I Better Start Writing This Down: A Podcast by Joe Stracci. Stories and Sound Design. Meticulously-edited, obsessively-produced, far from perfect, but always thoughtful. I leave a lot out when I tell the truth.
When I wrote this piece for my podcast eight years ago, I had no idea what was coming.
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
I step into the day; I step into myself; I step into the mystery.
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
I’ll eat you up, I love you so.
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
It occurred to me one day that we were always peripherally close, but that we bonded over self-destruction.
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
Suicide is a lot like poison ivy.
*Ed. Note: This episode contains a frank discussion of suicide. If that’s a trigger for you, consider skipping this one. If you do choose to listen though, remember that you can always call 1-800-273-8255, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, and speak with someone right now.*
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
If anybody deserves the benefit of the doubt, it’s a one-day-old.
*Ed. Note: This episode contains a frank discussion of a newborn’s death. If this is a trigger for you, consider skipping it until you’re in a different headspace. And I hope that you find that place in the future.*
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
For my wife and I, with our third baby, things felt different.
We were—happy.
*Ed. Note: this episode contains crudely-recorded audio from the labor room. I did my best to smooth everything out and not have the levels fluctuate too much, but between limited talent, and the shortcomings of the recording, there’s still some quiet parts I wish were louder, and some loud parts I wish were quieter. Please try not to miss the quiet gold (think: headphones), and please don’t fault me for the fetal heart monitor announcing itself (that digital big dog bark).*
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
I’ve been thinking a lot about dead people lately.
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
The kings of comedy are at the height of hilarity in these outstanding film classics.
—
Season 3 of I Better Start Writing This Down—coming this Fall.
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
I can talk to the winds.
—
Season 3 of I Better Start Writing This Down—coming this Fall.
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
When I was a kid, my father showed me a card trick.
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
What they wanted — was a Trump.
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
I feel like I owe all of you—well, some of you—an apology.
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
I’ll finish this and we’ll just have a quiet year. We’ll hunker down with our jobs and our apartment. The days will run right. We’ll have a quiet year.
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart. Audible has over 150,000 titles to choose from. However, one title that I think IBSWTD listeners would enjoy, that is not available on Audible, is:
“Whitney” by Joe Stracci
Download the ebook or buy a paper copy of “Whitney” on Amazon.
The lights are on—and then eventually, they are more on.
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart. Audible has over 150,000 titles to choose from. One title that I think IBSWTD listeners would enjoy is:
"No Country for Old Men" by Cormac McCarthy
To download “No Country For Old Men” for free, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.
You will not be laid to rest in the depths of the Washington State Convention Center.
You will, however, feel like dying there.
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart. Audible has over 150,000 titles to choose from. One title that I think IBSWTD listeners would enjoy is:
"Fight Club" by Chuck Palahniuk
To download “Fight Club” for free, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.
Food is one of the strongest carriers of memory, of tradition.
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart. Audible has over 150,000 titles to choose from. One title that I think IBSWTD listeners would enjoy is:
“Food: A Love Story” by Jim Gaffigan
To download “Food: A Love Story” for free, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.
The New York Times Magazine article that I mentioned is called “Memories of Meals Past.” It was published on October 30th, 2015.
I’m about to flog my mother’s cooking.
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart. Audible has over 150,000 titles to choose from. One title that I think IBSWTD listeners would enjoy is:
“Food: A Love Story” by Jim Gaffigan
To download “Food: A Love Story” for free, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.
The New York Times Magazine article that I mentioned at the beginning of the show is called “Memories of Meals Past.” It was published on October 30th, 2015.
The epigraph is from a New York Times piece by Jacques Pépin called “Jacques Pépin’s Food Memories.” It was published on December 8th, 2015.
Thirty years ago, an initial Christmas that lives on only as a wooden ornament, a popular children’s television show character cradling the appropriate numeral, a red ribbon, a slow, steady cursive on the back: 1984.
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart. Audible has over 150,000 titles to choose from. One title that I think IBSWTD listeners would enjoy is:
“Holidays on Ice” by David Sedaris
To download “Holidays on Ice” for free, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.
For such a fastidious person, my mother couldn't keep a computer digitally clean to save her life.
—
Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Consider supporting the show at patreon.com/ibetterstart.
Read this episode’s script (as well as the entire IBSWTD archive) at medium.com/@ibetterstart.
I Better Start Writing This Down is sponsored by Audible. For a free audiobook download and a 30 day free trial, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart. Audible has over 150,000 titles to choose from. One title that I think IBSWTD listeners would enjoy is:
“The Cartel” by Don Winslow
To download “The Cartel” for free, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.