questlove Supreme' and 'Song Exploder,' and I've got to tip my cap to Greg Kot and Jim DeRogatis for elevating and popularizing music talk with 'Sound Opinions.'"

Dream guests: "I'm waiting for a call from Sir Paul McCartney saying he'd love to chat with someone so knowledgeable and enthusiastic about his work."

• "That said, I'm generally more inclined to talk with people who aren't center stage and haven't had as many opportunities to tell their great stories. I have more soul/R&B musicians on tap as well."