Episode 1: The Poop Family
The journey begins with a look inward.
We’re live baby! Listen to the pilot episode here: Apple, Spotify
A day I’ve been thinking about for a very long time is finally here and I want to thank you all for being a part of it. It is truly special to finally be able to share this podcast, and especially this episode, not just because it’s very personal to me, but also because I sent a first draft of it to my friend (and consulting producer) Shane McKeon 23 full months ago.
My Family
I’ve been on a journey the last couple of years, trying to figure out why people don’t want to talk about the bathroom quite as much as I talk and think about it. I can’t answer that for the whole world (yet) so I thought I’d start with my family, who’s attitudes toward the bathroom I thought I had a pretty firm grasp of but wanted to hear them tell it with their own words. My dad nicknamed us “The Poop Family” at some point during the pandemic and I just hope this episode proves us worthy of that nickname and that for my mom’s sake the nickname doesn’t stick.
Sharing
This podcast is all about sharing stories about the bathroom, a type of story that I almost never see treated with the full humanity that I think they deserve. In that vein, if sometime in the coming weeks you could share this podcast with someone that you think might like it, that would mean a great deal to me. It would also mean a lot to me if, when you do listen to an episode, you tell me what you thought of it. Hearing people’s reactions is one of the things that makes it all worth it.
Thank You
There are a ton of people that helped me get to this point, in big ways and small, but I wanted to single out a few that have really helped get the podcast to where it is now.
Thank you Shane McKeon, who has listened to first drafts since Sep. 2022 and who’s notes really molded the shape and philosophy of the pod.
Thank you to my composer Gabe Grand. Listening to my family speak with music behind them might have been the single most special part of this journey
Thank you to Yeji Kim. Seeing your cover art in the Apple or Spotify apps always makes me smile
Thank you to Alex and Matt Schumann for the theme song and for tracking down the instrumental to a song you wrote in 2013. I never get tired of hearing it
And thank you to Jacob Sherman and Adam Yates who are listening to this first episode for the first time with the rest of you but are the first people I go to when I need help with the 6 other episodes coming out this season
Enjoy!
with love and poop positivity,
Ben