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I don’t listen to podcasts but it relaxes me to listen to the radio when I clean. At a very dark moment in my life, I downloaded the app Simple Radio so I could listen to Mexican stations. You know, I lived in LA and I’m familiar with the aggressively positive cocaine-infused voices of stations like La Raza, so I thought that’d be an energetic way to start my dreadfully slow mornings. But after a few days of narco corridos, I ended up finding this mysterious station from Panama that is simply called Clásica which seems to be a playlist in a loop: no shows, just tunes. A strange melange of 70’s lounge music, sexy saxophones, 1950’s classics, theremin, cheap sounding covers of 1980’s hits. All with a clumsy quality that makes it incredibly special. Listening to it makes me feel like I’m in an airport business lounge in the 90’s, and that’s a feeling I love. Also, since there’s absolutely no information about this Panameña station anywhere, I worry about it disappearing and leaving no trace, which makes it seem a bit more like a precious gem.
Oct 25, 2022
Related Recs
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a 1930s radio anthology of broadway plays & noir film recordings now available in podcast form. the static and trans-atlantic accents bring so much comfort and joy. i love to listen when I’m doing the most menial tasks to feel like the classiest broad on earth <3
Jan 26, 2024
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sometimes i like to switch on the radio station that my abuelos used to put on every morning during winters in madrid and summers in asturias, as my abuela toasted baguette for breakfast and my abuelo brewed coffee and everyone was just chatting and relaxing. the apartment they live in smells like spain, i don't know how to explain it.
Nov 20, 2024
Recently, my car's aux finally broke for good, so while I wait to replace it, I've been listening to my local alternative radio station. The traffic report is super helpful and I love my DJs!! Like, these are people in my community that have been on the air for at least 10+ years and I love that I can trust them. Sometimes I'll tune in and it's really not my thing but then the next song is so near and dear to my heart. Maybe it's because my friend's mom would pick us up either blasting Kendrick's DAMN or 92 The ZEW, but it's such a nice nostalgic feeling for me. It's crazy to tune into the radio and hear the same voice introduce the same song that I heard ten years ago with my bestie. So try pausing your playlist and let the DJs guide you next time you buckle up.
Jan 3, 2025
Top Recs from @amalia-ulman
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Ah…. Trungpa Trungpa. I don’t follow any gurus, nor am I satisfied with any religion in particular, but for many years, I’ve been walking the tightrope between Catholic mysticism and Buddhism. I’m somewhat attracted to Chogyam Trungpa because he’s intentionally bad and everyone in religious circles is always trying so hard to be seem good. He’s a bit of a charlatan but some of his ideas resonate with me, particularly for art making. He coined the term Crazy Wisdom which refers to unconventional, outrageous behavior linked to religious or spiritual pursuits. He was a womanizer who drank, took drugs, and often acted inappropriately to test everyone else around him. He also mocked his western followers’ superficiality by making fun of the sari-wearing hippies that attended his lectures, to which he showed up dressing like a conservative british man (a bit of a Gilbert and George move) instead of the expected traditional Tibetan costume. The play on identities appeals to me. But that being said, I wouldn’t be able to tolerate his contrarianism without Ram Dass by his side providing me with comfort and soft spoken guidance. Great good cop/bad cop combination.
Oct 25, 2022
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And this will be where I sound batshit crazy, but here I go. There’s a silly documentary on Youtube that really affected me, it’s about Anna Breytenbach and her ability to communicate with animals. I know it sounds like bullshit but there’s something about her that makes me believe that she can. I’ve looked at other animal psychics and a lot of them feel like verbose scammers but I don’t have that feeling with Anna. Either way, it isn’t even about actually communicating (with words) but more about becoming quietly attuned to animals, which I do believe is possible and I try to do in my day to day. It’s my favorite little luxury, to be able to spend hours in silence chilling with my cats and understanding all their meows and subtle movements. To contemplate. This is connected to my religious practice of slowmaxxxxxxing, which is a very stupid new word for something I’ve done all my life and my mother would call “parsimonia”, which is to transform regular tasks into delicate, precious rituals, doing everything very slowly and paying attention to detail, to silence. There’s something very humbling about learning to do things the way animals want and not the way it feels good to me. I enjoy experiencing different planes of perception and this is a very good way to do it.
Oct 25, 2022
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My favorite waters are Evian (for casual occasions) and Kaiserwasser (for special occasions) but I recently discovered Sariza water and I was very pleasantly surprised, especially since I got it at the bodega downstairs. 776 Sariza is mineral spring water from the Greek springs of Sariza. According to the company: The water has healing properties, it was suggested that it cures kidney ailments and many other diseases. There is a sign next to the spring saying: “Hi stranger, remember, whenever you return to your homeland, you owe your life to me.” Can’t vouch for any of this but I sure like the taste. There’s nothing more precise I can say about mineral water as of now… but I will be going to water sommelier school next year and I’m looking forward to describing why I like some waters over others in a more convincing manner very soon.
Oct 25, 2022