The Comfort of a Faked Seminar

There's a new podcast that I'm obsessed with but its also reminded me how disappointing post-university life can be. 

Ah, the happy memories of blagging.

I have a love/hate relationship with my English degree. (Bear with me. It'll make sense soon enough.) It opened me up to a world of literature and gave me a decent overview of some of the classics - good for pub quizzes and crosswords if nothing else. The down side - because of course there's one - is that my overriding memory of uni is trying to speed-read a weighty tome every two weeks, but giving up half way through, and hoping the following day's seminar didn't focus too much on the end of the book. Three years later, I remember relishing with some relief that I never had to read again. Well done University!

 
Of course that lasted all of five minutes. After all my housemates departed for real life, I was alone in my student digs for a final weekend. In a moment of pity, a friend lent me a book to help ease my boredom. It was Jemima J by Jane Green. I gave it a brief look and next thing I knew, hours had passed and I'd finished it. Reading? I was back! It turns out I didn't want to quit books, just quit boring ones.

My post-college book list wasn't all contemporary beach reads, though. I spent the initial months working my way through EM Forster's novels. They were great. Howards End, A Room With a View, Maurice... Sure, they were also Merchant Ivory films so that helped bring them alive, but I still loved disappearing into the pages. But there was one thing missing. As I sat on the bus travelling to my first job, reading about Eleanor Lavish or Margaret Schlegel, there were no seminars the next day in which to discuss. No one wanted to know what I thought. I couldn't hear cleverer people than me's opinion about Forster's use of whatever. And that felt pretty flat. What's the point of reading if no one aids your understanding with their own takes? 

Me, whenever I finish a book.

Over the years, I've got over it. It's fine, no really. And as much as I urge people in my life to read books I've loved, they rarely do. I'm used to keeping my feelings to myself on the subject. But I've realised it explains something about me. 

There's nothing I love more than a good podcast. But more than that, I love the type of podcast that takes a cultural item - a TV episode, a film, a book - and dissects and debates it, pulling it apart and sharing the inner workings with clever people that respect it. And there are so many! 

Right now, I can't watch the new series of Taskmaster without following each episode with the companion podcast. It drops the second the show has finished. Then there's Firecrotch and Normcore. They recorded two episodes a week during the last series of Succession. Listening to their mad plot theories added an extra dollop of pleasure on top of the actual show. There's loads more I subscribe to. Shrine of Duty about Line of Duty, Always There about Howards' Way, Still Any Good? about old films, and The Columbo Podcast about, yes you've guessed it, Columbo. 

Last month, a new podcast started. Comfort Blanket. Its premise is simple - someone with thoughts to share, is invited to discuss a cultural item they consider comforting. Joel Morris, with 'older brother introducing you to cool new stuff' vibes, presides and is brilliant. Week one saw Rufus Jones giggling away with Joel as he talked about his love of Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's a film that was made slap bang in my formative years but I'd never seen it. I know. Weird huh? So after listening to their chat, I did just that. And then I re-listened to the episode now I knew what they were on about. The following week, Jude Rogers talked about the song, Freedom, by Wham. Now that was something I knew inside out, and had loved since I was six. Even so, the conversation was illuminating. An hour long chat about a specific song from thirty-eight years ago? It was fantastic and taught me so much. Cool, clever people talking about things I either love, or love to learn about. What a thrill! 

Everyone needs a
comfort blanket.

There have been two more episodes since then, about TV shows I've never seen. And that doesn't matter. The gently teased out social commentary that underpins the guests' choices, is enough to keep me listening. That, and their enthusiasm. It's been my regular Thursday treat for the past month regardless of the subject.

I know I said I was obsessed but don't worry - my podcast habit is under control. It just provides the backdrop for my car journeys and train rides really. But when you think about it, it's exactly what I was missing all those years ago. Joel Morris and the Comfort Blanket guests are the clever people in the seminar whose views I want to hear. The analysis of culture is detailed enough to satisfy my inner-nerd and celebratory enough to feed my soul with joy. And the upside of doing it this way? I don't have to blag that I've actually finished the novel. Win. 

Have a lovely week, folks.