I wasn’t always interested in podcasts. While my name means ‘listener’, I’ve never been a particularly strong auditory learner. I think people who know me would describe me as talkative, and I enjoy having meaningful conversations, but preferably not over the phone, another purely auditory medium à la podcasts. Conversations are better when paired with visual cues like body language and facial expressions, or with the warmth and connectedness of touch. I’ve never been good at remembering song lyrics (unless I’ve done a choreographed dance to that song in the past), and if you tell me something when my eyes are closed, it will float straight through my brain and disappear in a cloud of nothingness thereafter. This was made abundantly clear recently, when I was doing an aerial silks class while blindfolded (as you do), and I had to ask Lillian, my instructor, to repeat her directions by shouting multiple times. I had never realised how much I rely on visual cues to actually digest what someone is saying.
My apparent inability to properly learn through listening is where my reluctance toward podcasts came from. I figured I’d have to either treat the podcast like a lecture, and sit down and take notes, or it would be pointless. And while sometimes, with writing-advice podcasts, I do sit down with my laptop and jot down some notes, mostly I use podcasts to make hanging out the washing, cooking, or the (thankfully very short) drives to and from work more exciting.
So, if you’re not already a podcast-convert, try it! If you are, take a look at some of these suggestions and have a listen, if you haven’t already. Or, even better, let me know in the comments section if you’ve got some suggestions of your own.
A rather long-winded yet short list of seven podcasts I find inspiring (a term I’ve used rather loosely to encompass anything that teaches me something or makes me want to write):
1. Serial: Serial was the first podcast I listened to, on the recommendation of a friend who is an avid podcaster. Most people I know have heard of this podcast, even if they haven’t listened to it. Everyone who has listened to it raves about it. Serial is an investigative journalism piece by Sarah Koenig, exploring the story of Adnan Syed, a high school student in Baltimore, who has been arrested for the murder of his ex-girlfriend. It’s developed by the American radio program This American Life, and is formatted in a professional and engaging manner. It certainly piqued my interest in podcasting generally, under the perfect circumstances; I’d just had laser-eye surgery, and I couldn’t really do much else, other than lie around and listen to something. I devoured the whole first season in a matter of days. I’m also not someone who is ordinarily interested in true crime, or even fictional crime. At the end of the day, it’s a story about Baltimore, a place I’d eventually go on to visit, the young people that live there, injustice, and the fickle nature of truth and memory.
2. Limetown: After Serial, the next podcasts I tried based on a few recommendations and Google searches before travelling. It turns out that podcasts are excellent for long plane journeys and car trips from say, Vegas to the Grand Canyon, where the road is mind-numbingly straight and you are in the middle of a desert with nothing remotely interesting enough to encourage alert driving or engaging conversation. Limetown is a fictional, semi-post-apocalyptic podcast, that had me so engaged and tense during this otherwise monotonous drive, that my partner had to keep turning it off whenever we passed trucks, just to be sure I wouldn’t careen into the oncoming vehicles in my excitement. Limetown is unique on this list in that it is the only fictional podcast I’ve found to be engaging enough to continue the whole way through. I think there’s definitely a market for further fictional podcasts; different from an audiobook in that they’re produced specifically for listening and can use sound effects and music accordingly. I just haven’t been able to find any others that don’t sound like cheesy TV dramas, probably because it’s a difficult medium in which to get any funding. If anyone knows of any other great fictional podcasts, please leave me a comment! If you’re interested in sci-fi or suspense, definitely give Limetown a shot.
3. So You Want To Be A Writer: this is my go-to podcast each week, and as the title suggests, it’s going to be of most relevance to those of you who are interested in writing. Valerie Khoo and Allison Tait host this podcast. Both of these lovely ladies work at the Australian Writers Centre and have extensive experience in the writing world. They share titbits from their lives, discuss blog posts on writing, provide tips for writers looking to get published, and interview authors about their books and writing processes. This podcast makes me feel like I’m being productive and working towards my writing career goals, even when I’m on the way to my ‘day job’ or doing inane but necessary housework. On the days where I might not get a chance to do very much writing (or I’m stuck in a rut and just plain old procrastinating), I still feel like I’m engaging with my novel and thinking about my writing career by listening to this podcast. It took me a while to realise just how much this podcast has taught me, both explicitly and implicitly (by directing my attention to new authors, useful writing courses, and the latest industry news) about the writing world. I now have a much broader and more concrete understanding of the writing industry and the steps I can take to achieve success within it. More importantly, Valerie and Allison cultivate a really strong sense of community for their listeners, many of whom are ‘aspiring authors’ like myself. They make everyone feel like their writing matters, with constant encouragement, as well as realistic advice and answers to listener questions.
