Thursday, January 31, 2019

Three Interesting Things

1. I read a piece a ways back that talked about how our instinct to look for what victims did wrong is preservational, we want to believe they did something that we would never do and therefore the thing that happened to them could never happen to us.  So I appreciated this piece on why people blaming Terry Crews for being assaulted are wrong  (Particularly since one of those folks has talked about regrets about how they handled someone close to them revealing their own assault, and yet, here they are, showing they still have much to learn.)  
2. This post from a librarian who was the target of a tirade at ALAMW is important because I think it speaks to the rest of the issue.  I have to believe that most of the people who witnessed it thought it was wrong, but we need to get better at figuring out how to intervene.  And how to address things afterwords so that when bad things happen, people can be assured that those things are the exception. 
3. Seeing this story about a woman who picked up a lost looking dog while running a marathon, led me to this story about a dog who joined a nearby half-marathon when his owner let him out for a bio break.  And came in seventhish? 

Tuesday, January 29, 2019

7 Things About "Rent" Live

1.  As someone who has watched enough TV to know about live versus live to tape, I was less bothered than some about the fact than an injury to a cast member meant most of the show was the recorded live rehearsal from the prior evening. 
2. I agree wholeheartedly with the sound issues and spinny camera angles mentioned here in this review. (Also, I am a curmudgeon who hates people who cheer for a well held note in the middle of the well held note therefore drowning out the well held note - some things you can applaud when they are completed.) 
3. I know "live" musicals exist in this space where they are trying to provide something you different from a movie or a live theater performance, but, for example, I think half the funny of the "Light My Candle" number - particularly for those of us already familiar with it - is being able to see if you can spot Mimi dropping her stash and Roger finding it.  But if we are so tight on their faces the whole time, you lose the ability to track that. 
4. I recently have had a few conversations with folks about how for younger millennials and generation Z most of "Rent" (and the AIDS crisis, and "Pose" for that matter) is historical.  So I appreciated that some of the voiceover expansions and even a few lyrics changes were to better place it in time and better clarify how actually deadly it all was. (Without that context, Roger seems like even more of a sad sack.) I do think this is one thing the movie did brilliantly, having the members of the support group disappear during "Will I?".  
5. I do hope that some of the rockiness with some of the ensemble members of the cast was that they were in what seemed like the last rehearsal. 
6. From the folks at the actual live version, it seemed like they got a different fabulous performance.  It's interesting because of course live theater is actually like that.  Your friend who goes Saturday gets a different performance than you do on Sunday.  But it created a weird thing to know the audience in the studio was getting something really different that only merged with the TV audience at the end.  I will be interested to see what they do with the DVD.
7. I love musicals.  I know that "Rent" is already dated and not without problems.  I think this may be the first version I saw with a Pacific Islander in it, and it is at least my fifth cast. I'm glad it exists in yet another version.  

Monday, January 28, 2019

"Kleptocracy" at Arena State

"Kleptocracy" tries to do a lot of things in a short period of time. The cast has two women (one a wife and one without a name), and five men, but primarily focuses on Vladimir Putin and Mikhail Khodorkovsky. There are moments throughout where Putin addresses the audience directly. The playwright Kenneth Lin is known for among other thing his work on "House of Cards". My understanding is that "House of Cards" also utilized the look at the audience trick. There are exceptions, but generally this seems to me a device that is clearer on TV. In a play its often hard to discern what is rhetorical and what the audience should respond to and it leads to uncomfortable moments. Of course a play about the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of both oil and Putin is never really going to be comfortable. 
The play doesn't shy away from the violence, characters often appear extra bloodied in an extended metaphor about the blood on their and other's hands. The cast is white, although Kondaleeza Rice gets a few references as someone who didn't like Putin's power plays. The play covers a fairly long period of time and doesn't do much to explain more than the high points. It's tough to call a play where Vladimir Putin is a main character exaggerated or unrealistic, but there were parts where the dialogue felt to me like it was trying so hard. Characters would say things and respond in ways that didn't track or seemed designed to communicate more with the audience than each other. It's tough to write a play about events that are so recent and involve so many real figures who - likely at this point - have only begun to hint at their levels of complicity. I feel like this play only makes some sense now and will make even less sense in ten years. The cast was good, ultimately this felt to me like the source material aimed high and yet its intent was a little better than its execution. 
However, seeing this play in this time - I saw it on Friday - did seem very apt. And well, if you wanted to watch a guy smirk while sitting on a couch with a (stuffed) tiger, this play does have that. 

