I fucking love podcasts
There’s a lot of bad stuff going on in the world, war, climate change, American politics, etc. So I might be alone in this take, but I’m so happy to be alive during this time period, the information age.
The long form interview has been long perfected by Howard Stern (he has a Bruce Springsteen interview on HBO). Celebrity ‘interviews’ on talk shows are basically clickbait that publicists have to approve of. And even on longer shows, the interviews are heavily edited. Howard let the guest relax and go off the cuff for an hour plus. You get to really know the person - their craft and the human side of them.
Podcasts have expanded that to experts of all kinds of fields. I learn about food, philosophy, psychology, mental and physical health. And I recently found some about writing and politics that I can’t find time for.
There is just in an insane amount of knowledge that can be dispersed in on this technology, and the creator gets paid for it. And they have control of their monetization. Some use subscriptions, some use ads, and some do both. With the ads, they can choose who they support. All of the incentives are aligned, it’s a perfect ecosystem.
Here are my weekly listens, I’ll link a podcast that’s a good representation of them. I’ll list them in ascending order of nerdiness.
Conan O’ Brian - my favorite funny person: Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Recipe Club - David Chang and his bff talk about making fan recipes. It's like watching a food show, you don't need to know anything to enjoy: Lemons.
Rich Roll - mental and physical wellbeing: Arthur Brooks on happiness.
Andrew Huberman -nerdier wellbeing: David Linden on death.
Peter Attia - longevity: Oliver Burkman on time management.
Sam Harris - philosophy, current events: David Brooks on the low trust society.
Philosophize This! - philosophy: Byung Chul Han on small rituals.
