It’s a little too predictable that someone studying English Literature and Gender Studies in university would be interested in podcasts about feminism, but here I am, and it took me a surprisingly long time to get here. As you might imagine given what I’m studying, I really love to read, and as nerdy as it sounds, I love to learn.
Despite these factors, burnout and exhaustion have hit me like a truck this year, and I have been struggling to convince myself to read for enjoyment or genuine interest for a while. I go to pick up a book once in a while and the thought of starting it feels like a lost cause—will I even finish it? It’s all I can do to finish my required readings on a weekly basis (and I often don’t). As much as I would love to read more and read widely, when I am not studying I often turn to more relaxing activities such as watching movies, and if I were to pick up a book, I don’t often want to read something dense for fun. But, in spite of this, I really do want to learn more about topics I care about outside of my classes.
It is with a desire to learn more about feminism that I approached my readings for my one and only Gender Studies class this semester (so sad!). Only…we weren’t solely assigned readings, but some podcast episodes as well. I was not used to having podcasts assigned for classes, nor was I regular podcast enjoyer in my own time, so I was unsure of what to think until I listened.
Not to be dramatic or anything, but listening to feminist podcasts changed my everyday life. Over the weeks following my initial exposure to feminist podcasts, I learned about topics I had not yet been exposed to in my Gender Studies classes. I learned the differences between different types of feminism while washing dishes or scooping cat litter. I learned about the history of birth control while walking to class.
In our busy culture, podcasts may be the only way I can reasonably learn about all the things I want to learn about with the limited time that I have every day. I know I’m late to this realization, but if you have a topic that you have been wanting to learn about for years, I highly recommend finding a podcast!