Thursday, January 24, 2019

Three Interesting Things

1.  This study into how court reporters and others perform in transcribing and understanding African American English dialect is fascinating, both as to what it means for those who may have been misunderstood, but also the challenges.  African American English, unsurprisingly has some distinct regional variations.  The folks are planning to look at other dialects too. 
2. Speaking of misunderstanding words, Kahlua is suggesting a coffee called Kaholo (which is Hawaiian for swift) would be confusing to the market.  I get why but really do think nothing can have the same first three letters and an L is not the way we want to be out there.  I realize they don't care that Hawaiian was assigned a limited number of letters by the missionaries that transliterated it, but come on. 
3. Kendra James talked about her reflections of being a high school student at a private school and how we should make things more uncomfortable for the racist remarks made in and out of class. 

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Nice Vs. Mean

Last year a wrote a letter and then asked a friend to review it.  I had written what I called the mean draft first and wanted someone to confirm that the second letter was direct without retaining the remnants of the initial draft.  We've all had them moment when ghosts of an earlier draft lingered.  My friend said the letter was fine and asked to see the mean version.  She then said my mean version wasn't very mean.  
Perhaps too many years in corporate America have softened or muted me, or perhaps the mean things I sometimes am still thinking in my head as I type, get channeled into appropriate corporate speak.  I once saw a tweet that "per my last email" was basically corporate speak for "as I already told you, bitch".  I have been known to use per my last email.  
As long time readers will know, as a lifelong DCer, I get very antsy when people from other places tell us how to run our city, so often attempt to model the behavior I wish to see in others and butt out of other places choices if they are not actively harmful.  The recent behavior of students in town crossed a number of point such that I did send a letter to the Covington Catholic High School over the weekend.  In it I felt every sentence stood in for six or seven things I wanted to say, but expected to not resonate well.  
I did tell them that I am a lifelong DC resident, and a person who is of Hawaiian descent.  So I take mistreatment of fellow native Americans in my hometown very personally.  I recognize that DC exists as a place that man visit for protests, and no I certainly do not have any expectation that I will agree with the nature of every protest.  I do expect protesters to behave well.  So, yeah, when the March for Life backed away from their initial condemnation of the behavior last night, I also told them I was very concerned that this meant their concern for the safety of DC residents was minimal.  
And look, I know that the Black Hebrew Isrealites say mean things too. And I am not saying I think that's okay either.  I am saying that if I was accompanying teens, anywhere, honestly, part of what I would tell them is what I knew about what behavior they might expect from others and how I expect them to behave.  Given the one teen said he knew the Indigenous People's Rally was going on, it seems they had been given that info.  The fact that they are now claiming their use of racist sports chants was something to distract from the folks they felt were bothering them means that they were not prepared to behave appropriately. The fact that the internet took about a hot second to find other racist behavior they engage in at their basketball games indicates to me that this is a pattern.  
Given the backtracking the school has done lately, I fully expect my email and my plea that they keep their students home and out of my city until they can better educate them on how to behave to be ignored.  But I have asked. 
And I have now seen - again - the lengths that people will go to forgive teenagers, but only some teenagers.  Because this idea that trickle down bullying and racism is okay, is not something I am willing to agree with.  I understand fully that teenagers are often wonderful, and by definition have limited experience.  But it looks like these teens are receiving a lot of grooming to excuse their racism and their bullying.  I hope they have folks who are willing to tell them they are wrong.  But it doesn't look like it right now. 

