Crazy About Podcasts

 Let's talk about podcasts. Please say that I am not the only person who has become addicted to podcasts during the pandemic. Seriously, I think I have over a dozen in my queue right now. So, what are your favorites and what are the ones that you can't live without? First off, I need to discuss the fact that pre-pandemic I only listened to audiobooks, but being trapped in my house for a year had me searching for other sources of entertainment. Especially when I exceeded Hoopla's maximum of six checkouts per month ( let me be clear that at least two of these checkouts each month was Pete the Cat's Perfect Pizza Party which my four year old is obsessed with).

As you know (if you have read my bio or any of my other posts) I am a complete nerd and a devout Trekkie. I would be remiss then if I did not mention

Levar Burton Reads in this post. Of course, I don't only know Levar Burton at Geordie LaForge but he was also a significant part of my early childhood as the host of Reading Rainbow on PBS. Think of Levar Burton Reads as storytime for grownups. The podcast is just Burton reading aloud short fiction of all genres and it is fantastic. He has a gift for reading aloud (duh, did you ever watch Reading Rainbow) and he wonderfully brings attention to authors and stories that you would probably never encounter otherwise. It was while listening to Levar Burton Reads that I heard the short story, Skinwalker, Fast-Talker by Darcie Little Badger in early 2020. For those of you who are not into fantasy, Darcie Little Badger's young adult novel, Elatsoe, which was published in August 2020 has been nominated for numerous awards and accolades including Time's best 100 fantasy novels of all time. If you have not heard of it, let me be the first to tell you that it is amazing!  Burton's podcast has introduced me to unfamiliar authors and genres that I don't often read. Not to mention, Burton has an incredibly pleasant reading voice. I am a person that needs to distract their brain in order to fall asleep (let's hear it for my fellow anxious insomniacs) and Levar Burton Reads has been a Godsend. It generally takes me two or three nights to fully listen to a story and there have been some that I love and immediately google the author and others that I am simple "meh", but that is the magic of fiction. There truly is something for everyone with this podcast.

You already know that I am a Trekkie, so it will not surprise you that one of the podcasts that I listen to is Mission Log. Mission Log is a Roddenberry podcast, meaning that it is produced with permission of the Roddenberry estate and his son,  Eugene Wesley "Rod" Roddenberry II, is the actual person behind the podcast. Basically, this podcast takes every single episode of Star Trek, from the original series through movies, cartoons, spin offs and all other incarnations, and dissects each episode. The hosts through this long (seriously it may last decades now that Discovery is going and a Spock and Pike series has been approved) journey are John Champion and Ken Ray, two life long geeks with lots of broadcasting experience. If you are not at least a moderate fan of the Star Trek franchise you will probably not understand or enjoy this podcast. I understand that my level of geekdom is not shared by the majority of people. However, if you enjoy sci-fi and particularly Star Trek you will thoroughly enjoy Champion and Ray's analysis of every Star Trek episode in every incarnation. Actually, I cannot attest to that because I am still on Next Generation, but I promise you that the podcast has rocked up to this point and I am excited to keep listening (and continue watching Star Trek over and over and over and over).

I do not just listen to super nerdy, sci-fi podcasts I promise. One that I have really enjoyed over the past year is You're Wrong About, which is hosted by writer, Sarah Marshall, and Michael Hobbes, a reporter for HuffPost. Each week Michael and Sarah select a much-publicized event or person from history and then proceed to tell listeners the real story behind the hype and headlines. 

The subjects Michael and Sarah have delved into are incredibly random from the Iran-Contra Affair to a 14 episode dissection of O.J. Simpson. The format consists of the hosts taking turns being the authority on a subject informing the other about what the real facts are compared to what most people think occurred. 

I always feel like I learn something after listening to an episode of You're Wrong About. There are so many stories I remember being all over the news when I was growing up or in college (the Elian Gonzales story, Monica Lewinsky, etc.) but I never played super close attention. Yeah, I saw the SNL skits and remember seeing the headlines or hearing my parents discuss them, but I didn't ever really follow what was going on. Personally, some, like the whole Clinton/Lewinsky scandal, I didn't really want to know about. It has been incredibly interesting to learn about the details of those events from a multitude of sources, but also discussed in an approachable, humorous, and honest way. Even when the information includes things that I am already informed about, such as some of the more historical episodes, I still really enjoy listening to the conversation. Michael and Sarah come across as two people that I would hang out in a bar with and talk about completely arbitrary subjects for several hours. Maybe I like this podcast because my brain works in the same way. Being obsessed about completely random subjects, reading every interview, book, etc. about said subject, and then forcing my friends to listen to everything I learned.

Being a history buff and also a fan of anything and everything creepy it is probably no surprise that I adore Aaron Mahnke's podcast, Lore.  This engrossing podcast is like sitting around a campfire and listening to someone tell spooky stories and the best part is that the stories told in Lore are true! Like the history of the Stanley Hotel which served as Stephen King's inspiration for The Shining or Robert the Doll, which you can actually still visit in Key West. Not only is Mahnke a brilliant historian and writer, he is also a fantastic narrator (oddly soothing while delivering supernatural tales of horror). Each episode is also enhanced by perfect atmospheric music. Lore has become so popular that it has even published in books and made into a Netflix series, but I still prefer the original format.

True crime is all the rage, especially among women. I actually just finished a book called Savage Appetites:  Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession by Rachel Monroe which delves into the true crime mania that is particularly common amidst women these days. The book was interesting and definitely had some disturbing truth, but perhaps attempts to generalize and postulate a bit too much about individuals' motivations. Anyway, the podcast that I want to talk about is actually produced by The Onion and mocks the enthusiasm we all seem to have for true crime stories. A Very Fatal Murder (a title reminiscent of Murder by Death, one of my all time favorite movies) is

absolutely hilarious. Honestly, you need to be careful while driving and listening because there will be snorting and giggling fits. I don't want to give too much away. The podcast follows a reporter who employs a computer (ETHYL, the Extremely Timely Homicide Locator) to find the perfect murder to to create a podcast about.  Like a lot of things from The Onion, A Very Fatal Murder, will have you laughing hysterically, but also feeling a bit depressed about the state of mankind. I don't know if that is a very good endorsement, but this podcast was a lot of fun to listen to and it will also make you think next time you turn on the ID channel. True crime means real people and real victims who have had their lives destroyed by violence and we should never lose sight of that.

So, those are a few of the podcasts that I have listened to during the pandemic. If you have not listened to any of these I hope that you are at least intrigued.