Sunday Podcast: Eliza Starting at 16

This is going to be a short post, for a short podcast. But just because it isn't two hours long doesn't mean it isn't fantastic. Firstly I need to give a shoutout to my sister for telling me about this podcast. I was a bit hesitant at first since the premise was just a 16 year old girl talking about what was going on in her life. I found it a bit weird at first, but once I started listening it was great. So thanks Amber for the suggestion, and I will pass it on to the rest of the internet so that they will all know that you are in fact "hip". 

This weeks podcast is Eliza Starting at 16. It's about a teenage girl, Eliza Rubin, talks about her life as a high school student, daughter, friend, etc. It's really simple, she just talks about things going on in her world for 10 minutes each episode, breaking it down into categories such as things she's obsessed with, things she's done with, oversharing, etc. Like I said, short post for a short podcast. The episodes are mostly around 10 minutes long, I think the longest was nearly 18. There are 36 episodes in total at the time of writing this, so you could easily listen to them all in one dedicated day, especially if you have a job like I do where you're just driving all day. 

It's a bit hard to describe what I like about the podcast. I guess it's just interesting to get a completely different perspective on things than I have now or ever had in the past. I will never know what it's like to be a teenage girl, but I can get glimpses through something like this podcast. As a writer this is really helpful, because if you base every character off of just your own experiences you're going to end up with an army of clones, and you're going to come off as arrogant and self obsessed. By listening to Eliza's experiences I'll be able to put myself in the shoes of a young female character, which is really important since a novel idea I've been fleshing out for awhile now has a teenage girl as one of the two main characters. 

There are a few cons with the podcast, many of them technically based. I assume she does the recording and editing herself, because - especially in the earlier episodes - there are a few issues with sound quality and volume, and the volume will change from episode to episode, and even within the episodes themselves. By now though she has pretty much gotten rid of that entirely, but if you're going to listen to the back catalog, which I recommend because they are super short and really addicting, then you'll run into this issue. The other big con is that she uses a lot of filler speak. "I don't know..." and "like, um...", which for me isn't too big of a deal, but I was listening to an episode with my Grandma on a road trip recently and she mentioned it. Since then I've noticed it a lot more. Neither of these things are deal breakers though. 

While it does have a few minor problems the show overall is really great. Eliza has a natural ability to speak into a microphone about plenty of different subjects, which isn't always the easiest thing to do. Her life is interesting, and she seems like a really down to earth person. The show is titled Eliza starting at 16, but since everyone must age, as per the laws of the universe, she is now 17, and listening to her talk about school and friends and parents and just life in general while she's going through that time of her life is really great. I probably think about those years way more than I should, what I could have done differently, how my life would be now if I'd gone down a different path. I really enjoy listening to someone who is going through those huge life decisions in the moment. I'm giving Eliza Starting at 16 a 7 out of 10 possible stars. 

Have you ever heard of this podcast before? Have you listened or will you in the future listen to it? What would you rate it out of 10? Do you listen to any similar podcasts? Leave a comment letting me know your thoughts, and I would love any suggestions for good podcasts. If they are related to the podcast of the week, then that's spectacular, but even if it's totally unrelated I want to hear your suggestions. I'm always on the hunt for interesting new podcasts. So leave your thoughts down below. Thank's so much for reading, and I'll see you next week.