Eavesdrop until you drop
Being a voyeur is so 20c. Eavesdropping - i.e. the act of stealthily listening to the private conversation or communications of others without their consent in order to gather information - is the hic et nunc. In the age of podcasts, everyone is an eavesdropper although a kind of consent is given, I suppose.
As I mentioned before, I increasingly favor the aural over the visual: it's a more intimate, less distracting, more meaningful mediated experience. It probably has to do with aging, too, and spending an inordinate amount of time staring at screens of variable sizes. Oh, well.
Consistently with the last few years' trends, I invested more time in 2022 listening - or rather eavesdropping - to (pre-recorded) conversations, often with my eyes closed, than watching motion pictures of various kinds on flat surfaces. Both "transportation time" (commuting, traveling etc.) and "bed time" are basically congruent with podcast listening. And yes, Suzanna was always already right: listening to a podcast consists of "filling my head with ideas without actually having to do the messy, repetitive, boring, or anxious work of making meaning for myself." It's a bit like using an abs stimulator device instead of doing crunches and sit-ups.
I was never into binge watching. But I cannot resist binge listening. The reason is that podcasts are one of the most powerful generators of parasocial relationships: truth be told, my best friends are completely unaware of my existence. But I'm totally ok with it. IRL connections are overrated anyway ;-)
Podcasts provide a cognitive shield, a bubble of some sort, when dealing with a less-than-ideal everyday reality. Close your eyes are you are far away from - insert depressing situation here. If only they could improve the quality of air as well, which is generally toxic... I want to live in the Dyson Zone. I, too, crave pure air and pure audio. Can you send me one for Xmas? I'll go on Twitch and dutifully rave about it for hours like a good influencer.
Mental note: A (great) podcast is to conversation what (great) pornography is to sex: an optimized, spectacular, highly choreographed/scripted activity that bear little resemblance to the "real" thing. Kinda like a Platonic idea of a dialogue. No fillers, no faux pas, no esprit d'escalier remorse... Perhaps life itself should be scripted and then edited like a podcast, perfected through repeated stagings, à la Rehearsal. At any rate, I wish I had IRL some of the great conversations I eavesdropped this year. They don't even come close, alas.
Below are some of the highlights of my aural year - I'd love to hear yours.
Best limited series
The Trojan Horse Affair (Serial/The New York Times): The fact that the Brits hated it with passion is a great sign. The combo Hamza Syed + Brian Reed proved a winner. I hope we'll hear more from the dynamic duo.
The New Gurus (BBC Sounds), hosted by Helen Lewis. From productivity hackers to dating coaches, from crypto bros to wellness influencers, when did the internet get taken over by gurus?
Verified: The Next Threat (Scripps): an unsettling exposé of an international network of global extremists who are recruiting for a new transnational holy war and white power. It's basically 2022's Day X.
Mother Country Radicals: The story (well, a story) of the Weather Underground told by a former member of the Weather Underground. Very timely as eco-terrorism is coming back with a vengeance, not to be confused with echo-terrorism, that is, podcasts plagues by terrible acoustics.
Best ongoing series
The War on Cars: car culture is the worse
David Harvey's Anti-capitalist chronicles
Best new ongoing series
Crypto Island hosted by PJ Vogt: while Reply All died of a slow death, culminating with a anti-climax of an ending, PJ Vogt proved to be the proverbial Phoenix. Not an easy feat. This is not only the best interesting podcast about crypto. It's also the only good podcast about crypto. Everything else is just hype. The End was possibly the best podcast episode of the year. [See also: The Missing Cryptoqueen, below]
Chated by an Image, Fotomuseum Wintherthur. Short, funny, often unsettling takes on image culture curated by Marco De Mutiis. Very Swiss.
Standout episodes (selection)
"Ok Bunger! The problems of generations", Bungacast (November 15 2022): a five part series in marathon form about generational consciousness and conflict orchestrated by the indefatigable Bunga Boys. I listened to this 5 hour epic podcast like three times, but not consecutively, than you for asking.
