Welcome to the first anniversary of Tales Under the Cat Tree. When I started this podcast, I did not think we would be here one year later. Over this past year, I’ve had so many of the amazing people I know, or who are in my extended circle, on air. From ex-colleagues talking about the past to folks talking about their hobbies and their creations today. We’ve explored so many different topics, and I hope you take some time to listen to the many voices that have joined me.
From the Holocaust to immigration, from investments to pop culture, from writing to role-playing games, from music to video games, from war photography to travelling as a tourist.
This brings us to a question a friend asked me recently. Have I found my niche?
This has not been a podcast about a specific topic where I do a variation every week. I don’t have celebrities; I’m neither spouting off angrily nor tilting at windmills most of the time. That just isn’t me, and therefore I choose to produce content that appeals to my own curiosity and creativity. Tales Under the Cat Tree is essentially an audio magazine. The current podcast platforms do not have a category for me. I am everything, but that means in the world of social media and AI, I am also “nothing.” I am likely not being promoted by the various algorithms.
That is completely okay by me.
To put it into perspective, I have supplied almost 24 hours of audio to the world, and over this past year, some four thousand plus unique listeners have come to download one or more of my podcast episodes from all around the world. Though obviously those in Canada, the USA, and Finland rank the highest in my listenership.
I am touched.
If you enjoyed even one episode, it means a lot to me.
The podcast has also given me a sense of grounding in a world that has changed so much in just one year. Since May 11, 2025, this past year has been a year of profound change, from geopolitical explosions and implosions to AI spreading with a speed many of us predicted but with consequences we are only now grappling with.
Every week, I sit down and contemplate what to bring on the air. Do I visit music, writing, or history? Do I tell you a story, or do I have a friend on to tell you a story? Do we scramble up the sides of mountains or plumb the depths of dungeons deep? In a world where our own footing seems precarious, and questioning our very reality becomes the norm, I’m happy to provide a weekly magazine of human exploration.
I’ve enjoyed this so much that I will continue for a while longer! Can I make it one more year? Let’s see. There are just so many more stories to tell, and there are so many of my incredibly talented friends you have yet to meet.
I will continue to keep this absolutely free. However, on my Substack, I will soon enable the ability to donate to the Internet Archive. There will be no difference whether you subscribe with money or not. I will not keep a single cent; any monies you pay will go directly to the Internet Archive. Over this past year, as I have plunged deep into my own content and seen the havoc caused by the unscrupulous use of AI content generation, I feel the work that the Internet Archive does to preserve this medium for generations to come is immeasurable.
Again, subscribe or not, you will get the same content! I’m still working my way through the subscription and charity details on my Substack, so that’s coming later this spring and summer.
Hitting one year reminded me that one of the primary reasons I started this podcast was to air some of my writing and to make fun of myself. So today, no interviews, just some of my writing.
Featured today:
Escape from an arranged marriage
Hold’em
