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2021 Media Roundup: Podcasts
Dec. 25th, 2021 10:04 am I honestly can't remember if I've done podcasts before for a media roundup. I have a vague recollection of having done so at some point but can I find said posts? No. Anyway, podcasts are why my music post was so short. I spend a lot of time alone these days, often going for long walks with my headphones on. At one point in my life I spent that time listening to music, but now it's mainly podcasts.
My favourite podcast overall is Métis In Space, but looking at the app, it looks like they haven't dropped any episodes since February, so it barely counts as something I listened to a lot in 2021. A lot of the fiction podcasts I've listened to either have finished their stories or dropped off a few years ago, so this is mainly going to be about new-to-me podcasts that I've listened to a lot of this year. Not in any particular order, either, though I'll nominate for your enlightenment and edification my two favourite podcasts of the year.
I'm going to talk about Metis In Space anyway, even though they haven't updated in awhile, because if you haven't listened to it there are a lot of old episodes you can catch up on. This is a podcast by Chelsea Vowel and Molly Swain that looks at Indigenous representation in science fiction and fantasy. They review movies and TV shows that have Indigenous characters or themes, most of them absolutely awful. While they deal with serious subjects, particularly colonialism and racism, the podcast is very witty and fun and it feels like you're hanging out with friends and snarking about pop culture, which is my favourite thing to do.
I Don't Speak German: This is another potentially grim theme that is made entertaining because of the hosts' charm. It's about fascists and fash-adjacent movements such as the Intellectual Dark Web. It's a series of conversations between Daniel Harper, who researches the far-right and spends hours listening and watching their content, and Jack Graham, who writes about pop culture (especially Doctor Who) and Marxism. It's some bleak stuff but again, it's one of those shows that makes you feel like you're in a room with friends shooting the shit. I find the show valuable enough that I contribute to their Patreon, which means I get the bonus episodes when they come out. The bonus episodes are mainly pop culture snarking (their recent two-parter on The Dark Knight is particularly fun) and much lighter than their regular fare.
Coffee With My Ma: This is one I just got into this year. Kahentinetha Horn has had a fascinating life as an activist and model. Her daughter, Kaniehtiio, (who also has a long list of interesting things she's done), interviews her about her larger-than-life experiences. Both of them are brilliant storytellers and the podcast is an absolute delight.
Canadaland: This is Jesse Brown's ever expanding podcast about Canadian media and politics. It's great in terms of covering stories that don't otherwise get told and that go against the national narrative. In the past few years, he has really made an effort to include BIPOC voices and in particular, Indigenous hosts like Ryan McMahon. I am particularly a fan of the Wag the Doug show, which is about all the ways in which Doug Ford is terrible and needs to go away.
Fucking Cancelled: This is my Problematic Fave podcast. I am posting about it with hesitation because I've seen people absolutely dogpiled for recommending it. And I'll say, as a caveat, that I disagree with large amounts of what the hosts, Clementine and Jay, have to say. I was in fact first made aware of Jay's existence through an accountability website that was circulating about him. This podcast is about cancel culture on the left, specifically as it pertains to cancelling individual activists (as opposed to "cancelling" celebrities, which I think is actually a very different phenomenon). I feel like it's a very nuanced, very complicated conversation, and the main reason I'm listening to this is because, while I fundamentally disagree with a lot of points that thy make, they are really the only people I've seen actually start this conversation. I think this is about all I'll say about it in a public post, but if anyone is interested in having this discussion, I'd be happy to do so on a locked post.
And now for my two favourite podcasts of 2021 (these are a tie because they're too different to compare):
Behind the Bastards/It Could Happen Here/various related podcasts: Behind the Bastards is about the worst people in history, except for on Christmas where they talk about someone who is good, actually. It goes into some obviously bleak territory but once again, the charm of the hosts make it riveting and entertaining rather than depressing. I'm increasingly convinced that Robert Evans is the modern-day Hunter S. Thompson, somehow going from a humour writer on Cracked to reporting from the front lines in Rojava. He has a particular gift for examining the darkest facets of human experience while also being completely hilarious. Like, you get episodes on monsters like Joe Arpaio, Paul Schäfer, and Reinhard Heydrich, and then you also get episodes like "The Ballad of Eel Horse," which. Um. Use headphones for that one, okay? Especially if you live with other people.
It Could Happen Here is about societal collapse, and is overall more serious in tone and less blackly humorous as the main show. It's also chock full of useful information, such as DIY gardening, land defence movements, and parkour. It frequently highlights underrepresented stories, such as the movement to create a new constitution in Chile, or the far-right attacks on school boards in the US. They do a weekly compilation episode, and that's what I listen to when I walk to work.
The Friday Night Parkdale Special: At the beginning of the pandemic, my friend DJ Joyrider, inspired by the balcony singalongs in Italy, started a weekly music show. It's now a podcast, so you can listen to even if you don't tune in Friday nights like I do. If you ever listened to Alan Cross's The Ongoing History of New Music, it's a bit like that: She explores a theme or genre and talks about the backstory behind the songs. This is the main way I discover any new music these days, and it's helped me gain an appreciation for all sorts of older music genres that I know zero things about. You can also check out the website if listening live with Chatty G's rather vocal contributions are a thing you'd like. I credit this show additionally with helping me finish my novel, as a good chunk of it was written and even more of it edited while listening.
