Invasion of the earsnatchers: Pod people take over Lansing

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The global podcasting takeover has certainly spread its coiling headphone tendrils to Lansing. Whether you’ve been riding the podcast hype-train since its 2004 inception or you just started a few weeks ago, you’ll likely find yourself hard-pressed to stop once you start.

Where there’s a need, a podcast will fill it, and where there isn’t, a podcast will create it. Whether the topic is serious, silly, or somewhere in between, all podcasts provoke the same personalized response: Do you mean to tell me that there is a cast of nerds — see “experts” — out there who record themselves geeking about something I am also obsessed with, and for three and a half hours? Sign me up — I’m not using my brain anyway.

There are the obvious podcast blockbusters, from “Joe Rogan” to “Serial” or even “The Daily,” produced by The New York Times. But for each of the played-to-death staples, you’ll find a humbly produced local counterpart. From true-crime stories, comedians spitballing about fake legal advice, yammering on about video games to digging through obscure musical collections, there’s hardly a niche left unfilled.

Finding a fix for the true-crime junkie

“So Dead” is a Michigan-centric true-crime podcast hosted by Jenn Carpenter, author of “Haunted Lansing” and founder of paranormal-themed tour company Demented Mitten. Inspired by persistent requests from fans of her tours and her writing, Carpenter banded together with co-host Dani Fairman in 2019 and began translating some of her previous research into an audibly digestible format.

“I didn’t think I had time,” Carpenter said. “I started doing the research, and it was through the interviews I did for ‘Haunted Lansing’ that I got used to the sound of my voice. Everyone hates the sound of their own voice.”

At first, Carpenter found the new medium daunting, but she enjoyed finding another platform for the death-obsessed storytelling that’s built her reputation. “It’s a neat way to connect with people; people feel like they know you,” Carpenter said. “And they do, because you’re talking to them and relating to them.”

Fairman eventually left the podcast, amicably, leaving Carpenter to continue solo.

Although some episodes of “So Dead” walk listeners through widely-reported and repeated acts of malice, such as the 1927 Bath school bombing and the 1997 murder of Rose Larner, obscure and forgotten stories are most interesting to her.

“My favorites are the ones I come across by accident, like the most recent episode, ‘The Trunk Murder Mystery,’” she said. “I found this one little clip while scrolling through old newspapers, looking for a Michigan murder from the ’20s. When I do a lot of digging, and I feel like I am going to tell people something they have not heard, those are my favorite ones.”

In consideration of the victims involved in these cases and their families, Carpenter tries to nail every detail in her research and doesn’t speak to those affected unless they approach her first.

“I am sure there will come a point where I reach out a bit, but I don’t want to be that person that’s pushing you,” she said. “Maybe you’re having a really good day and you see an email that says, ‘Hey, remember when your mom got murdered? Wanna talk about it?”

You can listen to “So Dead” by searching for it on your favorite podcast app, or visiting sodeadpodcast.com

Spaces for the politically obsessed to sound off

“MIRS Monday Podcast,” launched in 2010, is the audio counterpart to the MIRS Newsletter, a Lansing-based publication that, since 1961, has aimed to provide subscribers comprehensive news and analysis of the House, Senate, judicial and executive branches of Michigan state government.

“It was born out of an interest in expanding our reach to people who don’t have an opportunity to subscribe to MIRS,” said host Kyle Melinn, MIRS reporter and frequent City Pulse columnist. “MIRS is not something the general public usually listens to. So we thought that if there was a free product folks could listen to, they could get a taste of what’s going on in Lansing, and we could provide some analysis.”

The podcast is formed around Melinn’s commentary and his interviews with political consultants and Michigan officials like Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

“I don’t like to dive into political arguments,” Melinn said. “I like to talk about things that would educate folks. It’s one thing to say that Republicans don’t want to see a gas tax increase — but why? What are the political ramifications of that? Why would the governor not want to do X, Y or Z? We try to dig deeper and give some perspective as to why things operate the way they do. That’s where the focus is, it’s not personality-driven.”

On the flipside, the much less structured podcast “State of the Revolution,” started in 2018 as part of Michiganprogressive.com, is a stream of political content that isn’t afraid to wear its bias on its sleeve. The left-wing political commentary of its half-dozen co-hosts pulls no punches.

“Our show week to week is usually commentary and analysis on the news. We get together and we talk about what’s going on and make fun of people we don’t like,” explains Benjamin Klahn. “It’s an outlet for us to talk about things that matter to us and share our perspectives with each other.”

Klahn views podcasting as a powerful tool to broadcast political opinions, thanks to the accessibility of the resources needed to produce one. Because the majority of podcasts are free, access is easy for listeners as well.

“Podcasts are incredibly popular right now. They allow people who have interesting things to say to have a platform that they wouldn’t have had before the advent of the Internet,” Klahn said.

“MIRS Monday Podcast” can be found on your favorite podcast app, or by visiting mirsnews.podbean.com

“State of the Revolution” is available across the popular podcast platforms and michiganprogressive.com

Meeting people that make Lansing unique

“Cold Oatmeal” was started in 2017 by Matt Resch, founder of public relations firm Resch Strategies, and is recorded at its office in the iconic Knapp’s Centre. The podcast invites a wide range of Lansing-centric guests from a vast variety of backgrounds. “Cold Oatmeal’s” latest episodes feature guests ranging from Zach Gorchow, editor and publisher of Gongwer News Service, to Sal Palombo from Michigan Animal Control.

