Episode 126 features the return of Rebecca Seidel who’s back because since her last appearance she launched a podcast and ran her first marathon!
We discuss those two milestones, plus running, editing audio, reading more, finding balance, taking time to decompress and much much more…
Mentioned and Helpful Links from This Episode
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00:00:00:01 – 00:00:25:24
Agent Palmer
Previously on agent Palmer dot com. Listen to Tim Minchin serious album debut Apart Together, Sexy Little Numbers and the curse of dated data analysis. And if you want more of The Rob & Palmer Show, there’s a few episodes of his podcast that we talk too long during as well. This is The Palmer Files episode 126. With the return of Rebecca Seidel, who’s back because since her last appearance, she launched a podcast and ran her first marathon.
00:00:25:30 – 00:00:50:58
Agent Palmer
We discussed those two milestones, plus running, editing, audio, reading more, finding balance, taking time to decompress, and much, much more. Are you ready? Let’s do the show.
00:00:51:02 – 00:01:06:54
Agent Palmer
Year. Year.
00:01:06:58 – 00:01:30:37
Agent Palmer
Hello, and welcome to The Palmer Files. I’m your host, Jason Stershic also known as Agent Palmer. And on this 126th episode is The Return of Rebecca Seidel. Now that she’s launched a bridged her podcast about bridges and ran her first marathon, she’s back to discuss those two monumental milestones, as well as finding balance reading more. But we also dive into some audio geekery and some running nerdery as well.
00:01:30:37 – 00:01:53:01
Agent Palmer
Like, what do you listen to when you go for a run? How either of us got into running in the first place? The things we do for our health and mental health as well, and all of that and a whole lot more, of course, is coming your way shortly. But before we get there, remember that if you want to discuss this episode as you listen or afterwards, you can find all related ways to contact my guest, Rebecca and myself in the show notes.
00:01:53:06 – 00:02:11:59
Agent Palmer
Rebecca’s podcast, A bridge can be found wherever you’re listening to my voice right now or at a bridge. Xyzzy and a link to her personal site. Rebecca Hope Dash seidel.com will also be there. Don’t forget you can see all of my writings and rantings on Agent palmer.com. And of course, email can be sent to the Palmer Files at gmail.com.
00:02:12:01 – 00:02:20:23
Agent Palmer
So without further ado, let’s get into it.
00:02:20:28 – 00:02:50:40
Agent Palmer
Rebecca, it has been a few years since you were last on the show, and two from following you. Two major milestones have happened. One you finally released the abridged podcast about bridges, but you also ran your first marathon. Yes. So, since these things both happened after we recorded, which was the more fulfilling because they were both like not like overnight successes like these.
00:02:50:40 – 00:02:52:52
Agent Palmer
Both both of these things took a while.
00:02:52:57 – 00:03:08:04
Rebecca Seidel
Oh my goodness. That is a hard question to answer because they’re both big life goals, but in different ways. Sure. But I guess kind of in a similar way in that a bridge was also a marathon.
00:03:08:09 – 00:03:11:54
Agent Palmer
Oh, yeah. I mean, yeah. Okay.
00:03:11:59 – 00:03:19:28
Rebecca Seidel
But I would say I, both of those things happened within the span of about five months of each other.
00:03:19:32 – 00:03:29:58
Agent Palmer
Yeah. That’s the thing. I know they both happened. I, I didn’t realize they were that close together. So there was overlap in your, what we’ll call training and preparation.
00:03:30:03 – 00:03:45:15
Rebecca Seidel
There we go. Yes, exactly. No. Thank you for bringing both of those up. I am very proud of both of those things, and I don’t know how I can beat them in 2024. 2023 was, a good year for me.
00:03:45:20 – 00:04:03:42
Agent Palmer
Well, I mean, you’ve taken time to, I hope, revel in the, I well, I don’t want to call them successes because, like, you did them, and I don’t want you to be like, that’s the pinnacle. But, like, you have celebrated these things, I guess. Yeah. Okay.
00:04:03:42 – 00:04:29:09
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. So abridged my podcast about bridges, premiered at Tribeca last year, which was super exciting and kind of the best launch party I could have asked for. Just to be around a bunch of other people who love watching and listening to great things. It was really a joy. So, got to celebrate that. And then the marathon was just a huge party for five hours of my life.
00:04:29:16 – 00:04:32:18
Rebecca Seidel
So you can’t really be at either of those things.
00:04:32:20 – 00:04:37:49
Agent Palmer
Okay. And how was the training like, had you been a runner before?
00:04:37:54 – 00:05:00:17
Rebecca Seidel
Yes. It’s funny because in high school I went to a public high school, but it had kind of a unique level of boot camp, gym class. And so I really hated. I’ve never been a sporty or athletic person. I would not consider myself that. And so I hated we had to run Miles in gym class, and I absolutely was not a fan of that, and I don’t.
00:05:00:17 – 00:05:08:11
Rebecca Seidel
I couldn’t tell you exactly when I grew to actually love running, but in the past, I would say five years. It’s become a big mental health thing for me.
00:05:08:16 – 00:05:16:18
Agent Palmer
Like, does it come from does it just spring out of the ground like, this is just an idea you have one day? Like, I mean, I think I’m going to start running.
00:05:16:23 – 00:05:29:20
Rebecca Seidel
I feel like it’s. I’m not alone in that. Somewhere in my mid-twenties, it hit me. Okay. Like, I feel like, I don’t know, maybe there’s an age or something where the idea gets planted in your brain. I mean, I don’t know if you experienced this.
00:05:29:22 – 00:05:35:05
Agent Palmer
No, because I was a I was a runner in high school. Like in middle school, like I ran track and cross-country.
00:05:35:05 – 00:05:35:24
Rebecca Seidel
Okay.
00:05:35:36 – 00:06:04:03
Agent Palmer
And in college, I just there was no drive. Also, the distance is double, and I was like, I mean, I like running, but I don’t love running. And so in college, I would occasionally run, myself, but not competitively. Like the competitiveness goes away. And then, it’s kind of always been, like a summer thing.
00:06:04:08 – 00:06:05:27
Agent Palmer
I like you.
00:06:05:32 – 00:06:05:57
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:06:05:57 – 00:06:09:36
Agent Palmer
No, you can’t pay me to run in the cold.
00:06:09:40 – 00:06:11:37
Rebecca Seidel
I was the same way for a long time, and.
00:06:11:37 – 00:06:46:00
Agent Palmer
And I’m still that way, but, like, like recently, because as we’re recording this, we’re getting warm days. I’ve been going out. I, I’m not like a I think it’s twofold. One, I never really stopped running. Like, there might be a few years where it’s like somehow I was just too busy. But generally I’ll go out at least once a week during the summer, and if I’m really on it, and as I’ve been like doing more consulting work and not having a real job, I will go out anytime it’s not raining and get in a couple of miles.
00:06:46:12 – 00:07:12:01
Agent Palmer
Like, yeah, I don’t need a lot, just a couple of miles. And then it for me it was like mid 30s where it went. All right. This is a little less about my health. Health and more about my mental health of like, oh my God. This is, you know, between the actual couple miles or 2 or 3 miles and the cool down and the stretching, that’s a full like hour.
00:07:12:06 – 00:07:29:35
Agent Palmer
I’m not like I’m. Look, I listen to music, but I don’t consider that connected. So that’s a full hour. No screen. Yeah. No nothing. Just. And if I’m really lucky, I can just listen to the music and get out of my own head as well, because that’s a that’s my.
00:07:29:35 – 00:07:29:56
Rebecca Seidel
Dream.
00:07:30:09 – 00:07:55:00
Agent Palmer
Life. My, my, my fear happened last year, which was and it was the towards the end of the season. So it’s like August or my running season and I, I was half mile into a two mile run and I thought of an intro for the future guest, and I won’t stop like I’ve got, like I still have that drilled down to.
00:07:55:05 – 00:07:55:57
Rebecca Seidel
Stop and write it down.
00:07:55:57 – 00:08:19:18
Agent Palmer
No, never. Yeah, yeah. So 14 year old me got drilled by like drilled into it by coach. You just keep going. Don’t stop. Yeah. Don’t. The hardest thing to do is to start up again. It’s so, so for a mile and a half I repeated that intro until I crossed the finish line and typed it out. I was like, I got this, but it was the worst.
00:08:19:18 – 00:08:23:20
Agent Palmer
Because like, if it happens with a half mile to go, that’s not bad. But like.
