In Praise of the Most Perfect Podcast Theme Song Ever
As heard on the show ‘Heavyweight,’ a track by the Weakerthans expresses the beauty of life’s smallest and most consequential moments.
Confession: I still feel a little guilty listening to podcasts. Mainly because there’s always a faint voice in the back of my skull telling me I could—should—be listening to music instead. It depresses me that there is a generation of people who’ve spent more time parasocially hanging out with Joe Rogan or Alex Cooper in their headphones than establishing bonds with bands and lyrics and albums. While I personally don’t devote hours of my listening life to those particular personalities, I do frequently, mindlessly tap on The Daily to momentarily engage with a hellbent world, or The Lonely Island and Seth Myers Podcast to momentarily escape the realities of that same world. And, maybe as a byproduct of my aforementioned shame, I can’t help but pay attention to how shows like these use music to set a mood or make a point.
No podcast does this better than Heavyweight, hosted by veteran Canadian American broadcaster Jonathan Goldstein. The show began in 2016, was cancelled by Spotify two years ago (yet another reason to loathe the company), and made its triumphant return with new backers Pushkin Industries this September. I remember listening to its initial run while heading to my weekly bowling league, using it as a distraction from the Hillary vs. Trump clamor that election year—then taking refuge in subsequent seasons, when the show reminded me of the powers of compassion and empathy at a time when such things felt obsolete. There is no other podcast quite like it, and it is the only one I’ve ever heard that’s as emotionally rewarding as some of my favorite music.
