(Some day in November 2020)
Me: Hey, let’s go eat momos, please :)
Bestie: Let’s go!
After months of multiple lockdowns, postponed college entrance examinations, numerous mental breakdowns, my best friend, and I finally met when restaurants and cafes started reopening in Pune post the pandemic. Meeting in person after months resulted in a waterfall of emotions. Almost every few days, both of us ranted incessantly over a plate of momos or pani puri about everything that affected us this year- uncertainty about college admissions, fear of making friends online because of online college, feeling trapped in our own home amidst a lockdown, generic pandemic frustration- the list would never end! We couldn’t afford therapy, but we had each other, and honestly, those rant sessions helped me survive 2020.
(Some day in December 2020)
Me: Bro what if we record our conversations and release them as a podcast? Are you up for this?
Bestie: Omg, YES! Let’s do this!
After a few of these friendship dates, I had my lightbulb moment. Indeed, I knew, we weren’t the only GenZ teenagers who felt this way. What if we recorded these conversations as a podcast for everyone else to hear? I remember excitedly popping this question to my friend as if I was asking her out! My best friend immediately said yes, and we started planning our GenZ podcast! Multiple Google spreadsheets and long calls later, we launched the first episode of ‘Successfully Stressed’ on January 1st, 2021.
This was a surprise to all our friends because not many of them listened to podcasts. To be honest, even we barely had listened to any podcasts. We created ours with the limited knowledge of podcasts we had and took inspiration from the few podcasts we had heard. Frankly, we really do not know what made us hop onto the podcast trend, but we just wanted to share our thoughts and feelings with anyone who wanted to listen.
People often tell me that they don’t listen to podcasts or mainly that they are not ‘podcast-type’ people, which honestly, is alright. Not everyone has a liking for a particular format of entertainment. However, very few of these people have actually listened to a podcast, and therefore, the aversion to podcasts most often stems from the lack of awareness. The best part about podcasts is that you can listen to them whenever, wherever, while you’re cleaning your room or travelling to work. It’s the most efficient way of obtaining information or just tuning in to someone narrating their cringiest breakup story. The key to liking podcasts is to choose the specific genre you like and delving into episodes accordingly. I often suggest choosing a podcast just the way you choose shows to watch on Netflix and Amazon Prime- watch the trailer or read the synopsis first. Most podcasts have a trailer that is less than a minute, and even if they do not, the description suffices. You don’t need to listen to all the podcasts in the world, for God’s sake, nor do you need to listen to every episode religiously! Tune in when you want to, and to whichever few episodes you want to listen to. My opinion of podcasts is obviously very biased, but I am pretty sure that there is something for everyone.
The other common reason I have come across is that: “Oh, everyone has a podcast nowadays!” And my reaction is always: “Yeah, so?” It’s uncanny that a generation that passionately criticises by flinging around the word ‘nepotism’ at Bollywood for gatekeeping opportunities from aspiring artists from non-film backgrounds has a huge issue with people dabbing in podcasting, a medium that is democratic, accessible and requires minimum capital. The fact that anyone can make a podcast whilst sitting in the four walls of their home and not have to reveal their face to the Internet, which is intimidating, is the best part of podcasting. Podcasts are seamless to create, and it is easy to speak your heart out to a device rather than say the same thing to people in person. There are so many nerve-wracking incidents I vented out on my podcast, which I possibly could not have shared in a speech in public, and this comes from a debating enthusiast!
It’s been over a year since I have been recording episodes for Successfully Stressed, and my co-host and I have had an interesting ride. What no one talks about is how podcasting actually helps in your personality development. I’ve become more confident about my emotions and ambitions. It’s an interesting way of introducing yourself, to say that I co-host a podcast makes for a great icebreaker! I learnt how to be unapologetic, which is pretty commendable for anyone who is an overthinker. In a world where everyone thinks their opinion deserves to be heard, knowing what to say and gauging what the repercussions of your public remarks could be, is a Herculean task that not everyone is acquainted with. It is effortless to tweet whatever comes to your mind but facing the consequences in case your opinion is not met with amity is the real challenge. I learnt how to regulate my thoughts and how to be a good listener. Interviewing guests and listening to their expert opinions actually made me learn way more than what I learned in online college. We had a mini mental health series that genuinely helped us more than it helped our listeners. More than anything else, Successfully Stressed fortified my friendship with my best friend, the same person whom I went to school and junior college with.
This is precisely what almost all our listeners love about us- our raw friendship and relatability. We weren’t experts on any niche subject but we could empathise with each other and in turn, our listeners empathised with us. We spoke to just impart the kind of wisdom which you only gain by listening to your friends. We have had listeners send us voice notes, long texts, and once, a friend sent a poem of how much they loved the podcast. Someone described the podcast as sitting on a bench in a park listening to two talkative best friends gossip about whatever teenagers have on their minds. Some listeners said that they got to experience the friendship they never had. One year in, and we still haven’t monetised the podcast, but honestly, nothing beats cute compliments which make your day! Knowing that maybe this one episode on toxic friendships might help someone dealing with this keeps us going.
There is often this occasional headline: “Podcasts- the next big thing!” Truthfully, I genuinely don’t know if they are the next big thing or not. Everything that I have mentioned above is why I have dived into the world of podcasting. Will podcasts replace video streaming platforms like YouTube and TikTok? I have no clue. What I do know and can accurately assure is that there might be a few podcast shows out there that you will absolutely love, provided you take the plunge and explore it yourself. Successfully Stressed might be one of them, hopefully. Since we started, I have seen the most personal growth in myself and my best friend, and I cannot wait to see what more we do. I have had listeners tell me that it helped them too which is all the more wonderful. Regardless, I hope this article motivates you to start a podcast of your own or just start listening to something you find intriguing. And of course, if you want to listen to some raw 3 am conversations, the kind of conversations you have with your best friend, the ones about dealing with adulting as a young adult or talking about how loving or hating K-pop or those about dealing with depression or anything which GenZ cares about, do tune in to Successfully Stressed. You’ll find us anywhere you can find podcasts!
Illustrations by Kaushik Kandalu
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