Podcast Roundup January 2024

Look, I don't talk about current events or a lot of pop culture things much on this blog because of boring reasons. But today I am going to break my own self-created rule and talk about sports. I have not watched an NFL football game for years because of the following reasons:

1) The jingoistic nature of military flybys, the abysmal way the NFL handled the kneeling/sitting thing for the national anthem, and the overall conservative nature of the organization.

2) The general racism of the NFL. The way black athletes are paid so much less than white, the lack of non-white people in leadership roles, especially visible leadership roles like head coaches.

3) The advertisements that focused on things that I think are terrible for all of us as a country - alcohol, junk food, and gambling, in particular - and that those advertisements are often quite demeaning towards women and/or perpetuate gendered stereotypes.

4) The NFL's policies on concussions for former and current players. It truly is a crime that the NFL destroys strong young men's bodies and minds for profit and then offers no long-term support.

5) I am a Lions fan. There was a really rough patch there when the Lions were trying to defend terrible on-field behavior by their players. It was difficult for me to be a fan of a team that condoned this. And, honestly, it wasn't just the Lions. The number of players getting arrested for terrible behavior off the field for things like drunk driving and domestic violence started to get to me, too.

I know that ME not watching has absolutely no impact on the NFL or its bottom line, but I feel like if a lot of football fans took a stand and the NFL's ratings dropped, it would have an impact. Alas, not a lot of people are following my lead.

All of that being said, I still live in these United States of America and even I know that the Detroit Lions won their second post-season game last Sunday and I have to admit that my Michigan heart  swelled with some degree of pride when I heard the news.  Indoctrination is real.

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It has been since OCTOBER that I last did a podcast roundup. How can that be?! I'm sure you're all on the edge of your seats wondering exactly what you should be listening to.

Earwitness is an eight episode limited series about a man who is on death row for murder, despite having an alibi, and the evidence against him is an earwitness who claims to have eavesdropped on an incriminating phone call. Look, I believe that murderers should go to jail, I really do. But I guess I'm more okay with murderers going free than innocent people being locked up. (My BIL has recently been promoted to a judgeship and we have this conversation a lot and it worries me because he is a great guy, gives me lots of book recommendations, and is generally smart about life, but his pro-police, pro-if there's smoke there's fire takes about the criminal justice system are not encouraging.)

I know you are all so sick of me talking about The Memory Palace, but if you haven't listened, I promise you'll love it. Nate DiMeo's voice is smooth as silk, his storytelling is unimpeachable, and if you like NPR's Unsung Heroes or Story Corps, you will love TMP. A soldier, a Yorkie, and a tale of friendship is the basis of the episodes "Smoky and Bill" and "Smoky and Bill, a Holiday Card." You will not regret taking the time to listen to them. 

So, look, I have to admit that I have not cared for the writing style of Ursula LeGuin. She is a speculative fiction author most known for her Hainish world and Earthsea books. I have DNFed books from both of those worlds, so it is clear that LeGuin's writing style is not for me. But I was riveted by the episode "Prologue to Ursula K. le Guin" from the podcast Imaginary Worlds, a fascinating look into LeGuin's personal background and writing philosophy with a focus on a lifechanging event from her childhood. It didn't necessarily make me want to read more of her works, but it was an interesting story apart from her writing.

Also, I need to do a shoutout here. Stephany and Nicole have been talking about how good the podcast The Popcast is for a long time. On their recommendation, I added it to my list, but what I added to my queue was Popcast from The New York Times, which is mostly Jon Caramanica talking about rap music and while there are occasional interesting episodes, I was confused by their adoration of this podcast. BUT! It turns out that they were recommending The Popcast with Knox and Jamie, which is entirely different. It's fun! It's two friends talking about random stuff! It's two friends not always agreeing, but doing so in an absolutely respectful way! It has a deep backlog, but I want everyone to know I've listened to the last year's worth of episodes in the last three weeks.  It's worth a listen if that's your jam (and it most definitely is my jam).

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What's new in your ears these days?

(My husband has been playing the latest Gaslight Anthem album, History Books, in the car. My favorite songs from that album are "Michigan, 1975" and "The Weatherman" if you're more into music recommendations than podcast recs. As always, my all-time favorite Gaslight Anthem songs are "American Slang," "Biloxi Parish," "Even Cowgirls Get the Blues.")