💌Podcast The Newsletter💌

Bonjour.

When my headphones are wrapped around my head, I'm often listening to podcasts. Every morning, the first thing I think of is how excited I am to see what shows have dropped while I was sleeping. But before podcasts, I listened to a lot more music. For the past ten years or so I would say I listen to exclusively hip hop and Disney songs (although today I scream-sang to my own rendition of Faith Hill's Breathe on the sidewalk–you're welcome, New York City.) I listen to Icy Grl by Saweetie every morning, and one of my favorite songs of all time is Ghostface Killah's Be Easy. But I grew up on The Pogues, Todd Rundgren, The Smiths, The Eels, They Might Be Giants, Billy Bragg, and David Bowie. Hip hop never felt authentic to me until I moved to the city, because being a teenager in suburban Ohio I identified with Blink-182 and other bands that screamed about crushes and getting drunk at the bowling alley. But that's another story.

I have to actively remind myself not to let my podcast-listening time cannibalize my time listening to music, because that's important to me, too. Walking down the street listening to a podcast my eyes are squinted, I'm in a thoughtful mood. Maybe I'm laughing. I'm concentrating. Listening to Push It walking down the street I'm punching the air and dancing and smiling and full of an energy that affects how I interact with people in a positive way. I'm not sure if this sounds crazy to you, you might listen to far more music than podcasts. But I don't ever want to forget what listening to music does to me.

For the past few years, my mom, dad, Justin and I have been creating a playlist a year called Song of the Day. Every day we each post a song in a text thread, then we move all the songs to Spotify playlists. The song doesn't have to be something we love but it can be, it can be something that interests us or something that has been recommended by someone we admire or something that applies to our lives in a weird way. The list ends up being incredible every year. It tells our stories. It's diverse. It allows us to connect over music every day. Justin posts a lot of hip hop, my mom posts punk and French music, and my dad posts everything from Sun Ra to Speedy Ortiz and everything outside and between. We just started a new playlist for 2020 and it's off to a great start. (Frank Ocean, Mick Jenkins, Star Slinger, Mighty Sparrow, Madvillain, The Hillbilly Moon Explosion, Land of Talk, Stephen Cheng, Ornette Coleman...) It's reminded me how grateful I am for these playlists, that I can go back and listen to 2017 and remember that year and rediscover old songs. I recommend you do this with people you want to feel connected to.

Of course, I can't stop myself from thinking that this could be a podcast. No matter what I'm doing, it all comes back to podcasts, my true love.

It is my mom's birthday on Monday, and you know I owe my love of podcasts and my dedication to them to her. I urge you to check out her website I Love Italian Movies, and to like her page on Facebook, if you are on Facebook. My mom loves Italian movies the way I love podcasts, and her website is full of great information, and her spirit and love for Italian film is apparent and contagious. Happy birthday, Mom.

xoxo lp
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The Happiness Lab's Laurie Santos

Laurie Santos is a professor of psychology at Yale University and host of The Happiness Lab. Follow her on Twitter here. Photo courtesy of Mike Marsland and Yale University

This show started as a course you taught at Yale. How did you decide to turn it into a podcast?
I decided to develop the podcast for a few reasons. First, I got lots of email from people explaining that they wanted to learn more about the science of happiness but were too busy to take an entire online Ivy League class. The podcast allowed me to give those folks all the insights I teach in the course but in short podcast-sized chunks. But the second more important reason is that a podcast is the perfect format for exploring the science of well-being. The best part of podcasting is that it’s allows you to share a narrative— I can dive deep into real people’s stories about putting the scientific insights into practice. And this has been the best part of doing my podcast— getting to hear these stories one-on-one and sharing them with my listeners.

Women podcasters are so often criticized for their voices. What is your relationship to yours?
Oh yeah. I get a LOT of criticism for how my voice sounds. I have a whole email folder of surprisingly mean comments people have sent me. But I try to accept it, and to realize it’s something that nearly every woman in media goes through. Also, we have millions of downloads, which means my voice can't be all that bad.

Can podcasts make us happier?
Well, I think The Happiness Lab can! J In all seriousness, our goal is to give listeners straightforward tips that they can put into practice in their own lives. But it’s up to listeners to put in the work and actually use what they’ve learned. The science suggests that putting these tips into effect is the real challenge.

What has the reception of the show been like? What do people tell you about it?
It’s been incredible. We now have millions of downloads and I get emails and letters all the time from people who’ve put the tips into practice and become happier. Knowing that the podcast is really helping people makes the work all the more meaningful.

Do you have a ritual for podcasting?
I usually drink a lot of peppermint licorice tea before recoding. It helps my throat and it also smells amazing. And since my producer is often in the UK, I also often record the podcast voiceovers while talking to a huge stuffed orange bear. He’s my real partner in tracking.