00:08:23:29 – 00:08:25:15
Rebecca Seidel
But that’s like the opposite of tuning out.
00:08:25:15 – 00:08:52:40
Agent Palmer
Yeah. It’s like okay okay okay okay okay. I mean I’ve taken phone calls while running, so I guess I could have called somebody been like, write this down, but I just, I it didn’t. I was just like just in it. I was like, all right, I’m not stopping here. Here we go, here we go. But yeah, yeah, I, I think that, you know, that mental health aspect, probably not enough people know about.
00:08:52:44 – 00:08:54:57
Rebecca Seidel
Well, yeah, I think at this point that’s most of it for me.
00:08:55:01 – 00:08:55:32
Agent Palmer
Okay.
00:08:55:41 – 00:09:15:47
Rebecca Seidel
I mean, you know, training for the marathon was one thing where, yes, I did have to get a certain number of miles in to feel like I was ready, and strong enough. But now I more and more go on a run just as an excuse to get out of my apartment. Get out of my head. Yeah. So I and then I always feel better afterwards.
00:09:15:47 – 00:09:17:49
Rebecca Seidel
It sounds so cliche, but it’s definitely.
00:09:17:49 – 00:09:29:15
Agent Palmer
True. How easy is it? Or how long does it take you? Right. Like, you walk, you stretch, you get out the door, you put it probably put on music like, I mean, I feel like that’s everybody these days.
00:09:29:16 – 00:09:32:16
Rebecca Seidel
Well, the big question is music or podcasts.
00:09:32:18 – 00:09:33:28
Agent Palmer
Oh, it’s definitely music.
00:09:33:33 – 00:09:34:37
Rebecca Seidel
Same I.
00:09:34:42 – 00:09:43:16
Agent Palmer
I, I edit podcasts. Yeah, I edit this podcast. I edit other podcasts. No. Like I, I and people are like I’m good with separation.
00:09:43:18 – 00:09:43:39
Rebecca Seidel
You can listen.
00:09:43:39 – 00:09:48:21
Agent Palmer
To audiobooks too. I’m like, no, no, no, I, I don’t want people talking like just.
00:09:48:25 – 00:09:57:00
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah, no, I’m the same way. I tried to be a podcast person while running and then it was just too much of the same thing that I do with my life. Well, so.
00:09:57:05 – 00:10:17:39
Agent Palmer
I there’s a part of me that will if I, if I’m having trouble getting out of my own head, I will set my pace to the beat. And I have a specific run playlist that has some what I would call chill run songs. So it’s not like.
00:10:17:39 – 00:10:18:38
Rebecca Seidel
Sit down the pace a little bit.
00:10:18:38 – 00:10:20:55
Agent Palmer
Yeah, yeah, just to slow it down a bit.
00:10:21:00 – 00:10:28:59
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. I’m so curious about people’s marriage or not. Marathon. I’m so curious about people’s running playlists because I feel like everybody has a different strategy.
00:10:29:04 – 00:10:52:48
Agent Palmer
I can share it with you. I mean, I love that it’s a it’s approximately an hour long. I put it on shuffle. I’m only running about 2 to 3 miles. So A5K max. So like yeah, even between the cooldown, I will never get through all of it. And occasionally, I’ll be like, yeah, it’s time to add another song to it.
00:10:52:50 – 00:11:05:02
Agent Palmer
But it’s long enough now where, like, I rarely hear the same songs on any given run. Like I’ll run four days in a week and be like, I heard the same song twice. So it’s it’s now big enough.
00:11:05:11 – 00:11:07:04
Rebecca Seidel
But yeah, stays fresh. Yeah.
00:11:07:04 – 00:11:20:51
Agent Palmer
So but when you get out the door. Yeah. How long does it take you to truly disconnect from like, hey, I still have a problem with that track, and I gotta kind of do, like, is it instantaneous or is it. You’re a bit.
00:11:20:51 – 00:11:28:42
Rebecca Seidel
I would say it takes me about a mile. Okay. To get out of work mode or just life mode into run mode.
00:11:28:42 – 00:11:30:41
Agent Palmer
Yes. Okay.
00:11:30:46 – 00:11:45:03
Rebecca Seidel
The first mile. I’m struggling. I might have weird pains. In addition to still thinking about whatever I have to do next or whatever I was doing before. But then after that first mile, I kind of get into the rhythm of it. Okay. I would say.
00:11:45:08 – 00:11:48:44
Agent Palmer
Yeah, I’m. And I’ve I’m a horrible runner, by the way.
00:11:48:49 – 00:11:50:24
Rebecca Seidel
Like I said, a such thing.
00:11:50:24 – 00:12:12:35
Agent Palmer
I well, I like it, but I’m a horrible runner in that I’m, even when I was, I guess, quote unquote cultured, coachable, I always went out too fast and I could never, like, I, I ran with guys that are like, I, I want to run this pace. So I’m going to run this pace and then I want to bring it back.
00:12:12:35 – 00:12:15:27
Agent Palmer
So I’m going to run a slightly slower and I’m like, I can’t do that. Yeah, I.
00:12:15:27 – 00:12:16:12
Rebecca Seidel
Can run either.
00:12:16:25 – 00:12:28:42
Agent Palmer
I can run and if it’s uphill, if it’s downhill, like I might reverse forward. Yeah, my first mile will always be faster. I can ease off all I want. It doesn’t.
00:12:28:42 – 00:12:29:53
Rebecca Seidel
Matter. Yeah.
00:12:29:58 – 00:12:35:14
Agent Palmer
And so I just at this point I’m in it for the punishment and the escape that both both.
00:12:35:14 – 00:12:36:38
Rebecca Seidel
Of the reasons. Yeah.
00:12:36:42 – 00:12:40:08
Agent Palmer
Yeah I yeah it’s.
00:12:40:13 – 00:12:43:07
Agent Palmer
But I’ve, I’ve left it all the whole time though like I just.
00:12:43:07 – 00:12:44:18
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:12:44:23 – 00:13:07:40
Agent Palmer
Actually I, I do occasionally think like I’m getting spoiled now because like when I was running in high school, if a Walkman was your only true running option. Yeah, this disc man was going to skip, and nobody runs that smooth, right? And, Walkman was heavy, so you were, you were basically going like, I’m not not going to.
00:13:07:45 – 00:13:08:09
Agent Palmer
I’m.
00:13:08:11 – 00:13:09:17
Rebecca Seidel
You were just out there.
00:13:09:17 – 00:13:10:19
Agent Palmer
Yeah. And I don’t.
00:13:10:20 – 00:13:10:52
Rebecca Seidel
Thoughts.
00:13:10:52 – 00:13:22:01
Agent Palmer
I haven’t done that right. I haven’t done that yet. I there’s a part of me that wants to know how I would do with like, no music. Just go out there.
00:13:22:07 – 00:13:22:48
Rebecca Seidel
Just try it.
00:13:22:48 – 00:13:24:21
Agent Palmer
Yeah. And see what happens. But I’m.
00:13:24:21 – 00:13:25:11
Rebecca Seidel
Afraid.
00:13:25:15 – 00:13:30:09
Agent Palmer
I don’t know what I’m afraid of. But I am afraid of that. Like, I don’t know.
00:13:30:14 – 00:13:37:21
Rebecca Seidel
I don’t want to hear my footsteps. I don’t want to hear my own breath like it’s my thoughts. I don’t want to hear any of that.
00:13:37:25 – 00:13:44:54
Agent Palmer
Yeah. That’s it. That is the being alone with yourself can sometimes be a scary place.
00:13:44:59 – 00:13:46:31
Rebecca Seidel
Absolutely.
00:13:46:36 – 00:14:02:08
Agent Palmer
So you’ve you’ve hit these big milestones. What’s, like, have you, have you, have you, plateaued or you’re like, I’m going to chill here for a bit or have you immediately gone to like, what’s next?
00:14:02:13 – 00:14:09:08
Rebecca Seidel
I would say I’m very bad at not doing things, so I think I’m always a little bit. And what’s next mode?
00:14:09:08 – 00:14:36:59
Agent Palmer
Okay, well, I think that’s a, a creative, bad habit, but we all kind of have it, so I wasn’t. I’m not surprised by your answer, but I’m also like, I wish, I wish because I’m, I maybe it’s because I’m in the space as well, but every time I see people around me have big victories, I hope they take an approach.
00:14:37:04 – 00:14:42:03
Agent Palmer
I don’t look and I don’t know what this is, but like an appropriate amount of time off.
