This isn’t going to be a post that I outline and discuss every single podcast that I subscribe to, but it is going to highlight some that I do and hopefully explain why at the same time.

First, how long have you been listening to podcasts?

Some people may have just found out about podcasts, some people may be proverbial veterans of podcasts. I will dare to claim to be an uber-veteran. I lucked out with being in higher education during the birth of podcasting in the mid 2000s and remember the very early days of the delivery method. I had a long stint of time where I just didn’t bother, but still fondly remember a small handful of podcasts that still technically have either an iTunes presence or are still very actively producing new content.

New content from the days of old

The first one of old that I want to highlight, which is on it’s 3407th episode, is Keith and the Girl and as I recall, I was very briefly on one episode as a call in? but also tried to help with web development purposes for one of the hosts back in the day. They’re still actively going 16 years later. That’s impressive. The show is two performers, who were a couple at the time but I think no longer, just producing their own talk show in this new medium.

Discontinued but higher status

The second one of old that I want to highlight is Air Out My Shorts. This show was more targeted in that they would read user-submitted short stories of 800 words or less, along with general banter and guest calls. I got in early in the show, below the 20 episode mark and I like to think I made my mark in small ways. Over the course of time I submitted more user created content and had it read on air. From a creative standpoint, an early peak.

What about current podcasts?

Yes, out with the old, in with the newer and actively listened to. These aren’t necessarily podcasts from yore that I contributed to, but they are what I consider to be interesting contemporary podcasts for 2021 and beyond.

Depresh Mode/The Hilarious World of Depression

Lumping these to together because it’s the same host but different shows. Depresh Mode is the current product, and The Hilarious World of Depression is the past product. Both are focused on the topic of mental health and getting yourself better. They also share the same host, John Moe where he interviews various personalities and discusses the hard topics of depression and mental health and the various variations of such things. Often funny, always inspiring and reaffirming and normalizing. We need to discuss such things more frequently and more openly. We’re getting better at that, but we have a lot more work to do.

Seeing Other People

At times I feel very chronically single, and I don’t know how to break such trends. I haven’t technically dated anyone since the summer of 2002, though I flirted with the idea for brief moments of time since. I’m hoping that maybe a podcast can help provide some perspective. Ilana is one of the hosts who used to work at Hinge, which is one of the dating apps I use, and her co-host is Jonah and I kind of just hope that they can provide some perspectives on my own dating attempts that I didn’t realize were factors?

The Accessible Stall

This not meant to be bragging, but in a sense I feel like I’m a paradigm of ablest health. I couldn’t claim any major disability right now, and am more than able to handle most any movement. That said Emily and Kyle provide a conduit of sorts to a world that I’m at best passively aware of but want to be conscious of. They talk a lot about the struggles they encounter in daily life, and help normalize topics such as disability in the modern world. I recall originally subscribing because I thought it’d be about accessibility in web development, I stay subscribed because it’s a peak into a world I do not know. I appreciate both hosts because of that.

What does it all mean?

In short, I wanted to highlight some current podcasts that gave me views and perspectives into worlds that I am not faced with in my day to day, but are still very valid perspectives in the modern world. Accessibility and mental health are two topics that are still slightly taboo and that’s a darn shame, and those topics need to be normalized for discussion because I guarantee they are under-represented.

The dating topic, is probably more me struggling to find any footing and how difficult it is to attempt dating in general, when a bit of an introvert, but also fighting a global pandemic. I’ve said it before and I’ll scream it again. Dating before a pandemic sucked, dating during sucked even worse, and dating after is to be determined. I may be frustrated.