"ACFM Microdose: Fantasy and Conspiracy with Wu Ming 1", ACFM (October 6 2022) - an interview between Keir Milburn and Wu Ming 1 about conspiracies, pranks, and QAnon. Excellent stuff. Keep the Left weird.
"The End of Social Media", The Greay Area with Sean Illing (December 1 2022). Great chat with Ian Bogost about that ongoing disaster know as social media. No, they won't be missed.
"No Special Duty", Radiolab (Jun 17 2022): it turns out that police officers are not bound to serve and/or protect you. Who knew?
"Mainstreaming Marxism & Redefining Capitalism, David Harvey's Anti-Capitalist Chornicles" (December 15 2022): "Prof. Harvey considers the hostility and glorification of ignorance—a legacy of McCarthyism—towards the teachings of Marx, especially within academia and the mainstream media. Academia has become a money-making institution and even liberal mainstream media, claiming to be tolerant, espouse repressive tolerance." Harvey's most personal and candid episode so far. Sounds like a memoir.
"No Retreat: The Dangers of Stand Your Ground", Reveal (July 30 2022): it turn out that the US legislative system is managed by the NRA and their minions from the GOP. Surprise surprise.
"Capitalism Realism: is There Still no Alternative? With Alex Niven", Acid Horizon (November 5 2022). This coincided with the release of the new Zer0 Classic edition of the now canonical Mark Fisher's Capitalism Realism.
"Apocalypse Creep", This American Life (February 11 2022): NorCal coasts are disappearing fast due to climate change. The real estate industry is pretending that's not happening. Happiness ensues.
"A couple Walks into a House", This American Life (January 24 2022): "Rob and Reyna Mathis make an unsettling discovery in the home of a local police officer. Soon, their whole city is asking questions about who the officer really is and what he's been doing". An IRL horror movie reminiscent of a Blumhouse production.
"The Mid-Century Media Theorists Who Saw What Was Coming", The Ezra Klein Show (July 26 2022). Namely: Marshall McLuhan and Neil Postman, two of my all time heroes. This is an excellent conversation about the book The Paradox of Democracy by Zan Gershberg and Sean Illing. (The podcast title is different on the NYT website for some reason, go figure)
"Into my Arms by Nick Cave", Soul Music, BBC (December 3 2022): I don't believe in an interventionist God either, for the record.
"Geoff Dyer reads from The Last Days of Roger Federer", Tank Magazine (Oct 12 2022), in which Dyer discovers that most door of Italian trains do not open. They are "guasta" in perpetuity. Welcome to la dolce vita, Geoff. It's exactly like the movie, trust me.
"Price Wars with Rupert Russel," The Dig hosted by Daniel Denvir (April 8 2022): I'm using more and more podcasts for my classes and The Dig is an invaluable source of great insights, deep dives, and detailed overviews (check out the conversations with Fred Turner, Kim Stanley Robinson, Matthew Sitman and Sam Adler-Bell among others).
"Other Intelligence and Prepping Up for Utopia with James Bridle", Interdependence (November 10 2022), hosted by Holly Herndon and Mat Dryhurst. A great companion to a stellar book.
I really missed
Caveh Zahedi: 2022 was so uneventful compared to 2021 without massive doses of brutal honesty from Caveh. Heck, I'd take brutal honesty over effective altruism any given day.
BBC's Boring Talks. The last released episode on farts (April 2021), was epic. Bring back the boredom, please.
The Slavoj Zizek Collected Recordings
The Dropout: The 2022 update, "Sentenced", was bittersweet.
I was late to the game but then I became a believer
The Missing Cryptoqueen, BBC Sounds (2020-ongoing) hosted by Jamie Bartlett. Everybody knows that crypto is a scam, but this series makes the message as compelling as a thriller. Dr Ruja Ignatova persuaded millions to join her financial revolution. Then she (unsurprisingly) disappeared. No wonder this is becoming a doc. Jamie Bartlet's eponymous book is also great.
The Puppet Master, hosted by Gabriel Gatehouse, BBC Sounds. The rise and rise of Vladislav Surkov.
Previously
