Saying goodbye to too many shows
Sitting less, GPS brain, broken telephone, wedding scams, cringecore, rice analysis, food news.
Sam Sander’s show Into It was one of the very first shows I wrote about in this newsletter. That was back in January and I’ve listened to every episode. On October 20th while listening to that day’s episode, I was on a cheerful high even though it was a gloomy day out, all because Sam’s delight and laughter while speaking with Jay Jurden was so pure it was contagious. So the whiplash that hit when he made the announcement at the end of the episode that Into It was being cancelled was a very hard hit! I literally went back and made sure I heard him correctly because I was in disbelief. It feels silly to still experience that disbelief when we’re hearing about shows ending or being cancelled every week lately. But it still breaks my heart every time. So many talented people work so hard on these shows. I’m letting my sadness serve as a reminder to do more to support the things I love.
This week’s podstack
TED Radio Hour - Body Electric Part 1: The Body Through The Ages
This episode opens with a pretty bleak look at all the ways our attachment to our screens is depleting our energy and overall feelings of well-being. So what can we do to fix this relationship between our bodies and our technology? Manoush is on a mission to figure out some solutions! She combines science, history, and her own self exploration. The bleakness of that intro made me need to know what Manoush figures out. But what I didn’t expect was how much I’d learn about the difference between our bodies before and after the invention of chairs. They seem like such a simple thing to us now, but they were the first piece in many changes in our daily routines that forever altered our bodies. It all comes back to how much efficiency we have in our lives now. “We live in a default state of sitting and movement is seen as an inconvenience”. This TikTok lead me to the show. (transcript)
No Stupid Questions - 167. Is GPS Changing Your Brain?
I love the opening thought that begins this episode: “I might not have survived if I was alive during another time”. Have you ever thought this, too? In this case, it’s applied to being directionally challenged. Thinking about the impact that any piece of technology is having on our brains fascinates me, and this is about what GPS is doing to our brains. There’s been studies that looked at how constantly using GPS can affect our spatial memory. But! Never forget the only thing I remember from stats class - correlation is not causation. Favouring egocentric navigation vs allocentric navigation, is just one of the factors influencing this and it made me completely overthink my navigation for the next week. And if you are wondering about how other technology is impacting our brains, they get into that in the second half of the episode, mostly focused on using ChatGPT. (transcript)
Don’t Drink the Milk - What's in a name? A game of Broken Telephone
Using the history of the game “broken telephone” as a way to also explore different name options for this new show serves as a very fun introductory episode! We meet the team behind the show as they discuss the different versions of broken telephone they knew based on where they grew up. They even go on to meet with a historian to learn about previous versions of the game and how it originated. The second episode might give you a new or different perspective on passports and all the complicated ways they work. If you like history, quirky storytelling, and cultural tales from around the world, this show should be a fun new regular in your queue! (transcript)
The Wedding Scammer - 1. The Glass Castle
It was kinda funny to go from watching an episode of Only Murders in the Building, to starting the first episode of this show where the host is very open about being a self-taught investigative journalist whose podcast is self-aware of the typical true crime tropes. But then I learn that Justin Sayles has been on the search for the master of this scam since 2016, so even if his reflex to turn it into a podcast could be inspired by TV, he’s been following the story for much longer. Either way, I still felt myself in need of knowing who this rich Succession-like person is who somehow screwed over Justin and many others. So many others that there are multiple Facebook groups dedicated to swapping stories and trying to track him down. This first episode takes us back to 2016 when Justin starts working for Michael, the scammer, at a new media publication that is all kinds of sketchy. Full of a rich guy’s ambition and not much substance or follow through. Michael seems to disappear for a while, until he’s found scamming in the wedding industry.
Critics at Large - What Is Cringecore, and Why Is It Everywhere?
If you’ve ever wondered where culture and things in the zeitgeist actually come from, that’s what this show focuses on. For this episode, they’re dissecting “the cringe”. What does it mean when something makes you feel cringe as you watch or consume it? What are examples of things that inspire this feeling? They start by mentioning Nathan Fielder, the godfather of cringe. There seems to be a trend of cringe consisting of a host, usually a man, doing something in society/public that goes against the social norms to see the reaction. A lot of their discussion centres around Nathan, with mentions of comedians who had similar stylistic choices, and then they finally conclude with some comfort cringe. I’m learning that I really enjoy media analysis and that’s why I seek it out from multiple shows, to hear multiple perspectives. This might become another regular for me!
Should You Really Eat That? - Rice: Dietary staple, daily greeting, and nutritional villain?
In order to understand why some might be questioning how much rice we should be eating, Lee Tran first explores the importance of rice in different parts of the world. Like how in Japan sushi chefs are judged on the quality of their rice, not the fish. Then there’s the hot debate over who makes the best jolloff rice. Even though a dietician might avoid white rice, there are so many different meals, made up of many different components, that it might be too sweeping a statement to take as fact. Instead of just taking food advice at face value, I think what this show actually accomplishes is helping you understand the factors and components of a food so you know more about what you’re eating, as opposed to stopping you from eating something. At least, that’s how I’ll be using it! (transcript)
The Sporkful - Can Bass Pro Shops Teach Grocery Stores Something?
As much as I love the typical Sporkful episodes that explore fascinating stories that relate to food in unique ways, I also like the more chill ones where they’re just answering food debates or discussing interesting food news. And that’s what this episode is! Although I didn’t expect to be in awe of an eccentric Bass Pro Shop, I really liked how it lead to a bigger discussion about how the retail experience at grocery stores hasn’t suffered like other stores, because they aren’t making sacrifices to prioritize the online shopping. They also covered the classic question - why brands are making weird things. Is the internet attention economy the reason we keep seeing unexpected collaborations between brands? For example, did anyone really want ranch flavoured ice cream? Or was it just weird enough to give both brands some attention and a chance at virality.
Halloween costume reveal
Thank you to everyone who humoured me by voting in the Halloween costume guessing game in the last issue! You actually had two chances to be right, because I couldn’t pick just one.
Carmy from The Bear
Podgirl - a superhero to save the day with podcast recommendations
More sweet treats
12 Cozy Podcasts to warm your mind, body, and soul.
Data to help with being cautiously optimistic about our future.
A reminder that you might need a nap or a snack.
Thank you for reading! If you listened to something this week that made your heart sing, your imagination wander, or your brain ponder, I’d love to hear about it!
Hey Cousin!
Don’t drink the milk sounds so good!