💎BTW💎

🎙️My business partner Kate (<—there she is!) was on BCC Radio along with Caroline Crampton talking about our new podcat agency and management company, Lasso Audio! Kate is brilliant and does a wonderful job explaining what we are trying to do, specifically talking about how independent podcasters can make money. (And how Lasso is trying to help do that.)

🎙️Slate produced an audio project called Lockdown that is worth your time. (It's short, I wish it was longer.) They spoke to more than 20 students from different parts of the country, to learn what they see, hear, and feel during school shooting drills. It's alarming to hear these baby voices talk about preparing to throw computers or water bottles at shooters. Tiny kids wondering if they are strong enough to toss a brick through a window. With this project, we are able to begin to think about the large impact these drills are having on kids. My only complaint is that the reporters didn't get more footage from the kids, or teachers. But I'm glad I listened.

🎙️Jackie Johnson has been producing Natch Beaut (a comedy/beauty show, one of my favorites) since April, 2017. And she starts every episode by singing a parody of a popular song, including references to makeup and face creams (there's lots of talk of creaming.) Jackie has a crazy-good voice and the songs are brilliant—all of them. And she released an episode of all of them together, beginning with the first and ending with the most recent. I got emotional listening. I laughed and cried. As each song played, I remembered where I was in my life when I listened to it for the first time. And Jackie J, she has been through quite a hellish year, for personal reasons, and listening to these songs is kind of going through her life, too. I was also just blown away by her talent, the effort and work she puts into every episode, and the love she shares with her listeners. Every goddam time. If you haven't listened to Natch Beaut before, I think listening to Jackie's parody songs will make you want to start.

🎙️FEEL LIKE GETTING MAD? Dig is a new podcast from the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting that explores how rape cases are investigated in Louisville. The story centers around a woman who told police she was raped (it seemed a simple open/shut case) but nobody seemed to believe her, and because of some strange loopholes in Louisville, the police defer to prosecutors on rape cases, and prosecutors reject the vast majority of cases presented to them. The audio of this woman talking to the police made my blood boil. ("Your story is making us look bad," one officer said. "Your reporting is going to convince people not to report their rapes.") Ummm...I don't think it's the reporting that makes the Louisville police look bad, but I hope it will expose it.

🎙️For Inside Podcasting, Skye Pillsbury has a great roundup of best-kept secret shows. What a valuable piece! She asked her Twitter followers for suggestions. (I recommended Hillary Rea's Roshomon.) This is something I have bookmarked, I can't wait to listen to everything. It is how I discovered Your Body, Your Brand (thanks, Carolyn Kiel!) and Summer Twilight Book Club (thanks, Andrew Sherman!)

🎙️I finally listened to Passenger List, the fiction series about an international flight that disappears mid-flight, and the college student Kaitlin (voiced by Kelly Marie Tran) who is trying to uncover the truth. (I had originally downloaded it for my trip to Taipei and thought wow what a horrible selection to listen to on a 16.5 hour flight!) On Passenger List, Atlantic Flight 702 has disappeared mid-flight between London and New York with 256 passengers on board. It's a simple formula...there is a mystery, and we peel away pieces of it along with Kaitlin as she makes telephone calls, receives voice mails, and interviews people. I was desperate to know what she would discover. I don't want to say too much. You should know very little before pressing play. And you should press play.

🎙️ I have a scale in my mind when I listen to You're Wrong About, the You're Wrong About Scale, from 1-10, that determines how wrong I am, exactly, about the topic at hand. The episode on the D.C. Snipers was an 11 for me. America does not know about this story, and per usual, the media spun it in the wrong way. But the bright side of this horrific story is Mildred, the wife of one of the snipers, who emerges an interesting and complicated hero. She was taking abuse from her husband for years, and tried to escape him, warning police about him years before his terrible attack. Mildred is loving and smart and underappreciated in American History. I'm grateful that You're Wrong About has allowed us to hear the real story, Mildred's story.

🎙️Another kind of "you're wrong about" podcast is a comedy show I love, The Alarmist. On The Murder of Selena: Who Is To Blame?, I learned that I knew absolutely nothing about Selena, although I thought that I did. I had no idea her murderer, Yolanda Saldívar, was the head of her fan club, that Yolanda shot Selena in a hotel room, and that Selena spent her dying moments crawling across the floor of the lobby, trailing blood, using her last breath to identify the name of her killer. Unlike many Alarmist episodes, we know who is to blame in the death of Selena. But the journey this episode took was both amusing and important. So many POC stories don't get enough attention, and although this is a wild event that most people only sort-of know about. We owe it to Selena, her family, and Tejano music, to be more than sort-of informed.

