Podcasts are my productivity hack
Airplane coffee, food waste, sexy internet history, Ted Lasso ice cream, problematic patriarchy, Schitt's Creek psychology, Jenna Fischer's pizza.
There’s a case to be made that I strongly associate podcasts with productivity. It’s not that I consider listening to podcasts a super productive thing to do (even though it definitely can be), it’s that with the right podcasts on, I can be super productive. They either help me focus on something I need to do or force me to find things to do so that I can keep listening. It’s hard to just sit still and listen to a podcast. But it’s very easy to wash dishes, clean the bathroom, AND fold laundry while listening to a podcast. I don’t think podcasts get enough credit for all the things they pair well with and I will never stop thanking them for keeping me company, keeping me focused, and keeping me coming back for more.
This week’s podstack
Search Engine - Wait, should I not be drinking airplane coffee?
“I don’t care how much I need coffee, I would never drink that,” a flight attendant when asked about the water and coffee on planes. What do they know that we don’t?! PJ Vogt’s conversation with Queer Eye’s Antoni Porowski inspires an investigation into what is really going on with the standards for the water supply on planes. Then, as is PJ’s style, he heads to the internet, the academics, and the most interesting sources to figure out the truth. It does that thing I enjoy so much where there’s a variety of settings and sounds that give you that rich mixture of raw audio and studio-recorded narration. I love investigative shows, they lend themselves to being so engaging, and even better when it’s nothing too heavy like murder or crime. And you might think that what PJ learns could be considered a crime… until he speaks with a microbiologist. The theme song also kinda reminds me of Severance’s theme song and I’m into it!
10 Minutes to Save the Planet - No more rotting tomatoes
Mark this down as the most relatable climate show I’ve heard recently! The first episode opens with the unmistakable cringing that occurs when you open your fridge and have to clean out the food that has gone bad. The impact of food waste from individual homes is far greater than I realized. I hit play on this show as soon as I came across it and 20 minutes later I had learned about the behavioural patterns that can help reduce food waste and the changes that can help us become less car dependent. Since each episode is only 10 minutes long, they’re so easy to listen to and yet full of advice and actionable tips. Johanna Wagstaffe and Rohit Joseph have a great dynamic together and the production style of the show brings a lot of personality and playfulness to a typically heavy topic.
Indecent with Kiki Andersen - "Chronically Online" with Samantha Cole (Vice)
The internet has truly changed everything in our world, but what I never realized is how many of the innovations stem from sex. From JPEGs to online shopping, there’s a horny backstory you might not have known about. Indecent explores the funny in the most uncomfortable corners of our culture and how we’re deciding what’s taboo. This episode is the internet history lesson they won’t teach you in school and calling the episode ‘chronically online’ was too relatable and clever for me not to check it out. With the help of tech journalist Samantha Cole, you learn about how people are interacting with AI, hear chatGPT sexts read by creepily realistic deepfake voices, and realize how it’s all changing sex online and offline. I really like the way this show adds in additional narration and background information from Kiki to break it up from being just a straight up interview. It feels like there’s more thought to the structure and flow of each episode to keep you engaged and really highlight those ‘aha’ moments. Plus, Kiki is such a fun host and has effortless chemistry with her guests!
Sundae Funday - Extra Scoop 1: Jeni's x Ted Lasso Biscuits with the Boss
An ice cream review podcast feels like a perfect treat for summer, shout out to EarBuds for putting this show on my radar! And of course I picked the Ted Lasso related episode to check out. Together Carolyn and Marcello are reviewing the Biscuits with the Boss flavour of Jeni’s ice cream and it’s a shorter episode compared to their regular ones. But that kinda makes it the perfect sample, like when the ice cream shop lets you try a flavour before getting a whole scoop! You get an introduction to their review criteria and I really like how thorough they are. They consider the taste, texture, creativity, and visual appeal to give an overall rating out of five.
Hear Me Out - Patriarchy Hurts All Of Us — Including Men
How does everyone hurt in a patriarchal society? Yale professor Robin Dembroff introduces us to the perspective that gender is a verb, not a noun. It’s a thing we do as a way of classifying each other and having expectations and standards about how we think someone should act. If we think about gender that way, then we realize the ways the patriarchy can harm everyone, to varying degrees. Host Celeste Headlee does a great job of getting extra clarification for people who aren’t used to analyzing gender this way and makes sure all listeners can understand. What do we mean when we say patriarchy? Even just exploring the history of this term opens you up to a better understanding of it. Interviews like this, where the interview is not just going through a list of questions, but instead evolves around a discussion is such an engaging way to learn. The fact that Robin is so knowledgeable and Celeste is skilled in her interview process makes it so effective. Celeste is also very open about struggling to wrap her head around the perspectives and by her being open about that, we all benefit from deeper explanations and examples of it. (transcript)
Shrink The Box - 17: Schitt’s Creek - David and Alexis Rose
What does it really mean to be introverted or extroverted? It turns out that David and Alexis Rose are good examples of the different characteristics! Shrink The Box applies some psychological analysis to your favourite characters from TV shows and it’s a surprisingly fun way to better understand a show. The thing that helps make the psychoanalyzing even better is that comedian Ben Bailey Smith and psychotherapist Sasha Bates seem like genuine fans of TV. They seem just as excited about watching the shows as they are talking about them from a psychological perspective and I think that’s really important to making their banter and ideas stick. Thank you to Podcast The Newsletter for putting this on my radar!
The Flaky Biscuit Podcast - St. Louis Style Pizza w/ Jenna Fischer
I now know the word for the feeling I love so much – the Proust Effect. This is the experience when a food elicits powerful memories and The Flaky Biscuit Podcast is all about helping people experience that feeling. Are you kidding me? Nostalgia and food? I’m all in. I started with the episode featuring Jenna Fischer and I guarantee it will leave you yearning for a pre-teen sleepover with your best friends. The food that host Bryan Ford cooks up for Jenna is a specific pizza from St. Louis where she grew up, and it always reminds her of sleepovers with friends, or family pizza and movie nights. Beyond the memories, it’s so fun to hear Bryan try to recreate the pizza, figuring out the specific ingredients needed based on research, and then watch carefully to see if it passes the test when Jenna finally tries it. It’s such a great mix of conversation, cooking, and learning about food trends in different places.
More sweet treats
John Green made good things happen on the internet.
It’s always a good time to watch this interview.
Did you hear about the Bigolas Dickolas of podcasting?
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!
Podcasts have helped me accomplish SO MUCH. I can't write during them because I'll just start writing whatever I'm listening to, but they're the perfect cooking complement, the best pal to take on a walk, and a beautiful soundtrack for snuggling with my pups. They're a beacon of productivity and they're wonderful.