What's the emotional and psychological impact of being a hardcore sports fan? What imaginary friends did you have as a kid? Those are just two of wide-ranging topics Otis Orchards' Andrea Parrish has addressed in the bite-sized, research-packed daily episodes of her podcast, A Thousand Things to Talk About. The two- to four-minute episodes, offered up five days a week, are aided by the technical skills of Jeremiah Puhek, the show's audio-production wizard.
The origins of the podcast date back to 2013, when Parrish got bored with her Facebook news feed. "Essentially, I was sick of talking about the same thing every single day," she says. "None of it was really conversation. And I was, and am, an old-school debater. I did high school and college speech and debate." So she decided to start asking daily questions on Facebook to stimulate discussion. "[The podcast] was kind of the natural extension of that project."
The show, which started in 2016, garners an estimated 50,000-56,0000 downloads every 90 days. And while their largest audience is in the United States, their fanbase is global, ranging from Turkey to Australia, from English language learners to teachers and curious discussion groups.
Listen at athousandthingstotalkabout.com.
