Stuff It In Your Ears!

Some podcast recommendations as you head into the weekend. I’m not a huge podcast listener, but they keep me company as I make my semi-regular commute from my home in Savannah to play poker at my nearest card room in Jacksonville, Fl – yesterday I won a ham!!! Regular readers will be unsurprised to learn that my tastes lean towards the esoteric and metaphysical. Probably not the kind of thing that most of you will be interested in, which is why I’m offering a trio of suggestions. Two are mine, one is my wife’s, which I am including for those among you (likely most of you) who don’t care about high strangeness.

In case you thought I was kidding about winning a ham.

• The Past Lives Podcast. Hosted by a gentle-sounding Brit named Simon Bown, The Past Lives Podcast is dedicated to “investigating evidence that demonstrates survival of the human soul.” Most episodes feature an interview with a guest who has either had a near death experience or written about near death experiences (NDEs). Any one of their stories might be dismissed as a hallucination, hypoxia, what have you, but taken together, these stories present a compelling and fascinating look into what happens when we die. I’m now convinced that something profound happens upon death. There are simply too many accounts with too many overlapping features for me to conclude otherwise. Whether these experiences are simply the brain’s final coping mechanism or something deeper remains a mystery to me, but I’m leaning towards the latter because many of the stories feature corroborated elements (floating above the body and “witnessing” a surgical procedure, “visiting” a loved one in another geographical location) which would be impossible for an unconscious person to see or know. Bown’s interview style is credulous, allowing his guests to speak about their experiences without judgment. Sometimes the episodes delve deeper into the post-death experience, including stories of how we plan our next lives. Bown is a hypnotherapist whose work involves regressing people into past lives. Whether or not you believe in such things, the stories are worth a listen, and I have found it impossible to doubt the sincerity of most of the guests. Whatever the true nature of these NDEs, the experiences always leave people fundamentally changed.

• Liminal Phrames. If you’re tired of gee-whiz UFO podcasts and are looking for something that reaches for a deeper way to contextualize “the phenomena,” this is the podcast for you. Hosts Nathan and ExoAcademian (otherwise known as Darren), are philosophers with a theological background who wade into the frothy undercurrent of the anomalous. Recent episodes include, “The Ontology of UFO Intelligence,” “Perspectives on Disclosure,” and “Constructs of Consciousness.” This is not a show attempting to persuade anybody that UFOs are real. The hosts have moved well past that point, and are swimming in unfathomably deep waters that take for granted that our reality is not all what we believe it to be and that people (including Darren) have regular communication with NHI, or non-human intelligences. I will admit that sometimes these esoteric conversations go over my head because, for example, I have a hard time remembering the differences between ontology and epistemology. But I always leave their show buzzing with questions. Ultimately, this is a podcast about the nature of reality. What do we know about reality? What don’t we know? What do we think we had right but maybe is now being proven wrong? If you like your UFO podcasts laden with a heavy dollop of consciousness, quantum physics, and graduate-level philosophizing, this is the show for you.

• The Great Indoors. My wife, Martha, is a (very good) interior designer. She is a heathen who has almost no interest in either UFOs or near death experience or even poker, but has a tremendous interest in making life beautiful. She discovered this podcast on a drive to Atlanta and returned home all a-bubble about it. Hosted by Sophie Robinson and Kate Watson-Smythe (has there even been a more interior designery name than “Kate Watson-Smythe”?), this cheerful show is “a celebration of all things interiors and everyting you need to know about making house a home.” And yes, it’s that but, really, it’s a show about two friends talking about what they love. Picture the old NPR Car Talk except instead of two Massachusetts gearheads talking about automobiles, it’s two chipper British ladies talking about interiors. Lively and light-hearted, it’s a great companion for picnics or rambles through the countryside. They do interviews, book reviews, and muse on all manner of subjects aesthetic. While it’s not my cup of tea exactly, I suspect far more of you will prefer this chatty and fun show to my own recommendations, which is why I included it.

Oh – and Martha just asked me to include a BONUS podcast recommendation:

• Is My Child a Monster? Leslie Cohen-Rubury is a therapist who specializes in issues around parenting, and her podcast allows listeners to “be a fly on the wall in Leslie’s office and listen in as she sits with parents who share their stories in therapy sessions recorded live.” Full disclosure: we worked with Leslie in the past and found her advice to be so helpful when raising our own monstrous children. We’re also going to be featured on an upcoming episode about dealing with family stress around the holidays. Her advice is to “cope ahead.” My advice? Pills. Although the podcast is geared towards parents, her advice usually applies well to adults, too. Because what are adults, anyway? Hairy kids.

Hope these suggestions give you something new/thoughtful/fun to stuff in your ears. Enjoy!