7 Things I Learned from My Podcast Feed This Week
I first started listening to podcasts in earnest in 2008. I was 22 and had moved halfway across the world by myself to live and teach English to little kids. I was in the depths of culture shock, homesickness, and intense loneliness, plus I had a lot of time on my hands — I was paid pretty handsomely for my 20 hours of teaching per week and the cost of living was about half of that at home.
I became a podcast devotee. Coming away from the experience, I would look back and swear that This American life, Radiolab, and The Moth saved my life and got me through some of the most solitary times and chilliest nights in what would prove to be an unseasonably cold Taiwanese spring.
Now, eight or so years later, one might say I have overcommitted myself. I am discerning when it comes to podcasts I subscribe to (if I am not wowed in the first couple of episodes I listen to, it gets cut), but there are just so many good podcasts out there. I have subscribed to even more in the past couple months since I have started commuting to Boulder from south Denver for my masters program. And this week, like every week, I learned many new things.
Here were some of my favorite takeaways from this week of podcast listening:
1. Danny Seo is a boss and my inspiration/spirit human of the week
Danny Seo started his own environmental non-profit when he was 12. Now, at 39, Seo has lived what seems like multiple lives: he has rubbed shoulders with the most famous celebrities, scientists, and environmental researchers; worked as a DC lobbyist; launched multiple product lines; written 10 books; has his own magazine, Naturally, Danny Seo; and now, a television show by the same name. For a guy that nearly failed out of high school (because he was running an international non-profit) and never went to college, it’s all beyond impressive.
What I learned this week is that, though I never knew it before, Danny Seo is my success sensei. The guy is crazy brilliant and just radiates inspiration. One nugget from the episode: “Sometimes last place is the best place to be in.” Because Danny was ranked last in his high school class, he felt that all expectations were taken off of him which made him feel free to succeed — and perhaps more importantly — fail in his own way. He was able to take risks that he might not have if he had lived another life.
Another, on getting in to new endeavors: “Why not give it a try? Because it’s not brain surgery. It’s not going to kill anyone… So why not?” Danny has had his hands in just about everything. And the belief that failing is fine has driven him through all of it.
Finally, when he was asked the secret to his success and how he manages to do as many things as he does: “The secret to everything: I’m very decisive. If you can’t make a decision about yourself or what’s happening in the moment, you’re wasting time.” Seo relates this to the fact that he has understood his true calling from an early age. If you know where you are going, then you don’t have to waffle about how to get there. You just have to trust yourself.
From: “Ep. 14: Danny Seo,” Clever, www.cleverpodcast.com
2. Current internet availability and trends of smart phone sales in Kenya is surprisingly fascinating
Count this as my top Google rabbit hole of the week (thanks, This American Life!). This week, TAL replayed an episode from last summer that tells the story of a Somali immigrant who wins the American visa lottery and all the trials and tribulations that come between the jubilation of winning the lottery and his interview with the American embassy for his visa. It’s great, as is the norm for TAL, and you all should listen to it.
The detail that sent me down the rabbit hole was a minor one in the bigger picture of the story. It came when Abdi and his brother Hassan, two poor refugees living in Nairobi, were essentially under house arrest for months due to police raids on Somali neighborhoods. They would stay in the house with very little food and the lights off in the hopes that the police would think no one was there and they would not be hauled away. They spent many nights watching tv shows like The Walking Dead, which prompts the reporter Leo Hornak to comment that it’s one of the weird quirks of Nairobi that even if you don’t have water or food, you can pretty much rely on broadband internet.
And thus, the rabbit hole.
Some things that I learned from my research into smart phone sales, phone plan monthly rates, and general internet connectivity in Kenya: general internet usage in western Africa is behind much of the rest of the world, but is growing rapidly. Most of that usage is through smart phones, the sales of which have exploded over the past year due to availability and much more affordable pricing. For the same price of an average month of cable internet, a Kenyan can buy a cheap smartphone and a data plan (which, by itself is about a quarter of the monthly price of cable internet). So, it just makes sense to invest in a smart phone and purchase a data plan to be connected to all that the internet has to offer. I spent a whole Boulder to Denver bus ride looking into stats and current pricing and thinking about what this means as far as lifestyle, economic, communication, and more for the region.
From: “#560: Abdi and the Golden Ticket,” This American Life, http://www.thisamericanlife.org/
3. The NPR Politics Podcast has now become one of my gold star podcasts… and I’m even not political news junkie
The NPR Politics Podcast is often advertised on one of my other gold star/top of the top podcasts, Pop Culture Happy Hour. Since I started listening to it a month or so ago, I have enjoyed every minute and feel much more informed about the political process and this year’s election. It has become one of those podcasts for me that when a new episode downloads, I will prioritize it over just about any other, including podcast episodes that have been sitting in my queue longer (podcast listening is not a first come-first served type experience for me).
