A few days ago I realized how dry my music has been getting recently. All the artists that I’ve been listening to have gotten pretty boring with how much I’ve used Spotify over this past summer, and I really felt like I needed something new.
This is when I remembered that I also haven’t listened to a single podcast episode in like, half a month? I used to love listening to podcasts (Casefile in particular!) so I honestly have no idea what happened. But I didn’t just want to return to the same old stuff I was already listening to, so I went looking for some new material for once. A few podcasts caught my attention, notably Ologies and Lore, but one really intrigued me when I first read about it.
This podcast was Strangers on a Bench by Tom Rosenthal. The premise is pretty obvious upon reading the title. Tom goes up and sits beside people on benches across the UK, and asks them if he can record their conversation. But of course, the episodes go a lot deeper than just that. We may learn about the struggles other people have been going through, or what things in life may occupy them at that moment. Everyone has a story to tell, and this podcast perfectly encapsulates that. Every participant remains completely anonymous, and we walk off never knowing who these people are, making the conversation a lot more human.
I listened to the first episode of this podcast only a few hours ago, and it really was something special. Tom talked to a stranger who had a past in prison, and tries to spend his life trying to better himself and discover new interests. The entire thing was extremely heartwarming, seeing the life story of a stranger and their experience in prison, and how they’ve managed to recover from all of it. I highly recommend this podcast to anyone who happens to read this, as it really is a one of a kind experience.
This podcast is actually very reminiscent to another one that I’ve mentioned in a previous post, Heavyweight. Both try to portray the struggles and regrets of average people in their life, except the stories in Strangers on a Bench feel a lot more open, since they are completely anonymous and unscripted. I do plan on going back and listening to more episodes of Heavyweight soon, but it’s always nice to have a similar podcast as a go-to.