The show is taken up with friendly banter exploring the lives of the people that make Lansing tick.

“Podcasts are exploding, this is a way people are sharing information, building brands and developing their voice. That’s all stuff in our wheelhouse, it should be something we can offer people.” said Joseph Becsey, Resch’s director of multimedia and one of “Cold Oatmeal’s” several co-hosts.

Another inspiration for the podcast was to capture the informal fun Becsey has with his colleagues just shooting the breeze. “Everybody always comes in with a new story about what’s going on, and we were spending so much time enjoying each other’s company, and Matt was like, ‘Why don’t we record this?’” Becsey said. 

You can find “Cold Oatmeal” on the major podcast platforms and on reschstrategies.com

Digging in the crates for rare local music

“Rich and Johnny’s Inzane Michigan” is the machination of Rich Tupica, City Pulse contributor and author of “There Was a Light: The Cosmic History of Chris Bell and the Rise of Big Star,” and musician John Olson, one half of the prolific experimental noise band Wolf Eyes.

Olson reached out to Tupica after reading several of his articles, taking particular interest in his writing about Michigan garage rock band The Blue Echoes.

“I was buying podcast equipment because I was thinking about doing something about Michigan stuff,” Tupica said. “Then John messaged me asking if I wanted to do a Michigan-themed podcast, and I said, ‘That’s funny — I’ve been acquiring all of this equipment.”

In a typical podcast, Tupica and Olson share a rare Michigan-produced record, track or artist they’ve recently discovered. Tupica specializes in retelling the chronology of artists that ultimately proved influential or ahead of their time, but never struck it big, while Olson manages to find demos, private presses and short-lived record labels that even the most knowledgable of oldheads might not be aware of. Olson cites the wisdom of Mark E. Smith of the legendary English punk group The Fall when discussing the effect localism has on musical lineage. “The worst thing a band can do is sound like they’re from nowhere,” Olson said.

The two plan to bring on more guests as the show progresses. In the latest episode of “Inzane Michigan,” Olson and Tupica interview Steve Miller of The Fix, one of Lansing’s earliest punk bands to tour the country, playing gigs with the likes of Black Flag and the Dead Kennedys.

“Rich and Johnny’s Inzane Michigan” can be found on your favorite podcasting app and inzanemichigan.com

Cheeky legal advice from local comedians

Free Consultation” is a satirical legal advice show formed by comedian and lawyer Nick Leydorf and his co-host Louis Michael, who has no legal background. Instead of answering practical questions, Leydorf addresses some of the most ridiculous legal questions he can find. In one episode, Leydorf ponders the legality of mailing “revenge glitter bombs,” a device that explodes into thousands of flakes of glitter, wasting the victim’s time by being extremely difficult to clean. Incase you were wondering, doing such a thing, according to Leydorf, is likely illegal.

“Yeah, you can’t do that,” Leydorf said. “I don’t think people 300 years ago thought about something like this. I don’t think it’s legal.”

Leydorf isn’t too concerned about the humorous podcast besmirching his reputation as a lawyer. “When I first started doing comedy, I was very concerned about what I was doing as a comedian. Honestly, the more people I tell about it, the more people tell me it’s cool, or ‘You should’ve told me before,’” Leydorf said.

“Free Consultation” is available on multiple podcast platforms and you can follow it on facebook.com/askfreeconsultation

Geeking out over video games

“Game Goose” is a weekly discussion about video games hosted by Dan Currie, Clinton Brauer and Neal Brower. Their freewheeling conversations are naturally humorous, with Currie using video game-related topics to display some of his comedy chops — after all, he is one of the hosts of Mac’s Bar’s Monday Comedy Night. “Game Goose” also goes live on the streaming platform Twitch, allowing Currie, Brauer and Brower to interact with their audience in real time. It’s also part of a network called Party Fowl, which includes other podcasts such as “Duck Duck Dice,” a show about Dungeons & Dragons.

Currie got into podcasts by way of “WTF with Marc Maron” and “Never Not Funny,” which he would listen to while working long hours at a desk job. Currie originally hosted a podcast called “Get a Hobby,” where he would interview fellow comedians about their hobbies outside of comedy.

“One of the things I really enjoy is video games, and I wanted an outlet for that,” Currie said. “That way when I sat around playing video games, I could say ‘It’s for the podcast!’ Two of my other friends got together and we sat down and decided we were going to have a weekly schedule.”

Currie aims for “Game Goose” to be a cut different from other video game podcasts, by avoiding common trappings such as parroting the news and discussing games the public is already exhausted by. A recent episode saw the trio discuss “Doki Doki Literature Club,” a game that starts off as a dating simulator and slowly morphs into a visual horror novel.

Currie said comedians in general have benefitted greatly from the advent of podcasts.

“Our art form is just words. There’s not much else going on with it.” Currie said. “I think podcasts have helped a lot of obscure people get out there, Marc Maron is a great example. If you can’t connect with mainstream audiences, put it on there on the Internet and people will find it.”

“Game Goose” is available on the major podcast platforms and you can follow it on twitter.com/partyfowlgames

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