How have I never heard of this podcast before?
I’ll tell you why. I’ve never really felt compelled to listen to podcasts, because who has the time really? I listen to the Patcast (and I even wrote about it here), but I only choose the episodes where I know who the guests are. Because c’mon, podcasts are about an hour long, and I’ve lost sleep many nights trying to finish them.
But this podcast is ALL about U2. Scott Aukerman and Adam Scott (Hey, Parks and Recreation!), collectively known as U2 superfan Adam Scott Aukerman (or sometimes just The Scotts), just talk about U2 all the live long day.
Well, in theory. In theory, they’re supposed to discuss a couple of U2 albums in depth per episode – three-album cycles, they call it. But being friends, their conversations inevitably go into tangents which then go into other tangents, until sometimes a whole episode goes by and they have not talked about U2 yet. But it is incredibly funny. They get to talking about movies, leading to what they call episodes of “I Love Films” within the podcasts. Sometimes the topics get to be as random as dogs, farts and astronauts. I know, maybe it’s a guy thing.
The best thing is when they do talk about U2. The Scotts are exactly the type of fans I like. You can tell that they truly love the band. They grew up with them and their music, being teenagers when the earlier albums like “War” and “The Unforgettable Fire” came out. But they can also say when they don’t like a song. Unequivocally and honestly. The way we would if we were talking to friends who are also fans. This is what I love about them. I feel like I can actually be friends with them and I wouldn’t feel insecure about not knowing a certain album very well, or not liking a supposed fan favorite. (But I still don’t get why they hate “When Love Comes To Town”. And I mean hate. But that’s okay.)
(Another side note: Adam Scott admitted that his favorite band may actually be R.E.M. which, what the hell, guy? Why would you say that? You started a podcast about U2!)
Now that I’ve discovered the podcast, it has been a real education for me. I only got into U2 around the Pop era, so I missed out on a lot. I loved the “Rattle and Hum” episode because I think I finally got what all the hullabaloo was about that record and the whole Americana thing.
The worst part about it though, is that I’m about a year behind on the episodes (as usual). And their last episode was in August. And they’re not sure if they’ll do more episodes. Why? Now this is also the best part. From the first episode in, they were already jokingly inviting Bono to do the podcast with them. It was always done in a silly way because really, who would expect Bono or anyone from U2 to do a podcast? But guess what. For their last episode, the universe gave them a big fat gift wrapped in a big red bow in the form of the band – the actual, complete band – sitting down with them for a whole hour. U2. Being interviewed by two superfans. For a podcast. Aaarrrgghhh. I tell you there are very few times that I’m genuinely happy for other U2 fans getting to meet the band, and this is one of them. The Scotts were just so normal and goofy and just everything we all imagine we would be if we were ever in the same room as all four of U2. There were even some outright cringe-y moments, in the way you can imagine superfans would try too hard to overcompensate for being too fangirly, but that’s totally understandable because we all would have done way worse.
And the band was so nice. There’s just no other way to describe it. They were gracious, answered the questions thoughtfully, did not take themselves too seriously and did their prep and totally got the spirit of the podcast. Did you know that they like Modern Family? And that Bono is now a bit of a Beatles fangirl? I did not. I tell you, that whole podcast got me grinning like a goofy idiot (and laughing maniacally in most parts).
LOOK! LOOK AT THIS!
Bono (or Bonobos, as The Scotts have come to call him) even gave them a present. Awww.
If you’ve been living under a bigger rock than I am and if you haven’t heard this yet, please. Go check out the podcast here. (Assuming you’re a fan, of course.) You’re welcome!
(Images from earwolf.com)
mister beebop 