Hitting Different

I used to pride myself on watching every episode of the Trash Taste Podcast up to its 107th episode. It felt good to get in on all the in-jokes, engage baffling food takes, and see hour-long conversations take introspective tangents week to week. It was a par asocial relationship with no equal.

My journey with the show started with Gigguk, or Garnt, who makes jokey video-essay videos reviewing individual and whole seasons of anime. Finding the podcast through his announcement, I was introduced to new worlds of people.

The three cohosts, Grant, Connor, and Joey, drew me in through their penchant for funny anecdotes and food takes. This quickly drew me to find out what they get up to on their own channels.

I eventually discovered that they each work with a rogue’s gallery of talented creators on a regular basis. Connor has streamed with Ironmouse and explored Japanese subcultures with Shibuya Kato. Joey has made documentary-style videos with Chris Broad and tried sushi with Pewdiepie. Garnt has married fellow YouTuber, Sydsnap, and roasted Emirichu’s food takes. These networks of creators eventually find their way back into the podcast through a combination of host anecdotes and guest appearances. This merging of the podcast's inner world and its members' external careers create a sense of continuity that piques my curiousity week to week.

The podcast's premier gimmick is its 'Trash Taste Specials'. In these types of episodes, hosts engage in an activity or going on a trip somewhere in Japan. Armed with a small camera crew, these episodes often emulate the intrigue of documentary or reality TV. From drifting cars to long-distance cycling, these events take most advantage of the show's video-first format while taking the hosts' rapport out of their comfort zones.

Trash Taste’s compelling variety and quality give the show compelling richness, but focus never drifts from the three hosts’ wellspring of banter, stories, and horrifying food takes.

Duck Duck Goose

Over the years, I’ve found that Trash Taste’s unique qualities often put it at odds with the audio-first podcasts that otherwise dictate my listening habits.

Trash Taste has a parallel RSS feed, making it accessible in the Overcast podcast app off of YouTube. However, its existence as a video-first podcast means that gestures, facial expressions, and video/photo accompaniments get lost in translation. The audio feed’s dynamic ad insertion and constantly-looping, if low-volume, music track further cheapen the experience. While watching on YouTube solves the problem, it’s an inconvenient ask to give that much attention, wi-fi bandwidth, and battery for each two hour episode.

Between the subpar audio experience and the involved YouTube viewing experience, Trash Taste often feels like a high commitment, high reward experience. The hosts’ chemistry is well worth my time, but it’s a bit fussy.

Stock Take

Despite how tedious it can be to enjoy Trash Taste at times, I’ve realised that my podcast-listening taste is heavily dictated by productions that dutifully meet audio-first listening expectations. Chapter markers, clean music-less audio feeds, and general topic specificity in shows like Reconcilable Differences and Roboism help make the listening experience easy and focused. Show notes, host-read ads, and music cues are niceties that elevate shows like MBMBaM and Cortex with sense of professionalism and care. The listening experience is less pleasant when this arbitrary culmination of details is missing, even with a podcast I love as much as Trash Taste.

Even if it doesn’t satisfy my ever-moving podcast quality goalpost, it’s important for me to remain appreciative of what it brings to the table. Only settling for the ‘best of the best’ leaves little imagination for the new and niche. Not every TV show can be House of the Dragon, nor should they have as much graphic violence as it. Not every podcast can be Connected or Upgrade, nor should they all need to focus on tech to sustain good conversation. Maintaining a broader spectrum of quality in my podcast-listening has allowed me to appreciate Trash Taste for what it is without opining what it isn’t.

I still come back to the show for the guests, food takes, and tangents, although I’ve recently gotten more comfortable forging regular commitment in favour of periodically sifting through their backlog. While regular commitment isn’t a priority like with my other audio-first favourites, Trash Taste is my go-to for a pleasantly unconventional production.

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