Stay Tuned - March 2025

…I love this Hidden Brain episode, Be Yourself, and am excited that my question will be featured in their next segment!

CE’s First Annual Podcast Awards; 2024 Wrapped - December 2024

Check out my listener mail featured on Stephen Dubner and Angela Duckworth’s podcast NSQ. Angela Duckworth’s Grit TED talk was one of the most viewed, and bestselling author Stephen Dubner is a world-renowned Economist. Their podcast has millions of listeners and my submission was one of only two selected to be featured on their last episode. Thank you for including the experience of Alternative Audio-modal listeners! #artificialhearing #hearingloss #cyborg #disability

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Oliver James is a viral sensation on TikTok because he taught himself to read at 34. He’s open about his struggles and has encouraged others to learn to read because it’s never too late. Today, his reading skills have improved so significantly that he's on a new journey to read 100 books this year.

I can only imagine how much his world flourished and changed once he was connected to the magic of reading. I relate to James’s gushes about joy and novelty in his posts - but not because I can’t read.

When I was 34, like James, I learned to read for the first time with my ears. Due to my level of deafness, I’d never been able to hear the radio, television, or any kind of spoken word media. When I got my first Cochlear Implant (CI) my world exploded. With the rising popularity of podcasting, for the first time in my life, I was able to plug into the vast universe of audio. 

I think about the similarities we share. From a safety perspective, Oliver’s life expanded, and he could read road signs, headlines, blinking dashboard indicators, and instructions on a fire extinguisher. For me, I could finally hear the presence and movement of a person behind me, PSA alerts, oncoming cars, and fire alarms. Gaining these features is incredible, but entry into the world of simple pleasures is just as life-changing.

I have listened to more podcasts in the last several years than I ever have in my entire life. Because this access is still new and fresh to my brain, it’s a thirst I’ll never quench. I doubt I’ve made up for those noiseless 34 years and I’m reminded every December when I review my Spotify Wrapped. Spotify Wrapped is an annual feature from Spotify that provides users with personalized listening statistics from the past year. It highlights key metrics like top Artists, Songs, and podcast genres, and the total amount of time spent listening. For me, I was in the top 7% of listeners and spent over 40,000 minutes listening.

I also want to point out how listening apps like Spotify, Audible, Pandora, etc are excellent tools for rehabilitating your Cochlear Implant and getting your brain and ears acclimated. Spotify has added video and subtitles to a lot of their content and some podcasts feature live transcripts so you can listen and read at the same time - the optimal way to orient toward listening with a CI. 

With no further ado and no real award to the recipients, let’s get started!

Best Departure Podcat of 2024

Freakonomics is one of the first podcasts I ever discovered. It has since expanded into an entity with several offshoots and is now a production studio. The show’s host and author, Steven Dubner, went on to do a separate podcast called No Stupid Questions (NSQ) with the Grit psychologist powerhouse TED speaker Angela Duckworth. I’ve learned so much for NSQ, including how to understand motivation, manage failure, and navigate relationships, as the two hosts use listener questions as a launchpad for discussion and blend scientific research with engaging conversations her co-host has since changed, I was shocked to hear just yesterday, while podcasting and deep cleaning my bathtub, that they are ending NSQ.  Their last episode will air in late December so I’m giving them my golden accolades and a teary farewell.

Best Captions-to-Voice Syncing 

If you’re looking to train your brain to hear new words and add them to that gigantic brain map of words upstairs, look no further than Science Vs. Not only do they feature large and legible large print scripts while you listen, you will also acquire all kinds of bonkers expertise as they put science up to the task of finding what’s fact and what’s not. My favorite episodes include Skincare: Is Anti-Aging a Scam, The Science of Gossip, and When Science and Superstitions Collide. It also features the brainiac folks from Radiolab if that’s your jam. BONUS: The host of this show is Australian and I’ve always had a hard time hearing accents so I think expanding the repertoire of dialects I hear is a good brain/ear boost. 

Best On-Air Rapport AKA If Broad City Were a Podcast

My aunt, who grew up in Southern California, talked about always turning on a morning radio show with two adored hosts who got her through the hair-pulling 405 traffic every day on the way to work. One reason the pair was such a hit was due to their compatibility and on-air rapport. The way they played off the other’s humor, and there was an almost tangible chemistry. Before my CI, these were conversations I could never hear or relate to but now I get it. The person you do your podcast with is what seal the deal - or not. These two girls, of Scamfluencers, are my go-to Gen Z icons are just funny as hell and smart as a while and they keep me up to date on what’s cool. Thank you, Sara and Scaachi, for being my two awesome pretend friends, heart eyes emoji. I love how they gel together and make me LOLOL like I am there with them. The quick-wittedness and cerebral cool just oozes in every episode and how they interact is just as enjoyable as the stories themselves. Each episode covers a famous scammer and I recommend two that truly blew my mind. If you thought you knew Lance Armstrong (Episode 144)  or Elon Musk (Episode 335) think again!