00:14:42:08 – 00:14:42:31
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:14:42:31 – 00:15:00:27
Agent Palmer
And all of it. The good news is you’re all like me. So like, we all have the same psychosis where it’s like, yes, I did that big amazing thing. What’s that like? Maybe it’s like that thing took you a year and you took three days off before you were like that. I think I got another idea.
00:15:00:32 – 00:15:01:17
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:15:01:22 – 00:15:04:38
Agent Palmer
It’s by the way, not an appropriate amount of time off.
00:15:04:40 – 00:15:09:22
Rebecca Seidel
No, I will say I am not running the marathon again this year.
00:15:09:26 – 00:15:09:55
Agent Palmer
Okay.
00:15:09:55 – 00:15:17:45
Rebecca Seidel
So that’s something. I am running a half marathon in two weeks, so I feel like that’s a perfect example of what you’re talking about. Yeah.
00:15:17:49 – 00:15:26:22
Agent Palmer
It kind of is. I mean, you didn’t go like, all right, now I want to run seven marathons on seven continents in seven days, like you didn’t. You didn’t, and I quite.
00:15:26:27 – 00:15:39:55
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. Okay. But yeah. So I think I am always thinking about what’s next. Trying to take rest time as well. Could certainly always do more of that.
00:15:40:00 – 00:15:49:13
Agent Palmer
I it’s, I mean, you’re surrounded by creative people as well. Do do any of them take a healthy amount of.
00:15:49:18 – 00:15:53:29
Rebecca Seidel
No. So I’m off. Yeah. Okay. I don’t think I know a single one.
00:15:53:34 – 00:16:04:08
Agent Palmer
I know I’d like to meet one just because, like, everybody wants to see a unicorn. That’s basically why I want to meet somebody who’s like, yes, I take the appropriate amount of time off.
00:16:04:13 – 00:16:06:47
Rebecca Seidel
I have boundaries in my life. Yeah.
00:16:06:52 – 00:16:09:43
Agent Palmer
I I’m, I’m really I’m really trying.
00:16:09:48 – 00:16:13:13
Rebecca Seidel
You find one. Let me know. I mean, I have to have them on the podcast.
00:16:13:14 – 00:16:25:27
Agent Palmer
Even just boundaries like, like concrete like I won’t I won’t, I won’t do this after seven, after seven and I’m done. And it’s just like I got. But I.
00:16:25:29 – 00:16:29:00
Rebecca Seidel
Could make. Oh, it’s one more thing.
00:16:29:05 – 00:16:35:22
Agent Palmer
It’s it’s just a little thing, right? No, nobody has to. Then you start lying to yourself. It’s like nobody has to know.
00:16:35:27 – 00:16:36:00
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:16:36:05 – 00:16:41:32
Agent Palmer
It’s fine, I won’t nobody will find out. Nobody will know. I did this at the time. I said I wasn’t going to do the.
00:16:41:32 – 00:16:43:29
Rebecca Seidel
Things you’ll always know, though.
00:16:43:38 – 00:17:10:42
Agent Palmer
You will always know. I make it like, I started to play Minecraft a bunch of years ago in survival mode, but, like, there were a couple worlds we’ve played in just because of restarts. Always good in everything, not just gaming and life. Yeah, but like, there were a couple worlds where like towards the end, I would once you do the cheat once.
00:17:10:47 – 00:17:11:38
Rebecca Seidel
00:17:11:43 – 00:17:14:43
Agent Palmer
It’s really hard to not do that. Yeah.
00:17:14:48 – 00:17:15:36
Rebecca Seidel
You know, it’s there.
00:17:15:40 – 00:17:33:41
Agent Palmer
Yeah. And it’s like, oh, all right, well, I screwed this up. I’ll just wait until the next one. And I think that’s kind of with all the like, boundaries we set with like when you break one, you’re like, oh, I could just break it again. Yeah. And it’s really hard to put it back up.
00:17:33:46 – 00:17:34:28
Rebecca Seidel
Yes.
00:17:34:33 – 00:17:43:56
Agent Palmer
It’s just it’s horrible. But it’s a creative thing. I feel like this is the the mania of all of us.
00:17:44:01 – 00:17:46:47
Rebecca Seidel
This is the way, for better or worse.
00:17:46:52 – 00:17:53:44
Agent Palmer
Yeah. I don’t like it. We should fix it. I don’t know how we should fix it.
00:17:53:49 – 00:17:56:12
Rebecca Seidel
Have to do a hard reset.
00:17:56:17 – 00:18:24:16
Agent Palmer
Yeah, yeah. All right, so, if you if you’re not running as much and obviously you’re taking a little time, but with abridged now, so are you, like, not just working like. Cause obviously you did those two things on top of your normal work. Yeah. So did you. Did you fill those holes with something else? I mean, you’re still running, but.
00:18:24:16 – 00:18:31:52
Agent Palmer
Or are you just like, no. Now I get to chill a little. I get to the music. More like whatever.
00:18:31:56 – 00:18:55:51
Rebecca Seidel
I am certainly filling my time. Definitely. A big portion of that is still running and is still work. On the on the work side, I do a decent amount of freelance work on top of my full time job. Oh, so I work at my full time job four days a week, and then I freelance also because I’m just.
00:18:55:51 – 00:18:57:47
Agent Palmer
On the fifth day right.
00:18:57:52 – 00:19:08:19
Rebecca Seidel
Now. Definitely on evenings and weekends. Yeah, yeah. And so that fills up probably more of my time than it should.
00:19:08:19 – 00:19:22:58
Agent Palmer
So hold on, hold on. Where did the abridged time go? Like I or I guess in this schedule, where did you where did abridged get created if. Because I can’t imagine. Yeah. Like you stopped, abridged and started all this stuff. No, this stuff had been going on all along.
00:19:23:02 – 00:19:53:40
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. So I was really fortunate actually, in that, so the company I work for, a goat rodeo, it’s a podcast production company based in DC, and we’re a seven person team. And, my bosses there were kind enough to give me the time in my day to work on a bridge, okay. Which was huge. So that was how it got done at all, because left to my own devices, my own project that I’m hosting and producing will always be the back burner to other things.
00:19:53:40 – 00:19:57:40
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. And so to have it prioritized in that way,
00:19:57:45 – 00:19:58:12
Agent Palmer
I can’t.
00:19:58:12 – 00:19:59:25
Rebecca Seidel
Imagine where I could get it done.
00:19:59:36 – 00:20:11:52
Agent Palmer
That while also training for a marathon, editing and producing abridged while giving up sleep is a horrible idea.
00:20:11:57 – 00:20:33:32
Rebecca Seidel
Yes. But it was also creatively fulfilling. And I never really, you know, we talked about a bit about this, the last time I was on, but I had never really hosted something on my own before or something that felt like fully mine. Okay. And so that felt really sort of enriching to me and like, woke me up, I guess.
00:20:33:32 – 00:20:57:41
Agent Palmer
Has it has it given you any perspective on the editing you do in your day job for other people? Because like I, my story not that dissimilar in terms of like just being behind the scenes of other people’s shows for a very long time before finally biting the bullet and being like, all right, maybe it is time to do my own thing.
00:20:57:41 – 00:21:05:53
Agent Palmer
And it takes a while, but it changes your entire perspective when you’re on this side of the mic for like a while.
00:21:05:57 – 00:21:31:44
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah, it definitely changed my perspective. One thing is, working with, other people’s like, you know, I work on narrative shows where somebody is voicing it kind of between pieces of interview tape. And I just have so much more kind of respect for everybody’s personal sort of voice over process, and all the different takes and everything like that.
00:21:31:58 – 00:21:50:00
Rebecca Seidel
You know, I kind of know what I want to hear in a voiceover if I’m working with somebody. But the second I got in the booth myself, I just realized how hard it was. And I think I had quite realized that before. So that was one thing. I think I also, with abridged, I really wanted to focus on kind of immersive sound design.
00:21:50:04 – 00:21:59:56
Rebecca Seidel
And that’s something I think I think about more and like that’s always been something I’m really passionate about, but I think I at forefront that even more now. And think about it even.
00:21:59:56 – 00:22:19:06
Agent Palmer
More, I think because I’ve heard some of the other stuff you’ve done, I think that it being your show allowed you to be like, yeah, there’s background and then there’s immersion, and you’ve got to kind of take it to that next level. I’m sure that’s bled in everywhere else now.
00:22:19:10 – 00:22:31:10
Rebecca Seidel
I hope so, okay. I think I was able to get kind of experimental and weird with a bridge that I can’t always with every project I work on, which is fine, because not every project needs.
