3 Secular Podcasts that Changed the Way I Write
First, I have to confess. I never bought an iPod. I’m too cheap.
But my dad bought one shortly after they came out. Then he bought a car and the dealer threw in a free iPod Shuffle. I inherited the Shuffle and got hooked on podcasts.
It’s true. I listen to podcasts with something bordering on obsession. If I’m hopping into the car to drive, I pop in my earbuds. If I’m doing the dishes, I catch another story from the New Yorker or the Writer’s Block. If I’m mowing the lawn, I go on a podcast binge that makes the back and forth, back and forth across my weedy urban lawn somewhat less mortifying.
Three secular podcasts in particular have changed the way I write.
If you haven’t yet tapped into the inspirational power of podcasts, I’d suggest you check these three out. If you don’t have an ipod, don’t worry. You can stream any of them online for free.
Barbara DeMarco-Barrett interviews authors, agents, poets, editors, you name it. Her voice is wonderfully soothing. Especially when I’m mowing and she says something encouraging to a writer.
This weekend I listened to the Aug. 14 interview with Adam Chromy and Diana Abu-Jaber. It’s a good example of DeMarco-Barrett’s best work. That said, you might want to listen to the episode that changed my writing—and in fact inspired me to start writing again: her interview with R. A. Salvatore from June 26, 2006.
Each episode is approximately an hour. Sometimes the hour is divided between two interviews. Sometimes the hour is one long interview. Usually, she asks writers to read excerpts of their work.
2) The Draper Fisher Jurvetson Stanford Entrepreneurial Thought Leaders Seminar
Try saying that ten times real fast. In fact, try saying it just once. It’s a mouthful. And it also seems to have nothing to do with writing.
Certainly, you won’t find any practical advice about your craft here. What you will find is all sorts of inspiration about branding, networking, and starting up a business.
This podcast often feels like I’m getting a free MBA from Stanford. It’s that good. And more than anything I’ve read or heard, it has helped me understand my writing as a business.
I like nearly every episode of this podcast to be quite honest. I’ve listened to almost all of them. While I mow, remember.
Some of the shows that seem particularly well adapted to thinking about the business of writing are Mark Jung’s Phases of a Startup and Shai Agassi’s Physics of a Startup. If you listen to either of these, just think of your writer career as a one person startup. You are the CEO. Your writing is the product. Just like any business, you will need a plan and a vision to make it work.
This one needs a disclaimer. Ira Glass is not shy about sharing his political or social views. But the stories are surprisingly balanced once you account for that. On the other hand, he is good about warning the listener when controversial material is coming, so you’ll at least know it’s coming.
But they are good stories. Incredibly good stories. Nothing makes me want to write a good story better than hearing a good story.
Recently, I loved loved loved Special Ed. The episode on the Ten Commandments is also fascinating in what it reveals about our country’s understanding of Christianity and Judaism.
Again, I need to emphasize that this is not a Christian show. Often, it is PG-13. Sometimes a hard PG-13. But I find it to be very important culturally.
So now a question for the readers… What podcasts have helped your writing? If not podcasts, open the question wider. What books, movies, tv shows, plays, or cultural experiences of any kind have helped your writing?
