Thoughts

I can see and feel the eye roll already. Here we go another jackass telling me to listen to another thing. And you’d be right so sit tight, grab a blanket, and let me tell you why one of these three podcasts should be in your weekly rotation.

Let’s start with Revisionist History a podcast that explores the underbelly of current and past events. You might recognize the host’s name it is Malcolm Gladwell he is a NY Times Best Selling author of a number of books. You more than likely were forced (highly encouraged) to read his book The Outliers in high school. He is a deeply inquisitive person searching for excitement in the mundane. Remember being taught in school that the Boston Tea Party was for patriotism and the tax on tea? Yeah, turns out that was just a bunch of smoke being blown up our asses by “Big Education”. In actuality, it was because our founding fathers were smuggling their own goods down the shoreline and the British decided to lower tea prices because they still wanted us suckling from their royal teat. So to force Colonists to buy their smuggled tea they did their best Native American impression and dumped the British tea into the Boston habah. That’s right the fairy tale told to us as kids is wrong. Our founding fathers were greedy capitalists who wanted to make more money (greedy capitalists is a bit of a stretch so I will settle for highly opportunistic). So, if you’re just as shocked as I was learning about that little tidbit then you need to check out Revisionist History.

Freakonomics Radio, no this is not a podcast about one’s freaky activities. This show covers everything from, why do we get married, to why is it safer to fly rather than drive, to what is college for exactly. If you have a question about society more than likely Stephen Dubner and his crew have talked about it and unfolded every aspect of it. With episodes normally not exceeding an hour it is easy to power through on a nice brisk walk around your neighborhood (that’s right get off your treadmill and touch grass). Stephen does a fantastic job of taking really complicated topics and ideas and simplifying them to where any normal person can understand what’s going on. Ever think to yourself man I wish there was a crash course on the American immigration system? Don’t you fear Stephen has a six-part series that is sure to make you the most well-informed at the next holiday meal. So when Grandpa starts flaring up again about you have the tools to put him out.

Last but certainly not least is No Stupid Questions a title I slightly disagree with but nevertheless, I always end up learning something new. Angela Duckworth a research psychologist and Mike Maughan Chairman at Qualtrics and President of the Utah Jazz Foundation. Are two totally polar opposite people who have a common interest in exploring even the simplest of questions. Angela and Mike cover everything from the popularity of astrology and why people like it so much to asking what success looks like (if you ask me success looks like not basing everything off the stars but I digress). There isn’t a topic they haven’t talked about and with episodes living in the 30-minute range, you could easily knock one out as you finally decide to clean the dishes or clean around the house.

I know..you guys could listen to me ramble on and on about why you should pick one of these shows to listen to regularly but this is where I draw the line. My top 3 and hopefully one of these shows makes it into yours. Next to come, what shows you need to watch…just kidding. If I hear one more time that I have to watch a certain show because it is”amazing” I might just have to put myself in a crate and have a Bostonian throw me into the harbor. Sorry Bob but your show just isn’t amazing at best it is a 3/5 on IMDB and you need to take a break from the TV for a while. Thanks and have a good night.