2017: Best-Ofs PT. 2
So 2018 is a few days old, now, but I’m still not through with the year that was. I’ve been thinking about my favourite moments from 2017, and a great many of them involved podcasts. I am an emotional yo-yo type, requiring intense interpersonal connection followed by intense solitude. The podcast offers a kind of in-between, though: perfect for those times when I’m alone, but not by choice. Those times require some podcast company. It’s like listening to a super smart friend without the attendant energy drain of reply-formulation. (Wow, that makes me sound like a grouchy misanthrope – but better to be a periodic misanthrope alone than with real life humans, I say).
I often listen to podcasts when I am cleaning or cooking. In fact, those are the only times that I listen to podcasts. For the cleaning, a podcast acts an an appropriate aneasthetic, helping me to escape the tedium of the chore. But for the cooking, a podcast has the power to amplify the pleasure of the activity.
These podcasts powered me through those alone times where I didn’t really want to be alone:
Strangers – hosted by Lea Thau (who famously lost her job at The Moth because the producers didn’t like her raspy Danish voice), this podcast is compelling, humanising, surprising, and sometimes gets things wrong. Lea is not afraid to address feedback and reflect on her mistakes – like her faux pas over gendered pronouns. I love someone so much more when they own their mistakes, especially in public. She uses her platform to feature new podcasters, too, which is how I found out about the great personal podcast documentary Not By Accident. The best episode of the year, for me, was The Code Switcher.
On Being – sometimes Krista Tippett’s deliberately deliberative tone gets my goat, but overall this podcast offers Big Bang buck. From physicists to poets to physicians, this podcast sits down with big thinkers and tries to get at the hows and the whys of our very existence. This is one podcast choice where I have to be in a serious or even melancholic mood to make it work – there’s nothing flippant or funny about this one.
How To Be Amazing – Michael Ian Black’s show is where I come for flippant and funny. I don’t listen religiously, but when a name pops up that piques my interest then I give the interview-based hour a go.
First Draft: A Dialogue on Writing – A kind of homemade-sounding public radio show where dry host Mitzi Rapkin (great name) sits down with writers to discuss their drafting process. Obviously loved the George Saunders episode.
Revisionist History – I am loathe to include this one (Malcolm Gladwell is just so smug and I absolutely detest the podcast technique of an overly-manipulated twist), but this series really did hit the mark. I’d skip the indulgent McDonald’s Broke My Heart and go for the socio-legal race histories in State v Johnson and Mr. Hollowell Didn’t Like That.
RNZ: Saturday Morning – Kim Hill, duh. Perfect for New Zealand ex-pats, or just those who don’t listen to car or kitchen radios live anymore. Catch up on Kim’s latest politician heckling or poet chats. Going through the archive is great for days where you’ve already listened to your other favourite podcasts’ weekly releases.
Fresh Air – Terry Gross is to the U.S.A. as Kim Hill is to New Zealand.
The Longest Shortest Time – I am not a parent but it’s no wonder that I love this show that bills itself as the ‘parenting show for everyone’. Hillary Frank is a novelist whose writing chops make themselves apparent in her hosting.
Dear Sugars – Cheryl Strayed and Steve Almond make a compelling pair as they dish out not-quite-advice in their advice column-style show. Cheryl draws on her own life as she responds to the desperate letters (proving true the maxim that all advice is autobiographical). But Steve – oh, Steve! He draws on literature! Each week he marries the concern of the day with a carefully chosen passage. The show is now super big and attracts guests like Hilary and Oprah. But Steve’s literary medicine is what keeps me coming back.
In 2018 I want to listen to more local podcasts. Or perhaps just fewer American podcasts. Any recommendations? Eternally grateful.