Today's Keyboard Smash
Dec. 30th, 2020 08:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
scrubjayspeaksIt's been a while since I actually talked about the podcasts I'm listening to. I got through a lot this week, though, so it seemed like a good time to shout out a few that stood out.
I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats: I started this podcast back when it was new-ish, actually, and didn't keep up with it for some reason. Listening to a few episodes again, I know I heard them before, because I recognize the songs, but I have no memory whatsoever of what they discussed. I am, in any case, finding their discussions really interesting. There were a couple cringe-inducing moments when they were talking about the then-lowest points in 45's presidency--knowing what comes later felt weird and bad. I admit, I...don't actually listen to the Mountain Goats? Rather, I've heard a couple songs (apart from those in the podcast) and I'm broadly aware of John Darnielle as an apparently excellent human. I like the mix of topics they get into--it's much more than just a music theory podcast--and goodness knows I always want more music to put in my ear bits.
Strange Animals Podcast: I think I originally found this by looking for cryptozoology podcasts, which isn't really what this is (certain episodes notwithstanding). It's just a really good, short-form nature program with an emphasis on the weirdness of nature. Perhaps there are various like that. What the various do not have is this host, Kate Shaw, who I find so completely delightful. She's enthusiastic and funny in a low-key sort of way. It feels like being ten years old and looking through Time-Life books about different sorts of animals with a friend, pointing out weird facts to each other.
Uncanny Japan: Another series I listened to maybe once when I first found it and then ignored for ages. I've been going back through episodes from previous years in the current month--if that makes sense--because it's often very seasonal. I love the idea of seasonal rituals and habits, which has shaped the Lake Lewisia pieces. Also, I really like the way she tells folktales. Highly tempted to support the Patreon for it to get more of those.
Finally, I've got an observation prompted by several episodes of one podcast that will remain unnamed. I'm not calling it out because I do like it and it's not that the creator did anything wrong, per se. But I heard a string of episodes today that all gave me a head-tilting moment of confusion, as I apparently occupy a completely different reality from this person. It's a lot of time management and organization and life skills-type talk. The episodes today mentioned things like grocery delivery, shopping online for everyday essentials, and the harmlessness of ending up with ruined food when trying a new recipe.
Part of my response was, "That is the whitest, most upper-middle-class thing I've heard anyone say in at least five minutes." More seriously, I found myself horrified and confused by the idea of it just being...cool to fail a recipe badly enough that the food is no good to eat and you'll just order something in to replace it. I mean, I feel okay financially, but I can't afford to make food that can't be eaten. I know that would be a huge hurdle to learning to cook for people worse off than I am.
The other element was my sudden reminder that (other) (normal?) people live in cities. In places where restaurants deliver, where grocery stores might even do the same, where the availability of goods is never in question outside of pandemic-induced shortages. I was struck by the distressing knowledge that people in rural areas are both woefully neglected by the kinds of services that other people just take for granted in modern life, and equally unrepresented in this sort of media. The life skills category of podcasts always seems to presume white-collar jobs, (sub)urban habitats, and a set of problems born out of those types of settings.
Where, I ask you, are the organization podcasts for people living in a single wide? Or advice about maintaining good professional relationships for people doing factory work instead of office work? Yes, the advice in these podcasts can be translated into other fields and settings much of the time. But why are we the ones who have to do it? Why is there no native voice for us? Is this really a niche as of yet unfilled?
I Only Listen to the Mountain Goats: I started this podcast back when it was new-ish, actually, and didn't keep up with it for some reason. Listening to a few episodes again, I know I heard them before, because I recognize the songs, but I have no memory whatsoever of what they discussed. I am, in any case, finding their discussions really interesting. There were a couple cringe-inducing moments when they were talking about the then-lowest points in 45's presidency--knowing what comes later felt weird and bad. I admit, I...don't actually listen to the Mountain Goats? Rather, I've heard a couple songs (apart from those in the podcast) and I'm broadly aware of John Darnielle as an apparently excellent human. I like the mix of topics they get into--it's much more than just a music theory podcast--and goodness knows I always want more music to put in my ear bits.
Strange Animals Podcast: I think I originally found this by looking for cryptozoology podcasts, which isn't really what this is (certain episodes notwithstanding). It's just a really good, short-form nature program with an emphasis on the weirdness of nature. Perhaps there are various like that. What the various do not have is this host, Kate Shaw, who I find so completely delightful. She's enthusiastic and funny in a low-key sort of way. It feels like being ten years old and looking through Time-Life books about different sorts of animals with a friend, pointing out weird facts to each other.
Uncanny Japan: Another series I listened to maybe once when I first found it and then ignored for ages. I've been going back through episodes from previous years in the current month--if that makes sense--because it's often very seasonal. I love the idea of seasonal rituals and habits, which has shaped the Lake Lewisia pieces. Also, I really like the way she tells folktales. Highly tempted to support the Patreon for it to get more of those.
Finally, I've got an observation prompted by several episodes of one podcast that will remain unnamed. I'm not calling it out because I do like it and it's not that the creator did anything wrong, per se. But I heard a string of episodes today that all gave me a head-tilting moment of confusion, as I apparently occupy a completely different reality from this person. It's a lot of time management and organization and life skills-type talk. The episodes today mentioned things like grocery delivery, shopping online for everyday essentials, and the harmlessness of ending up with ruined food when trying a new recipe.
Part of my response was, "That is the whitest, most upper-middle-class thing I've heard anyone say in at least five minutes." More seriously, I found myself horrified and confused by the idea of it just being...cool to fail a recipe badly enough that the food is no good to eat and you'll just order something in to replace it. I mean, I feel okay financially, but I can't afford to make food that can't be eaten. I know that would be a huge hurdle to learning to cook for people worse off than I am.
The other element was my sudden reminder that (other) (normal?) people live in cities. In places where restaurants deliver, where grocery stores might even do the same, where the availability of goods is never in question outside of pandemic-induced shortages. I was struck by the distressing knowledge that people in rural areas are both woefully neglected by the kinds of services that other people just take for granted in modern life, and equally unrepresented in this sort of media. The life skills category of podcasts always seems to presume white-collar jobs, (sub)urban habitats, and a set of problems born out of those types of settings.
Where, I ask you, are the organization podcasts for people living in a single wide? Or advice about maintaining good professional relationships for people doing factory work instead of office work? Yes, the advice in these podcasts can be translated into other fields and settings much of the time. But why are we the ones who have to do it? Why is there no native voice for us? Is this really a niche as of yet unfilled?
