YouTube’s daredevil Michelle Khare has tackled the world’s toughest professions and stunts in her award-winning series CHALLENGE ACCEPTED — from mastering Harry Houdini’s water torture cell escape to tackling Tom Cruise’s deadliest stunt. With over 6 million followers, Michelle made history when she successfully petitioned for her independently-produced YouTube series to join the Primetime Emmy ballot for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series. On this episode of IN PROXIMITY, host Paola Mardo sits down with Michelle to talk about her origins as a Buzzfeed producer, the production process for CHALLENGE ACCEPTED, creating viral YouTube content, and her biggest takeaways from running 7 marathons on all 7 continents in 7 days.  CHECK OUT MICHELLE’S “THE GREAT WORLD RACE” SERIESI Ran 7 Marathons in 7 Days on 7 Continents SHOP OUR PROX BOOKS RECS ON BOOKSHOP.ORG LEARN MORE AND READ THE TRANSCRIPT AT PROXIMITYMEDIA.COM WATCH/LISTEN TO IN PROXIMITYYOUTUBEAPPLE PODCASTSSPOTIFY FOLLOW PROXIMITY MEDIAINSTAGRAMTIKTOK (00:00) Can I borrow your military plane? (06:16) From Louisiana girl to interdisciplinary athlete (11:20) BuzzFeed: a crash course on Internet videos (18:03) The creative and production process for CHALLENGE ACCEPTED (20:02) Behind the Houdini water torture trick (22:08) How she pulled off the MISSION IMPOSSIBLE plane stunt (27:52) Pro tip: THIS is how you hook your viewers (30:08) Petitioning to be on the Emmy ballot (36:13) Michelle’s business model as a YouTube creator (43:05) After running 7 marathons in 7 days on 7 continents… (45:58) Prox Recs IN PROXIMITY IS A PRODUCTION OF PROXIMITY MEDIA Host, Director, Producer: Paola Mardo Executive Producers: Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian Theme Song and Additional Music: Ludwig Göransson Co-Director and Director of Photography: Patrick Epino Sound Designer and Mix Engineer: Ken Nana Editors: Patrick Epino, Ken Nana, Ben Caloza, Michael Fallavollita  Assistant Editor: Ian Schrank  Associate Producer and Sound Recordist: Celine Mendiola Production Coordinator: Joy Woo Production Intern: Ben Caloza Social Media Coordinator: Alexandria Santana Motion Graphics Designer: Apollo Baldoz