A queue to look forward to
Pineapple on pizza, food clothes, fashion intellectualism, almighty algorithms, animal emotions, kangaroos, climate psychology.
Sometimes I get butterflies of excitement when I think about the podcasts I get to listen to the next day. Pairing them with different tasks throughout the day to keep me company brings me such genuine joy. I know, really romanticizing podcasts again, but I have to speak my dorky truth! No matter how my Wednesday is going, I know when I pour an iced coffee and hit play on Vibe Check, I’m going to feel good. Or every week day when I hear the theme song for Commotion kick in and I know Elamin is going to take me down a rabbit hole of pop culture. That is if Sam Sanders hasn’t already gotten me Into It. And that doesn’t even include keeping up with ICYMI, Unladylike, and Kelly Corrigan Wonders.
And now, an accurate depiction of me jamming out every time the theme songs start…
This week’s podstack
How Not to Travel - Hawaiian Pizza
How did cultural exchange contribute to some of the most famous foods around the world? Croissants don’t have the history you think they do and the origin of tabasco sauce is not where you might think it is. This season of How Not to Travel is for the traveling foodies because it’s all about food and the journey each food took to become what it is today. With hosts Kiona and Luis exploring the origin stories, cultural significance, and common misconceptions about each food, you finish each episode knowing at least one thing I bet you didn’t know before. And they make it really fun as they kinda quiz each other about the foods. With how short the episodes are, I flew threw the tabasco, croissant, and Hawaiian pizza ones! (transcript)
Speaking of food, we seem to be wearing more of it these days. But when did food and fashion become so linked? Maybe you noticed this somewhere in the girl dinner trend or you’ve heard of the grocery girl aesthetic (I had to look that one up and now I’d like to hop on that trend). Like a lot of modern day food trends, it could be traced back to social media, more specifically Instagram. Food and fashion are both an expression of who we are, they make sense together like peanut butter and chocolate. Melissa Marra-Alvarez and Elizabeth Way put together an exhibition that explores how food and fashion have been expressed by designers and in our every day lives. There’s also an interesting flip side to this because food can also be associated with fears stemming from how the fashion industry treats different body sizes. There’s even a lot of history and messaging about politics, gender and society. One of my favourite quotes was: “food is this joyous way of having a little fun with your clothes, of expressing a little bit of who you are, and that’s really important”. If you’re in New York City, it sounds like such an awesome exhibition to check out! (transcript)
Nymphet Alumni - Ep. 58: Fashion Intellectualism w/ Avery Trufelman
Now let’s naturally segue into just straight up fashion! When scientists didn’t want to talk to Avery Trufelman about fashion, because they felt like it was just reducing them to their clothes, she had to try to explain to them how we can use fashion to talk about the world, social dynamics, and symbols. Now, it’s more understood and has become known as ‘fashion intellectualism’. This resistance to taking fashion and clothing seriously obviously isn’t new. In this episode, Avery theorizes that it might all come back to the fact that young people, people of color, queer people, and women are the ones who tend to be more interested in fashion and they aren’t always listened to. There were so many things in this conversation that were blowing my mind, but this one stood out a lot: clothes are among some of the last physical collections that we have, because so many other things like books, records, and movies have gone so digital. This whole episode had me furiously taking notes!! And Avery’s desire to also ask questions in return, instead of just being asked questions, means her appearances on other podcasts can result in such deep and diverse conversations. I have to thank Lauren for putting this show and especially this episode on my radar!
Digital Folklore - The Links Between Us (Algorithmic Identity, Goncharov, and Tumblr)
This is another one that had me taking notes! “The algorithm is the brain behind my opinion” is a line that made me drop everything and immediately write it down. One of the interviews in this episode looks at the way algorithms shape our online experience and more specifically any folklore we might associate with each platform. When you feel that sense of disbelief that someone doesn’t see things the way you do, it’s also because they literally aren’t seeing what you are! Our algorithms shape us as we are also shaping them and it makes for this endless cycle of everyone’s experiences varying, to different degrees. Since Dr. Cassandra Pfeifer studies and teaches courses that touch on all of this, she, Perry, and Mason discuss the differences and surprising experiences that younger generations are sharing about social media and how it shapes their lives. (transcript)
Why do we like to project human emotions onto animals? This question serves as a great focus when discussing the viral sensation of orcas vs yachts from this past summer. We all loved cheering on the orcas, saying they were out for revenge and taking down the rich. But that’s atttributing a lot of intention to an animal’s actions in ways that might not reflect how they actually behave. This is actually a reason that when scientists talk about stories related to animals, they’re selective about the language they use to describe what an animal has done. Important takeaway: “if they were actually out for revenge, it would be a much bigger thing”… how comforting? Just because we share a similar brain structure for emotional processing as some animals, doesn’t mean we’re experiencing the emotions the same way. This is like animal psychology 101! If you love getting caught up in the hype of a viral story, but want some help going down the rabbit hole to learn the truth about that story, this is the show to help you. (transcript)
Everything is Alive - The Animals: Melissa and Joseph, Kangaroos
Speaking of attributing human behaviours to animals…the new season of Everything is Alive is all from the perspectives of animals instead of inanimate objects. The first episode features a kangaroo and her son, who seems to be overstaying his welcome in the pouch. The son, Joseph, is pretty hilarious! As is always the case, if you need a good laugh and a low-stakes listen, hit play on this immediately. He’s so comfy in this pouch that he’s put up posters and their parent-child relationship might feel unexpectedly relatable to some. You’ll even learn an interesting kangaroo fact about what you’re supposed to do if you come across a kangaroo that has been hit by a car. Also, let’s not talk about how long it took me to realize why they chose the name Joseph for the baby kangaroo…
Degrees - Eco-anxiety is fueling a new green career: climate psychology
Rebecca Weston went from practicing law as a way to make a difference in the world, to working as a psychotherapist who specializes in climate related emotions, anxiety, and how to talk about it – now known as climate psychology. If we were all better versed in talking about our climate emotions and how to process them, it might help us deal with the climate crisis better and counteract the individualistic messaging we’re surrounded by. This episode makes you realize how much might be weighing on us that can actually be attributed to challenges from climate change. There’s a myth that environmental issues shouldn’t be brought into therapy, but by following that it doesn’t give space for people to process the external factors that are impacting their well being. It’s all related and Rebecca’s perspective is so helpful for better understanding why that shift is so important right now. She even provides some tips on how to process these emotions. (transcript)
More sweet treats
Vote for your favourite shows in the 2023 Signal Awards.
There are still some tickets left for Pod The North Live! Let’s go!
Podglomerate is hiring a lead producer.
If you need me, I’ll be making mini croissants.
I may be rethinking social media thanks to this and its catchy as heck theme song.
Thank you for reading! If you listened to something this week that made your heart sing, your imagination wander, or your brain ponder, I’d love to hear about it!
Thank you for sharing Pod the North LIVE Devin!!!
I shared your post with Degrees colleagues and they were so grateful :-). It was a great episode indeed and it so nice to pre-interview her; felt like mini-therapy haha.