Sam reads your listener notes

The Ten Thousand Things

Listeners are producers. Thank you for getting the show out.
I reflect on my own podcast listening: helpful with insomnia, and a lifeline during tough times. Write me here

Reading a wide range of listener notes, I respond and explore

• personal themes:
• vulnerability
• thoughts on how to engage usefully with attachment theory, to go looking for the things we don't want to say
• the two breakdown eps from Joe and Ali
• voyeurism: when is it okay to listen to people spilling about intense experiences
• I say it's because people pod with honesty, because they want to be seen and accepted, flaws and all, so you're helping. If it's feeding something exploitative, you'll feel it.

Themes around speaking, activism, expression:

• the half-informed should speak, while being honest about their level of understanding, otherwise we will only hear from the powerful and the uninformed, who are never honest about their level of understanding
• middle-class white women do speak up a lot, but should continue to do so
• a brief history of middle-class women as key activists
• I encourage a writer who listens, to start a show, and offer support and advice to anyone curious about getting started

Networked communal media not subject to the algorithm

• the communal, horizontal, networked experience of podcasts (listeners become producers, or step up to speak, in a mutually supporting way)
• audio over RSS: the last medium not to have been completely overrun by ads and algorithms
• open nature of podcast distribution via RSS feeds, Really Simple Syndication, contrasting it with highly vertical, platform-dependent media (LOCKED SYSTEMS = serfdom)
• commercial radio thrived on podcast-ish values before becoming a bloated ad beast
• a call for community support and contribution, reinforcing the collaborative spirit of podcasting
• listeners as producers, who contribute to the content and continuity of podcasts
• Value for Value, decentralisation: the philosophy we need for sustainable media in the age of closed platforms
• the importance of fearless feedback in all directions
• the democratizing power of podcasts under techno-feudalism

Creators & Guests

• Sam Ellis - Host

Art by https://www.instagram.com/schinacoy/

• (00:00) - The Life-Changing Power of Podcasts
• (01:11) - Podcast Listening Habits
• (02:07) - Podcast Listeners as Producers
• (03:38) - Exploring Attachment Theory Through Listener Feedback
• (06:21) - The Open Nature of Podcasting vs. Centralized Media
• (24:18) - Embracing Vulnerability and Listener Connections
• (25:06) - The Power of Envy and Personal Growth
• (25:36) - Podcasting as a Form of Expression
• (30:02) - The Impact of Listening and Speaking
• (32:27) - Exploring Faith and Listener Feedback

00:00 The Life-Changing Power of Podcasts
01:11 Podcast Listening Habits
02:07 Podcast Listeners as Producers
03:38 Exploring Attachment Theory Through Listener Feedback
06:21 The Open Nature of Podcasting vs. Centralized Media
24:18 Embracing Vulnerability and Listener Connections
25:06 The Power of Envy and Personal Growth
25:36 Podcasting as a Form of Expression
30:02 The Impact of Listening and Speaking
32:27 Exploring Faith and Listener Feedback