00:22:31:20 – 00:22:33:53
Agent Palmer
Yeah, not every project needs to be experimental.
00:22:33:58 – 00:22:45:21
Rebecca Seidel
Right. But what I really. Yeah, I loved being able to kind of give sounds more space and things like that on my own show. And I, I think I’ve leaned more in that direction with other things too.
00:22:45:26 – 00:22:45:40
Agent Palmer
Now.
00:22:45:40 – 00:22:47:27
Rebecca Seidel
Kind of letting things breathe more. Yeah.
00:22:47:31 – 00:23:17:03
Agent Palmer
Where do you get, the ideas now? Like, are you are you constantly listening to other podcasts or are you listening to music, or are you just trying to collaborate because, like, I, I, I’ve been talking about it a little bit, but only a little bit because I want this to be mine. And that is I grabbed a like a listed like 16 bands and I’m listening through all of their catalogs in chronological order, just to kind of see how they all bounce off of each other.
00:23:17:08 – 00:23:33:56
Agent Palmer
Yeah. And, you know, it’s the stones, the Beatles, Dylan, the band, you know, the Allman Brothers, Frank Zappa and Zappa is the one where I’m like, Holy crap. I thought it was just musical comedy and it’s not.
00:23:34:00 – 00:23:34:46
Rebecca Seidel
00:23:36:14 – 00:23:58:07
Agent Palmer
And it’s so, weird also going through the decades because now I’m in the 70s, or at least as we record this, I’m in the 70s. Yeah. And I started in the 60s. And like, you can hear the tonal shift, but not but it’s not. So I guess as a, as a sound person, it’s not a hard cut.
00:23:58:12 – 00:24:06:20
Agent Palmer
It’s a very gradual crossfade. And now it’s like I don’t know when it happened, but now I’m listening to a 70s album.
00:24:06:24 – 00:24:10:59
Rebecca Seidel
That’s interesting. Yeah. You don’t even know. Yeah. You can’t point to one place.
00:24:10:59 – 00:24:11:26
Agent Palmer
Know.
00:24:11:34 – 00:24:12:17
Rebecca Seidel
Where it happened.
00:24:12:17 – 00:24:34:28
Agent Palmer
It’s so unique. But it’s also giving me this, kind of history lesson to my own musical tastes of like, all right, well, this is what you like, and maybe this is why. And you can see the foundations, which is why I was doing this to begin with. But it also has given me some like to do I want to play more music now?
00:24:34:33 – 00:24:36:16
Rebecca Seidel
On your own show?
00:24:36:21 – 00:24:53:24
Agent Palmer
Either on my own show or just in my own time. Like this. Oh, it didn’t start necessarily for any other reason than I started wanting to listen to an album and sit down and listen to an album, like, I mean, I carve out time to do that.
00:24:53:29 – 00:24:54:09
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:24:54:14 – 00:25:00:00
Agent Palmer
And with the work that you and I do, we have headphones on all the time, but we can’t always listen to what we want.
00:25:00:00 – 00:25:02:07
Rebecca Seidel
That’s not that’s the bane of my existence.
00:25:02:07 – 00:25:18:39
Agent Palmer
That’s not how it works. So like carving out time to be like, I’m going to listen to this album. I not to stare at a screen. I can just do whatever. And it’s just it’s kind of wonderful. And it’s a it’s an art form that’s fairly lost on this one.
00:25:18:43 – 00:25:20:40
Rebecca Seidel
List. Like a full a full album. Yeah. I mean.
00:25:20:44 – 00:25:42:10
Agent Palmer
Yeah, on shuffle. Like, what do you have to tell me, Mr. Dylan? Like. Yeah, tell me a story. Or like, David Bowie is a good example. Like, he’s got some albums or it’s like, all right, I like all right, because again, and the other thing is it’s a different time in terms of like these were when artists had a lot more control over their music.
00:25:42:20 – 00:25:52:32
Agent Palmer
They might not have had a control over the label. And like, you owe me five albums, right? But the album delivered is completely up to the artist. There’s no producer being like, all right, this is your single.
00:25:52:37 – 00:25:54:14
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. And they have creative ownership.
00:25:54:20 – 00:26:04:06
Agent Palmer
Yeah. And so it’s kind of really, I don’t know, a very wonderful creative time. I kind of scared for the 80s to come, but that’s, it’s a whole different.
00:26:04:08 – 00:26:06:06
Rebecca Seidel
You won’t even know it’s hit you until you’re in it.
00:26:06:10 – 00:26:08:07
Agent Palmer
That’s probably true, right.
00:26:08:07 – 00:26:38:05
Rebecca Seidel
Like, but yeah, that transition will be interesting. But yeah, I love listening to fall albums, and I feel like society is trying to steer us away from it. Like I use Spotify and it’s curated to death. And there’s something kind of nice about how lazy it is. It can be to listen to music on a streaming service like that, where it just serves you playlists, and you can just listen to a playlist that feels like what you’re in the mood to listen to.
00:26:38:05 – 00:26:43:11
Rebecca Seidel
But more and more, I feel like I just want to listen to an album through, like, that’s what I want.
00:26:43:16 – 00:26:54:45
Agent Palmer
The the, the thing that I was really hoping was that I do use Spotify for this because it makes it a little bit easier. And let me like I don’t own all these albums.
00:26:54:45 – 00:26:56:26
Rebecca Seidel
Right.
00:26:56:31 – 00:27:08:22
Agent Palmer
But it has stopped slowly. Look, I’ve listened to like over 100 albums since I started this journey. It’s slowly starting to change the algorithm for me.
00:27:08:27 – 00:27:09:17
Rebecca Seidel
Like really.
00:27:09:24 – 00:27:15:14
Agent Palmer
But it’s only 100 albums in that I’ve started to notice the.
00:27:15:18 – 00:27:17:13
Rebecca Seidel
Serving you full albums.
00:27:17:13 – 00:27:42:38
Agent Palmer
No, it’s not, but it’s it’s starting. I’m, I’m getting a little more of the B-sides. It seems like, because I am listening to whole albums and yeah, the the algorithm must sense that like, oh well, that, that album has maybe like, single on it. And he listened to the whole thing so we can give him some nod and sing non singles.
00:27:42:38 – 00:27:43:35
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:27:43:39 – 00:27:56:38
Agent Palmer
And so I have noticed that also he’s not on my list of artists, but they have massively increased the amount of Warren Zevon that I hear when I just go to, like, a random, like, daily playlist.
00:27:56:43 – 00:27:57:24
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:27:57:28 – 00:28:02:29
Agent Palmer
And it’s not always Werewolves of London. Like, thank God, but it’s also like.
00:28:02:34 – 00:28:05:59
Rebecca Seidel
Wait, why? Yeah, they saw something in you.
00:28:06:10 – 00:28:13:53
Agent Palmer
I mean, I’m not I’m not upset about it, but I was also like, of all the artists that have a common theme.
00:28:13:57 – 00:28:14:17
Rebecca Seidel
Right?
00:28:14:19 – 00:28:15:09
Agent Palmer
That’s the one.
00:28:15:18 – 00:28:16:03
Rebecca Seidel
That’s the one.
00:28:16:03 – 00:28:16:36
Agent Palmer
Okay.
00:28:16:45 – 00:28:19:06
Rebecca Seidel
It works in mysterious ways. The algorithm.
00:28:19:10 – 00:28:40:04
Agent Palmer
But I am also prepping for like, and I’m going to put him on the spot because I don’t have to name names, but like, a friend of mine, an older gentleman, he’s retired. We had lunch, a year or two ago, and I was like, well, until I get a full time job, like I’m around.
00:28:40:04 – 00:29:03:01
Agent Palmer
If you’ve really got songs that you want to produce, like I have a tiny mixer, I we between us, we have plenty of instruments and microphones and amps and, I would I would love to mix an album like or help you, like build something we don’t put on Spotify. We can just do it. And he’s like, dad, when I get to it, everybody’s always, yeah, when I’ll get to it.
00:29:03:01 – 00:29:06:37
Agent Palmer
But like, right, every time I see him, I remind him of it.
00:29:06:37 – 00:29:07:40
Rebecca Seidel
I’m good.
00:29:07:45 – 00:29:19:43
Agent Palmer
It’s it’s all for stands. The offer is taken. And ironically, since then, I’ve been toying with a song. I haven’t written a song musically in over two decades.
00:29:19:48 – 00:29:20:15
Rebecca Seidel
Wow.
