Getting through 2020 and Beyond: Daniel Heath Justice

By Amplify Team Date: May 03, 2021 Tags: Podcasting

One of the many things podcasts do well is help us cope with the unpredictability and constant changes that life can throw our way, especially in a year like the one we just had. Looking back at our first year as a network, we asked some of our members to reflect on the podcasts that got them through the global pandemic, revolution-filled year that was 2020 and beyond. In this series, we ask: What podcasts are helping you get through? What podcasts are inspiring you? What are your all-time favorites? 

We hope each post will give you a glimpse into the individual team members that make up The Amplify Network. If you have a podcast that helped you get through 2020, share it with us at @AmplifyPodcasts on Twitter or send us an email, we’d love to hear from you. 

In Favourite Podcasts Post #4, Amplify project manager and supervising producer Stacey Copeland shared a few of her top cross-country road trip picks because “every road trip needs a playlist and there’s nothing better than a good podcast playlist to get you through multiple days of driving during a pandemic.”

Next up in our Favourite Podcasts series, we hear from Amplify co-applicant and podcaster Daniel Heath Justice.

Daniel Heath Justice

In a Zoom conversation with Amplify supervising producer Stacey Copeland about the past year, podcasting, and country music, Daniel Heath Justice shares with us his top podcast recommendations.

Daniel: First off, do I even have to say how much I love Dolly Parton’s America? I’m a huge Dolly fan, but it also came at a good time. There was so much ugliness in the news. Just things we’re feeling particularly grim at the time and that podcast was a really hopeful podcast. It made me a little bit more hopeful. It reminds me what really good journalism can do. I like that they take her seriously and at the same time reflect on a lot of the things that are complicated in American culture right now. 

Next on the list is Media Indigena. I listen to it pretty regularly for first rate critical commentary on Indigenous issues in Canada especially, but also in the US and globally. The show is consistently strong and there’s a lot of laughter too. They’re not afraid of taking on pretty complicated issues. I can’t think of any episodes that haven’t taught me something.

Stacey: I’m also a huge Dolly fan and I’m so glad that Media Indigena is now on our Favourite Podcasts list too! What about podcasts that are inspiring you as an academic podcaster?

Daniel: I’ve recently started listening to Ologies with Alie Ward, which is quite fun. A mix of science and humor. Each episode features a different ‘-ologist’ guest and it was in listening to Ologies that I found a podcast called Completely Arbortrary. The host was a guest on her show, talking all about trees. The host Casey Clapp. He’s an arborist who just loves trees and knows a myriad of things about them, though he hates apple trees. These kinds of deep dives into a single subject are really inspiring my own podcast work. 

Keep your eyes peeled and your ears tuned in the months to come for more Favorite Podcasts posts from the Amplify Podcast Network.