Ambies 2025 Judging Wrap-up
The one about judging The Ambies and learning from great podcasts
This year, I had the privilege and the pleasure of being a Blue Ribbon Panelist Judge for The Ambies celebrating excellence in podcasting. Now that voting has closed, I would love to share some of the episodes that I was compelled to tell people about after I listened to them. There's a bit of everything here, so I hope you find something new to listen to.
The Ambies is on March 31st and will be streamed live on Twitch at 6pm CST.
I would also be remiss if I didn't spruik my own podcast, STEAM Powered, which I didn't submit to The Ambies, but if I'm going to be encouraging you to listen to podcasts, one of them is going to be mine.
For the rest, consider this a playlist. In fact, here is an actual playlist for your listening pleasure.
Tomorrow's Cure - How 3D printing is used in medicine (YouTube)
Medicine is one of my favourite spaces for STEAM and interdisciplinary innovation. In this episode of Tomorrow's Cure, we learn about how 3D printing facilitates personalised medicine.
"We spend a lifetime learning the three-dimensional world and holding objects in our hand. And actually, a large part of your brain is devoted to the sense of touch. So this is driving understanding in a way that visual understanding doesn't work."
— Dr Jonathan Morris, Mayo Clinic
From a patient-centred healthcare perspective, 3D printing provides end-to-end benefits resulting in better patient outcomes. Communication is improved because patients can now see and even handle models relating to their condition and what will be involved in their care. Along with digital twins, the surgical team can more effectively pre-plan procedures which can reduce risk and time in the operating theatre. If you watch hospital dramas, they've been showcasing various iterations of this for some time.
Bespoke assistive devices can be printed and bio-manufacturing can create scaffolds or implants tailored to the patient. As the technology for hardware and software improves and becomes more accessible, patients could also co-design solutions with their care-givers, and in some cases, 3D print their own assistive devices at home without having to attend a hospital. There's already precedent for co-design as one of the earliest instances that I've seen of this is is Tal Golesworthy's TED Talk, How I repaired my own heart about the surgery he had in 2004. In any case, there are so many friction points in healthcare, and empowering patients while taking some of the load off the hospital system feels like a win-win.
There is even skill-transfer potential here for those experienced in SFX and visualisations often seen used in Hollywood (see aforementioned hospital dramas) because those skills are needed to build on what's being developed in the medical space. Jonathan has even said they target job listings towards that skill area for that reason. So, if you're in SFX and looking for a change of scenery…
All There Is with Anderson Cooper - Andrew Garfield's Grief
Bit of a mood drop, but grief is a topic that gets spoken about a lot but still not enough.
all there is is an online grief community with an accompanying podcast. In this episode, Andrew Garfield shares his experience with grief, and the profound impact that facing the loss of his mother had on him.
"So if I cry, it's only like, it's only a beautiful thing. This is all the unexpressed love, right? The grief that will remain with us, you know, until we pass. Because we didn't— We never get enough time with each other, right? No matter if someone lives till 60, 15 or, you know, 99. So I hope this grief stays with me because it's all the unexpressed love that I didn't get to tell her."
— Andrew Garfield
The rest is Andrew's story to share, but it's a beautiful and honest conversation with Anderson Cooper about the depth of grief and the ways it can shape you.
If you would prefer to read than to listen, the transcript is also available on the episode page.
Artist Friendly with Joel Madden - Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (YouTube)
I was pleasantly surprised by this conversation between Joel Madden, lead vocalist of Good Charlotte, and Dwayne Johnson. This is not intended with judgement, but I just hadn't expected this 'lighter' conversation to lead into some very personal reflections on generational trauma, less than optimal familial dynamics, and the resulting healing (this is a good thing).
It was also a fascinating glimpse into the career grind artists face, their experiences with scarcity mindset, and its long-lasting effects and impact on work ethic. Scarcity mindset, like its close friend imposter syndrome, loves to mess with people even once they achieve stability or security, and you don't have to be a previously-suffering artist to have experienced it yourself.
"If there's anything you want to do, give it a fucking shot. And bet on yourself. Give it a shot, because even in the shot, in the effort of it, even if it doesn't shake out the way you want it to shake out, there's some magic that happens in the effort and that you walk away and if you don't get the thing that you wanted to get, it may lead you down another path where you go, oh shit, look at this thing, maybe that's what my path is."
— Dwayne Johnson
There were some nice and relatable moments here, and drew to a close with a reminder that in this noisy world, you should think about the example you want to set, be generous of heart and spirit (not just of wallet), and no matter what, carry yourself with grace.
The Integrated Schools Podcast - The Demands and Promises of Integration with John Blake (YouTube)
John Blake is the author of More Than I Imagined: What a Black Man Discovered About the White Mother He Never Knew and he grew up as a closeted biracial person. There's a lot to unpack in this episode about that alone, but we also learn that he was raised in a very racist environment at a time when interracial marriage was illegal, his mother vanished from his family's life when he was still a baby, and her family rejected him because of race.
John's book and this conversation are about the racial attitudes he absorbed from his environment, and after discovering what happened to his mother in his late-teens, his journey to understanding and accepting his identity as he reestablished his connection with his mother's family.
"If you really wanna see the magic happen, get people with different races together for a larger common purpose that goes beyond race."
— John Blake
There were things in this episode relating to race and integration that I was surprised to learn (for various reasons including geography and intersectionality) and others, upon reflection, I recognised either from my own experiences or the experiences of those I have known. There's quite a bit to sit with from these pops of insight and it prompted a few conversations with people in my life about their experiences with plenty more to mull over.
Time Sensitive - Viet Thanh Nguyen on the Need to Recognize Coexisting Truths
Viet Thanh Nguyen is a novelist who won a Pulitzer for his debut novel The Sympathizer which is now a mini-series.
What struck me about this conversation was the idea of 'giving voice to the voiceless' and how there is luxury and privilege in being a person who is able to carry that voice and an equal burden of obligation tied to that same privilege in the face of "narrative scarcity" in minority communities.
And how that sense of obligation carries a risk of nostalgia leading to sanctification when the reality is that there is imperfection and we shouldn't be afraid to express that as well when trying to convey what our culture is. This will be a topic for another day from me, but it's a conversation that has come up often in a variety of contexts around representation.
On the 'voiceless', there is also this as food for thought:
"We know of course there’s really no such thing as the ‘voiceless’. There are only the deliberately silenced, or the preferably unheard."
— Arundhati Roy
This conversation addresses another one of my favourite ponderables which is the concept of identity and memory over time. Again, a topic for another day but if you're looking for something to reflect on, have a listen.
This episode link also includes the transcript.
That's it for my fave faves and honestly, the topics raised in all of these each deserve a whole post of their own. It got a little weighty at the end, so if you need a palate cleanser, I can also recommend Dragon Age: Vows and Vengeance - Episode 1: Once a Thief… (YouTube). I haven't played the game, but the production quality, voice acting, and writing in this is excellent. I've queued up the rest.
Thanks for reading, and see you next time!
Stay curious.
— Michele