Listening to The Shift with Sam Baker
II studied audio production in graduate school in New York in my twenties and I volunteered at a radio station in Portland, Oregon in my thirties. Suffice to say, I listen to a lot of podcasts with a discerning ear. The Shift with Sam Baker is a real standout. Many people don't realize that the interview is an art form. It takes experience and craft to guide listeners + inspire and connect with guests. Baker's fierce wisdom and real interest in candor lets each episode be unique.
NO HOLDS BARRED
The premise for the podcast, The Shift with journalist and author Sam Baker is her book, The Shift: How I (lost and) found myself after 40 – and you can too (Coronet, 2020). In her book, Baker writes about her confrontation with ageism and her adventure toward self acceptance. Baker is the former editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan and Red magazine in the UK. "It’s a vital book for any woman who is at the beginning of her radicalisation journey, looking at her life and finally piecing together the personal and the political,” writes Bidisha of The Guardian (September 2020). Baker often describes The Shift podcast as the no holds barred truth about life post forty for women. No holds barred is a fighting term. It was popularized in wrestling in the 1940s to mean anything goes. These days it has come to describe behavior that is uncompromising, limitless or resounding. Where are women after forty in our culture? What are their stories and feelings? Baker set out to listen for their voices. The first episode aired August 25, 2020 with Tasmina Perry. Over fifty episodes have aired and each deserves applause (and a replay!). Baker talks with writers, artists, musicians, novelists, trailblazers, politicians, doctors, caregivers to ask, What was it like to shift to the second part of your lifetime? Some guests interviewed on The Shift podcast are: Mona Eltahawy, Alison Bechdel, Tamsin Calidas, Nana-Ama Danquah, Jojo Moyes, Emma Freud, Sadie Frost, Pragya Agarwal, Salena Godden, Elif Shafak, Gabby Logan, Anita Rani, Terri White, Annie Mac and many more. You can view episodes here.
YOU CAN’T BE WHAT YOU CAN’T SEE.
On the podcast, The Shift with Sam Baker, many guests reflect on how their own paths were not something they sought out or would have predicted for themselves. In an interview with author Isabel Allende, she defines feminism as a way of imagining the future. Many guests voice the crucial need to protect bodies and why they wish to empower young girls. Episodes explore heartache, rage, friendship, career, nourishment, laughter, solitude, family, rebellion, recovery, resilience. To keep up you may need to google these terms: patriarchy, perimenopause, osteoporosis, visibility, misogyny, ageism, imposter syndrome, pivot, cat suit, feminism, diversity, inclusion, crone, torch. What do the listeners say ? Brilliant, sensitive, heartwarming.
What do you really want ?
The guests on the podcast often remark on this one question in particular-how it changed distinctly with their shift past forty, what do you really want? These are actual conversations not curated soundbytes. The conversations on the podcast, The Shift with Sam Baker are intimate, life-affirming, full of revelation and surprises. Baker unpacks and distills curious moments for the listener. Her empathy and natural enthusiasm for her guests is glowing and radiant.
TAKING A DEEP BREATH + PERMISSION TO JUMP
Baker wraps each episode with these questions: What is your emotional age? What is the book you always tell people to read? Who do you admire most and who inspires you? What's your superpower? How many f#@!cks do you give? None! or Okay, Ok, a lot !! Guests will respond with a whisper, a yell, a giggle.
IMAGINING THE FUTURE + LISTEN TO NEW EPISODES
When I listen to The Shift podcast, I hear extraordinary women diving deep into the wreck and rising again to share their stories and triumphs. Find new episodes of The Shift with Sam Baker on Apple podcasts, new episodes release on Tuesdays.