More podcasts

It has come to my attention lately that I may listen to podcasts more often than the average person. There are a few reasons I like podcasts:

• They are free
• There are a million of them
• You can do them while you do any number of other activities
• They are free

I have earphones in for probably about half of my waking life. I listen while I cook, while I clean, while I water the garden, while I run, while I try to block out whatever crisis is happening with my children…

(side note but relevant: this morning, I strapped the kids–my three and one neighbor–in the car to go to school and ran back inside to feed the dogs (because I can’t feed the dogs when the baby is around because the baby likes to eat the food and pour the water all over the floor and one of the dogs snarls any time the baby so much as glances in the direction of the bowls) and while I am inside the house I hear these God-awful, bloodcurdling screams coming from the car. I get in the car and have this conversation:

Me: OK, I don’t know what just happened, but screaming like that is not alright.
Neighbor: THAT WAS EDDIE SCREAMING
Me: I know. And I don’t know what you guys were doing to him to make him–
Eddie: BUT I WAS JUST SITTING HERE HOLDING MY CAR AND MORA SAID–
Me: I don’t care what she said, there is absolutely NO reason to scream like that unless someone is killing you.
Mora: But Eddie IS killing me!

FML.)

Point being, I spend a lot of time with headphones in my ears. It’s probably not good for what I am convinced is my declining hearing (I already yell a lot when I talk, and I feel like as of late I’ve been yelling “WHAT???” a lot more than I used to), and some people may say I have a problem. That I should be more connected with my surroundings and paying more attention to my children and my husband while they are swarming around me in the kitchen as I try to finish preparing dinner. That I shouldn’t be blocking out the world all the time.

I call it self-care. Or preservation. Po-tay-toh, po-tah-toh.

Anyway, it’s the holidays, people will be traveling, and once again I am gifting you some podcast recommendations:

IF YOU ARE INTO POLITICAL HISTORY:

Slow Burn – Season 1 is all about Watergate, which was informative given our current situation. Season 2 is about the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal, which I found even more interesting because I am of the generation that was alive for it and remember it well, but am slightly too young to have understood everything that was going on.

Bag Man – All about what happened with Spiro Agnew. What I remember and knew about Spiro Agnew going into this was the way my parents used to say “Ooooh, Spiro Agnew…” whenever he somehow came up in conversation (…which couldn’t have been that often..) But a super interesting piece of history that I knew absolutely nothing about.  By Rachel Maddow (so if you don’t like her, don’t listen)

IF YOU DIG TRUE CRIME:

My Favorite Murder – A lighthearted podcast, just two girls sitting on a couch talking about murders. I started listening to this podcast at the very beginning and it has been pretty incredible to watch them COMPLETELY blow up. Self-categorized as a “true crime comedy podcast,” may not be for everyone, but if you’re into that stuff highly recommend.

Believed – A look at how Larry Nassar, the Olympic doctor convicted of sexually assaulting 499 gymnasts, got away with it for so long. Hard to listen to because they go into details of the abuse, but a good look at the power dynamic between athletes and authority figures and the tactics used by predators.

Bear Brook – A fascinating story about the journey of law enforcement to solve the mystery of four unidentified bodies found in the woods in the early 1980s. Goes into the evolution of using familial DNA to dig up answers to decades-old crimes.

BONUS PODCASTS:

The Dream – A deep dig into multi-level marketing schemes. I am super into this podcast, finding it so interesting and really informative.

Standoff – The story of Ruby Ridge (again, a story I knew something about, but not much), how it spiraled so out of control, and the long-term effects on the views of the modern right and their relationship with power and paranoia.