Society and Culture Everything Is Alive Review

Everything Is Alive Review
[00:00:00] Tim: Hello there. My fellow pod verse travelers. I wanted to start off this episode, um, with a special, uh, announcement. Uh, I guess you could say before we get to the episode, I wanna take a moment to address the, uh, June 24th, 2022 Supreme court decision to overturn Roe versus Wade. this decision stripped away the legal right to have a safe and legal abortion restricting access to comprehensive reproductive care, including abortion threatens the health and independence of all Americans.
[00:00:41] This decision could also lead to the loss of other rights, to learn more about what you can do to help go to pod voices.help. I encourage you to speak up. Take. And spread the word
[00:01:01] you're listening to find a podcast about
[00:01:09] thank you for hitting play. I'm your host, Timothy chemo, Brian, and I bring my experience with podcasting since 2006, as a listener and a podcaster. I am here to help you. Outsmart the algorithm and find your next binge worthy podcast. Here's how the show works. I comb the millions of podcasts currently available for free on various platforms.
[00:01:40] And then I come back to you with what I've found. Sure. You can use search engines for recommendations from many podcast apps, but I feel. Getting a personal recommendation from a real live breathing person is still the best way to find the gems that are out there. The show is broken up into three halves.
[00:02:05] Yep. You guessed it. I'm a huge fan of car talk. Bear with me. The first half of the show is the stats. This gives you all the details about where to find the show, how many episodes who's hosting the shows. Basically, this is for those that just want the stats. The second half of the show, I dig deeper into the show that I'm reviewing and let you know how well the hosts interact.
[00:02:35] Talk about their audio quality and let you know what I think about the show. Now that last half of the show is where I talk about why the show is binge worthy, where to start your journey and. I'll be reaching out to the hosts to see if they would like to discuss their show a little bit and talk about their podcasting journey.
[00:02:56] So let's get going on this episode.
[00:03:03] In this episode, I'm reviewing a guilty pleasure and that podcast is everything is alive. Once again. I'm not sure how I landed on this podcast, but I am so glad I. I really need to track that and do a, just an episode on that topic. And if, uh, you, uh, would like to, you know, tell me about how you find, uh, these podcasts, uh, that I've reviewed or how you found them outside of this show, feel free to email me Timothy, find a podcast about.xyz.
[00:03:43] Anyhow, let's get to the stats on this podcast for the first. The website is pretty easy. Uh, it's everything is alive.com. And as you know, from previous shows, links will be provided in the show notes. Now it's hosted by Ian Chiang and currently has 47 episodes. And also right now it's on hiatus and not sure when all, you know, when he is gonna have new episodes come back.
[00:04:11] And maybe if we email him. I a podcast@gmail.com. They'll bring this podcast back quicker. Now it's part of a, of the Radiotopia network. Few years before the pandemic, uh, the Radiotopia network was doing live shows and this one would've been awesome to see in person. The first episode aired May 17th, 2018.
[00:04:41] And as I said before, it's been on a hiatus since about episode 47, which was way back in February 23rd, 2022. Now the average link of episodes are about 18 minutes and the category is society and culture. Now episodes are episodic. So you can start pretty much anywhere you want to. You don't have to listen to episode one and then go from.
[00:05:06] I actually ran across a, another podcast that, uh, interviewed Ian, uh, called, uh, in inside podcasting. And I'll have the, uh, link for the listen notes, uh, episode for you in the show notes. And that episode was done back in August of 2019. Now Ian provides the description in apple podcast. Everything is alive is an unscripted interview show in which all the subjects are inanimate objects.
[00:05:37] In each episode, a different thing tells us its life story and everything it says is true. Now there is a Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram account for the podcast as well as entries in pod chaser and listen notes. Now listen, notes rates this podcast in the top 0.05%. Please take that rating with a grain of salt.
[00:06:02] Um, recently Dave Jackson of the school podcasting has been, uh, talking about how that rating is not necessarily a true rating. Uh, you know, it, it's not something that you can absolutely rely on, but I do think that due to the association with Radiotopia, I think it could be fairly accurate. The links to support the show will also be in the show notes.
[00:06:29] So make sure to check my website, find a podcast about dot X, Y, Z. Are you happy with your podcast app? I know a hard question to answer. And let me ask you this. Does your app allow you to rate the podcast? You're listening to? Hey, great. If it does. Does it allow you to rate each and every episode that you listen to, does your app allow you to join a community of other listeners and share and comment on your favorite podcasts?