Friday, January 18, 2019

Sex Osmosis is Not Real

I can no longer remember what season it was, but there was a contestant on "Top Chef" who was white.  He was white when it came to talking about hunting, hiking, and barbecuing.  But he had apparently traveled to parts of Asia, dated an Asian dude or two, and he had worked in an Asian restaurant.  He spoke of these things as having equal importance in his expertise and understanding of Asian cuisine.  Such that when an Asian American guest chef showed up and rated him badly, he commented on that chef not being able to truly understand his expertise. 
I thought of him again when I listened to the "This American Life" episode 663 - How I Read It.  One segment focuses on a student who is Chinese American looking at his Harvard admissions file and discovering his interviewer had asked around about his mom and noted that he did not have a "tiger mom".  When he talked to the interviewer, the interviewer chuckled and said, well, remember, I'm married to one. 
And then an Congressman from Hawaii said he was an Asian trapped in a white body. On discovering that did not go over well, he explained that his wife, says it. (His wife is Japanese American.)
So, it's become clear to me, that some people believe that sex osmosis is real.  Certainly the point of long term relationships is to get to know people intimately, to understand them better than perhaps even their friends and family do.  Certainly if you are white and/or otherwise privileged, this depth of knowledge might give you a peek into marginalizations that you had not previously been aw are of on a consistent level.  And I would imagine you would get to know their food in a different way too.  The things people cook at home in their own kitchen are different than restaurant food.  
I remember one of the "30 Days" documentaries, when the guy went back home to his family after being immersed in a different experience and showed his family the pictures, there were things that still seemed weird to them, because of course they hadn't had the immersive experience.  So I also get that this experience, means you are often surrounded by people who have not yet had this experience, who have no idea what the difference between Cantonese and Mandarin is and don't think it matters that much even if they know there's a huge difference between Oklahoma and Kentucky.  
But, sex osmosis isn't real.  Your experience of being near, and possibly in, someone else, is still not the same as being them.  If you have discovered shared things, like your family likes taking their shoes off too, or likes to save and reuse plastic bags, that is wonderful.  But being Asian-adjacent does not make you Asian.  It just doesn't.  You cannot Rachel Dolezal your way into an identity that's not yours.  And more importantly, you don't need to.  In the case of the Congressman, he was at an event for Asian and Pacific Islander voters.  They invited him because they thought he had something useful to say, he didn't need to try to increase his credentials by claiming an identity that isn't his. You are allowed to have an incredible appreciation for culture or cultures that are not yours.  
I am not Latinx by any measure.  I can still like nachos.  
And more importantly, as much as people keep claiming no one wants to listen to white men (despite all evidence to the contrary), we do not need white men claiming fake marginalizations.  What we do need are white men who have taken the time to learn and appreciate experiences outside themselves while still lifting up and making space for the voices who can provide more depth to the discussion.  You can cook food of another culture, you can notate cultural norms that occur in your circle, you can be proud of representing a diverse district, you can do all of that and still be white.  In fact you should. 

Thursday, January 17, 2019

Three Interesting Things

1. Kristen Simmons spoke about the experience of being mixed race, and disconnected from parts of your heritage, and how others then think that means you are basically not that thing. The piece is brilliant, but the reason for it fits into a larger thing I have seen where people decide that pushing back on people not being "enough" something makes them look super woke.  I know identity policing has long existed, but le sigh. 
2. This piece looks at the physics of knitting and stretch and it's wider applications. 
3. This piece about a couple who became scientists for very personal reasons is a deep dive into the way that science and funding work, and who that serves. 

Monday, January 14, 2019

Snow

I love snow.  It helps a lot that I live somewhere where snow removal is handled by others. (I'm referencing the building here, not the city.)  But I love watching it fall, feeling like I'm inside a snowglobe.  I love the softening effect it has, that everything feels quieter.  (Until people break out the snowblowers.) I love the way everything looks, dusted with snow.  I love watching the odd shapes it creates. 
I went out yesterday even though it had been snowing for about twenty four hours at that point.  But the buses were running and the store where my book club is was open so I went.  
Amusingly (now, because we all made it home safe) they stopped the buses about two minutes after I arrived and suggested folks take metro, which, yeah, would that I could.  But of course, I was lucky, I was figuring out how to get home at sevenish, not later when many of those stores and restaurants that stayed open in the weather released their employees.  Things had definitely gotten a little more treacherous, and all the signs were there for this morning being a big icy mess, so glad that most people seemed to have gotten a snow day today. And thinking extra warm thoughts for the folks who's businesses are counting on entertaining and feeding those with snow days today.  And of course first responders, hospitals, care homes, and many other places stay open rain or shine.  
So I love snow, but in many ways I am able to from a position of privilege.  And I try to remember that too. 

