GQ South Africa – September 2019

Ifyouwanttoknowhowbadmypodcast

addIctIonhasbecome–howweird,how

dependent,howfranklyunhealthy–thenyou

needtolooknofurtherthanmydailyroutine.

EverymorningwhenI set

offtocycletowork,I’llfirst

putinmyearphones,play

thelatestepisodeofthe

TheDaily, a podcasthosted

byMichaelBarbaro,and

catchupontheintricacies

ofbriberyscandalsorthe

storyofa NavySealwho

wentrogueasI ride.

I listentoit everyday

andtakegreatpleasure

fromthehostwhohas

asmanywaysofsaying

‘Huh?’asEskimoshave

wordsforsnow.Thisisn’t

theissue.You’resupposed

tolistentonewsdailies

daily.No,theproblem

is thecyclehome,when

I’lllistentoPostReports,

whichwilloftenfocuson

theexactstoryI listento

Howmanypodcasts

canyoufitinthe

nooksandcrannies

ofyourschedule?

Have we

reached

peak pod?

talktocephalopodexpertsonInOurTime. Chopping

vegetables,I’mlisteningtoTimHarfordtakeme

throughtheoriginsoftheqwertykeyboardin

50 ThingsThatMadeTheModernEconomy.

If I wakeupatfirstlight,knowingI’mtiredandneed

a couplemorehours’sleep,I’mashamedtoadmitthat

after 10 minutesorsoI’llenduppoppinganearphone

in,inthevainhopethatthestoryofhowthelatest

Japanesebullettrainsaremodelledonthelong,pointed

billofthekingfisher(andtheyare,it’samazing,check

outBBC’sexcellent 30 AnimalsThatMadeUsSmarter)

willlullmesoftlytosleepratherthansimplykeepme

awake.Reader,it alwayskeepsmeawake.

Andtechnologyis onlymakingmyaddictionworse.

Thesmallsizeofmynewwire-freeBluetoothearbuds,for

instance,meansI nearlyalwayshavethemonme,forever

justa pocket-searchaway.I can’trememberthelasttime

I hada bowelmovementthatwasn’taccompaniedby

thevoiceofJonFavreau,BarackObama’sformerchief

speechwriter,whohostsPodSaveAmerica.

Mypodcastaddiction,you’llbegladtoknow,is equal

opportunity.Givemeyourtruecrime,yourtriviachat,

yournewsandsportsshows,yourhuddledpodsabout

architectureanddesign,yearningtobedownloaded.

Somearelikevastvolumesofshortstories,tobe

dippedinandoutof.Someareone-timers,shipsthat

podinthenight.SomeI onlylistentowhendrunk

(basicallyanypodcastinwhichfourblokes– they’re

alwaysblokes– rambleaboutTottenhamHotspurand

eventhenonlyaftera victory).Othersaretorridaffairs

• thenotificationofa newepisodepopsuponmyphone
  withthedopaminerushofa podcastbootycall.But,
  barringtheSpurschat,nearlyallareinformative.
  Andso,asthelistofpodcastsI subscribetohas
  steadilyincreased,I’veneverthoughtofit asa problem.
  It’snoterasinganything:I stillread,watchfilmsandTV,
  seefriends,andtravelandgoouttodinnerjustasmuch
  asI everdid.I’mnotrottingmybrainonthesofa.I’m
  learningwhiledoingthings.AsLarryDavidoncesaidin
  anepisodeofCurbYourEnthusiasmandreadsthepaper
  whiledoingso,‘IfI pee 20 timesa day,I cangetthrough

EssEntials The Talk

that morning. If only it

ended there. Currently, I

subscribe to approximately

50 podcasts. Even typing

that out feels odd. Fifty’s

not that many, I want to

say, but then I imagine

how horrified I’d be if

someone admitted to

simultaneously following

50 TV shows. Get a life, I’d

want to say to that person.

How do you find the time?

But the thing is, I do have

a life. I just stuff podcasts

in all the bits between it.

You’d be amazed how

many podcasts you can

listen to if you put forth

the effort. Travelling

to my parents on the

train, for instance, I’m

listening to Melvyn Bragg Photogra

Phy by

gallo iMages/

getty iMages