March 2020 Podcast Roundup

So, it's going to be a small list this month because, to be honest, so many of my go-to podcasts are talking nonstop about COVID-19 and I just...can't.   I have the best intentions and I download all of them, but as soon as Planet Money starts talking about COVID-19's impact on the economy, I just get overwhelmed and delete it immediately. That's where I'm at.

Fanti is a new podcast from Maximum Fun in which two culture commentators walk us through the complicated feelings of being a fan of something or someone who sometimes you let you down. You're a fan, but you're also sort of anti-.  It's incredibly insightful and helpful for someone who like me really has a hard time separating the art from the artist.   The other thing that's incredibly helpful for me is that this podcast is not for me. The hosts are queer black men who have a whole popular culture knowledge base that I do not have. They do not dull down their conversations for me. I had no idea that Gayle King said a thing about Kobe Bryant and that thing created another thing, but I figured it out quickly because Jarrett and Tre'vell are NOT going to water it down for me.   It's great.

Pre-the world changed, Code Switch released an episode called "The Limits of Empathy." This episode centered on the story of a white woman named Grace Halsell who, for a time in the late 1960s, tried to take on the identity of black woman. She took some medication to darken her skin and embedded with black communities. Her work culminated in the writing of a book. This episode looked at the importance of this work, as well as the controversy. I have moved on to another position and will no longer be teaching a race and politics class, but I thought this would have been an excellent addition to my syllabus.  You can't just take on the identity of another - it doesn't work that way.

I have written about Slate's Culture Gabfest only one time before. This is not because I don't love it. It actually goes straight to the top of my list most weeks. It is because these episodes are formulaic and every week is worth a listen, but no episode is PARTICULARLY standout. Every episode is standout (shout out to Crime Writers On... and Pop Culture Happy Hour for this same phenomenon).  Anyway, in this long-running show, Stephen Metcalf, Julia Turner, and Dana Stevens cover pop culture from the lowest to the highest. Dana has been on a leave of absence (she's working on a book about Buster Keaton and I swear she's been working on it for all my life at this point, so I bet she feels similarly), but she has COME BACK these last couple of weeks because of the chaos of the world and I CHERISH the dynamic between Stephen, Dana, and Julia and it is so comforting to have all three of them back together.

And that's it. It has taken a lot to pierce my COVID-19 avoidance bubble in the last couple of weeks. I'm hopeful that April will bring me more recommendations, but I fear that I might be wrong.  The golden age of podcasting may be over, my friends. Along with many other wonderful things in the world.