Best True Crime Podcast to Listen to Without Being a True Crime Weirdo cuz Yuck.

I harbor a loathsome addiction. At some point, we all ask ourselves, why am I obsessed with stories on true crime, what is wrong with me? True crime podcasts have surged in popularity, becoming the third most-listened-to podcast genre in the U.S. For me, I realized there was a reason I was addicted to this genre. First, so many shows and podcasts take a while to create interest and conflict - the critical arc for storytelling -  but with true crime, there is nothing but conflict. You can tune in always knowing there is a problem being identified, but I learned it wasn’t the murder or killing itself that brought me in, it was the puzzle aspect of the story. Enter Generation Why. These two hosts, Arron and Justin, present each case with amazing dexterity - they review the evidence with extraordinary fairness and are respectful to all views and family members of the victims. I found myself understanding another side of a crime case being solved in the US. They start each episode with a brief summary and review each piece of evidence being considered; they do an amazing job of breaking down our (broken) justice system. Every time I hear their episode, I feel like a more well-rounded person and more informed citizen. They also unpack each tiny detail and strategy of how the defense and prosecution strategize while often explaining not commonly known laws and legalese. BE warned that it’s eye-opening but not a good kind of eye-opening. I can’t believe how people get thrown in jail - did you know that 90% of cases take jail time plea bargains and don’t even get a fair trial - with lacking evidence or how often corrupt attorneys or incompetent police departments just skate on by.

Note: This is a two-host show and one host Aaron has a deep voice I hear perfectly. The other host Justin has a voice that is higher and softer. As we all know, having to listen to an audiobook or show with a voice that grates against your ears can be tough. A lot of hearing people tell me it’s the same for that so that brings us to the next award..

Best Parentheticals Podcast

Another two-person podcast I have adored for years is Stuff You Should Know. It’s hosted by Chuck and Brian. Chuck - voice just like the name. Trustworthy, solid, and grounded. Brian on the other hand, has a frequency I cannot register. While this may be true in the hearing world, it can mean something in the CI world - the possibility of an electrode not being properly tuned. Sometimes I cannot tell if its the former or the latter. But his voice is a scathing opposite to his counterpart in my opinion. It’s both high and off-key to me. But their content is killer! They research subjects and present well but I am often marvel by their own knowledge when they go into rabbit holes (a known fan-favorite trait) about their subject. The encyclopedic knowledge they apply off the cuff is impressive. The hosts and not the content quickly become the show here and it’s fun to listen to. 

Note: A charming detail, the themed jingle gets reworked during breaks so you can hear wide-ranging musical varieties of it, which helps the ear latch onto different music styles.

Best I’m-Being-Forced-To-Listen-To Podcasts

I cannot mention podcasts without mentioning my husband who shared an ice-breaking favorite when we first met and had a conversation about comedy writing. My husband has since veered off into his own galaxy of podcasting styles and listens to mind-numbing content like airplanes and baseball. Oh, yeah I said it! But we both work from home and he’s the kind of person to play his podcasts out loud as walks around with his phone from shower to kitchen to office. Since I cannot consult HR on this noise pollution I do get pulled into the snippets of what he’s listening to and usually back right out. This is a hearing phenomenon that I am still learning - the ability to tune in or out. I’ve always been on the outside of this, barely able to hear one thing. But the CI has allowed me to hear two things at once, I never knew the hearing system was set up to multi-task but now I find myself leaping my focus and attention around and collecting a patchwork of sounds. But there is one podcast that I will latch onto if he plays in the car on a long trip or we just have his phone at the ready. I will listen to Dan Cummins’ TIME SUCK or Jordan Harbinger. We feel connected to Dan because of his Idaho roots and rapidly rising comedian fame, selling out shows. In this solo jaunt, he reviews oddball information and crime stories and retells them with his own side-splitting inputs. Jordan Harbinger is a solo interviewing podcaster who seeks to improve our critical thinking patterns and debunk conspiracies with guests who are spies, leaders, and diplomats. It’s also fun to listen to someone your own age, born in 1980, as the experiences and figures of speech are so notable.