Get to know PCEC: Sharing our Favorite Podcasts
Podcasts: Sharing Our Faves
Many of us spend a lot of time walking, wearing earbuds, listening to podcasts. We recently took a PCEC poll on some of our favorites:
Robin Addicott: I love The Daily, it helps break down current events for me. If you want something purely entertaining, try Smartless. Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett and their weekly guests will have you laughing out loud.
Johnathan Hettinger: This podcast by Threshold, Oh Give Me A Home, is a really good primer on the bison issue in Park County. The story of the wild bison, from a few dozen a century ago, to recent controversies surrounding Yellowstone bison, is a story that is critical for anyone living in our community. This is the best storytelling I’ve seen on the issue.
To be honest, I mostly listen to podcasts for entertainment, though. You can constantly find me listening to the Lowe Post and the Ringer NBA Show. I’ve also been listening to stories about music, including NO SKIPS with Jinx and Shea and Cocaine and Rhinestones: The History of Country Music.
Max Hjortsberg: I’m a fan of The Memory Palace, by Nate DiMeo. It blends storytelling and history in a manner that is often poignant, while also whimsical at times. They’re short, often less than 10 minutes, so it doesn’t feel like a serious commitment.
If I’m going on a long road trip I like to find something to fill the time. For that I recommend The Timber Wars. It is a seven-part series that explores the history of the conflict between the logging industry and environmentalists in the 1990’s in the Pacific Northwest. It’s more than just the spotted owl story, as it delves into each side of the conflict and how the whole period reshaped the region, the nation and in many ways the modern environmental dialectic.
Erica Lighthiser: If I only have time for one episode, I love Throughline, Hidden Brain, Dirtbag Diaries, Unlocking Us, Invisibilia, 99% Invisible, and Anthropocene Reviewed.
If I had to choose though, Scene on Radio is one of my favorite series. It dives deeply into the systems and structures that dominate American society, exploring the history of racism, patriarchy and democracy, asking the hard questions about who we are and how we got this way. Particularly binge-worthy are ‘Seeing White’ ‘MEN’ and ‘The Land That Never Has Been Yet'. The newest season, ‘The Repair’ is on the climate crisis. The entire PCEC team is tuning in to this one. We hope you join us.
Karrie Kahle: I have learned so much about planning, growth and equity, or the lack of it, from the podcast series, Strong Towns. I highly recommend it.
Missing and Murdered is also at the top of my list. Over two seasons, the series follows the cases of two indigenous women, while examining recent atrocities done to indigenous peoples in the US and Canada.
Jen Madgic: I find the history of redlining both fascinating and horrifying. Here are two sources to learn more: In the Thick with Mario & Julio:: The Legacy of Redlining, and video Housing Segregation in Everything from Code Switch. And if you’re really interested in learning more, I highly recommend reading The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein. Maps showing our history of redlining can be found here.
Like many planners around the country, I rely on Strong Towns for helping keep me current on some of the trends and issues. For some reason, this particular show featuring founder Chuck Marohn has stuck with me everytime I see a park bench: Bad Benches and Other Park Problems.
Sarah Stands: OMG there are soooo many. If I have to pick one it's the series: Threshold - “Oh, Give Me A Home” Can we ever have wild free-roaming bison again?
Threshold is home-grown produced out of Missoula, and tells a detailed and intimate story from several perspectives about relevant contemporary conservation topics. A sense of balance and empathy is felt from all angles as the host takes you through a very well done, creative and thoughtful narrative. I really understood the history and current issues that surround bison. Be prepared to get emotional.
Other favorites: Scene on Radio - especially the most recent series on climate and justice, it explores the cultural roots of our current ecological emergency, and the deep changes Western society will need to make. Other greats for visualizing a new world, All My Relations, The Bottom Up Revolution, In Our Power, Code Switch, Next Economy Now, For the Wild
Michelle Uberuaga: Listening to podcasts may be one of my favorite ways to consume media these days. Here are a few recommendations for podcasts relevant to PCEC’s work - conservation and communities.
Hidden Brain’s September 23rd episode “Group Think” explores how humans make decisions based on group identification, and how we can harness this power of group thinking for better, or for worse, outcomes for our communities. In general, Hidden Brain is a great podcast that explores the unconscious patterns that drive human behavior.
Over the past year I have fallen in love with the organization Strong Towns, which we featured in a December 2020 Community Conversation. They have three podcasts, and my favorite is UpZoned. On UpZoned the hosts take hot topics in planning, housing, etc. and talk in depth about an issue. They discuss exciting topics like downtown street design, memorial benches, and housing. I love it all. This April 2021 podcast talks about the financialization of our housing market. It’s terrifying, and important for anyone who cares about the future of housing in our community: “Housing is About Capital Flow, and Always Has Been”