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.
Posted in: Podcast
When I wrote this piece for my podcast eight years ago, I had no idea what was coming.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.*
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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.*
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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).*
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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.
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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.
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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.
Once, when you were young, you and your father were in the car driving down a city street. A siren blared out from behind. Your father pulled over and took the opportunity to explain the laws for emergency vehicles.
“Pull over. Give them room. Where those trucks are going, people needed help.”
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Find out more information about I Better Start Writing This Down at ibetterstart.net.
Today’s episode was produced by Joe Stracci, and written by Ryan Mecklenburg.
Consider supporting the show at patreon.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 Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” by Michael Chabon
To download “The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” for free, go to audibletrial.com/ibetterstart.