THE DIARY 15: Learning to Listen
Illustration by Manuel Santelices
Every day I take an early walk. During the pandemic it was often a fast, brisk walk, something to keep my body moving and my mind clear, focusing only on the upbeat music flowing through my EarPods. These days, however, is something different. I wake up in the morning, get a coffee in a local coffee shop, and start to walk listening to a podcast, a routine that has become an important part of my life.
Like me, and millions of others, you have probably also been listening to podcasts in the last few years and understand what I am talking about. The voices come directly to your brain with nothing to distract you from their sound. Intimate, personal, sometimes irresistibly candid, they seem directed only to you. I tend to listen to interviews or conversations with artists, writers, actors and public personalities, and many times I am surprised by the revelations. I suspect that, in the privacy of a podcast record room or a phone call, the people talking forget that someone else is listening.
I gravitate towards long, deep conversations, something that is increasingly absent in commercial radio and television. Podcasts give their hosts and guests space to breathe and reflect, and in turn, we as listeners receive the same privilege. Even if they are talking about one of the many horrors the world is churning up these days, they are doing it with calm, wisdom and maturity – they are the grown-ups in the modern media universe. The Daily- the very popular New York Times news podcast- is edited in such a way that listeners are given seconds of silence or a particular sound or music, just so they have a moment to reflect on what is being said. Of course, this is my own experience based on the podcasts I choose to listen to.
Like everything else in this age of fragmented culture, there are thousands of options when it comes to podcasting, giving everyone the chance to create their own programming and, thus, their own view of the world.
In my case, the most interesting - and inspiring - thing about what I listen to is learning through other people’s lives and experiences. As I write this entry, I am coming back from my walk while listening to Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air podcast, interviewing author Judy Blume, from the, “Are you there God? It’s me, Margaret,” fame. Blume not only talked about her books and her writing, but also about her failed marriages, becoming a liberated 1960’s woman with a 1950’s cultural background, acting like an adolescent while raising adolescent children … Like so many of the stories I hear, hers is evidence that life is never, ever, a straight road. So many successful people have been plagued by insecurities and challenges, they have faced uncertainty or loneliness or tragedy. As “US Magazine” used to say about movie stars, “they are just like us.” And that’s refreshing.
Often, I come back from my podcast walks feeling optimistic and inspired, ready to start a new day. What I listen to feeds me with ideas, energizes me and fills me with a sense of possibility. I have learned to listen and the privacy of my podcast time is a wonderful beginning to my day.