00:29:20:15 – 00:29:39:15
Agent Palmer
And there’s just a tune in my head. I have like three different parts that do go together, but I have no idea. Like let’s say just chorus, verse bridge, I don’t know, but they’re there and I, I plan on sending it to somebody much more musically talented than me and being like, what should I do about this?
00:29:39:28 – 00:29:50:01
Agent Palmer
But I, I have this, and every once in a while I’ll play it just so I don’t lose it. But that that’s like a happy accident. I didn’t yeah, I didn’t ask for that. It’s just happened.
00:29:50:06 – 00:29:53:19
Rebecca Seidel
Sometimes that’s the best. The best.
00:29:53:24 – 00:30:03:13
Agent Palmer
Although I, I don’t know what to do with it. I mean, yeah, I can put it on the podcast, but it’s like when. What do we do? Why, why, why now?
00:30:03:17 – 00:30:06:21
Rebecca Seidel
I guess you don’t have to do it like. I mean, it’s making the thing that counts.
00:30:06:21 – 00:30:15:12
Agent Palmer
It is like the album. I don’t mind if he doesn’t want to share it with anyone. I just. Yeah, kind of want to do exist, make it happen. Yeah.
00:30:15:17 – 00:30:15:35
Rebecca Seidel
00:30:16:00 – 00:30:23:28
Agent Palmer
Well cause he, he’s like oh I’ve been writing songs for like 20 years. I just don’t share them with anybody. I’m like.
00:30:23:33 – 00:30:27:36
Agent Palmer
Okay. Well when you want to put them together. Yeah. Like let’s go. Like I.
00:30:27:36 – 00:30:27:59
Rebecca Seidel
Don’t know.
00:30:27:59 – 00:30:29:50
Agent Palmer
Yeah I’m.
00:30:29:55 – 00:30:30:40
Rebecca Seidel
I.
00:30:30:44 – 00:30:37:55
Agent Palmer
And I’m, I don’t know, I’ve become that guy. And I joke about it all the time like off mike.
00:30:38:00 – 00:30:38:18
Rebecca Seidel
00:30:38:21 – 00:31:00:50
Agent Palmer
Like every I talk to a lot of creatives on this show. And after about half of all of them when I’m writing my outros, I’m like. Should I tell the listener to do the thing again? Because that’s kind of been like the one underlying theme of this podcast is like, I talked to creatives and they’re always like, I should have started earlier.
00:31:00:55 – 00:31:07:42
Agent Palmer
I didn’t want to ask that, but I might as well like do you wish you had done abridged earlier?
00:31:07:47 – 00:31:08:58
Rebecca Seidel
No, actually.
00:31:09:03 – 00:31:10:22
Agent Palmer
You’re in the right place.
00:31:10:27 – 00:31:30:19
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. I think it was the right place in the right time. And I still to be clear, I want to make more episodes of it. Okay. I’m just I guess I’m taking. I’ve been taking a break, but I have more episodes in the works. But I think I was in the right place in terms of editing skills and writing skills.
00:31:30:21 – 00:31:40:32
Rebecca Seidel
Okay. Where I felt confident in what I was making and putting out. And, you know, you always look back on things. You made whatever five, ten years ago and think like you wish you might have done it differently.
00:31:40:32 – 00:31:45:46
Agent Palmer
You don’t have to. You don’t have to look that far back. I can look back to last year and be like, I wrote that.
00:31:45:51 – 00:31:46:11
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:31:46:23 – 00:31:48:22
Agent Palmer
Or like I, I put that.
00:31:48:22 – 00:31:49:54
Rebecca Seidel
Oh.
00:31:49:59 – 00:31:55:02
Agent Palmer
Yeah. No, it doesn’t. Yeah. But also depends on how much you do too, I think.
00:31:55:06 – 00:32:02:29
Rebecca Seidel
Right. But I think, yeah, I just, I felt like I was in a really good place creatively when I put the episodes together that are out now.
00:32:02:29 – 00:32:13:33
Agent Palmer
So now, how was the response of fellow bridge enthusiasts, and were you at all surprised at what I can only imagine was a fair number of them?
00:32:13:38 – 00:32:34:35
Rebecca Seidel
I was very pleasantly surprised. I got a lot of really nice responses. People really responded to the idea of the show, which is kind of a strange one. I thought other people would think so, but apparently a lot of people love bridges, and so I got a lot of really good responses. Some really long emails with suggestions for episode of topics.
00:32:34:49 – 00:32:40:31
Agent Palmer
I was going to say, do you have like, I guess in perpetuity now you’re you’re covered for a while.
00:32:40:38 – 00:33:02:20
Rebecca Seidel
I have a long list. And I got some really good suggestions. And so nothing is off the table as of now. Let’s come. And so, yeah, I really, I, you know, it kind of ran the gamut from bridge nerds, architecture buffs, history people. So yeah, I got a lot of kind of varied interest, which was really nice.
00:33:02:25 – 00:33:05:34
Agent Palmer
That’s, I mean, I, I listen to it because.
00:33:05:34 – 00:33:06:19
Rebecca Seidel
I thank you.
00:33:06:19 – 00:33:24:45
Agent Palmer
I knew you were passionate about it one, and I was happy that you finally did it. Yeah. But I was like, all right, this is show I can get it to. I don’t, I don’t and I didn’t I wasn’t a bridge nerd to begin with. Yeah, but I guess I can put that badge on. That’s fine. Yeah.
00:33:24:47 – 00:33:29:02
Rebecca Seidel
Anybody can be a bridge nerd. There’s no barrier to entry.
00:33:29:07 – 00:33:30:03
Agent Palmer
Okay. No.
00:33:30:14 – 00:33:31:53
Rebecca Seidel
You might have to cross a bridge to get there.
00:33:31:55 – 00:33:47:53
Agent Palmer
I was going to say. Yeah, I might still be afraid of some of those, like, like you can see through bridges. I don’t know that I’ll ever get completely, like, I’m never going to slow down my car when I can see the water underneath it.
00:33:48:00 – 00:33:50:24
Rebecca Seidel
That’s fair. I understand that.
00:33:50:24 – 00:33:54:52
Agent Palmer
I won’t speed it up, but I’m never going to be like, hey, let’s slow down and enjoy the water.
00:33:54:52 – 00:34:07:33
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. But I’m glad. I’m glad I convinced you. Yeah. To be a bridge person. And that’s good encouragement for me to keep it going, so. Thank you. Yeah.
00:34:07:38 – 00:34:26:29
Agent Palmer
Well, I, I have I, I, I, I, I have bridges all around me. So it’s kind of like yeah, take a look at them from for, for a week. Let’s be real. We go over them all the time. Even if it’s just like a an on ramp bridge. Like we have them they exist. They’re they’re.
00:34:26:29 – 00:34:26:49
Rebecca Seidel
Everywhere.
00:34:26:49 – 00:34:39:41
Agent Palmer
Yeah. They’re everywhere. And it’s just like some of them are pretty and some of them are functional. Right. And you kind of go, why can’t a just functional ones be pretty to
00:34:39:46 – 00:34:44:48
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah, I guess some of them might have incredible engineering that you don’t see.
00:34:44:53 – 00:35:12:50
Agent Palmer
No. That’s fair. But I also think like and this this is a personal taste. And I understand that everything like prior to 1970 that was built seems like it has artistic, intentions of some capacity versus like some of the stuff that’s built after it. It’s like, that I mean, it’s a nice shape, but it’s not pretty.
00:35:12:55 – 00:35:17:46
Agent Palmer
Yeah. And that’s buildings in general. That’s not just bridges. It’s just like, oh, what are we doing?
00:35:17:51 – 00:35:47:23
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah, I will say, I do appreciate, when more recently built bridges, give thought to pedestrians, runners and cyclists. Yeah. I say this because I ran over a bridge going in from Queens into Brooklyn. The Kashi used Go bridge a few days ago for the first time, and it had the widest pedestrian bike lane that I’ve ever seen on a bridge in New York City, which is amazing because usually I’m fearing for my life on those things.
00:35:47:28 – 00:35:48:33
Rebecca Seidel
Well, so that was nice.
00:35:48:47 – 00:35:54:24
Agent Palmer
Yeah, I so I, I have a very nice borough to run around.
00:35:54:29 – 00:35:54:47
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:35:54:50 – 00:36:08:43
Agent Palmer
You run in New York City now. Do you? For clarification, I am a front door runner. I go out my front door. Yeah. And I start to run.
