Oh my goodness, Trin here (from the Friendshipping podcast, below) is so right (link to the Tweet is here). As a cis-het white man I’ve been trying my best to listen to more varied voices, understanding that great ideas and concepts come from everyone, not just the loudest dude-bro in the room (or online).
I lived in Philadelphia for six months in 2013, and I’d bounce between a few coffee shops, but always had a spot in my heart for Menagerie and didn’t really know why – until I read this interview with the co-owners from 2014.
“And I think the space (Menagerie Coffee) is kind of feminine in a subtle way. I don’t think it’s obvious, but if you spent some time here and then walked over to Elixr, you’d be very overwhelmed. It’s gorgeous, beautiful, but it’s overwhelmingly masculine.”
Oh my goodness, Elixr is totally masculine. It’s weird – I’ve been there once, and it just wasn’t for me, but Menagerie coffee was for me. I’ve been thinking about this since 2014!
Here we are in 2018 and everything is still cis-het dominated, and it’s easy to ignore that with my cis-het eyeballs. Continuing to live through the lens of my own experience is limiting, just as living ones life on the same street that you grew up on. If I don’t explore ideas that are not ingrained in my bones I will miss out.
I believe that with all my heart.
Below are some of the great podcasts I’ve discovered in recent months, and I hope you’ll take some time and give them a listen.
Friendshipping – I love love love the dynamics between Jenn and Trin on this show. They talk all about the complexities of being friendship in the modern age in a smart, amazing way.
Tricky – Heather Chaplin and Emily Bell talk about some of my favorite things: journalism, social media, and all sorts of online things. Each episode has amazing guests, too. They’re only five episodes in but they’re off to a great start.
Design Matters – Debbie Millman started this podcast in 2005, six years before Back To Work (one of my favorite podcasts)! My first introduction to this show was from an interview with musician Kaki King (thanks, Jocelyn!), so I’ve got a lot of catching up to do.
The Sub Pop Podcast – Alissa Atkins and Arwen Nicks sold me on every artist on the roster. Always. All the time. They pulled out such great stories, and showed up every episode. They made me tear up. Arwen has moved on and now runs podcasts at KPCC, but I urge you to subscribe and listen to all the episodes.
Ask Me Another – Host Ophira Eisenberg is so great, and the show is super mellow and sweet, and I just want to hug everyone on this show.
Dear Handmade Life – Delilah Snell and Nicole Stevenson talk to tons of creators and artists about “owning businesses, the creative process” and so much more. Like, 70+ episodes of amazing interviews with some super informative topics for anyone doing their own thing. I think it’d be hard to NOT learn something from all the interviews they’ve done.
EDIT 12/30/2018: The Process – Run by Shannon Lee Byrne, this show is all about the creative and working process of artists, designers, and other wildly interesting people.