If we have a conversation that lasts longer than, oh, 5 minutes, I will probably drop in a reference to a podcast I’ve recently been tearing through.
Living alone as I do, and now that I’m driving all over the city and the South, going to various storytelling residencies and workshops, I find podcasts to be a great way to pass the time. It’s more than that, though, the podcasts I listen to are all about, you guessed it…stories!
This month, all the podcasts in the universe have gotten together to talk about themselves as a form. This metaconversation is called #Trypod, and basically it’s just a cross-platform promotion where we, the fans, are encouraged to tell our friends to try out the medium.
Here’s my pitch…
Podcasts last anywhere from 5 minutes to an hour. They’re about everything from nutrition to religion, pop culture to crafts. I keep a running list of my favorite/recommended podcasts on this page of my website. You can listen to them on your computer, ITunes, or on a podcast aggregator on your smartphone, such as Stitcher.
I have learned about so many wonderful things in the world I never would have known, thought about things differently than I ever would have otherwise, all thanks to the tiny, bite-sized, highly consumable versions of education/entertainment that they provide.
Because of all the work I’ve been doing lately around grief and trauma, my favorite one lately is Terrible, Thanks for Asking. It’s a rollercoaster ride, but always has a message about the resilience of the human spirit and what lessons we can learn when people share from their own vulnerabilities.
On a related note, part of my curriculum these days involves the importance of listening. I talk about how getting better as a listener makes you a better storyteller. I even distribute a resources sheet after my workshops, which contains a lot of these podcasts, as well as articles about the brain science of storytelling and a lot of other juicy tidbits.
So, now I’ve done my darndest to promote the thing that keeps me company the most…I hope you will give it a try and enjoy!
Here’s a song or two I heard for the first time on a podcast:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdkmhquF60o]
Thing 2 – especially recommended for their Tiny Desk Concerts