🎙️Animal lovers, people in search of a good cry, LEND ME YOUR EARS! On the Family Ghosts episode, A Boy In a Story, David talks about how the dogs in his life have affected him. David's ability to see what the presence of dogs in his life is profound and touching. I wish we all thought about this with such care. There is an image from this episode, of David dancing with his sick and dying dog, that nearly killed me. So I'm warning you about that.

🎙️I loved the Twenty Thousand Hertz episode about the Seinfeld theme song. Host Dallas Taylor talks to Jonathan Wolff, the man behind the sound, about what makes it so unusual. When Jerry Seinfeld approached Jonathan, the sound he wanted for the show presented an audio conflict–he wanted music to accompany his stand-up sets. Jonathan broke the mold of theme songs by creating a template of music that would be different every opening, that would work around what Jerry was saying on his "what's the deal with airplane peanuts" set. The Seinfeld team wasn't initially all on board with Jonathan's brilliant solution–Larry David thought it was annoying. But Larry David likes annoying and so he loved it. Anyone who has watched even a handful of Seinfeld episodes will love this episode.

🎙️I had forgotten about Do You Need a Ride?, where Chris Fairbanks and Karen Kilgariff record an interview with a comedian in the car while shuttling them to or from the airport. I found myself completely transfixed by the episode with Tig Notaro. I love Tig. If I had one wish, it would be that I could be 1/50th as funny as her. How she responds to everything is different and quietly hysterical. I don't know where time went, listening to her talk about her show on Funny Or Die, Under a Rock, acting on Star Trek, and her lack of pop culture knowledge. This is my favorite thing Karen Kilgariff has ever done, and I can't wait to go through the backlist and rediscover this show I had totally forgotten about.

🎙️The Secret Room is wonderful because it talks to people about their secrets, but host Ben Hamm doesn't ask you to gawk at these people and their interesting confessions, he asks you to listen and try to understand them. On Collared, a woman talks about how being a submissive in a BDSM relationship derailed her life. She doesn't regret any of the decisions she made, but she has a lot of introspection as to how she let things go so far. I also listened to Father's Demise, an interview with a woman who discovers something terrible about her dad's death. Again, these conversations are treated with so much respect and empathy. With a different host, this show could feel like it was gawking, but it really feels like it's trying to help both the guest and the listener understand humanity.

🎙️Anna David has relaunched her podcast Launch Pad, which interviews people about how they launch...anything. Each season will focus on different types of people (authors, entrepreneurs, actors, directors and musicians...I hope there is a season about podcasters.) The first episode of the new season features Dave Chesson, a pro in indie book publishing. I have a publishing background and enjoyed so much of the conversation, and I think much of it could apply to indie podcasters. Go back through Anna's backlist. She has some great guests.

🎙️To kick off 2020, listen to the newest episode of The Happiness Lab! (With Laurie Santos, above.) Laurie is always offering great advice that is particularly helpful this time of year, when we are trying to reset ourselves. But I really loved one thing she talked about, temptation bunding–killing two birds with one stone by pairing tasks you dread but must do with indulgences, like burning a candle you like while you're working on your dissertation, saving your favorite podcast or audiobook for a workout, or drinking your favorite wine while doing your invoices. (That last one is MINE.)

🎙️In the Snap Judgment feed came an episode from Ear Hustle, Tell Christy I Love Her. It's technically a violent story about a man (Jason) who was imprisoned for shooting a cop (Tom.) But it ends up being an episode about love and understanding. After years of Tom being in prison, Tom and Jason end up having empathy for each other's situations, and it's a lesson in forgiveness and seeing horrible situations in a new way.

🎙️I love Urgent Care, Mitra Jouhari and Joel Kim Booster's "advice" show on Earwolf. Mitra and Joel don't take themselves very seriously and claim their advice is only for people who have nowhere else to go. The show is hilarious because Mitra and Joel have amazing chemistry and you get the feeling they love each other so much. Listening, I want to be part of this love. But on the most recent episode, we hear an earlier listener call in to report that Joel's advice that the caller had mold in his apartment was correct. Joel celebrates the mold, and that his advice was spot-on. And Mitra says, "Joel made a prediction based on no evidence over a podcast, having seen nothing, and was right." What a win for this bold show. It's proof that this show is not only entertaining but doing a huge service to humanity. (I can't even tell if I'm being sarcastic or not. I don't think I am.)

🎙️Food, We Need to Talk is a podcast about forming "a happier, healthier place with food, helped along by solid science, medical knowledge and common sense." I am usually not drawn to diet-centric shows, but I was impressed with the quality of this one. It feels different. On the first episode, Doomed If You Diet, Doomed If You Don't, co-host Juna Gjata talks about her ongoing battle with food and her attempt to end it. I want to keep listening to this show because I don't think it's a diet podcast, it feels much more nuanced and interesting than that.

🎙️I love you! (As you are.)