Manifesting podcasts into my queue
Podcasting about podcasts, radical breast cancer history, audio puzzles, HIV activism, living with rioters, hacking hollywood.
I hope you’re taking care and finding ways to feel okay these days. Even if it’s just a glimmer of hope, happiness, or distraction. Whatever you need. If podcasts can help, then I hope you find something here for your queue.
Back in July I said something that I really didn’t expect would actually come true. I was writing about how much I love Handsome and Vibe Check. They were and still are my parasocial podcast besties.
It would appear that I am now in heaven! Since I wrote that, Handsome has started putting out two episodes a week! Their regular full length episodes on Tuesdays and pretty little episodes every Friday. And then the other half of my wish came true because Sam Sanders is back with a new show every Friday! Even though the show doesn’t feature the amazing friendship with Zach and Saeed, getting to hear Sam twice a week is an absolute treat! It’s tough to pick, but my favourite episodes so far are: Pop Culture Can Help the Climate w/ Dr. Ayana Elizabeth Johnson and Inside 2024’s Tech Revolution with Journalists Taylor Lorenz & Elise Hu.
Maybe it is possible to manifest things into your queue… What would you wish for in your queue?
This week’s podstack
Before It Had a Theme - S2 E1: Alarmingly Long Pause - Startup Part 1
I can’t emphasize this enough - 2018 Devin would have been feral for this episode. Hosts Rob and Britta are analyzing the podcast Startup and it was one of the first podcasts that got me obsessed with audio storytelling. They open the episode by talking about the type of audio storytelling that it captures and that was popular 10 years ago. It’s the kind of documentary, personal storytelling combo that I still love today. As they go on to analyze the story decisions made throughout Startup, I was practically giddy. These were the things I was thinking about and desperately wanting to discuss. This episode is the first of two and by the end of the second one you end up learning a lot about the industry at the time, how that compares to now, and some very critical but helpful analysis of what went wrong at Gimlet Media. All of this is to say, I’m so happy they’re doing this show. The concept of a podcast that discusses podcasts this way is surprisingly uncommon. If you’re a podcaster, you might learn more about or relate to the process, and if you’re a listener, you might gain a new appreciation for a show you love. I’m so thankful to Lauren for making sure I knew about this show and listened to it. She’s been raving about the This American Life episodes, so I’m on to those next!
Less Radical - Episode 1: Who is Bernie Fisher?
I don’t think it’s uncommon to feel a certain level of frustration when learning about the history of women’s health and medical treatment. Like in episode one of this series, where you learn how stigmatized a breast cancer diagnosis used to be and how that lead women to resist seeking treatment. Then once they did, the largely accepted and practiced course of action was aggressive and radical. Until women and a doctor named Bernie Fisher started fighting for another style of treatment. This series is the story of that doctor’s work and how he forever changed, for the better, the treatment for breast cancer. It takes you through the history of how doctor’s thought cancer spread, which informed how they treated it, the shift when women started fighting for better treatment, and how Dr. Bernie Fisher came to study cancer, even though it was considered an unglamorous thing for a doctor to do. (transcript)
To The Best Of Our Knowledge - Playing with Words
Listening to Anne play audio word puzzles with AJ Jacobs soothed my soul. In an episode all about word puzzles, why we love them, and their history, you can’t help loving the fun they open the episode with. Since AJ has been making audio puzzles on his podcast The Puzzler for a while now, he’s perfected the balance of making the puzzles fun but not too tricky that people get stuck on them for a while. He tells Anne about some longstanding unsolved puzzles, puzzling habits, and why we like doing them. The second part of the episode will give you a whole new understanding of crossword puzzles as it reveals the feminist history of them. From the women who were or weren’t allowed to help make them, the concerns that women were getting too invested in them, and the words that women have added to crosswords for the first time ever. Beyond the exclusion of women, you also learn how white crossword creation has been and whether that’s really starting to change.
Beyond+ - Episode 3: Ashley Rose Murphy, Ordinary Can Be Extraordinary
Ashley Rose Murphy was once a key activist in Canada for HIV and travelled all across the country educating people on what it’s like to be living with HIV today. But in this episode you come to appreciate just how never-ending that role is. Whether it was giving the same speech night after night, or having to educate people any time they found out she was living with HIV, Ashley was always having to talk about it. I think this is a great example of what Beyond+ does best - give you real stories about living with HIV today. Whether it’s the stories of what Ashley experienced as a child trying to live an honest life or how her adult life is evolving and what her future looks like.
We Live Here Now - We’re Allowed to Be Here
I listened to this a few weeks ago and feel unsure about featuring it today, given the state of things… but I can’t deny that what Hanna Rosin and Lauren Ober learn in this is fascinating. What happens if you learn that the mother of the person who was shot at the January 6th riots lives in your neighborhood? If you’re Hanna Rosin and Lauren Ober, you make a podcast about it. But not in a ‘peeking through the blinds and speculating from a distance’ kind of way. In a way that involves going to the nightly protests held for the people who are in jail from the riots, and getting to know that mother whose daughter died that day. The first episode fills you in on what has happened since that day and how people have ended up in Hanna and Lauren’s neighborhood. As I was listening to the second episode, I couldn’t help feeling nervous for Lauren. She was going to these events and getting familiar with people who she probably otherwise would’ve kept a distance from. It means she’s hearing a side of the story and explaining it to us in a way that only she and Hanna could. Maybe there’s something about hearing the choices and process that Hanna and Lauren share about this journalistic pursuit that hooked me even more. (transcript)
The Big Picture - 1. The World Will Be Full of Fear | The Hollywood Hack
Do you remember when Sony Pictures was the victim of a massive hack that released personal information, files, and people’s emails? I had honestly kinda forgotten how big the hack was and how much was leaked, but this series is bringing back all the details. Employees who were there start by recounting what happened when they arrived at work the day of the hack. It was only ten years ago, but there’s still this slight unfamiliarity with technology that makes the reactions and hack itself even more fascinating to hear about. Then there are the implications of the files, some of the them full movies, and sensitive emails, being exposed to everyone. The truth came out, some ticket sales struggled, and one movie was at the centre of it all.
More sweet treats
This might make you fall in love with Andrew Garfield.
I can’t stop thinking about the environmental impact of AI.
This episode of Offline helped me process the election results.
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!