[00:07:05] Now, if you're a podcaster, does the app that your listeners are using, give you a tip jar so that, that way they can support your show directly instead of paying fees to someone, uh, else. Well, Good pods allows you as a listener and as a podcaster to rate and review all of the episodes of a podcast, as well as joining a community of other podcast enthusiasts, to discuss that thing, we all love pods, give it a shot.
[00:07:39] You may not go back to your old app and you might find a community that is engaged and excited about the same things you. Grab it on Google play and the apple app store.
[00:07:56] As I stated earlier, this podcast is a guilty pleasure of mine. Since I found it, I've passed episodes on to my friends and families, a fun item. So let's start off like we usually do with the sound quality. Now, since it comes from radio to. The sound quality for each PA podcast episode is fantastic. And I would expect nothing less because they do have a team of audio engineers and have been in the podcast game for a long time, even episodes with phone interviews.
[00:08:31] And I use the word phone in own in air quotes. It makes me think that they're either staged very well. Or everyone they interview over the phone has a great reception or the audio engineers are wizards that have some sort of black magic thing, uh, that they use to correct audio issues, whatever it is.
[00:08:56] Hey, the rest of us podcasters could use that. Now let's stay on the topic about these interviews. So in interviews, inanimate objects, obviously they are actors. But if you buy into the suspension of disbelief, these actors really know their stuff. In episode two, Mave, a lamppost, the first que from the first question, you can hear how serious Ian seems to be with his guest and, uh, how they react to his questions.
[00:09:28] But you know what? Some people really are scared of the lies. Think about that. 
[00:09:34] Ian: do you like they, I mean, I think that 
[00:09:36] Tim: honestly, truth, I don't know what that means, but I did hear a woman saying that when she walked by me before, 
[00:09:44] Ian: well, democracy dies in darkness. Yeah. That's the Washington post motto. Huh? 
[00:09:50] Tim: See the Washington lamp post.
[00:09:53] I think that's where it must have come from staying on the topic of interviews. Ian also brings on, uh, in most episode. An outside guest to prove some, uh, provide some insight on the topic at hand. Now in this clip, we hear Ian talking to a friend who got a bad tattoo. And again, I'm using the air quotes there for bad in the episode where Ian talks with a tattoo.
[00:10:17] And when I got home, my wife immediately 
[00:10:21] Ian: asked 
[00:10:21] Tim: to see the tattoo and I just, I showed her without thinking. 
[00:10:26] Ian: Kind 
[00:10:26] Tim: of had a strange look on her, on her face. 
[00:10:30] Ian: She started really kind of acting nervous
[00:10:36] and she, she said, Brent, I, I have to tell you something and it might make you very upset. 
[00:10:45] Tim: So I looked down and I saw that it was spell. O D D Y S E U S. So it's so it's wrong 
[00:11:03] Ian: twice. it's it's not just the extra D it's the sub subtracted. S yeah. S 
[00:11:13] Tim: yeah. The, yes. Yeah, ause. The sound quality is as good as the main interview and it ties into the subject in.
[00:11:20] Eugene the tattoo who's being interviewed, responds to Ian's friend after the call and provides insight into being a tattoo. Now, each interview feels like an NPR interview, and I say that with the utmost respect, when you hear an NPR interview, you can just about hear and I'm using your quotes. Again, you can almost hear the interview or reach out and touching the interview.
[00:11:44] It's like they're in the same room or somehow facing each other, using remote podcasting software. Moving on from the interviews. The format of the show is fairly simple. You have ads interview with the subject outside interview, concluding thoughts, and then the credits. Now, if you listen to one episode, you're gonna know what to expect from the rest of the episodes.
[00:12:08] And this is very comforting to new listeners. They're not gonna feel like they're missing out on the joke. After an episode or two, the episode starts off with about two minutes of ads. Some people don't mind ads, some people do. So if you do mind ads, just push ahead two minutes and you'll be fine. Listen, I understand why podcasters put ads in show with only about two to 3% of listeners supporting a popular show.
[00:12:34] You gotta pay the bills somehow. You know, you, you need to do that to put up a quality show hack. Even I put in ads in my own show, bottom line, it costs money to make, make a great sounding and engaging show. And most of us in the podcast world are not able to self sustain for years. If not decades now, something they don't do is welcome newcomers or let you know initially, you know what to expect, what, what you're getting into.
