Friday, July 23, 2010

I listen to a decent amount of podcasts. This is a relatively recent habit for me, sprung from the fact that I ride my bike to work, and therefore, can't read a book on my commute. Most of the time, trying to pick out music that isn't going to annoy me or put me to sleep while I ride at 7:30 in the morning, is not a challenge I am up for. So I started downloading funny podcasts, because I like listening to people be funny in the morning. It puts me in a much better mood, I like people's funny stories and jokes, and it doesn't take any effort. I don't have to make a conscious decision in my bleary-eyed and grumpy state. I just put on the next episode of You Look Nice Today, (my personal favorite) or whichever one I'm into right then.

The latest podcast I got into was called Live, From a Shoebox. It was around April when I downloaded the latest episode, which had been recorded in March. Here's the thing. I run out of these podcasts really fast. I don't listen to a whole bunch of different ones because I'm super picky, and I don't find everyone funny. I have felt the anger of getting through all the archives of a new podcast, only to realize that they hardly ever record new ones. So, I always check the dates between episodes. This one seemed relatively safe. I downloaded it. I LOVED IT. Live, From a Shoebox was funny. That's all I need, some peeps being funny in the AM. That's all. Tell me a dumb story about your life. That's what I want to hear. Bitch about work, I don't care, as long as you can contribute to me not wanting to bike over a bridge because I'm up so early for work, I'm set. Anyway, I (of course) got through all of the archives before a new episdoe was up. I wasn't surprised, that was usually how it went. It is now four months later, and they never recorded another one.

I have since found Alison Agosti (half of the LFOS cast) on tumblr, and I follow her, because I think she's hilarious, and getting more of her hilarity in my ears obviously wasn't going to happen any time soon. She recently posted about being featured on a list about funny lady twitterers, which referred to her as "LA-based Alison (of the “Live, from a Shoebox” podcast)" I finally saw my opportunity to find out what happened to one of my favorite podcasts, and replied to the post with the following:

"What the eff ever happened to Live, From a Shoebox? I LOVED that podcast, and found it DIRECTLY before it ceased to exist. Are you doing this to hurt me?"

Which, I thought was pretty funny. Now I don't know what happened between yesterday and today, but she finally posted something about what happened to the podcast. Here's the first paragraph:

"There is a certain, very specific person that the “banter” podcast appeals to. You spend a lot of time in front of a computer, for one. Be it because of work, school or preference, you are a computer person. You have a sense of humor. You - I think this is the most important one - don’t feel “gotten” and maybe a bit lonelier than you should. I think everyone feels this at points at their life, at varying frequencies and degrees but I think you know what I’m saying (whether or not you’re comfortable admitting that aspect of your personality)."

Are you kidding me? Here I thought, "Wow, what a hilarious lady, I miss her podcast so much, where did she go from my life?" And in reality, she's pretty harshly judging me, and everyone else who enjoys her podcast, and many others like it.

"You - I think this is the most important one - don’t feel “gotten” and maybe a bit lonelier than you should. "

I'm sorry, I'm LONELY and don't feel "gotten" like some angsty teen because I think you're funny? REALLY? Fuck off, lady. If you're too busy to do the podcast, or you had a fight with your podcast-mate, or you just don't feel like it any more, that's totally fine, and I doubt anyone with any modicum of intelligence wouldn't understand that, and move on. But to essentially call your audience out as a bunch of sad shut-ins with no friends, who have nothing better to do than surf the internet and listen to podcasts while avoiding the sun, is just mean. Especially coming from someone who has no less than three blogs, a very highly followed and frequently updated twitter account, and a decently popular (now dead) podcast.

That was a very long winded post to say, get the fuck over yourself.

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