I guess that is about it for my year-end media roundup! Unless someone has other suggestions or, I don't know, wants to hear about my favourite YouTubers or somesuch.
My favourite podcast overall is Métis In Space, but looking at the app, it looks like they haven't dropped any episodes since February, so it barely counts as something I listened to a lot in 2021. A lot of the fiction podcasts I've listened to either have finished their stories or dropped off a few years ago, so this is mainly going to be about new-to-me podcasts that I've listened to a lot of this year. Not in any particular order, either, though I'll nominate for your enlightenment and edification my two favourite podcasts of the year.
I'm going to talk about Metis In Space anyway, even though they haven't updated in awhile, because if you haven't listened to it there are a lot of old episodes you can catch up on. This is a podcast by Chelsea Vowel and Molly Swain that looks at Indigenous representation in science fiction and fantasy. They review movies and TV shows that have Indigenous characters or themes, most of them absolutely awful. While they deal with serious subjects, particularly colonialism and racism, the podcast is very witty and fun and it feels like you're hanging out with friends and snarking about pop culture, which is my favourite thing to do.
I Don't Speak German: This is another potentially grim theme that is made entertaining because of the hosts' charm. It's about fascists and fash-adjacent movements such as the Intellectual Dark Web. It's a series of conversations between Daniel Harper, who researches the far-right and spends hours listening and watching their content, and Jack Graham, who writes about pop culture (especially Doctor Who) and Marxism. It's some bleak stuff but again, it's one of those shows that makes you feel like you're in a room with friends shooting the shit. I find the show valuable enough that I contribute to their Patreon, which means I get the bonus episodes when they come out. The bonus episodes are mainly pop culture snarking (their recent two-parter on The Dark Knight is particularly fun) and much lighter than their regular fare.
Coffee With My Ma: This is one I just got into this year. Kahentinetha Horn has had a fascinating life as an activist and model. Her daughter, Kaniehtiio, (who also has a long list of interesting things she's done), interviews her about her larger-than-life experiences. Both of them are brilliant storytellers and the podcast is an absolute delight.
Canadaland: This is Jesse Brown's ever expanding podcast about Canadian media and politics. It's great in terms of covering stories that don't otherwise get told and that go against the national narrative. In the past few years, he has really made an effort to include BIPOC voices and in particular, Indigenous hosts like Ryan McMahon. I am particularly a fan of the Wag the Doug show, which is about all the ways in which Doug Ford is terrible and needs to go away.
Fucking Cancelled: This is my Problematic Fave podcast. I am posting about it with hesitation because I've seen people absolutely dogpiled for recommending it. And I'll say, as a caveat, that I disagree with large amounts of what the hosts, Clementine and Jay, have to say. I was in fact first made aware of Jay's existence through an accountability website that was circulating about him. This podcast is about cancel culture on the left, specifically as it pertains to cancelling individual activists (as opposed to "cancelling" celebrities, which I think is actually a very different phenomenon). I feel like it's a very nuanced, very complicated conversation, and the main reason I'm listening to this is because, while I fundamentally disagree with a lot of points that thy make, they are really the only people I've seen actually start this conversation. I think this is about all I'll say about it in a public post, but if anyone is interested in having this discussion, I'd be happy to do so on a locked post.
And now for my two favourite podcasts of 2021 (these are a tie because they're too different to compare):
Behind the Bastards/It Could Happen Here/various related podcasts: Behind the Bastards is about the worst people in history, except for on Christmas where they talk about someone who is good, actually. It goes into some obviously bleak territory but once again, the charm of the hosts make it riveting and entertaining rather than depressing. I'm increasingly convinced that Robert Evans is the modern-day Hunter S. Thompson, somehow going from a humour writer on Cracked to reporting from the front lines in Rojava. He has a particular gift for examining the darkest facets of human experience while also being completely hilarious. Like, you get episodes on monsters like Joe Arpaio, Paul Schäfer, and Reinhard Heydrich, and then you also get episodes like "The Ballad of Eel Horse," which. Um. Use headphones for that one, okay? Especially if you live with other people.
It Could Happen Here is about societal collapse, and is overall more serious in tone and less blackly humorous as the main show. It's also chock full of useful information, such as DIY gardening, land defence movements, and parkour. It frequently highlights underrepresented stories, such as the movement to create a new constitution in Chile, or the far-right attacks on school boards in the US. They do a weekly compilation episode, and that's what I listen to when I walk to work.
The Friday Night Parkdale Special: At the beginning of the pandemic, my friend DJ Joyrider, inspired by the balcony singalongs in Italy, started a weekly music show. It's now a podcast, so you can listen to even if you don't tune in Friday nights like I do. If you ever listened to Alan Cross's The Ongoing History of New Music, it's a bit like that: She explores a theme or genre and talks about the backstory behind the songs. This is the main way I discover any new music these days, and it's helped me gain an appreciation for all sorts of older music genres that I know zero things about. You can also check out the website if listening live with Chatty G's rather vocal contributions are a thing you'd like. I credit this show additionally with helping me finish my novel, as a good chunk of it was written and even more of it edited while listening.
I guess that is about it for my year-end media roundup! Unless someone has other suggestions or, I don't know, wants to hear about my favourite YouTubers or somesuch.
