“Uh, Liz?” said Stephanie at 3:30 this afternoon, “did we forget to do a post today?”
We totally did. But that just means it’s time for a post I’ve been planning for a while: podcast recs! Here’s what we listen to…
Stephanie:
“The only one I listen to is ‘Mystery Show’ by Starlee Kyne which is AMAZING and I recommend it to everyone but which is currently on hiatus. Mystery Show is about Private Investigator Starlee, who investigates every day mysteries, like ‘I found a belt buckle in a drain 30 years ago, where did it come from?’ and ‘My poetry book only sold 500 copies, so why is Britney Spears holding it in this photo from five years ago?'”
Also:
“The housemates are currently listening to The West Wing Weekly and rewatching The West Wing at the same time and feeding me all these random factoids, like that when Emily Proctor joined the show John Spencer set up an obstacle course around his pool and made her practice the Walk and Talk.”
Liz:
Okay, so once upon a time, I never listened to podcasts. I don’t do audiobooks, either, I’m just not an auditory person.
But then I started listening to Galactic Suburbia’s back catalogue when I was moving house, and I got into the habit of putting it on when I clean my flat. And last year, I started walking more, and found it was a good time to listen to more podcasts.
So! In the approximate order that I discovered them…
Galactic Suburbia: In which three Australian women — Tansy, Alex and Alisa — talk books, movies, cake, weather, fandom and publishing. There’s a heavy science fiction/fantasy slant, but they also dip their toes into crime, romance and other genres.
The JV Club: This is hosted by Janet Varney, voice actress of Korra in Legend of Korra, and she recommended it to me personally. Which is to say, she signed a book for me at a con, we talked briefly about feminism and role models, and she said I might enjoy her podcast. And I do, although it’s a bit hit and miss depending on who the guest is, so I’m just skipping through her archives.
The premise is that Janet sits down with a fellow creative professional, usually a woman — she only speaks to men over the summer — and they discuss growing up, the lessons of adolescence, and their general worldviews. A lot of it deals with issues of balancing practicalities with creativity, and being professional in your creative career, which I find interesting. Of the episodes I’ve listened to, the only one I really didn’t enjoy was the one with voice actress Jennifer Hale, which mostly left me going, “Stop talking about how great voluntourism is!”
My Favourite Murder: Comedians Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark talk murder. And anxiety, addiction, the business of comedy, and cats. Obviously this isn’t for everyone, and I facepalm at least once an episode, but it’s weirdly addictive in all its irreverence and disorganisation.
Dead and Buried: Local. Melbourne. History. With a heavy dash of true crime. What’s not to love? Well, I wish it was a bit more spontaneous, but that’s just my preference for conversational podcasts. It’s currently on hiatus while they prepare their second season.
You Must Remember This: A detailed, painstakingly researched series on Hollywood history. A lot of it deals with the Golden Age, but I especially enjoyed the two episodes on Madonna and movies.
Can U Not? Two Melbourne women, a white lady and a woman of colour, talk pop culture and intersectional feminism. It’s No Award, but a podcast, and more into Kardashians than spec fic. So maybe they’re our evil twins, or we’re their evil twins. Either way, it’s a good listen.
The Outer Sanctum: Women. AFL. But not just women’s AFL.
Book Who’s Talking: The second podcast in this list that features sisters! (The first is The Outer Sanctum.) It’s a Melbourne-based podcasty book club, where the crew reads a book (and invites listeners to do the same) then talks about it. Confession: I haven’t gotten around to a single monthly book talk episode yet! Because libraries and hold lists! But I’ve listened to the mini-episodes, and the one about 50 Shades of Grey was so funny, I had to switch it off because I was laughing too hard on public transport.
no-award.net 