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Three Interesting Things

1. This piece looked at the symbiotic relationship music has with teen fans in particular, and how that creates a place that predators like R. Kelly wish to be. 
2. The Golden Globes, and the HFPA who host them are problematic, both in who they are and who they award. (I haven't forgotten Brendan Fraser's accusations.)  But, Sandra Oh hosting was a special moment.  And for one writer, a very special chance to write Asian specific jokes. (At some point that link started autoplaying something, so ad block, or have the finger ready.)  
3. This writer/teacher shared how he discusses privilege with his students

Monday, January 07, 2019

2018 Reading Tally

In a sign of how burnt out I was last January, I failed to note that this was eleven years of obsessing reading statsSo, now we're at twelve

Total Number: 160*.  Near the higher end, as years go.  10 of these were novellas or episodes.   

I read 129 different authors**. 65 of those were new to me. There was a three way tie for most read author between Nora Roberts, Jackie Lau, and Talia Hibbert, which amuses me as an interesting mix of long-term, medium term, and newish authors.  
I continue to track book diversity primarily by characters, since there is not reliable data on authors but I can try to pay attention when I read. (I am aware that I read books by Asian-American, Afro-British, native American, neurodiverse, disabled, and LGBTQI authors this year.  But characters is still a little easier to track.) I read 88 this year, and some of them were even intersectional, and/or non-fiction.  It is true that the more you read about diverse characters, the more your various recommendations tilt that way and it gets easier to find.  
The oldest book was from 2004. 85 were from 2018. One had been lingering in the TBR since 2012.  May was the banner reading month with 26, which I know seems like a typo but I made a big effort to finish off some stuff that had been almost finished for a while. Romance was the highest read category with 96. YA was next highest with 40. 
Only 1 paper book this year, 16 audio, everything else was ebook. 
And some faves from the 2018 haul are:
Elizabeth Acevedo's The Poet X was heartbreakingly wonderful story of a teen grappling with finding herself within (and without) the confines of super strict parents. I listened to the audio and then bought the paper version.  
Jeevani Charika's Christmas at the Palace is in many ways, thinly veiled royal fic, but it was fun.  The romance is resolved fairly early so really the story is about how the couple navigates internal and external pressures.  
Alyssa Cole's A Princess in Theory had me recommending it to the sciencey people in my life before I was done.  This series has made me very happy. 
Maureen Goo's The Way You Make me Feel has food trucks, having to work with your school rival, and summer crushes.  
Talia Hibbert's Merry Inkmas was a delightful holiday centric story about kindness and love.  
Mia Hopkins' Thirsty had a recently released from prison hero and created a believable and wonderful story. (Just for clarity, I don't have trouble believing formerly incarcerated folks deserve love, but I have read books where they get their happy ending only by being proven retroactively innocent, and not by just demonstrating growth.) 
Justina Ireland's Dread Nation is antebellum zombies.  I am not a zombie fan in general, but this look at the post-Civil War US if the war had been called on account of zombies kept my interest. Intrigued for book 2. 
Tiffany Jackson's Monday's Not Coming is a book that sounds so DC that I had to put it down and just revel.  It is the story of a teenager who's friend disappears and she can't figure out why no one else seems worried. 
Claire Kann's Let's Talk About Love was a wonderful story about a biromantic asexual college student grappling with both having the hots for a new co-worker and navigating relationships with friends who are dating that gave me flashbacks in the thank god I'm an adult now way. 
Jackie Lau's Not Another Family Wedding had a friends to lovers when one of them needs backup for her family gathering.  
Lillian Li's Number One Chinese Restaurant  is a book where I disliked almost everyone and still enjoyed reading it.  The audio had me taking longer walks to finish up. 
Shilpa Mudiganti's Startup Fiance I confess I saw somewhere and misread it as starter fiance and thought the idea of a training fiance was fascinating.  It's actually about two rival app owners who get matched together, and decided to fake it for a bit, and was just lots of fun. 
Cynthia Letitch Smith's Hearts Unbroken looks at finding out the stuff your school may have left out and figuring out what to stand up for.  And there are smoochies.
Elyse Springer has an amnesia book, that I enjoyed, but Thaw, the story of a bisexual model/actress and an asexual librarian just grabbed me.   
Julian Winters' Running with Lions was a book about a soccer team at soccer camp and crushes and old friends who might also be new crushes.  