00:36:08:48 – 00:36:09:59
Rebecca Seidel
Yes.
00:36:10:04 – 00:36:17:39
Agent Palmer
I do not love running enough to get in my car and drive somewhere to run.
00:36:17:44 – 00:36:18:42
Rebecca Seidel
00:36:18:47 – 00:36:27:19
Agent Palmer
Are you, are you going out your front door and running. Are you getting on the subway and going somewhere else. Are you. You got miles to cover. So good.
00:36:27:19 – 00:36:39:18
Rebecca Seidel
Question. I am 85% of the time a front door runner. Okay. Occasionally I will hop on the subway to go to Central Park or somewhere else that has a good running path.
00:36:39:22 – 00:36:40:25
Agent Palmer
Okay. And are you.
00:36:40:25 – 00:36:41:08
Rebecca Seidel
To go on a run?
00:36:41:08 – 00:36:54:20
Agent Palmer
But I guess to bring it back to combine two more like, yeah. Are you always crossing a bridge on your distance? On your distance? It feels like, yeah. You have a very small plot of land if you don’t cross the bridge.
00:36:54:27 – 00:37:11:05
Rebecca Seidel
Yes, I would say, yeah. Once I hit a certain distance threshold there’s usually a bridge involved. I have. Yeah. I feel like I need to make an a bridge episode that involves running somehow, but it feels a little like just all of my things. But, yeah, I’m usually fine. All of your things.
00:37:11:10 – 00:37:37:25
Agent Palmer
I don’t see any problem combining all of your things. I mean, I personally avoid the one bridge closest to me because, it’s wide enough that if I like, regardless of the direction of the wind, one way is going to be in your face. It’ll never be completely on your side. And so, like, either crossing it or coming back is going to be like, well, I don’t feel like I move anywhere.
00:37:37:27 – 00:37:40:37
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:37:40:41 – 00:37:44:41
Agent Palmer
Which I also live in a valley, so I kind of get that anyway.
00:37:44:55 – 00:37:46:13
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:37:46:18 – 00:37:50:46
Agent Palmer
Do you avoid streets that, you know, or, like that one’s a windy one? I don’t go down that one.
00:37:50:51 – 00:38:06:58
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah, I avoid windy streets and I avoid really busy streets, whether it’s like busy car streets or like people having brunch on the sidewalk, which I made the mistake of this past weekend, running on a really busy brunch street in Brooklyn.
00:38:07:07 – 00:38:14:38
Agent Palmer
Yeah, I, I yeah, I guess that would be because they just, they’re like, oh, we’re just going to put our tables on the sidewalk.
00:38:14:42 – 00:38:28:43
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. There’s people waiting outside. There’s people just hanging out which and I can’t, I can’t be mad about it. You know, it’s like people are having a nice weekend and I’m like busting my way through their fun time.
00:38:28:48 – 00:38:40:26
Agent Palmer
All right, so what? Out of the audio and running space, are you doing anything? I mean, it sounds like you don’t have much time. Not being in the audio or running space, but when you’re not.
00:38:40:31 – 00:38:41:38
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:38:41:43 – 00:38:45:45
Agent Palmer
Are you reading or are you watching movies or what was, you know, something to.
00:38:45:45 – 00:38:53:35
Rebecca Seidel
Be more of both of those things? Reading and watching movies for sure. Hiking. Although I feel like I can lump that in with running.
00:38:53:36 – 00:39:08:15
Agent Palmer
It’s like running adjacent, I guess, because I, I will say I’ve, I’ve started walking on days when, like, I can’t get in a run. Yeah. It’s like I got 20 minutes to go for like a, a walk.
00:39:08:19 – 00:39:10:06
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. It’s great.
00:39:10:11 – 00:39:21:19
Agent Palmer
I it again not really for my health so much as my mental health. It’s like, all right, I don’t have time to run today, but I can still get out for a little bit.
00:39:21:23 – 00:39:25:37
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. No, that’s always, always better than not doing that. Yeah.
00:39:25:41 – 00:39:28:18
Agent Palmer
So hike. I’m going to say hiking is.
00:39:28:22 – 00:39:40:20
Rebecca Seidel
We can be running a Jason. Yes. Yeah, I’m trying to read more, which I think is just, constant. I’m always trying to read more. That’s not a new thing, but,
00:39:40:25 – 00:39:44:01
Agent Palmer
When you say read more, like, are you reading a few books a month?
00:39:44:14 – 00:39:48:37
Rebecca Seidel
That would be the ideal. I’m not quite there at the moment. I’m trying to read every night before bed.
00:39:48:42 – 00:39:51:32
Agent Palmer
I think that that’s that’s how I. That’s how I got back into it.
00:39:51:45 – 00:39:53:59
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. And it’s definitely helping.
00:39:54:03 – 00:40:17:37
Agent Palmer
Yeah. The, the only, asterisk about reading for before bed, especially for me because I’ve been reading everything and anything. So I’m not I’m trying to kind of exercise my brain with like, here’s a nonfiction that you wouldn’t normally read. Here’s a fiction that you wouldn’t normally read. Here’s something you like. And then just like, whatever is it?
00:40:17:42 – 00:40:30:02
Agent Palmer
Sometimes these books are not meant for before bed. And so it’s like, I’m still going to read it before bed. Yeah. But I also know that I have to close the book and then, like, give myself some time.
00:40:30:07 – 00:40:33:14
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah, because it’s too immersive or like too.
00:40:33:14 – 00:40:47:12
Agent Palmer
Either too immersive or. Well, I’ve been I’ve been reading some books from the 60s and 70s that are scary, scarily relevant again. And so that makes sleeping not as easy.
00:40:47:17 – 00:40:51:25
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. So you go, your mind goes on a train there. Yeah. It’s hard to. Yeah.
00:40:51:25 – 00:40:58:10
Agent Palmer
And so but I also don’t want to not read it. I feel like it’s also important to experience that anyway.
00:40:58:10 – 00:41:00:59
Rebecca Seidel
And,
00:41:01:04 – 00:41:09:10
Agent Palmer
Without getting into politics and culture wars, no one’s writing about that stuff in the way they were writing about it. Then.
00:41:09:15 – 00:41:09:42
Rebecca Seidel
00:41:10:14 – 00:41:21:55
Agent Palmer
I think a lot of the best writers from the 60s and 50s and 70s tried to completely disassociate with the subject matter and just tell either a good story or tell it how it is.
00:41:21:59 – 00:41:22:21
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:41:22:26 – 00:41:34:33
Agent Palmer
And so I think their perspective is very important, but it’s also scary at times. And it’s like, I gotta I it’s 11:00 at night. Oh, shut this book and go to sleep. Like, what am I going to. Wow.
00:41:34:33 – 00:41:37:58
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. Like somehow this is worse than Doomscrolling on Twitter. Yeah.
00:41:38:09 – 00:41:44:47
Agent Palmer
Which, you know, this book was published before I was born. How is this scarier than Twitter? Like, what’s going.
00:41:44:51 – 00:41:46:42
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah, that’s that’s terrifying.
00:41:46:46 – 00:42:00:48
Agent Palmer
But I, I still think reading a little bit, a little bit before bed. Yeah. Best way to get back into it. For sure. And then, movies, I don’t know, I’m so far out of the loop on movies.
00:42:00:48 – 00:42:10:47
Rebecca Seidel
Yes. Me too. I have a lot of friends and people close to me who are big movie people, and I do my best to keep up and I fail at it, but I try.
00:42:10:52 – 00:42:35:13
Agent Palmer
Okay, so I have a few of those friends and I. I get it from both sides, which is. What do you mean you didn’t see that thing from last week? And also, what do you mean you didn’t see that movie from 1962? Like. And it’s I don’t know how to combat both sides of that argument. Well, I’m just here like.
00:42:35:18 – 00:42:38:25
Agent Palmer
Well, I enjoyed reading my book this afternoon.
00:42:38:30 – 00:42:43:20
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. And that counts in its own way.
00:42:43:25 – 00:42:48:16
Agent Palmer
I hope so. That’s what I’ve started to come back at them with is like, what did you read? How many books did you read this week?
00:42:48:18 – 00:42:50:28
Rebecca Seidel
Right.
00:42:50:33 – 00:42:58:33
Agent Palmer
It’s it’s tough. It’s tough. So, are you are you getting out to see movies, like, are they dragging you out or. You’re like, all right, I’ll go.
