Another podcraft complete
Online manipulation, ultimate optimism, sonic scrapbook, mac and cheese, clothing colours, what we watch.
One of these days I’ll have to track exactly which podcasts I listened to while working on a craft. That way by the end I could list out all the ideas and voices that kept me company while creating something. This latest one was started in November and not completed until last week. I took my time finishing it, but I’m sure you can imagine how many different podcasts were spent working on it… A lot! Each piece of food was made using air dry clay and then hand painted before being glued into the frame. It now hangs in my kitchen as a fun food collage!
Do you have a favourite thing you made or did while listening to podcasts lately?
This week’s podstack
Who Trolled Amber? - Episode 1 - Missing evidence
By analyzing the Depp vs Heard case, this investigation actually helps us understand the impact that internet presence can have on our perceptions and opinions. If you’re fed a lot of content that says one particular message, do you start believing it? That’s what Alexi Mostrous started hearing from his friends and that’s when he realized that what was happening with this case was much bigger than just a celebrity news story. Is your perception of reality being altered without you even realizing it? Why were there so many negative posts targeting Amber Heard? In the first episode, you get more familiar with the history through hearing from one of Amber’s lawyers from another case that happened in the UK. It’s helpful to compare it to the US case, because of how much social media was attached to the US case and the possible influence it could’ve had on the jury. Was there a coordinated social media campaign against Heard? With bots that fuelled conversations? This is an investigation into who might be responsible for an organized online attack against Amber and how we’re all being manipulated online.
I feel like I need a daily dose of Kelly Corrigan and Bill Burke. Maybe I should just re-listen to this episode in five minute chunks. Because if I did I’d really be able to soak up and appreciate every bit of advice for moving through our world with vulnerability, optimism, and hope. Kelly has always been so good at being vulnerable as she speaks about experiencing her first panic attack, handling the emotional weight of being diagnosed with breast cancer at 36, and sharing what she learned from her optimistic father. One part of this conversation that stuck with me was this idea that broken people are better, because it means they’ve been through challenges that forced them to forge deeper connections, know more about themselves, and appreciate what it means to still be here. Optimism isn’t about ignoring the bad and being constantly positive, it’s about how we view problems and going through hard times. Kelly and Bill taught me that. No matter what, you’ll finish this episode feeling ready to take on the world and the many things it throws at us.
Lowlines - 01 |Second Line: Footwork in New Orleans
The first thing I need to say about this new series is that you absolutely need to listen with headphones on if you can. Lowlines is described as a sonic scrapbook and that is so strongly felt throughout every episode. With so much attention paid to every moment, the sound design of this show is like its own character - playing a pivotal role in transporting you to the places and people in each episode. I also love how host Petra Barran is on a mission to get low and take our connections offline, to reconnect with the pulse of the places we go. Her perspective is present in my thoughts everywhere I go lately. She felt this need to leave the grind and reconnect, so she set off on a trip with nothing but an audio recorder. Her travels begin in New Orleans, where you immediately feel her follow the rhythm of the place she’s in. Even though travelling to different places is important to the show, it’s the conversations with people in each place that make this show special. Petra is uniquely talented at connecting with people and reminding us of how much we might be missing out on when too attached to our screens. The third episode, where she spends 36 hours on an Amtrak train has so many raw and unique characters.
The Recipe with Kenji and Deb - Mac and Cheese
Even though I’ve worked on a recipe blog for almost eight years, I am not good at recipe development. My friend is a genius and teaches me so much about it for the blog. But now I can learn even more because Kenji and Deb are sharing all the thoughts and reasoning for the recipes they develop. Sometimes cooking can feel overwhelming or intimidating because you don’t know why you’re being told to do something a certain way. A podcast like this can help you understand the why! Using mac and cheese as the recipe for the first episode of this show was deceptively smart. It seems like a simple thing to talk about, but you end up getting varying degrees of complexity and variety of flavours throughout the episode. Plus, who doesn’t love some nostalgic discussion of mac and cheese? It’s such a classic comfort food! And the fact that the episode ends with them considering a “will it waffle” segment made me feel like this show really was made for me.
Articles of Interest - Chromophobia
When I think about the environmental impacts of clothing, I somehow have never considered one specific part of it - the colours. In classic Avery Trufelman style, this episode makes you distinctly aware of all the impacts colour has on our clothing and our feelings about it. Like how certain colours sell more than others. Or what actually goes into making a rich colour like cobalt blue or pure black. Or what can cause a certain piece of clothing to react harshly against our skin. This is a detailed look at the clothing dye industry, with some colour psychology, and an appearance by Matthew Shifrin of Blind Guy Travels Podcast.
99% Invisible - 571- You Are What You Watch
If you thought that movies weren’t a topic you’d hear on 99% Invisible, of course Roman Mars is going to prove you wrong. Because there is a connection between what we see on TV shows and movies and how our world operates, and vice versa! We shape the movies and the movies shape us. One example of this is how bank robberies are portrayed in movies versus how they tend to happen in real life. Even though real life isn’t as elaborate or dramatic, banks are still prepared for the movie-like incidents. And then there’s the amount of military feedback that went into the details of Top Gun. Do violent movies make society more violent? That might not be very true! If you like movie history and thinking about how movies matter in our world, you’ll love this. (transcript)
More sweet treats
The most impressive sand castle I’ve ever seen.
I’ve been listening to the Women in Media podcast and awaiting some big news from host Sarah Burke.
This impression of what it’s like to scroll a recipe website is chaotically accurate.
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!
HOW COOL.
Gorgeous art! You’re so talented.