College Ave Rewind(s): What’s in my ears?

I can’t listen to an audiobook if my life depended on it. If a water gun was pressed to my head and I had to listen to an audiobook, well then I would certainly be splashed with water. I just can’t do it. And I love to read, you know, physical books, but walking down the street or relaxing in a comfy chair and listening to a book is just not my jam. I am not here to tell you to listen to audiobooks because I would not wish that type of torture on anyone. I am here to tell you about podcasts. You may be thinking, “Olivia, aren’t audiobooks and podcasts the same thing?” And to that, I would tell you “Absolutely not.”  

An audiobook is a recording of an author or another chosen person reading an entire book to you. It honestly creeps me out. Why listen to a book when you have to constantly go back 15 seconds after you’ve sneezed or a distraction of some kind occurs? Take the stress out of being literally lost in the story and read a paperback. Also, listening to the voice of the storyteller always make me sleepy, and I struggle to keep up with the storyline. But a podcast, now those are pretty innovative. A podcast comes in a single episode or a series of episodes under a topic like a TV show or YouTube channel format. It is a form of audio that entertains, humors and can educate like a video can except there is no visual. It’s all just sound and it’s all on our phones.

My preferred audio medium is to listen to music, but a person can only hit shuffle so many times before you realize that you probably should not listen to music for the time being. This is where podcasts come in. And I’m not saying I have the greatest attention span for podcasts either, but it’s a work in progress. So, I am only going to tell you about one because everyone has different interests but a certain one *insert drum roll* has to be the most genius thing ever created. 

I would like to introduce to you the Sunday Scaries Podcast, hosted by Will DeFries who in 2013 decided to turn his weekly panic attacks into a creative outlet. The Sunday scaries is actually a term that is used when referring to the anxieties and uneasy feelings you may experience over the course of Sunday afternoon and evening, dreading the week ahead, which for many means going back to school or work. I know we have all felt this way. This includes getting up and out of bed, walking to classes and sitting down to be a part of a discussion or worse, listen for two hours. Then comes socializing and homework. For most of us that means opening our computers and starting the week over again, the anxiety radiating everywhere.   

Each Sunday at some dreadfully early hour a new episode is released. What makes them so great is that they can range from 10 minutes to 60 minutes, so if you do or don’t have the attention span to listen to an hour-long podcast, there’s always an option for you. Now, the minute you wake up and are getting ready to go somewhere or just simply lying in bed you can turn one on and listen to a calming voice share his opinions on topics such as “what are the best soups?” or “what should I wear in an airport?” and tell hilarious, vulnerable and always motivating stories.