*I counted re-reads if I re-read the whole thing a didn't just skip to my favorite parts. Novellas released singly counted as one, anthologies counted as one.  
**I counted authors, not pen names, where possible.  I counted anthologies as one author, because it was just too unwieldy otherwise. 

Friday, January 04, 2019

"Undercover High" and Adult/Kid Relationships

I watched the final episode of "Undercover High" last week, so bit behind it's initial airing.  The show was a docu-series, where adults posed as teens for a semester, and agreed to be followed around by cameras and report back to the administration on things they thought could be improved or expanded.  The students and staff at the school were aware that the project - both documentary and undercover adults were occurring, but other than a select few staff, did not know the identities of the undercover adults. 
I found the show interesting. There is heavy narration from the participants, and it's hard to tell how much is done in the moment versus later.  (There are definitely hair changes.)  But as an adult who has worked with teens, I noticed the adults experiencing some of the same struggles that you often find with adults working with teens in a scenario where the adult is not in a clearly hierarchical place.   One of the things I often had to remind myself and other adults, was these teens did not need more parents.  They really don't.  Plenty of people, plenty of adults tell kids what to do all the time.  Certainly I have more experience in certain areas, can provide alternatives, and of course say that certain choices sound better to me.  Now of course, these weren't analogous situations, the teens I worked with all knew me as an adult. It didn't matter how cool my t-shirt was, they were going to view me as an adult.  In the show, these adults were interacting with these teens as teenagers, and that created an extra level of difficulty.  
Which leads us to the issue I found could make for the most problematic adult - the adult who wanted to relive or redo their glory years.  Kourtnei only lasted one episode, it was hard to tell how many school days that was, but it was clear she was not prepared for how to make connections and be somewhere in a high school where no one knew her.  (I get that being a mid-year senior transfer is like the worst, but still.)  
Daniel also seemed to focus on trying to be one of the cool kids.  He did get shown being helpful to one teen who was facing some struggles, and even talking to the administration about the things that they might be able to do to assist. (I confess I had the double edged sword of oh cool, and whew, I bet there's ten more kids in that school who could have used that and they just didn't befriend an undercover adult this year.)  And yes, now that I have finished and googled, I see that Goodloe has been accused of statutory rape.  It did not occur at the school, but it is a thing that those of us who work with kids know, that these adult jobs are very appealing to some who wish to misuse their access. 
Daniel, Jorge, and Lina also fell victim to the trap of trying to be like a teen so much that you well - end up talking to the principal about your grades in Daniel's case, or end up getting kicked out of class for causing a disturbance in Jorge and Lina's case. 
Jorge and Lina wanted to make sure that Hispanic and/or LBGTQ kids were feeling appropriately represented and able to be.  Lina also quickly discovered how social media added an extra level to the amount of sexual harassment and catcalling she found in school could follow you home on your phone.  While the administration was able to determine that the most egregious comments were not made by current students it still showed how pervasive it was.  
Shane and Nicolette also discovered that when you are viewed as a teen, people think you should go to prom with a teen.  This, and the social media harassment were some differences posed explicitly by posing as a teen.  I am not suggesting no one sexually harasses adults, or even that teenagers don't ever sexually harass adults, but the response and reactions are a little different.  Most of the undercover adults did not know who the other undercovers were.  Shane noticed that Nicolette seemed, very adult, and came up with a clever solution to the prom problem, they could we go together as friends so that neither had to take a teen.  
Now this is not to take away from the tough job that these adults bravely signed up for.  Erin, Jorge, Lina, and Gloria focused  - at least as far as the show depicted - on making deeper connections with a few specific students.  Shane - after spending some time trying to cheer up and motivate a student who had told him multiple times she had untreated depression, then switched focus to created a radio/announcements club.  Nicolette created a girls empowerment group.  And of course all of them provided feedback to the administration. They were put in the position of having to reveal themselves to the student friends they had made and explain that while they had fudged their backstory, the friendships were real, but certainly, I have to imagine the students had a lot of processing to do. Also, it's all very well and good to say the friendship was real, but the reality is that for these teens, who remain teens, at the end of this experiment, the relationship they thought they had formed with a teen should change now that they know that person is an adult.   

