Podcasts have a foothold in the zeitgeist right now, and as such we are seeing a lot of them crop up in unexpected places. A lot have even found mainstream success, like Serial and other productions from public radio. Internet creators, too, have embraced this medium, and there are podcasts that have been ongoing for almost a decade. I have been listening to podcasts since acquiring my first iPod shuffle in 2005, and fell in love with Mugglecast, a show made by the mugglenet.com staff. I’m always on the lookout for new and exciting podcasts, and I have already discussed my love for John and Hank Green’s joint venture, Dear Hank and John, but I’m a relative latecomer to John’s podcast, The Anthropocene Reviewed.
Green’s podcast isn’t really what I’d call “talky” although it features pretty much only talking. It’s more like a tiny nonfiction blog post, read to you in the comfortingly low tone of a bedtime story. The topics are interesting, although I have sometimes read the episode titles and thought “Ugh, Hawaiian pizza?” and been closed-minded going in, but then found myself both surprised and impressed. While I have favorite episodes, the podcast is so well-written and of such universal good quality, I have found myself re-listening to every episode. The quality of production is also great, which is to be attributed to Rosiana Halse Rojas, the producer of the show and one of Green’s frequent collaborators.
What makes The Anthropocene Reviewed so special is the personal nature of the show- for someone who has made hundreds of YouTube videos, Green is a relatively private person. In a recent episode, he told a story about his daughter, who has never appeared in Green’s social media. What is different about this podcast is that Green welcomes the listener into his world, not just showing us his day-to-day, but telling deeply personal stories about his life, specifically his early adulthood.While the show purports to be one that reviews aspects of the human centered planet, it feels more like a carefully curated collection of short poems interspersed with interesting facts. Each episode, only about twenty minutes, feels like a small gift Green is giving us, a little window into the soul. “I made you a present,” he’s saying, “I hope you like it.”
I do.
You can find The Anthropocene Reviewed wherever you get podcasts. There are thirteen episodes, which are released pretty regularly once a month.
The Chamber of Spoilers 