[00:13:05] If you read the description of the show, then you're in on the joke from the get go. If you just blindly listen to one show, it may be a little disorienting at first, you know, just for a moment or two. But I think though that new listeners will catch on fairly quickly as Ian goes right into the interview.
[00:13:28] I think we can give him a pass for, you know, welcoming newcomers or telling us what the show is about every single time. As I said earlier, the show follows the same format, which I really think is the strength of the show. There are some bonus episodes where Ian talks about deleted scenes, uh, from the show.
[00:13:45] And those are just gems. My favorite one is where he is talking with Mave, the lamppost Mave. I wanna talk 
[00:13:52] Ian: about you shine all night and then morning comes and you turn off again. 
[00:14:00] Tim: I do and look, I mean, I have my own, I wish sometimes that I could control when I turned on and off, because I feel like sometimes wait, it's getting dark now and I'm not on yet.
[00:14:12] You know, because the, I don't know who this is like a real button that you're pushing right now because we don't know. How we get turned on or off mm-hmm I understand that it's to do with like the sun setting, but I don't think it's the sun controlling when we go on or off. Right. But I I'm like, okay, the sun's gone down.
[00:14:31] There's like two girls walking up towards me. I wanna light up for them. I wanna turn on for them. I wanna make sure that they're okay, but it's not up to me. You know, if anyone's, if it's anyone's fault, it's the son's fault, 
[00:14:44] Ian: you know, I might understand you don't like the sun. No, I don't like the sun. 
[00:14:50] Tim: The sun is like the greatest cause of unemployment among lampposts.
[00:14:56] Yeah. I mean, also the sun is viciously bright. I feel like the light that I give off, it's kind of flattering. Um, there's an elegant sort of a clarity to it. Mm-hmm but the sun is like, it blinds you. She's always trying to make people seem ugly so that she'll be more beautiful. Now I wish he would've put that in the actual episode.
[00:15:23] However, Ian is the boss of his show. There are other bonus episodes, uh, that he plays, you know, deleted scenes. And I really enjoy getting insight, uh, into the characters. And I appreciate his reasoning for doing these bonus deleted scenes episodes. I just thought this 
[00:15:41] Ian: would be fun to go back and play these deleted scenes, but putting this together, going through the tape, I was surprised how much it felt like hearing from old friends, weirdly, um, hearing Maeve and Dennis, everybody again.
[00:15:58] Um, if it felt like that for you, if this show has at any point had an effect on you and if it's possible for you to do so. Support us by donating to radiotopia@radiotopia.fm. Any amount is fine. A dollar is wonderful. If it's a billion dollars that you wanna give, that is the, we will also accept that. Or, you know, if you just think all the scenes that we played in this deleted scenes episode shouldn't have been cut.
[00:16:31] And that was a bad choice on my part. Uh, and maybe I should hire an editor. That's a good reason to donate too. So that I can hire an 
[00:16:40] Tim: editor. Now, truthfully, these episodes are usually fundraising for Radiotopia, but when making compelling content like this, you tend to build some familiarity with these characters.
[00:16:53] And it's nice to be reminded of them and revisit them. If only for a moment, if you
[00:17:02] like what you heard so far, then I'd like to ask you to reach out. You can email me directly, Timothy. Find a podcast about dot X, Y, Z, or leave me a voicemail at the website. Find a podcast about dot X, Y, Z. I wanna help you find your next binge worthy podcast. And if you want me to find you a podcast in any category that you are interested in, let me know.
[00:17:30] Now, if you're a podcaster and feel that your podcast would be served by appearing on the show, I wanna talk to you as well. Use the same methods to reach out. Now I'm on Twitter at find a podcast, Facebook at find a podcast about another thing I'd like to ask is if you found value in this podcast, pass it along to a friend.
[00:17:57] Lastly, doing this podcast is a labor of love, but love ain't cheap. So consider donating to my, buy me a coffee fund. Right on the website or goes to buy me a coffee.com/find a podcast about each episode takes about five to seven hours of researching about two to three hours of production time, about 10 hours for each episode.
[00:18:25] Let me tell you that's a lot of coffee. And like I said, the best recommendation comes from a real person. So bill my coffee. And I'll help you outsmart the algorithm.