00:42:58:33 – 00:43:11:13
Rebecca Seidel
I always have a fun time when I end up going. I have a Regal membership, which I don’t. It’s like, whatever, 23 bucks a month for unlimited movies at a Regal Theater, and I make it not worth it most months. But then occasionally.
00:43:11:17 – 00:43:12:11
Agent Palmer
Occasionally you do.
00:43:12:11 – 00:43:20:42
Rebecca Seidel
It is worth it. Yeah. So I’ve been on a good streak lately. But it’s down the block. It’s walking distance for me too, so I really have no excuse.
00:43:20:46 – 00:43:35:27
Agent Palmer
I mean, I was going to say it gets you. It’s it’s restful for your legs. So you’re not hiking or running. It gets you out in front of a, away from a computer. Yeah. Thank God the like the resolution’s different. So it’s not, you know, the same thing.
00:43:35:27 – 00:43:35:43
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:43:35:45 – 00:44:03:47
Agent Palmer
And then it’s, you know, sound and visual experience. So you’re not just, like, listening intently, which, I, I appreciate what you do on such a level because I have a small show, and I will be like, wait a minute, is that Bert? Can I make that edit? Because that breath doesn’t line up, right? And then it’s like no one else got it.
00:44:03:50 – 00:44:18:06
Agent Palmer
You might notice it. I mean, in a perfect world, no one will notice it. But I, I just the I think that’s why you need the running, right. Like you. Yeah. It’s it’s such a.
00:44:18:06 – 00:44:25:19
Rebecca Seidel
Totally different headspace. But there are some, like, very satisfying about making those nitty gritty edits and getting them right. Oh, I.
00:44:25:26 – 00:44:40:13
Agent Palmer
I will I will literally verbally exclaim if I like, I think I can make this cut and then it works. That was for myself greatest, you know. Time for more coffee. Let’s take a break.
00:44:40:14 – 00:45:14:03
Rebecca Seidel
Let’s go. I’ve been, tutoring for this NYU grad journalism class. And it’s, intro to podcasting, like journalistic podcasting. Okay, class and I come in to help the students with audio editing and technical stuff. Nice. And I bring this up because I was teaching them kind of how to some tips and tricks for making finer kind of edits, like the things we were just talking about, you know, making smooth edits, making them sound unnoticeable.
00:45:14:08 – 00:45:30:52
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. Using breath and room tone and all of that. And I think I just sounded way too excited about breath explaining. You know, you can cut this breath here, paste it here, and it’s going to sound like you never made an edit. And I was like, I think I scare them a little bit. Yeah.
00:45:30:52 – 00:45:52:49
Agent Palmer
But it’s the details are important, right? Yeah. We’re not in a and best best of all you and I missed the cutting of tape. Right. So if you tell them just make it sound natural. Like you have to work with breaths. And I, I talk to hosts that I work with all the time. I’m like, I can’t make that edit.
00:45:52:53 – 00:45:53:17
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:45:53:17 – 00:45:54:08
Agent Palmer
It’s just.
00:45:54:12 – 00:45:55:05
Rebecca Seidel
You have to draw the line.
00:45:55:05 – 00:45:57:37
Agent Palmer
Sometimes. Didn’t give me any I like.
00:45:57:43 – 00:45:59:16
Rebecca Seidel
I’m not a magician. Yeah, yeah.
00:45:59:16 – 00:46:11:21
Agent Palmer
I can’t, I can’t do that. I want it to sound natural and I just can’t do it. And so I’ve also learned to do that for this show too. It’s like, all right, you know what? It’s a it’s.
00:46:11:21 – 00:46:12:35
Rebecca Seidel
Okay. Yeah.
00:46:12:40 – 00:46:28:57
Agent Palmer
It’s okay. Natural naturals and but naturals also very important people will lose. I don’t I mean I’m also a guy who’s never listen to a podcast on other anything other than one time speed.
00:46:28:57 – 00:46:29:25
Rebecca Seidel
Really.
00:46:29:38 – 00:46:34:39
Agent Palmer
I can’t I can’t do it. I know it saves time.
00:46:34:44 – 00:46:36:40
Rebecca Seidel
I’m so impressed because I just.
00:46:36:40 – 00:46:41:07
Agent Palmer
Can’t, I, I listen to less because of that. Yeah.
00:46:41:12 – 00:46:45:50
Rebecca Seidel
But your brain is probably calmer.
00:46:45:54 – 00:46:48:16
Agent Palmer
Yeah. I don’t know about that.
00:46:48:21 – 00:46:56:55
Rebecca Seidel
That my problem is if I listen to it. So I usually I have different podcasts set to different speeds. And my podcast app.
00:46:57:00 – 00:47:00:07
Agent Palmer
Based on, based on the hosts, I’m guessing, or the.
00:47:00:21 – 00:47:26:15
Rebecca Seidel
Type of show. Okay. So often news shows, I’ll have a little bit faster because I just kind of want to get through the information. Okay. Chat shows usually a little faster, something that’s more documentary or narrative, okay. Or something with really intense sound design. Or you can tell a lot of work was put into that side of it, which, to be fair, a lot of work is often put into news shows and chat shows too, of course.
00:47:26:20 – 00:47:43:22
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. But when I really feel like I want to pay attention to how the sound is working. Yeah, that I’ll keep at one x, but but it’s weird when I sometimes I’ll listen to a new show and slow it back down to one x, and then it sounds very slow to me, like I can’t do it.
00:47:43:27 – 00:48:02:50
Agent Palmer
I guess I don’t know because I don’t do it like, so how is this then? Because you and I are like, how does it when you get to the real world and you’re like, I’m, I mean, I mean, I, you know, you and I are from the northeast, right? No secrets. We talk a bit fast to begin with, but I’m not talking at two x or even 1.5.
00:48:02:59 – 00:48:12:14
Agent Palmer
So, like, is it an adjustment, like if you were just listening to a podcast and we started this, like, would you be like, is he talking? So slow? What’s going on?
00:48:12:19 – 00:48:32:11
Rebecca Seidel
Like two I hope not. This feels normal to me okay. All right. If anything. Yeah, I’m always trying to slow myself down when I talk, but yeah, no I don’t. Hopefully we’re not operating at two x speed right now. This feels like a normal speed to me.
00:48:32:16 – 00:48:40:31
Agent Palmer
This. Yeah, I think it depends. This is the geographical thing. Like it just feels normal to me.
00:48:40:36 – 00:48:59:13
Rebecca Seidel
People really do speak at different speeds in different regions. I, went to there’s, I go to this gym class. It’s this gym called Orange Theory. All this to say I go to classes here in Queens usually. But one time I went to a class in Boise, Idaho, okay? And I was like, please talk faster.
00:48:59:18 – 00:49:11:37
Rebecca Seidel
Like she was going so slowly. She was like. And then you do this taking the time to explain everything, being so kind and nice and like speaking at a normal speed. And I couldn’t handle it. It was too slow.
00:49:11:37 – 00:49:21:31
Agent Palmer
Not not a not in northeast speed. No difference.
00:49:21:36 – 00:49:43:47
Agent Palmer
Everyone wants to meet a unicorn. And for creatives, we all hope that we meet one because it means that we can become one for creatives. As you’ve heard on this podcast since its inception, taking breaks and having balance just doesn’t seem to be part of the creative oeuvre. After discussing launching her own podcast and running her first marathon, what’s the quote from Rebecca?
00:49:43:52 – 00:50:14:54
Agent Palmer
I’m very bad at not doing things. Perhaps we’re just programed differently. I always tell you to do the thing, but for those of you who resist, perhaps the balance is what keeps you resisting. I don’t know the answer to that, but I can tell you that being bad at not doing things makes the disconnecting. When Rebecca and I go running all the more precious to us because we are always thinking about what’s next unless we do something about it, such as train for a marathon or run A5K.
00:50:14:59 – 00:50:38:51
Agent Palmer
And to go a step further, we both listen to music when we do so because we both edit audio for a living. And no, I still haven’t gone for a run without music. I’m thinking that maybe one day I might be able to get back to that place, but there was so little going on when I would run to five K’s for a workout in high school with nothing but my own thoughts one day, but not this day.
00:50:38:55 – 00:51:01:38
Agent Palmer
On this day, I thank you for listening to The Palmer Files episode 126. And now for the official business. The Palmer Files releases every two weeks on Tuesdays. If you’re still listening, I encourage you to join the discussion. You can find all related ways to contact Rebecca and myself in the show notes. There you will find links to Rebecca’s podcast abridged, where anyone can become a bridge nerd, with episodes available.