4. Ditch Diggers: this podcast felt a little hit and miss to me at first, partly because I don’t always enjoy the pacing of the presenters’ speech. That’s probably a really stupid thing to say, but at times, I’ve found Mur’s speaking pace to be too slow for me to maintain concentration. The more I listen to though, the more I feel like – as with any other text – you get used to it, or it varies, or you kind of piece the whole podcast together and realise ‘ah, okay, so this is their style’. This podcast is in some ways the perfect complement for So You Want To Be A Writer. It’s similar and yet entirely different. Ditch Diggers is American, not Australian, and Mur and Matt are more cynical than Allison and Valerie, with advice that is not always upbeat or positive. This isn’t at all a bad thing. They’re upfront about this; Ditch Diggers, aptly named, is about the nitty gritty, cold, hard slog of being a writer. It’s still funny and candid, and Mur and Matt have many realistic, honest conversations about the writing industry, their lives, and the state of the world at large. They offer a take on the US market, which is ultimately still useful and available to Australian writers. Getting a publishing deal in the US as an Australian author is an amazing opportunity, not least because it opens you up to a much wider readership, but because I feel like American fans (particularly within the genres I’m writing) are next level. “It’s not pretty, but it’s honest and damn entertaining”, Jezz De Silva said in a review of Ditch Diggers. I totally agree. I also think that Mur and Matt seem like generally awesome people, with which I would like to be friends.
5. Hack: I don’t get a chance to watch the news all that often, and until recently, I threw my local paper straight in the bin, or only used it for cleaning (now I’ve taken to completing the crossword every morning, which makes me feel like a real grown-up). Most of my news updates come from the hourly headlines on Triple J, my radio station of choice. In saying that, I don’t listen to the station as much as I used to, partly because I’m lucky enough not to have to spend too much time in the car at the moment, and partly because they had a big change over of regular presenters and I hate change (and am also maybe getting too old for a young and hip radio station. I just turned 28. Basically middle-aged… right?) The point is, I’m not always on top of current affairs. There are some moments where I realise in a panic that I haven’t really heard the news or checked social media in a few days, and I start to think that perhaps something epic has gone down, and the world is being invaded by zombies, and I’m just totally oblivious. Anyway. Hack is a Triple J current affairs program, hosted by Tom Tilley at 5:30pm on weekdays. It covers issues that are relevant to young Australians, in a pretty left-wing way, which suits me well. Most of the time, I find Tom to be an excellent show host. Although, as I mentioned, the show (and the station as a whole) is distinctly left wing, Tom moderates discussion fairly and objectively, and is usually careful to try and provide the whole picture around whatever issue is being discussed. This is one of the only programs that holds my interest in regards to politics and economic issues. Listening to it in podcast format also allows me to skip the bits that don’t interest me anymore because I’m getting elderly, as I mentioned earlier. For an idea of some of the topics it focuses on, the last few episodes have been about gay rights, the 2017 budget, the French election, Trump and Australia/US relations, uni fees, various drug-related topics, and mental health.
6. The West Wing Weekly: Look, I’m not going to go on about this for too long, because unless you’re a West Wing fan, or keen to become one, I guess it won’t really be all that inspirational for you. The West Wing Weekly is an episode-by-episode discussion of the acclaimed TV show, The West Wing. It’s co-hosted by Joshua Malina, who played Will Bailey in the show, and Hrishikesh Hirway, who is just a mad fan and awesome musician. I adore The West Wing. It’s my favourite show in the history of shows. I feel bad for Friends for saying that. And also a little bit bad for all of the Australian TV that is also amazing. But the thing is, I have a real intellectual crush on Aaron Sorkin. I think he’s immortal, like Joss Whedon and J.K. Rowling. That’s a big deal for me to say, because I don’t get super fan-girly over very much. Anyway. This podcast is interesting for its behind-the-scenes look at a Golden Globe and Emmy-award winning drama that aired from 1999-2006, and how it was received at the time, as well as how its political discussion is still relevant today. If you like The West Wing, listen to this podcast. If you don’t like The West Wing, I don’t understand you.
7. S-Town: This is my latest love. I don’t really want to say too much about it, because it’s better to just listen to it and I don’t want to ruin it for you. It’s also developed by This American Life, like Serial, and is similarly beautifully produced. Brian Reed is the reporter who takes us through the story. It started with an email from a man called John B Macklemore, who lives in a small town in Bibb County, Alabama, which he refers to as Shit-Town. It’s a story about people, really; about the passing of time, and people’s experiences. It’s a story that makes me care about others, and that reminds me to be more thoughtful and understanding, I guess. It can be really dark, but at the same time, it strangely gives me a lot of hope. I won’t give too much away, but if you’re interested in honest writing and reporting, which tries to tell some kind of truth about the world we live in, I feel like this will be your cup of tea.
Samantha Todd 
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