We all have emotional baggage from our past. It could be regrets for things not done or events handled poorly. Or a slip of the tongue or a traumatic episode that refuses to leave our consciousness.
As Heavyweight podcast host / creator and humorist Jonathan Goldstein notes, "Heavyweight" is meant to suggest the emotional burdens that we carry around, as well as "the connotation of the boxer juxtaposed with the connotation of me . . . the non-boxer."
For six seasons, Jonathan Goldstein has been helping people like you and I try to resolve a moment from their past that they wish they could change.
In each episode, host Goldstein attempts to help a guest find closure for an unresolved question in their lives.
The Atlantic described the podcast by saying, "Each episode finds the host Jonathan Goldstein moderating a fraught moment intensified by years of distance: a time when someone broke a promise, or another person’s heart. The hurt is still there—sometimes for everyone, sometimes for just one person who can’t let something go. Goldstein leads special-ops soul-searching missions, seeking common ground between the aggrieved and the blissfully ignorant."
For example, in October 2021 (episode # 38) Goldstein talks with Justine. Growing up, Justine’s father always told her unbelievable stories about his life: that he was a big winner on Jeopardy; an outlaw who robbed banks armed only with flowers. But now, as an adult, Justine has started to question—are her father’s stories so unbelievable because none of them are true? In the process of fact-checking her dad’s life, something surprising emerges that neither Justine nor Jonathan ever saw coming.
Check out the episode.
In November 2019 (episode # 29) we meet Elyse. When Elyse was 21, her father, Billy, disappeared without explanation. When Elyse finally learned of his whereabouts, she was shocked by the new life he was living. Now, for the first time in five years, Billy and Elyse sit down to talk.
Check out the episode.
While these episodes sound a bit like an audio version of Dr. Phil's TV show, there are so much more. Goldstein, unlike Dr. Phil who is in maximum guest exploitation mode, connects with his guests and travels with the guest as a reassuring friend as they explore their burden.
In the season seven opener, released September 22, called Sara, Goldstein calls Sara, who reads him a handwritten letter from a woman who claims that she and Sara were best friends growing up and she wants to reconnect.
The problem? Sara has no recollection of this person.
What happened? Check out the episode.
Gimlet pitches the show this way: "Maybe you’ve laid awake and imagined how it could have been, how it might yet be, but the moment to act was never right. Well, the moment is here and the podcast making it happen is Heavyweight. Join Jonathan Goldstein for road trips, thorny reunions, and difficult conversations as he backpedals his way into the past like a therapist with a time machine."
But there's essential truth in that statement. The past can be a permanent record of our achievements and proud moments. But it also can act as an echo chamber, reverberating those past events that linger with us.
The Heavyweight podcast acts as a vicarious trip to our own past events, as we learn about ourselves from the experiences of others.
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