00:51:01:38 – 00:51:19:48
Agent Palmer
Where you’re listening to me right now. And as you’ve heard more on the way, the music for this episode was provided by Henno Heitur. Email can be sent to The Palmer Files at gmail.com. And remember, you’re home for all things. Agent Palmer is Agent palmer.com.
00:51:19:52 – 00:52:00:25
Agent Palmer
You.
00:52:00:30 – 00:52:02:49
Agent Palmer
All right, Rebecca, do you have one final question for me?
00:52:02:56 – 00:52:25:47
Rebecca Seidel
Yes. So you were talking earlier about how you’ve been going on walks more recently? And in the spirit of slowing down and doing things at one speed, what’s something you’ve noticed on one of your walks recently that you’d never noticed before?
00:52:25:51 – 00:52:56:26
Agent Palmer
I nothing recently, but I will say last summer, I smelled honeysuckle and I haven’t done anything with this yet, but I wrote this entire, I don’t know, let’s say 500 to 1000 words thing about how on my walk, I smell the honeysuckle. And when I was like 9 or 10, because I moved back, I bought a house in the neighborhood I grew up in when I was nine and ten.
00:52:56:31 – 00:53:16:33
Agent Palmer
When I was nine and ten, I could find a honeysuckle. I could like pick the thing off. I could rip the thing out and get the juice. First of all, I don’t know if anybody taught me. I don’t know how I learned or anything like that, and I don’t know where that went that that was the realization. Like, I couldn’t identify one.
00:53:16:38 – 00:53:29:08
Agent Palmer
I wouldn’t know where to pick it. I don’t know where that went. I that was the one. Now I’m just looking around going like this. Nice not to look at a screen.
00:53:29:13 – 00:53:29:40
Rebecca Seidel
But it’s.
00:53:29:52 – 00:53:51:04
Agent Palmer
It’s it’s so simple and just kind of like because I take the same walk. But it’s just kind of like getting now, but that, that was the one it was last year. That was the big realization, which is like, Holy moly, where does it go? No, I don’t again, I don’t remember who taught me.
00:53:51:09 – 00:53:51:23
Rebecca Seidel
00:53:51:38 – 00:53:54:51
Agent Palmer
Don’t remember where I learned it. I just know I don’t have it anymore.
00:53:54:56 – 00:53:58:37
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. That feels like something that would stick with you.
00:53:58:42 – 00:54:28:19
Agent Palmer
I don’t I don’t know, I mean, but but it’s gone, like, because I, I the smell is still there, I still identify the smell. But like immediately I was like, I don’t know what I’m looking for. I don’t know, just looking around like what’s what I’m doing? I don’t know, although I will say in the interest of like one ex and I guess fidelity, I run with earbuds, but I walk with cans.
00:54:28:24 – 00:54:29:37
Rebecca Seidel
00:54:29:42 – 00:54:30:56
Agent Palmer
00:54:31:01 – 00:54:31:39
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:54:31:44 – 00:54:38:25
Agent Palmer
That’s, I if I, I used to run with cans, but then I got earbuds and I was like, oh, this is so much cooler.
00:54:38:30 – 00:54:45:11
Rebecca Seidel
See, I run with bone conduction headphones now because I got fancy. Oh, during my marathon training. Have you ever seen those?
00:54:45:24 – 00:54:52:58
Agent Palmer
I’ve seen them, but I’ve never, like. Okay, so how you’ve also done earbuds and cans?
00:54:53:02 – 00:55:04:39
Rebecca Seidel
Yes. Before that I was running with cans. I don’t really like earbuds. I don’t even own a pair of earbuds right now. With cans. Yeah. No, it was terrible. Sweaty as hell.
00:55:04:44 – 00:55:12:59
Agent Palmer
Yeah. Because the first thing you do when you finish, you take them off and you feel immaculate, you’re like, oh my God, it’s so much cooler.
00:55:13:04 – 00:55:32:19
Rebecca Seidel
Absolutely. No, I don’t know how I did that for so long. I still sometimes run. It’s my I have these like overear noise canceling headphones. Probably terrible for running, but I still wear them sometimes in the winter when it’s cold because they double as earmuffs. Yep. Absolutely. That works. But yeah, now I have these bone conduction headphones and they’re so much better.
00:55:32:23 – 00:55:34:45
Rebecca Seidel
Because they don’t even go in your ear at all. That.
00:55:34:45 – 00:55:54:45
Agent Palmer
Okay. I mean, mine have, what do they call awareness mode? Basically, it’s like they turn on the internal mic, but, in case you’re wondering if you’re going to run with awareness mode on, all you hear is wind and you never hear the music.
00:55:54:54 – 00:55:55:32
Rebecca Seidel
Oh, no. Yeah.
00:55:55:32 – 00:56:02:32
Agent Palmer
So I just run with awareness mode off. I’m like, that’s fine. Like I’ll hear a car horn. Yeah, it’s fine.
00:56:02:36 – 00:56:03:10
Rebecca Seidel
It’ll be okay.
00:56:03:23 – 00:56:20:58
Agent Palmer
Yeah. No, I, I very much I try and look around, but I also try and. This isn’t the right word but it’s the only one I got zone out. So I’m not like I’m not going to walk into traffic. But I also couldn’t remember anything and that’s fine. So I just.
00:56:20:58 – 00:56:21:33
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:56:21:38 – 00:56:30:18
Agent Palmer
Until I get home it’s like, all right, I’m all right now. What’s next? Sadly, All right. Got that done.
00:56:30:23 – 00:56:33:36
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:56:33:41 – 00:56:38:32
Agent Palmer
I probably should try and pay more attention, but I I’ve.
00:56:38:32 – 00:56:48:06
Rebecca Seidel
Been trying to because I usually would walk with my overear headphones on as well, but I’ve been trying to leave them at home more and just.
00:56:48:11 – 00:56:48:33
Agent Palmer
And just.
00:56:48:33 – 00:56:53:59
Rebecca Seidel
Walk and just just walk. And I think it’s been a net good for me personally.
00:56:54:03 – 00:56:55:48
Agent Palmer
Okay.
00:56:55:53 – 00:57:16:52
Rebecca Seidel
Just in terms of, you know, I’m at my computer all day like we were talking about, I have my headphones on constantly. I’m editing, I’m listening to breaths. I’m listening to podcasts, listening to music and, you know, I try to challenge myself to not do any of those things when I’m sort of in the walking mode, and I feel like it’s helped me some in a ways.
00:57:16:52 – 00:57:20:11
Rebecca Seidel
I can’t. I can’t tell you exactly how, but that’s fair.
00:57:20:11 – 00:57:37:40
Agent Palmer
I have noticed that when I, when I try and do some like house busy work and stuff, I try and use my actual speakers. So it’s like, look, I know that you and I are going to be like more purist about sound.
00:57:37:45 – 00:57:38:22
Rebecca Seidel
00:57:38:27 – 00:57:55:20
Agent Palmer
But songs sound different over the air with speakers than they do in headphones. And so it’s. Yeah, even though it’s a song I might have heard a lot, or on my walk yesterday, it’s differently. Yeah, it’s just out in the house. So there’s that too.
00:57:55:24 – 00:57:57:00
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah.
00:57:57:05 – 00:57:59:24
Agent Palmer
But.
00:57:59:29 – 00:58:05:40
Agent Palmer
I don’t know, the scare, the scary idea of running with no music.
00:58:05:45 – 00:58:06:33
Rebecca Seidel
I’m not there yet.
00:58:06:46 – 00:58:26:20
Agent Palmer
Going back to the way it used to be. Even a walk. I don’t know that that might be some homework at some point this year, but, the music also keeps me going. So also, I don’t know where my brain would go with no me. I think I might be a little afraid if I’m honest.
00:58:26:24 – 00:58:26:45
Rebecca Seidel
00:58:26:58 – 00:58:34:42
Agent Palmer
Of being like, I’m out now, I’m just going to think about that now. And I don’t have any music to get lost in.
00:58:34:47 – 00:58:37:55
Rebecca Seidel
Yeah. No I totally got that. It is scary.
00:58:38:00 – 00:58:44:29
Agent Palmer
Yeah, yeah. That’s why we make podcasts so other people can get out of their own heads.
00:58:44:33 – 00:58:46:46
Rebecca Seidel
You’re exactly. We’re doing everybody a service.
00:58:46:46 – 00:58:47:39
Agent Palmer
Oh, completely.
–End Transcription–
This transcription was processed by PalmerTech 3.1 and may contain errors for HUMINT (human intelligence).