Instead of taking to social media, I decided to post this message here in the Blog.
As some of you may know, I am not a writer. I just don’t enjoy it. I like to talk, I like to listen, and I like to read. I don’t like to write.
But I now feel it necessary to make a statement about the creation, rise, longevity, and demise of Speaking of Jung’s Quarantine Series.
I created it as an outlet, a way of staying connected to people during my extended time at home during the lockdown. Never did I imagine it would hurt Speaking of Jung as much as it did. I am shocked and saddened by the backlash.
In March 2020, a mandatory lockdown was instituted where I live in the city of Chicago. Nothing unique, as most if not all of you experienced the same situation. I stopped traveling, which, as everything is relative, might not mean much to some people but to me it was a major change in lifestyle.
None of us knew how long the lockdown would last. At first we were told two weeks. Here in Chicago it lasted 447 days.
I live in a multi-story condominium structure in a very densely-populated area of the city. There are a lot of us in this building, on this street, in this neighborhood, in the 3rd largest city in the United States. Which means stepping outside my door has been a bit riskier than, say, for my friend who lives in the high desert of Northern New Mexico where there isn’t a soul in sight.
The thought of being shut in – shops were closed, restaurants were closed, gyms were closed, grocery stores had long lines to get in – had me a bit anxious, so as a way to stay sane and connected I decided to spend all the extra time at home recording additional episodes of the podcast. Instead of one episode per month I did one per week.
I’d always wanted to interview who I call my “interesting friends.” Have them talk about what they do, the way they see the world, without judgement. Just talk. Not debate, not question, just talk. I thought I’d do a handful of episodes. I wound up doing twenty-two.
I am not a professional podcaster. It is something I do in my spare time. Speaking of Jung is not a business. I don’t sell t-shirts and coffee mugs. You don’t have to pay for a subscription. I don’t have a Patreon account. I’m not going to ask you for your money. (Hell, we give away a book every Friday on Twitter!) Speaking of Jung is free to consume. In return for that, I don’t owe anybody anything. I do it my way. And I do as much or as little as I like.
When I created Speaking of Jung in 2015 I did not imagine I’d still be recording episodes in 2021. But here we are. And now I’ll get to why I’m writing what is turning out to be an essay.
When I created the Quarantine Series, I hadn’t thought it through. I didn’t expect to do 22 episodes. (It ended with Ep. Q21 but there is an Ep. Q19.5, so that makes 22.) I did not organize it in a clear way. Looking back, I could have created a separate podcast, or a separate section of this podcast. But I didn’t want to go through all that trouble for what I thought would be just a few episodes I did for fun. All I did was put a capital letter “Q” for “quarantine” in front of the episode number and proceed.
Unbeknownst to me there was, at the time, a conspiracy theory afoot called Q-Anon. And when some of our listeners saw the big Q that I was using to designate the Quarantine Edition episodes they wondered if it was a “whistle call” to Q.
Wow. What a reach. And a sign of the times.
I will say right here and now that it had absolutely nothing to do with Q-Anon.
One of my little quirks is that I am somewhat obsessed with fonts. I’ve been collecting them since the 1990s. I spent months choosing the fonts for this website. When I got married back in 1992 I agonized for weeks over selecting a font for the wedding invitations. They both had one thing in common: a long-tailed capital letter Q. I just like it.
I am quirky. I am odd and I can be eccentric. And I own it.
I also like interesting people. I like having friends who think differently than I do, have lived in places I haven’t, and believe in things I don’t. It makes life interesting. And it adds to my wholeness.
For the Quarantine Series, I recorded episodes with a world-renowned astrologer, a beloved African American photographer, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, the daughter of comedian George Carlin, a geologist, a professor of religious history who is currently featured on a new series on SHOWTIME, a New York Times best-selling author, and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist.
I also recorded with some lesser-known individuals who made some outrageous claims, and others who were quite open about their political views. I let everyone speak. But not about Jung. And that seemed to confuse some of the listeners.
I want to apologize for not making a clearer distinction between Speaking of Jung: Interviews with Jungian Analysts and Speaking of Jung: The Quarantine Series. I thought it was obvious. I guess I was just too close to the situation.
I lost a lot of listeners over this. Lesson learned.
So I’m back, back from Summer Hiatus and out from under lockdown. Although I’m still not traveling, and still have extra time at home, I’ve found other things to do. I will resume with one episode per month and Jungian analysts only, with a few rare exceptions.
Thank you for reading. And for listening.
Speaking of Jung lives on.