This Podcast is Surprisingly Awesome
Gimlet Media, who keeps knocking it out of the park in terms of lining up podcasts, just put another great podcast into the iTunes store for download: Surprisingly Awesome. Each week, the hosts take something pretty commonplace — like adhesives — and tell you all sorts of cool and interesting facts about the topic.
I started with the broccoli episode, and I’m working my way backwards at the moment. Broccoli. Not something I’ve given much thought to. I like to put it in my mouth and chew it up, but beyond that, I used to spend exactly zero minutes of my day thinking about broccoli.
But after that first episode? I had to go to the grocery store, and I looked at the produce section in a totally different way. Were you aware of how many vegetables are related to broccoli? Meaning, they are the same plant but they present in different forms? And did you know that when you’re eating the top of a head of broccoli, you are chomping on millions of tiny flower buds? And that people taste broccoli in different ways depending upon their genetic makeup?
I did not know these things.
Best of all, the episodes, thus far, have been okay and interesting for kids which means that I can play it in the car in front of the twins, unlike Jesse vs. Cancer. That’s pretty unusual on the podcast front.
Oh — and you totally know the hosts of the show even if you don’t think you know the hosts of the show. Adam McKay is the former head writer at SNL and he made Anchorman and The Big Short. Adam Davidson is the founder of Planet Money.
You’re welcome. I knew you were looking for a new way to spend 45 minutes or so of your week.
9 comments
Thanks for the share. I’m always up for new podcasts. There’s one I love too that I just found. Boy vs. Girl – it’s a guy (who is a teacher and has I THINK his masters in education) and a girl (who is a sociologist) that talk about three topics on each show and about gender as it realtes to that topic. It’s everyday topics too. Topics that they’ve covered are things like : why do guys make fun of each other so much, Disney princesses, tighty whities, man flu and pantyhose. It’s AWESOME. https://www.facebook.com/boyvgirlpodcast/
I often listen to podcasts on my 30 minute commute to and from work, so I will definitely check this one out! Lately, I have been listening to a lot of conversational French podcasts to brush up on my French skills, so I’m definitely ready for a change. Thanks Mel!
And I did know that about broccoli! I am a huge fan of all things green and edible, so I am a walking encyclopedia of vegetables! 😉
Thanks for the suggestion! I’ve been looking for something to supplement the dear hank and john podcast when I’m doing data munging work. (Without something to listen to, I get distracted and start surfing the internet.)
That podcast sounds cool. And I will pretend to know exactly what a podcast is, even though I really don’t have a clue.
I knew that about Broccoli, but only because we go to the farms and pick our own in the fall. Broccoli that grows too long before picking is actually fully flowered.
Broccoli! I think one head of broccoli was looking a bit thirsty so I put its feet in water. Probably forgot it for a bit. And yes, tiny yellow flowers came out! We had fun watching it grow and didn’t eat it…. Must have been my university days.
I used to call broccoli trees to get my son to eat it. I knew it was flowers, but not that different people taste broccoli differently. I only knew that about cilantro. Fascinating.
Thanks for the suggestion. I have to try and fix my music player situation (don’t ask) and get back in to podcasts.
I love to collect factoids like this.
Do you know Bbc’s whyfactor? I think you’d like that one too!
Ok, it’s added to my list.
I need more podcasts I can jump in and out of without losing a story arc.