5 podcasts that take a deep dive into lives unlived – with hosts such as John Green and Chion Wolf
- From The Anthropocene Reviewed to Eye of the Storm, dwell upon what could have been with these podcasts about sliding-doors moments of regret – or relief
Podcasts are rife with sliding-doors moments, seemingly inconsequential instants that signal a fork in the road and a future altered. The term was popularised by the 1998 romcom Sliding Doors, where two Gwyneth Paltrows follow different destinies after one boards a train and the other, having bumped into a child, fails to board before the doors slide shut. The storytelling medium suits close examinations of the paths taken – and not taken – in all podcast genres, but listening to tales of thwarted ambition or romance also offers the opportunity for catharsis, because listeners are reminded of their own sliding-doors moments.
I remember a teacher telling us, a class of 12-year-olds, that “comparison is the thief of joy” and we all nodded as she explained the wisdom behind being content with the life you have. But then someone threw a piece of chalk at her back (not a frequent event) just as she was uncharacteristically demonstrating a little jig. The jolt from the unexpected impact caused her to lose her footing and, in the slow motion of my memory, take a long time to fall to the ground. Pandemonium ensued, of course. But then, also, a suspension, of a boy who almost certainly wasn’t the culprit. All of us witnessed that boy’s immediate, meteoric rise in social status, which persisted all the way through high school; we all prayed that a similar, unlooked-for moment would change our own destinies. Seemingly overnight, a shy, puny geek had turned into the star rugby player who got all the girls’ attention. I wonder if the boy, all grown up, looks back on that tableau as his pivotal sliding-doors moment.
This week’s recommendations deal with what-ifs, near-misses and what-should-have-beens. Whatever my teacher may have said, looking back at the junctures of your life, with gratitude or regret, is such a universal process that it must be human nature to compare your current situation with those that might have been, when the dice could so easily have fallen a little differently along the way.
1. The Anthropocene Reviewed
In The Anthropocene Reviewed, host John Green reads semibiographical essays, drily rating facets of human experience on a five-point scale. He is a hard marker: consuming Hawaiian pizza scores surprisingly low, though not as low as suffering from cholera; and only two subjects (of a total of 44) receive the hallowed five stars, one of which comes courtesy of Halley’s comet. Green is a lyrical writer, enriching his essays with surprising punches of emotion when they veer towards more personal or difficult topics. In this episode, he talks about a deeply affecting moment that changed the course of his own life. For me, his kind and reasonable voice alone warrants 4.5 stars.
2. Tell Me What Happened
Tell Me What Happened is also a collection of pivotal moments, but the emphasis is on the kindness and bravery of strangers who step up to help in an emergency. Stories of avalanches, wildfires, quicksand and shark attacks show how innocuous activities can suddenly become life-threatening. One downside of listening to this show is that you are likely to think twice about going on your next hike, or even just stepping into your building’s lift. Would you be good in an emergency? I couldn’t help wondering how I would react in the same situations, both as the person who needed help and the one trying to assist. A bonus is that each episode ends with an expert offering practical tips on how to manage the emergency in question.
