Or: The Podcasts You Should Be Listening To: A Starter Pack.
There are very, very many podcasts available to listen to on the web and while I’ve been listening to podcasts for a few years – I only listen to two religiously. Why? To me, the majority of podcasts either seem too heavy (which there is nothing wrong with) or too bland (which, I’m sure, is riveting to someone else).
I used to listen to Z100’s Elvis Duran and the Morning Show on my drive into the office when I worked in Staten Island until 2015 when I started a new job in Manhattan. Since early 2015 I have barely listened to radio (public transportation and the iHeartRadio app was a combination that would have made my cellular data plan suffer), and listening to iHeartRadio’s Elvis Duran Replay Channel at work didn’t really cut it. I wished I could download and play or pause whenever I needed to, and at that time Elvis didn’t offer a podcast version of the show (I only just found out that there’s been a podcast version of the show available since March 2017). But I still wanted something similar to the Morning Show and I was determined to find something I’d be interested in. Enter RuPaul:
RuPaul: What’s The Tee? with Michelle Visage
While What’s The Tee? doesn’t really come close to filling my Elvis Duran and the Morning Show void, it’s definitely one of my favorite podcasts. The format of the show is very different: RuPaul Charles and Michelle Visage (usually, but not always) sit down and interview notable personalities but it doesn’t feel like an interview at all. It sort of just feels like RuPaul and Michelle are just sitting at a kitchen table and a friend of theirs just happens to stop by for a chat – and you’re just a fly on the wall.
RuPaul knows that his audience spans many age ranges, but he still is aware that he and Michelle have very young fans who could benefit from the knowledge of who guests are and what they have contributed to our world. These people aren’t necessarily gay icons or established (though that certainly helps) – RuPaul treats them all the same and asks each what knowledge they could impart on his young listeners.