[00:18:41] All right. So we're at that point of the podcast where I turn you from a listener to this podcast into a Biner of everything is alive. Now, this podcast is very inspiring, thoughtful and funny. Yes. The joke is, you know, there are inter interpretations of inanimate objects. But the actors really sell the show Ian in and his guests really talk about insightful side topics, such as Eugene, the tattoo, talking about the similarities of giving birth and getting a tattoo.
[00:19:17] How does it 
[00:19:17] Ian: feel knowing that to come into the world? You have to cause a person pain. Yeah. Uh, I don't really think about it that much in that regard, because I'm, I'm just like, I mean, isn't that what you went through, Ian? I mean, that's what humans go through. Like you caused your mother pain when you came out and I think it was pretty similar, I guess.
[00:19:48] Yeah, we are. Yeah. We're the same in that way that neither of us could exist without. Pain pain. Yeah. There's a lot of pain. It's interesting. When you meet somebody with a baby, yes. You never say to them, did it hurt to get that? But you do say that to somebody with a tattoo. Let's be honest. Um, what, if you can remember what it was like when you were being born, if anything, you just remember people screaming people in awe when you appeared.
[00:20:20] Somebody with gloves on touching you. It really is similar. A, a lot of goop, I think about a baby mm-hmm uh, like my wife is pregnant right now. Oh, congratulations. Thank you. Uh, the baby's kicking a lot. Wow. And I think that there's something so interest like needles it's like the it's like the needles, like needles from the inside.
[00:20:40] Yeah. 
[00:20:41] Tim: The interviews are very touching, but not in a sugary, uh, I remember worrying that this nighttime thing would last forever, 
[00:20:54] Ian: but then when people 
[00:20:56] Tim: started to line up to get coffee again, I realized, oh, this night thing. That's just what separates the coffee times. And then after seven coffee times, I realized that it had been one week.
[00:21:14] You can hear, you can just about hear the sadness in the voice of Mike, the bike in this episode. And I think we can all relate to what he's, uh, you know, talking about what he's saying there, as I'm sure you've had to wait in your life. Another favorite episode of mine is, uh, Emily, or I'm sorry, Emmy, the pregnancy test now.
[00:21:34] Something I thought was good to do. Uh, and, and, and very tasteful was a warning because, you know, some people have issues talking about sex. So let's hear how Ian does 
[00:21:44] Ian: that heads up. This episode is an interview with a pregnancy test. There's nothing objectionable or explicit, but it does acknowledge that reproduction is a thing with that said, 
[00:21:56] Tim: here's the show, you know, Ian and his team, they are really in tune with their audience.
[00:22:02] By doing just the simple act at first glance or first listen, you might think, okay, this is funny. And then when you really dig into the episodes, you find out that these conversations are really reflections of humans, you know, and, and these are things that we deal with in our lives kinda reminds me of, uh, money Python.
[00:22:26] Whereas, yes, it's funny, but if you delve deeper into the comedy, You'll find community with others who are experiencing similar issues. Humor is like sugar mixed with medicine. Sometimes you just need to swallow it, but doesn't it make it taste better? I won't go into my Mary Poppins, you know, a spoon full of sugar.
[00:22:47] So where should you start with your journey of everything is alive? Well, I think Maeve, the lamppost is the perfect one to start with. It is a personal favorite of. It's the one I actually started out with and it kinda reminds me of, uh, when I went to DC podcast Fest a few years ago and I had a new podcaster with me and I was, you know, taking her from Richmond, Virginia all the way up to DC.
[00:23:13] And we, I played this episode for her first, when we drove and then she wanted to hear all the episodes at that time. And, and we listened to every single one of them, uh, that were available from Richmond to. And then when we were done with DC podcast, we, you know, listened to, uh, them again, pretty much on the way back, you know, it was a great trip with a new friend and I'm sure she's passed along to all of her friends.
[00:23:41] Now, Hey, don't sleep on this podcast. If you enjoy comedy, absurdity and philosophy, this is your podcast. Make sure you email I and email Ian and give him some love and let him know that I sent you.
[00:24:02] So that's the episode. I wanna thank you again for taking a listen. And if you wanna outsmart the algorithm and have me review a podcast, email me Timothy, find a podcast about.xyz or go to the website. Find a podcast about.xyz. Where you can listen to all the other episodes and leave me a voicemail. I'm here to help you find your next binge worthy podcast.