I work a regular job in a warehouse where I rarely need to use my critical thinking skills (I do get to drive a forklift, though). So, I listen to around 40 hours worth of podcasts a week, and here’s what I recommend from this past week...
Get Played - Console Draft: Nintendo Switch
While the Console Drafts are fun to listen to and give some good recommendations for “greatest hits” you might be missing in your game collection, it’s this episode’s Heather’s Hole segment that connected with me and has me plugging this episode.
It’s something that I kind of touched on in my last Robot Gospel, and that I also touch on in something you’ll be hearing next week (this is your hint to make sure you copy and paste this RSS feed into your podcatcher to make sure you’re subscribed to the podcast: https://api.substack.com/feed/podcast/1491476.rss). It’s the last stage capitalism of it all, corrupting fandom and collecting, and turning it into investing and speculation. Knowing that people like certain things, and weaponizing that enthusiasm against them in order to bolster your bank account.
Recently, Ed Vedder was given a sealed and graded copy of the CD of Ten in a long-box (the video of which, seems to have disappeared from the internet for some reason), and I don’t know why he would care, except maybe that he can autograph it and auction it off for charity. But then he would have to have it regraded, which means the grading company would get their beak wet yet again.
Collectable Grading has its roots going back to collectable cards and comicbooks, and is pretty shady for those that don’t know. But I’m sure this music grading company will be different, because it was founded by notorious nepo-baby DJ, Steve Aoki (his dad was the founder of the fucking, multi-million dollar Benihana restaurant chain).
But music is a little different than video games, because most music can be found online (either through legitimate, or extra-legal means). However, because video games are technology, and technology develops and becomes obsolete at a rapid pace, many video games become lost to time unless they are actively preserved to ensure that future generations can play them.
Depresh Mode - #150 Joel Kim Booster Returns And Climbs Out Of A Pit
When Joel Kim Booster was first on Depresh Mode, he was having a hard time. And for anyone suffering from depression, it was a very relatable episode. Hopeless. Resigned. Indifferent. You could tell how hard host John Moe was trying to reach out and make a connection, and to a much lesser extent, coax out a good interview.
Turns out, that this particular rough spot for Booster was due to him stopping his medication. That’s a huge fucking no-no if you’re planning on doing that without the supervision of your doctor.
And I get it that it feels limiting. Like you can’t be a real person without the aid of medication. That you’re dependent on a chemical. But that’s part of why the stigma of mental illness needs to be diminished. There’s no shame in needing to be medicated or in being in therapy, just as there is no shame in needing a wheelchair or chemotherapy.
This episode is especially poignant if you’ve heard the first episode to see how someone can snap out of it. To see how someone who is so down can get back up again. Because it’s always possible. You just have to keep living.
Doughboys - Munch Madness: Chomp-Out Round 2 w/ Michael Jonathan Smith
Wow! Another Munch Madness is upon us. An annual fast food bracket style tournament that this year is “For Whom the Bell Doughs: Munch Madness 2024: The Tournament of Chompions IX: Dough Quiero Talk-O'-Bell.” And you know I love a clunky pun name!
This episode has it all: a lengthy Kafka digression, a baffling mispronunciation of the word “Unanimous,” continuity shenanigans because of recording out of order, and a gud first time guest.
Mitch and Wiger truly put the “Madness” in “Munch Madness,” and I wouldn’t have it any other way.