Downers
DOWNERS: the definitive podcast about sadness, hosted by Jack, Kate, and Hao. Downers is a weekly podcast with an episode released every Wednesday and sometimes Thursday and sometimes, sigh, even Friday if work is really busy. Follow us on Twitter @downersradio. You can find archives of all our episodes online at http://downersradio.libsyn.com/. Stay safe out there.
Episodes
#229 – Our third to the last episode! In this installment of Downers, we answer listeners' emails and hear about Kate's big vacation! Kate's in quarantine, in Hong Kong, and has much to report about it. Also, along the way, we learn all about Jack's sofa grandfather (#sofagrandfather). Finally a look back: Jack's Composting Bin. For people who are just listening to Downers for the first time, Downers is a podcast about sadness and ...
#228 – As Kate and Hao pack up parts of, or all of, their lives in preparation for the next month of their lives, we check in with them to see how they pack and what they pack. Along the way, they hit on big-issue topics like wet clothes and ransom.
As a brief aside, many of you who read the episode descriptions over these past four years may think that they are w...
#227 – With the U.S. government wholeheartedly endorsing the concept of unidentified flying objects, we thought it would be GREAT (content-wise) to, once again, turn our attention to these mysterious objects in the sky. Are they visitors from a distant civilization, and why haven't we tried shooting a missile at them? Then, in the second half, we talk about thought-terminating clichés (Lies of the devil, Now is not the time) and ho...
#226 – Candy: we've all had it, but what if there were more of it? In this episode, Downers invents new types of candies. Also: voting. We've all done it, but if there were more of it (more types of voting systems)? In this episode, Downers invents new types of voting systems. Also: Kate buys a delivery of kombucha!
Plugs this week:
- Ancient ruins (Hao)
- A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry (Jack)
- Taboocha 大杯茶 (Kate)
#225 (REUPLOAD) – How is babby formed? Do we live in a giant, sophisticated simulation? How can you tell if someone likes you just as much you like them? Back in the heyday of the internet, there was only one place you could go to get answers like these — Yahoo! Answers. On this episode, we hop into the wayback machine and sincerely answer these questions, long after they've been 404'd from the intern...
#224 – Local NYC politics AND a sensual take on New Pokémon Snap take focus on this week's episode of Downers. Why is Professor Mirror so thirsty for our photos? Call us at 3252-2109-66 and leave a voicemail.
Plugs this week:
- Hugs (Hao)
- ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD (Jack)
#223 – The Downers crew reunite for a classic three-host episode. Can't picture a green apple in your head? Having trouble counting sheep? Is your spank bank more of a septic tank? Well, you might have APHANTASIA, the topic of this week's episode. Aphantasia is the inability to voluntarily create mental images in one's mind, and it's not to be confused with Mort Garson's seminal album PLANTASIA. Also, we talk about abolishing table...
#222 – Way back in the episode #000000000001, Hao and Jack (with Kate relegated to a feature segment) delved into PARAMETERS, as we figured out what the podcast should be back when we had no idea what the show would be like—as opposed to now, when we have a really strong conception of what the show should be like. It's really important to know the parameters of something when you start doing something...
#221 – Confrontation is both an art and a science. On this podcast, it's also an idea for an episode. In this episode, Hao, Kate, and Ian confront each other about past segments and other general grievances. It's important to confront all sorts of people: coworkers, lovers, friends, and minor household objects.
Plugs this week:
- Read more
#220 – As a followup to the massively successful Sims episode, Kate and Hao decide to SLAY THE SPIRE. We journey deep into the spire in an attempt to kill The Heart on ascension 20. Also: Downers' new social media outgrowths; quinoa; and mean-heartedness on Twitch.
Plugs this week:
- Nalgene bottles (Kate)
#219 – This week, we talk about Matt Novak's seminal article "Politician's Zoom Background Can't Hide Fact That He's Actually Driving." What would you do if you had to videoconference while driving? We find out by consulting our expensive, and extremely accurate, reality simulator. Also: MAIL CORNER! TENTS!
Plugs this week:
- Nurses (Hao)
- Therm-a-rest camp gear (Jack)
- Printfresh pajamas (Kate)
downersradio@gmail.com • /r/d...
#218 – Lots of Mail this week, in Mail Corner! We answer a question about sexual/lucid dreams, and we talk to a foreign correspondent from around the world! Then, we round the end of the show with two harrowing tales of taking AP tests with medical maladies. Look, not every episode is going to have a cohesive theme.
Plugs this week:
- 430 (Hao)
- Uno, one of Michelle's favorite games (Jack)
- Toast (Kate)
#217 – Have you gone off the grid? Let us know on our social media accounts! Because this week's episode is all about how to go off the grid, and why you might want to, and why you might want to return. It's hard to live off the grid, but it might not be impossible. We learn that two of our three hosts have shot a gun. Also, we should be recusing ourselves more often; mangroves; spaceships' cockpits; ...
#216 – Special guest host Ian, formerly contentman, joins Kate and Hao this week to talk about a topic we brought up on a previous episode and completely forgot: separating the art from the artist. As new allegations emerge for artists in almost every type of media, we often have to find a way to recontextualize our fandom in light of awful behavior. Sometimes it's a visceral disgust that just can't b...
#215 – This week's main segment comes from Contentman Ian, who asks: Who are your dream guests? And what would it be like if they came onto the show? We go around the horn and come up with our dream guests, both inspirational and not; finally, in the third act of the show, we interview one of them: The Wind Itself.
Plugs this week:
- Read more
#214 – Sometimes Downers is one big main entrée, and sometimes it's not. And when it's not, it's a veritable buffet of snacks, which is this week's episode. In this installment: What Things are Two Things, Kate's Hot Steaks Took You, Forays into Social Media: Instagram Edition, and Downers Coins a New Phrase ("Faux Arguing"). Also, a missile comes toward Jack's face.
Plugs this week:
- Armrests (Hao)
- Valheim, for Ian (Jack)
- Five...
#213 – It's easy to arrive at something, and it's much harder to leave. This hour, we present a guide to leaving: how to leave a room at a party, how to leave a relationship, how to leave the world behind in the aftermath of a nuclear bombing, and how to leave this sentence. Cut out this audio and place it into your wallet; you never know when you'll need it. Also, the Qingming Festival and sunscreen!
Plugs this week:
- The HEAV...
#212 – Well, Kate's out this week, and that means Jack and Hao revert to their base instincts: insidery programming jokes, abstract roleplay, and a willingness to talk about the controversial hot topics of the day. In this edition of YOU MOLD IT, YOU SOLD IT, we investigate Mario Cuomo's long career as a New York politician and how his decisions continue to reverberate today. All that, plus nothing el...
#211 – Some things are actually two things, and this episode's main segment is actually two main segment. FIRST we talk about how a popular, young, teenage, blonde motorcyclist on social media turned out to be an older man using a face-swapping photo app. THEN we talk about Ann Pratchett's essay in the New Yorker, HOW TO PRACTICE, which talks about giving away your possessions so that your loved ones ...
#210 – This week we cover Jan Kabátek and David C. Ribar's study "TEENAGE DAUGHTERS AS A CAUSE OF DIVORCE," in which they showed that daughters ages 13-18 are associated with a higher risk of divorce in 1995-2015 Dutch marriage registry data. We get some of the details wrong, but that's because we were going off a four-paragraph Economist article. The Economist can be very terse (boring) when it wants...
Popular Podcasts
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
Anna Sale explores the big questions and hard choices that are often left out of polite conversation.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people.
A straightforward look at the day's top news in 20 minutes. Powered by ABC News. Hosted by Brad Mielke.