Thursday, January 03, 2019

Three Interesting Things

1. And, as I prepare my 2018 reads numbers, this piece on why you should have more books than you could read, spoke to me. Bookmarking forever. 
2. I'm always interested in the logistics of things like making it rain on stage, so enjoyed this piece of how they did it here for "Indecent". 
3. This story of finding home in Chinese food is lovely. 

Wednesday, January 02, 2019

Podcastery Review

I find these annual posts useful for me, so here we go again.  In 2016, I wrote about my extensive podcast listening. I revisited changes last year.  My life changed a bit in 2018 which really affected my podcast listening.  I still need to do more trimming, and am likely the only one who hates the proliferation of rerun episodes, but I realize the needing less episodes is a personal problem.  + to indicate new ones.

Writing: 
88 Cups of Tea with Yin Chang - Discussions of books and writing.  (Female host.)
How Do You Write - A look at writing process.  (Female host, varying guests.)
Literaticast - Discussion of Kidlit publishing (Female host, rotating guests)  
Minorities in Publishing - Interviews with Minority folks in publishing.  (Female host.) 
Writing Excuses - A panel of writers (mostly book, some comic) discuss writing (Three males and a female are the main hosts. Rotating hosts added each year.)

Current Events: 
1A - NPR current events (Male Host)
+Fortune Favors the Bold - A highly sponsored podcast, but stories about evaluating our relationship with money.  (Hosts shift year to year, so far both female - varying guests.)
Freakonomics Radio - The folks behind Freakonomics look at things through, well, a Freakonomics lens. (Main hosts male)
+It's Been a Minute with Sam Sanders - weekly roundups and one on one interviews. (Male host, varying guests.) 
The Kojo Nnamdi Show - Current events in DC and beyond (Male host)  
On the Media - a weekly review of the news media (Female and male hosts, varying contributors)
Serial - You may have heard of this one, from the This American Life people, stories that take place over multiple episodes.  (Main host female)
Planet Money - Stories told through an economic/financial lens 
Up First - Short NPR recap of the morning's news   

Pop Culture:
+Let's Go Steal a Podcast - an episode by episode review of "Leverage" which has occasionally included me. (Female host, rotating co-hosts.)
Extra Hot Great - discussions and quizzes about TV.  (Currently two female hosts, a male host, and regular guests.)
Pop Culture Happy Hour - Four panelists discuss pop culture. (Main contributors contain a female, and two males)
West Wing Weekly - Discussion of "The West Wing". (Two male hosts)

Sports:
30 for 30 Podcasts - Sports documentaries (Male host, rotating guests)  

Trivia, Knowledge, and other Minutiae: 
Ask Me Another - Humorous quiz show from NPR with weekly guests. (Female host, male house musician.)
+Function with Anil Dash - How technology affects our culture (Male host.)
Invisibilia - A look a the things behind human behavior (Two female hosts)
Nerdette - Two self-described Nerdette's discuss stories of interest to those of us with a nerdy bent. (Female hosts, although for the TV recaps they are regularly joined by a male.) 
Song Exploder - the history behind a song.  (Male host - although new host taking over soon)
Radiolab - Stories that look at the intersection between science, philosophy, and the human experience. (Male hosts.)
Wait Wait Don't Tell Me - Humorous current event quiz show (Male host, varying panelists.)

