Podcast Playlist

A Jeopardy episode decades in the making, a radio station for one, and more stories about late bloomers

Dreams don’t have an expiration date. Check out these stories about late bloomers.
This week's podcasts on a beige background with the title of the episode, "Late Bloomers." Podcasts include: Snap Judgment, This is Love, Death, Sex & Money, 70 Over 70, and Grown, a podcast from The Moth.
(Courtesy of podcasts)

This week, we're featuring stories about late bloomers—the folks who achieved their dreams later in life. 

For a woman named Jean Wescott, that dream was Jeopardy! 

The dream started young. Growing up, Jean, her parents, and her seven siblings would all gather around the TV together and watch the show. The family had a competitive streak, and Jean loved playing along, always trying to be the first to shout out the answer. 

It was in the late 1990s when Jean would audition for Jeopardy! herself. She waited 18 months to find out if she'd be on the show, but she never heard back. So she auditioned again...and again...and again. She auditioned for over 20 years. 

Finally she got that fateful call, and nobody was rooting for her more than the family she grew up playing with. The podcast This is Love tells her story. 

Then: Diana Nyad is a long-distance swimmer. If her name sounds familiar, it's because a film was recently released about her 2013 swim from Cuba to Key West, Florida. That's over 150 kilometres. 

She attempted the swim for the first time in her 20s, and finally completed it during her fifth attempt in 2013. She was 64 years old. In the podcast 70 Over 70, Diana Nyad speaks with host Max Linsky about her outlook on getting older, what motivates her, and her harrowing experiences with box jellyfish.


This week's featured podcasts: Snap Judgment, This is Love, Death Sex & Money, 70 Over 70, and Grown, a podcast from The Moth.
(Courtesy of podcasts)

Snap Judgment: "A DJ hosts a radio show from a garden shed in his backyard. For over 40 years he had an audience of one."

This is Love: "After Jean Westcott's first Jeopardy! audition, she waited 18 months to find out if she'd be on the show. She didn't get called, so she auditioned again. And again. She kept auditioning for over 20 years."

Death, Sex & Money: "The 79-year-old musician Beverly Glenn-Copeland tells Anna about coming into his gender identity, 'being cared for' by his bandmates, and the joys—and pitfalls—of finding success later in life."

70 Over 70: "Max talks with Diana Nyad about her epic, record-breaking swim from Cuba to Key West at age 64, how her relationship to her body has changed since then, and what she expects from it going forward."

Grown, a podcast from The Moth: "Apple cake. Pizza. Dinner parties. In this mouthwatering (sorry) episode, food connects everyone. Luna Azcurrain creates a Thanksgiving tradition with her grandfather, and Lu Levin desperately tries to grow up."



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