From the Editor: Tune your phone app to these podcasts
You’ve heard me mention podcasts here and there in this column, but I wanted to take the opportunity this week to share a few of my favorites.
If you’re unfamiliar with the concept of a podcast, it is “a program (as of music or talk) made available in digital format for automatic download over the Internet,” according to merriam-webster.com. In short, it’s a radio show for the digital age, which you can listen to via a mobile app anytime, any place.
I love listening to podcasts in the morning while I’m getting ready to head to the office, in the car while I’m driving to appointments and on the weekends at home while baking or cleaning.
There are endless options when it comes to types of podcasts. Much like flipping through your cable channels or the Netflix queue, you can scroll endlessly through lists of podcasts, all ready for you to give them a listen. There are news programs, like the New York Times’ “The Daily;” there are criminal investigation narratives, like the ever-popular “Serial;” there are thought-provoking commentaries on life and love and everything in between, like NPR’s “Hidden Brain” or “On Being with Krista Tippett.” You can listen to stand-up comedy routines, sports commentaries, celebrity rants, self-help pep talks — you name it, it’s probably a podcast.
THE ANTHROPOCENE REVIEWED
When I discovered this podcast, I was so thrilled, it was as if I’d stumbled into the most exquisite library and discovered a kindred spirit collecting all my favorite books for me to reread. According to the show’s website, host John Green “reviews facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale.”
Each episode features two “facets” — from “Pennies and Piggly Wiggly” to “Hawaiian Pizza and Viral Meningitis” — and Green spends time explaining each one’s history, context and, of course, its rating. He weaves in personal anecdotes and interesting factoids, all the while pointing out the delightful quirks of humanity.
My favorite episode is probably Episode 8, “Whispering and the Weather.” Green recounts the first — and only — time he believes he heard the voice of God. I confess I had to pull my car to the side of the road while listening, I was so mesmerized by his account.
To listen or learn more, go to wnycstudios.org/shows/anthropocene-reviewed.
WISH WE WERE HERE
This is truly a gem of a podcast if you’re in love with the beauty, history and sometimes sublime mystery of southern Colorado. Wish We Were Here highlights “tales and investigations from the shadows of America’s Mountains,” according to krcc.org. Hosts Jake Brownell and Noel Black are “devoted to unpacking the strange, overlooked and forgotten stories of Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak region.”
From stories of deadly avalanches on Pikes Peak to growing up in southern Colorado with gay parents, Brownell and Black deliver each episode soulfully and artfully, with reverence for their subjects and their listeners. So soothing are their voices and the soundtrack, by the way, I’ve found myself stopping whatever I’m doing to lose myself in their captivating tales that paint such a nostalgic, lovely and even occasionally haunting picture of our corner of the world.
To listen or learn more, go to krcc.org/programs/wish-we-were-here.
COLORADO COLD CASE
I was excited when I heard The Gazette was launching a podcast last year to shed new light on local cold murder cases, and the first set of episodes did not disappoint.
According to the show’s website, “In Colorado Springs, there are at least 108 unsolved cases dating back to 1949 that have surpassed the one-year investigative grace period, designating them as “cold.” Over the course of the first eight episodes, Gazette reporter Kaitlin Durbin shares the information she has gathered in the last year of investigating one such case: the murder of 16-year-old Nate Czajkowski at Albertacos in northern Colorado Springs. She interviews friends, family and anyone who might have some insight into why the teen was murdered.
But Durbin reminds listeners they can participate: “Someone, somewhere has the answers that could crack these cases wide open … Listen in and help us solve these Colorado cold cases,” the show’s website reads.
To listen or learn more, go to gazette.com/cold-case.
Now it’s your turn — what are your favorite podcasts? Let me know if there are any I should be listening to regularly!
Hannah Blick has lived in the Pikes Peak region for six years and enjoys exploring the many neighborhood haunts and side streets of northern Colorado Springs. Send your feedback and column ideas to hannah.blick@pikespeaknewspapers.com.