Podcasts

I’m often asked why I love podcasts so much… 

And I’ve been thinking about it a lot… ‪I think the reason I love podcasts so much is because they’re like a little community, or a family. ‬

‪I’ve lived my life being ridiculed, bullied and treated like an outsider. I’ve rarely had close friends (very few from childhood but now things have changed for the better) I always found it hard to be myself around people. But then I started listening to Matt Edmondson and Chris Cox. They read out my emails and made me laugh. I started to feel more confident at uni and I actually started to make friends! ‬

‪Then there were these two weirdos called Greg James and Chris Smith. They did a podcast too, full of silliness, nonsense and just such joy and passion for what they were doing. ‬

‪I think it was these two podcasts that built up my confidence that had been shattered by years of bullying… These guys took the time to read my emails, and then read them out in their podcasts. ‬

‪MY emails! MY opinions and thoughts. MY thoughts were VALID and WORTHY of being read out to other listeners! ‬

‪It made me realise that maybe I wasn’t worthless. Maybe I was a bit funny, a bit clever… Maybe I was worth something. ‬

‪And then, somehow, thanks to those two weirdos called Greg and Chris, I was introduced (indirectly, through several twitter interactions) to a bunch of wonderfully weird and lovely people called the Podcastards. They have become my best mates and I feel like I could trust them with my life… and then I had the honour of meeting Matt, who was absolutely lovely and answered all my weird questions about his scooter. ‬

‪As well as that I got to meet Greg and Chris, who are two of the kindest, most humble and charming lads I’ve ever met. I didn’t feel like a guest on the podcast, but a part of it. I have never felt so loved, accepted and cared for in all my life… and all thanks to some far off voices through a pair of tangled earphones… ‬

‪And I’ve become more confident in real life too! These past two weeks have taken me way out of my comfort zone, meeting loads of new people. But, y’know what? I’ve made so many new friends- like, real friends. People I genuinely care about and people that I feel that I can talk to and trust… ‬

‪… all thanks to some weirdos with odd voices, silly games, emails and the nice kind of strangers. ‬