I didn’t include them because, while I listen to them to stay abreast of the wider world, some of these media channels go too far: mudslinging, ad hominem attacks, shouting matches, flirting with sedevacantist terrority, alt-left/alt-right, my-way-or-the-highway, infighting, heresy, unverifiable end times/apocalyptic discourse, private revelations, disobedience, sketchy fact-checking, etc.
There are some podcasts, radio shows and YouTube channels that I didn’t include here, although I avidly listen to them. Below is a carefully curated list for your listening pleasure. I did an informal poll on “Catholic Twitter” - around 1,000 responses from my 38,000 followers and their followers - as to their favorite podcasts. Today, you can find a niche podcast for just about any arcane interest on earth and sign up for automatic downloads of each show as it is released. Unlike live radio, you can listen when it’s convenient for you, pausing and rewinding at will. It’s the perfect outlet for the plebeian creator, because it can be easily and cheaply produced with simply the human voice and doesn’t require visuals or, more importantly, the visual attention of its users - ideal for multitasking and background imbibing. The amount and variety of podcasts available today is staggering. We each have to discern how we will engage in today’s smorgasbord of information, inspiration and entertainment - but if we’re involved in any kind of pastoral guidance of others (looking at you, parents), we must be keenly aware of the power, presence and content contained in the dazzling digital behemoths that our particular sheep (and lambs) are accessing. (In my media workshops to priests and seminarians, we discuss that to “smell like the sheep” today means “smelling” like the mediated pastures in which the people in the pews are perpetually grazing.) Whether or not we are major users of digital media or not, we are all swimming more and more in media-saturated environments, and most likely the people we interact with on a regular basis have their minds and hearts filled with the latest movies, audio books, YouTube videos, GIFs, songs, tweets, memes, sports scores, breaking news alerts, texts, Instagram posts, video games, Facebook rants or viral sensations they just partook of. The bizarre year that is 2020 has drastically altered almost every aspect of our lives, including our media habits.
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