Planes, trains, and podcast queues

Canadian nostalgia, philosophical robots, city trees, Iceland's gender equality, redefining disability, economic optimism

I used to assume that I couldn’t listen to podcasts on plane rides. One of the common things I’ve heard non-podcast listeners say is that they can’t get into podcasts because they can’t just sit still and listen to something. My typical response to that is - me neither. Podcasts are for while doing stuff! They are the delightful medium that pairs well with varying degrees of divided-attention. So I thought they wouldn’t pair well with plane rides. They go very much against that advice. You have no choice but to just sit there. Lately, I’ve discovered that this high altitude listening defies that logic. It does pair better with a window seat, but even without that I’ve found myself putting my headphones on and disappearing into my queue. Sometimes I might drift off and have to rewind, or I’ll open a colouring app on my tablet or play solitaire while I listen. I think it almost makes time go by faster. Just don’t make the mistake of only downloading one episode of a series. Just assume you’ll want the next episode asap!

This week’s podstack

Canardian - Brantford, ON: Six Nations Goth Teens and Doula Scammers (ft. Falen Johnson)

Canardian is back for another season and I couldn’t be more ready for it! This show is like the perfect blend of Canadian nostalgia and niche small town gossip - what more do you need?! I think the biggest thing I’m realizing from this show is that no matter what town Kattie and her guests are talking about, there’s at least one moment or memory of this place that feels very relatable. In the first episode of this season, Kattie is joined by Falen Johnson, who you may recognize from The Secret Life of Canada. They are discussing Brantford, Ontario and Six Nations, which Falen grew up in and Kattie now lives in Brantford. They have such a blast swapping stories about the very small town entertainment spots that locals hit up and how the town connects with Six Nations. The vibes are so good, I wanted to grab a cup of coffee from Tim Hortons and wander around with this Canadian comfort pod.

Future Perfect - Good Robot #1: The Magic Intelligence in the Sky

Of course a new series from Julia Longoria is going to instantly captivate me! I always enjoy her narrative style and now she’s diving into something very familiar from a very unfamiliar angle. We all know AI is everywhere right now and that some have referred to it as the biggest existential threat to humanity, right? But how did we get here? I had never heard of the Rationalists community, but they’ve been thinking about this for a long time. They use thought experiments to determine what a certain future might look like using the most logical and rational thinking they can. This series is looking at AI from so many angles and it’s making me understand the tech and its impact way better. The second episode goes into how AIs are trained and the ways those processes are flawed, leading to flawed answers/outputs. The third episode goes in a direction that I wasn’t expecting but I’m so glad it did - the philosophical side and effective altruism. All of these angles make for such a helpful understanding. I don’t just want to know how AI works, I want to know what it means for humanity and I think Julia does too. (transcript)

Bioneers - Urban Forests: A Nature-Based Solution to Climate Breakdown and Inequality

We know there are lots of revolutionary technologies being created to help protect our planet and reduce the impact of climate change. But what if there are already natural solutions that can do even more to help? This episode is part of Bioneers’ Nature’s Genius series, which covers exactly that - the intelligent systems and solutions that already exist in nature to support sustainability. The whole series is great but this one stood out to me because of the way it blends cities and nature. It felt like it could’ve been an episode of 99% Invisible and I’m so here for it. The impact that trees and the coverage they provide to protect against heat and help with carbon is huge. So how do we prioritize trees in our cities? That’s the work that urban planners are doing and it’s a perfect example of a nature-based solution that can take place in your neighbourhood to help our climate. Also, go check out the beavers episode, it’s a favourite of mine too! (transcript)

Disrupting Peace - Iceland: Lessons From The World’s Leader in Gender Equality

This episode about gender equality in Iceland is both hopeful and full of lessons to be learned. As they discuss in the episode, there are a lot of ways that it’s a bit easier for some of these things to be accomplished in Iceland, but it doesn’t mean they’re impossible elsewhere. It’s sad to say, but it was actually kind of wild to hear them say that political parties knew they needed to have women in their leadership in some way, otherwise they knew they would lose those voters. It was a disadvantage to not have female representation. That shouldn’t be considered wild, but it is. They also share how advances in paternity leave have impacted equality in the workplace. I think we hear a lot of headlines about the good things happening in Iceland, but I felt like I got a better sense of the details through this episode and I really enjoyed learning so much!

Made For Us - 'I don't need fixing - the world does': Lucy Edwards on redefining disability

I hadn’t seen or heard the viral wedding that Lucy had last year, so after listening to her describe it in this episode I had to go to TikTok to check it out and I highly recommend you do too. She blindfolded her husband and guests for the moment she walked down the aisle and used very special music and audio production to help them experience it. Lucy lost her vision when she was in her teens and she has now become a disability advocate and consultant. Her perspective on her blindness is one I think everyone should hear. Even though she says there has never been a better time to be blind (she praises her iPhone for equipping her with the ability to do so many things and anticipates even more possibilities as AI advancements are made), she is also working to help companies and brands improve their accessibility. This episode is the perfect example of what Made For Us does best - give you perspective on how someone else experiences the world. With every episode, I look at the world differently and it gives me hope. This show is very much needed right now!

The Money with Katie Show - Why Economist Kathryn Edwards is Optimistic About America’s Future

I was originally just going to put this in the sweet treats section below, but the more I listened the more it felt too valuable not to share more prominently. This episode explained capitalism, current economics, and hope for the future in ways I haven’t heard articulated so well before. If you listened to Search Engine’s episode about inflation and thought “wow I think I get how this works now”, this episode can have the same effect. Kathryn is the perfect mix of understanding economics and working in government. She explains the ways policies fail us because the people imposing them don’t fully understand the economics. It shows you how broken things are getting but also how obvious the fixes are and that’s what makes her optimistic. This straight up had me considering studying economics. (transcript)

More sweet treats

• If the ESG investment framework is cooked, how do we align our investing with the climate crisis? This mini-series from How We Survive reveals all.

• How did media’s coverage of politics become what it is today? The spread of information and partisan associations are huge concepts to wrap your head around in this series from Landslide.

• Everyone who has ever questioned capitalism in any capacity needs to listen to this episode at least once. I’m so happily addicted to Diabolical Lies.

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!