Navel Gazing - Podcast Rankings and reviews

John’s Navel Gazing is the podcast equivalent of the great American classic books of years past. It often seemed like listening to a modern Steinbeck novel. It’s at once deeply thoughtful and at the same time delightfully lighthearted. In an environment where everything is turned up to an 11, it’s refreshing to spend some time listening to insightful, yet leisurely meandering thoughts. I hope there’s a season 2. I think we could all use more of something like this.

What a pleasure it is to listen to one of the great American voices of all time showcase his fine writing. Maybe a touch flowery once or twice, but that’s exactly what happens when we journal, write unedited for ourselves. Sounds authentically “Dickerson”. John’s podcast is so moving. His observations and his life are beautiful.

Sure some podcasts are great for the knowledge they impart as one listens, but for my time I’d rather learn in an experience and that’s what Navel Gazing has created in each episode. The structure, the sound, the percussion, the reading, and the humanity bring a smile to my face. John Dickerson is evokes the best of EB White, another great correspondent of life, in his writing and in his performance.

The term “navel gazing” doesn’t have to be pejorative. It derives from the Greek “omphaloskepsis,” to describe a meditative practice of focusing on the navel in contemplating the mysteries of the universe (the umbilicus being, after all, a sort of portal to our past and to the infinite, by which we all came into being).

This is just one of the many fascinating trivia you can pick up from listening to John Dickerson ruminating on this podcast in conversation with various past John Dickersons. It is a wonderful thing.

I love John Dickerson on the Slate Political gabfest, but I found this show intolerable. It’s far too long, the writing is muddled and unclear, the point is elusive, and the delivery is stilted and formal. The conceit of the show (revisiting pages from old journals) has its charms, but anecdotes — if you can call them that — are deeply uninteresting and difficult to parse through the endless digressions. Listening to this podcast is like being trapped in an elevator with your least favorite coworker.

Maybe it’s me, but for the life of me I cannot understand what heck is going on here. I feel so badly because I’m a huge fan and regularly delight in John’s analysis and journalism and I really want this to succeed.

If anyone at Slate HQ is reading this — episodes need to be shorter, punchier, and articulate clearer point. The current attempts at humor are not working. The delivery style needs to be lighter and looser.