2018 Gimlet Media rocked my world. In April, the company came out with three amazing podcasts “Sandra,” “We Came to Win,” and “The Habitat.” These podcasts all served different audiences and had different purposes, but the show that resonated the most with me was “The Habitat.” Produced by Lynn Levy, Peter Bresnan, and Megan Tan, this show explores the experiences of the HI-SEAS crew of six people who signed up to live on a replica of Mars. This fake planet is in a dome in Hawaii that is secluded enough to make the participants believe that they are actually on a different planet.
The experiences of the participants teach listeners the power of relationships, solitude, gratitude, and dad jokes. For a year, the crew had to live like they were on Mars. This means they had to wear suits when they went outside, explore the territory, and work together to survive. As the show progresses, different crew members take on the role of leader and tension arises.
Tension also arises when the expertise of the crew members is questioned or does not seem valued. Even crew members who try to make people happy with jokes or certain meals are thrown into drama when crew members get tired of that. I will not go into too much detail because I highly recommend everyone give the podcast a listen.
The story resonated with me because every new group/environment that I have entered has seemed like a test. Whether I learn new problem-solving skills or methods to practice patience, I have realized that the situations that I have entered have never been experienced before even though some experiences are similar. Just like the participants at HI-SEAS, the new experiences all come with great memories.