Music vs. Podcasts vs. Nada

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I love the music of Kate Bush and Joan Armatrading. Both are longtime, UK-based artists – true, uncompromising, one-of-a-kind artists – whose careers greatly influenced my own. No, I can’t sing or play a musical instrument or carry a tune of any sort, but their lyrics and arrangements have inspired my own prose and poetry over the past 40-plus years. They dare to be different and both have been blessed with critical acclaim. 

Here’s the thing, though: I can’t run or row to either of them. Other than Bush’s 1985 hit “Running Up that Hill,” I can’t maintain a nice rhythm while working out. It’s even harder with Armatrading’s music. Try as I might, I tend to mentally stop and ponder or instantly reconnect with an old memory whenever one of her songs is playing. The exception: “Drop the Pilot.”

Maybe this is why I’ve migrated in recent months from listening to music while exercising to podcasts, which require their own level of attention. Podcasts are very in, as you know, though they have been around quite a while. I like shorter ones, like “The Indicator,” which quenches my craving for economics (my chosen minor as an undergrad). Lately, I am hooked on far lengthier episodes of “Smart Mouth,” which ‘feeds’ one of my favorite recreational reading subjects: food science. A friend introduced me to Dr. Mark Hyman’s "The Doctor's Farmacy," which is my go-to listen when I’m running around the outdoor track. I used to subscribe to a few tech-focused podcasts but listening felt too much like work.

There are downsides to suddenly filling my head with other people’s works while I move through my morning constitutionals. I may be more easily distracted, which raises the risk of injury or attack. I also am no longer as comfortable just listening to my own thoughts. Yes, after years of maligning the “I can’t run without music” crowd, I am within inches of ducking into their camp. Is it a time thing? An age thing? The fact I no longer see myself as a serious recreational athlete? 

Who knows why this is happening or for how long it will last.  At least while I rebuild myself in my former image I can say I am a little more enlightened – a thought I may have arrived at earlier if I wasn’t tuned in to 80s bands or the latest news on gut health.

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