Real Life Stories: 
Criminal - Deep dive into a particular crime.  (Female host, varying contributors.)
Ear Hustle - Life in Prison (Female host, male experts)  
Judge John Hodgeman - Real people bring their real issues to fake internet court. (Male host.)
Radio Diaries - is a pretty accurate title really. (Varying contributors)
Snap Judgement - Stories about life, again usually with a common theme. (Male host, varying contributors.)
This American Life - Stories about life, usually with a common theme. (Main host male, contributors vary weekly.)
+This is Love - Stories about how humans show up for each other. (Female host, varying subjects.) 
Tiny Spark - A look at philanthropic efforts and other attempts at making good. (Female host)

Other podcasts: 
2 Dope Queens - Comedy and comic bits talking about sex, romance, race, and hair.  (Two female hosts, varying guests). 
Code Switch - Discussions of race and news (Male and female main hosts, varying contributors). 
Offshore - Stories from Hawaii Public Radio about the non-touristy bits of Hawaii (Female Host)
Sporkful - A look at food traditions.  (Male host.)
+UnF*ck Your Brain - A podcast aimed at high achieving women who feel held back by their brain. (Female host)
+Wanna Be - A podcast about personal and professional development. (Female host.)

Sampled - All of these I liked they just didn't survive the cut when my podcastery got out of control
Delete UR Account - Current Events (Male and Female hosts) - Amusingly this was on my sampled list last year, and I am still regularly sampling it.  So, not sure when I will admit I basically listen to this.  But here we are. 
Freelance to Founder - Interviews with entrepreneurs.  (Male host, varying interviewees.)
I Hate It But I Love It - Guilty pleasure pop culture (Female hosts)  
Rants and Randomness with Luvvie Ajayi - Rants on various things, and interviews with interesting guests. (Female host, varying interviewees)
Scriptnotes - Two screenwriters talk writing and movie news (Male hosts)
When in Romance - Romance novel news and recommendations (Female hosts)
The Writers Panel - discussions with writers about writing, usually Comics and TV writers. (Male host, varying interviewees)

Cut or Podcast Ended: 
Another Round - Discussions of race, gender and pop culture.  Also squirrels.  (Two female hosts.) - extended hiatus 
The Broadway Cast - Playbill show talking about Broadway. (Male Host, rotating guests) - ended
Caught - A look at the juvenile justic system - ended 
Everybody's Got Something - ABC's Robin Roberts interviews folks about their something (often struggle/survival). (Female host) - ended
Fortification - Interviews with social justice organizers about the intersection of faith and justice (Female host, varying guests.) - ended
Grammar Girl - Self-titled Grammar Girls discusses some quick grammar questions. (Female host)  
Good Job, Brain! - A trivia team quizzes each other on different manner of trivia.  (Two female members, two male members.) - sporadic these days
-Hidden Brain - The science behind decision-making and behavior. (Male host.)  
His and Hers - Sports (Male and female host)  - ended
The Ladycast - DC area podcast talking with entrepreunerial ladies - ended/extended hiatus
News in Slow Spanish - News in slow Spanish for those of us trying to maintain or relearn our Spanish (male and female host). 
Pardon the Interruption - Similar to the TC show of the same name, a look at the latest sports news (Male hosts) 
Storycorps- Selected stories from the Storycorp project collecting stories of everyday people.(Varying interview subjects.)
Stuff You Should Know- Two, um, know-it-alls do a deep dive into a subject.  (Male hosts.)
Sweet and Sour - This Asian American Life (Two Female hosts) - ended/extended hiatus 
The Table Live - topics through a faith lens.  (Two Female Hosts, both of Christian persuasion, one of whom is known to me in real life.) - extended hiatus
Talking TV with Ryan and Ryan - Two TV critics discuss TV. (A male host and a female host.) - ended
Ted Talks - People with a viewpoint on something.  (Varying speakers.)
TV Avalanche - TV stuff (male hosts) - ended. 
TWIBPrime aka This Week in Blackness- Three (to four or five) panelists discuss the weeks news with an emphasis on things that affect people of color. (Main hosts one male, and two females) - ended