It was said

Audioblogs, as they were originally called, gained momentum in 2004 as broadband internet access increased. Podcasting in 2022 gives listeners shows about financial advice, history, true crime, self-help, current events, religion, sports commentary, cooking and education. Some are just fun and funny. I’ve mentioned some I enjoy in a previous column, and now I’d like to give you another recommendation.

Before you older folks think this medium is not for you, please reconsider. I am in that category myself and have found it to be user- and listener-friendly. Your smartphone probably comes with the podcast app. It is a purple icon. Click on it, do some searching involving your interests, and bet you find a podcast is out there to suit your fancy. Most are free; some are through a provider such as Wondery, which might run you $4.99 a month and is commercial or ad-free. I don’t mind the ads, so I listen for free.

My new favorite is one called “It Was Said,” hosted by Pulitzer Prize–winning writer/historian Jon Meacham. In this podcast, which is now into season two, Meacham narrates the stories and people behind some powerful speeches. Many of the speeches are not as well-known as the Gettysburg Address or John F. Kennedy’s inauguration address in 1961. Rather, Meacham highlights the orations of wellknown world figures giving speeches that may not be in history books.

A good historian’s lens is one of balancing objectivity with subjectivity. Meacham does not reflect a calculated bias but more of an appreciation for speeches that tell us what we need to hear. From Margaret Thatcher’s unpopular economic policies, Meacham recalls her address called “The Lady’s Not for Turning.” Listeners hear Great Britain’s first woman prime minister spell out the most concise argument for conservatism.

Kennedy’s 1962 speech at Rice University makes the Meachum cut, too. “We Choose to Go to the Moon” puts in motion a dream which becomes a reality. Words can do that.

Margaret Chase Smith and Nelson Mandela are included in Meacham’s season two podcast, too. Smith, the first woman U.S. Senator, took on Joseph McCarthy in 1950 with “The Declaration of Conscience.” On another continent a decade later, Mandela told a jury “I Am Prepared to Die before” being sentenced to Robben Island.

A podcast’s success depends on a good voice. Meacham carries that weight. But make no mistake, the real stars of the show are the words which mattered then and continue to resonate today.

Snyder, Texas, native Sue Jane Sullivan is a retired schoolteacher whose thought-provoking commentary appears occasionally in several West texas newspapers, including The Texas Spur and The Caprock Courier.