The thing about podcasts is that I’ve never really wanted to listen to people just discussing things. I don’t watch talk shows, I can’t stand listening to people read, and I can listen to people speak for about 50 – 100 words maximum, depending on the topic. So it was hard for me to believe that I’d ever want to get into podcasts as A Thing.

I tried a few. When friends started podcasts, I would dutifully listen to one or two episodes to show my support and see if I’d want to keep going. I couldn’t! It never felt quite right. Sorry, friends. And really, it’s only so much that I can listen to anyone talk about anything, unless it’s Amandoll, about everything.

I even tried year-old episodes of the Vulture TV Podcast, which I enjoyed for a bit. I’d listen to them on the train to work, as delays on NJ Transit slowly increased. I loved it, as I do love learning about TV shows I don’t have time to watch. It made me want to watch a few more, too! But as I listened to more episodes and started to catch up, I’d seen or read about fewer of the shows mentioned. And it’s only so often I could listen to them talk about Mad Men for a large majority of each episode.

There is one podcast that has never failed me and it’s Hey, We’re Back. HWB is by Jonathan Katz. He does skits and interviews with guests or fake characters. I could listen to Jonathan Katz now for any amount of time. I think it comes from watching Dr. Katz as I fall asleep, and now he is soothing to me. Some episodes were even animated and oh man, if only we could do that for them!

But, alas, he makes them infrequently. So where do I turn? (Note: I started this draft before he started his newer Dr. Katz series, which is great and you can find here.)

I tried a bunch of popular ones and I hated it. I kept thinking, is there a transcript of this? Sometimes there was. But then I thought, well I should just read an article about this instead. Turns out I’m just not into it. Later, I realized that the subject was not the important part, just like when I find great articles to read. It was truly just the personality and the quality, maybe even a little banter that makes it shine. So, why don’t I try some random stuff?

Random stuff was awful. That was not the solution. I tried quite a few, including ones that were work-related. I love FACTS but boy do I prefer reading them.

Now I know that there is only one good place for podcasts and that is our place for them. GTFIMP, it’s basically a podcastcade. Featuring podcasts about wrestling, Netflix shows, and… more Netflix shows. And some day a Sneer Show! ONE OF THESE DAYS!