I like this podcast a lot (gold star!) regardless of the fact that in general, I am not itching for more politics news than I already get. So, the reason that I like the NPR Politics Podcast so much might be that it’s an NPR podcast, and I am a big fan of NPR. Or it could be because the NPR Politics Podcast uses the same format at Pop Culture Happy Hour, which is a solid format that allows for interesting discussion while still staying focused.
Or, it could be that all of the contributors are great journalists, and (yeah I’m going to make this judgement) great people in general. They are funny and fun to listen to. And they are insightful. And they make me think hard about things. Sam Sanders starts every podcast with “Hey y’all” (now his Twitter cover photo). The contributors are all part of a fake singing group they call Vocalness. Tamara Keith recently referred to the contributing team as the “Pod Squad.”
So yeah, I’m going to go with that it’s probably this last reason.
From: “The Vice Presidential Debate,” NPR Politics Podcast, http://www.npr.org/podcasts/510310/npr-politics-podcast
4. What socialist design looked like in early 70s Chile under President Allende
The photo you see above is the only photo that still exists of the futuristic (that wasn’t actually technologically futuristic, but that’s another story) operations room built under President Allende. It’s goal was to help Chile’s socialist economy succeed. It was discovered, and subsequently destroyed, by Pinochet and his henchmen, who took over in a military coup, kicked out the democratically elected Allende, and ended up ruling Chile as a dictatorship from 1973 until 1990.
The room was part of President Allende’s plan to show the world that socialism could succeed and that it would be different in Chile than in other countries where it had failed. One of the government’s biggest challenges was to turn private businesses into public entities successfully, which meant they would need to manage over 150 enterprises spread out over the country.
Cue Project Cybersyn.
I‘s going to stop there because it is worth your 24 minutes to go and give this one a listen so you can understand what was going on behind the picture you see above.
From: “230-Project Cybersyn,” 99% Invisible, 99pi.org
5. Leonard Cohen is putting out new music! And it’s deep, dark, and AWESOME.
I was a week behind on All Songs Considered, so this is actually from last week’s episode. There isn’t much to say here. You just have to listen.
From: “Brian Eno Sings, New Dirty Projectors, Leonard Cohen, Savoir Adore, More,” All Songs Considered, http://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/
6. Modern Religion Factoids! The Presbyterian Church’s leadership operates as a democracy & the Church of Satan doesn’t actually worship Satan
I wish that (Judge) John Hodgman and (Bailiff) Jesse Thorn were my older, cooler, very pop culture-aware and humorous older cousins. I would try to keep up in their fascinating discussions, and they would be super nice to me and give me reassuring looks even though I couldn’t.
Fun fact! I once scooped ice cream with Jesse Thorn. John Hodgman, you just let me know when you want to do any ice cream-based activity and I’m in.
This week on their fake internet court of justice was a case brought by Sandra, a Presbyterian Teaching Elder, and her bum of a boyfriend who agreed to attend church with her twice a year but is trying to weasel out of it. As part of the case, the Presbyterian Church’s unique leadership structure was described. Here is a breakdown: The Presbyterian Church is run as a representative democracy. Each local congregation elects representatives, called elders, to what’s called session, which is the primary governing body of the congregation. Each session then elects commissioners to the presbytery, or a local governing body. Each presbytery, in turn, elects commissioners to a synod, or the regional coordinating council, and to general assembly, or the highest governing body of our denomination. Democracy, y’all. I like it.
In the same episode that had lots of talk of Presbyterianism, there was also discussion of the Church of Satan, naturally. According to Hodgman, who knows between little and a lot about just about everything, the Church of Satan is neither a church nor about Satan worship, but rather, “…a provocative art project dedicated to turning men and women away from worship of all kind. It is essentially an Ayn Rand-ian objectivism with goat masks.” You know, religious disruption-type stuff like the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Makes sense to me.
From: “Episode 281: The Separation of Church and Date,” Judge John Hodgman, http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/judge-john-hodgman
7. Now that Nate DiMeo is the artist in resident at the Met, I need to book a trip to NYC
Nate DiMeo’s voice is like a warm blanket. And his stories, based on history but told in the style of short story, are magic. Now that he has taken up his residency, DiMeo is creating stories that match up with items and exhibits in the Met. So, you can stand in front of the historical objects or art that inspired the story you are listening to and take it all in.
I need to go today.
From: “The Met Residency Episode 1: Recent Acquisition,” The Memory Palace, http://thememorypalace.us/
