How the World Makes Us is the flagship podcast of onlychatter.com. Described by reviewers as a cross between 60 Minutes and Billy on the Street, the show features veteran podcaster and journalist Edward Champion conducting entertaining and empathy-driven investigations into the world around us, asking vital questions about late-stage capitalism and the people who have been victimized by it.
The first two episodes are available for free. Subsequent episodes produced through February 28, 2022 are available to paying Season 1 subscribers for a flat fee of $7 (which also gives you access to more than thirty episodes of Notes from a Brooklyn Bunker, a companion podcast of free-form musings from Mr. Champion.
Click on the green links to access the episodes. (Episodes 1 and 2 are free to all visitors. Subsequent episodes require membership. Only $7 for access through February 28, 2022. The price of a pint!)
3. The Meaning of Santa: As the Omicron variant ravages New York City, Edward Champion fearlessly hits the thronged streets of Manhattan to chat with SantaCon revelers and determine the true meaning of Santa Claus in increasingly apocalyptic times. His investigative adventure finds him chatting with professional Santas, city workers, expert psychiatrists, street philosophers, and even one of the founders of SantaCon himself! (December 23, 2021, running time 49 minutes, 8 seconds.) (Membership required for full episode, two minute preview available here.)
2. Schizo Dad: Meet Josh Knudson. He goes by the handle @schizodad on TikTok. Despite his disability, he’s had a long career working in hospitality. He’s never been fired. He’s a father of five. A responsible man. He just wants to work. But on a Tuesday morning, just one week before Thanksgiving, Josh learned that had been let go as a bagel shop manager for no good reason. He sat in his car and made a TikTok that went viral. This investigation looks into Josh’s story. It is a tale of needless discrimination, how corporate America doesn’t care who you are, selfishness, cowardice, our failure to empathize with other Americans, and our unwillingness to give good people a chance. (December 11, 2021, running time 22 minutes, 20 seconds) (Free to all onlychatter.com visitors.)
1. Labor Shortage: Twenty months ago, a problematic virus began to spread around the world. It split this nation into two vocal camps and created one of the greatest labor crises in American history. In this introductory episode, host and producer Edward Champion documents his own struggles to find work and talks with job recruiters, buskers, hardscrabble entrepreneurs, the homeless, and various other misfits in New York to discover how they are faring in these unprecedented times and to see if he can find some side hustle of his own to survive. (December 11, 2021, running time 33 minutes, 38 seconds) (Free to all onlychatter.com visitors.)
