Why We Miss The "Heavyweight" Podcast So Much?

 The Heavyweight podcast ran for eight seasons, 58 episodes, from September 2016 until December 2023. Hosted by Jonathan Goldstein, the show was arguably one of the best shows in the podcasting world. In December 2023, Spotify canceled Heavyweight, along with Stolen and laid off 1,500 employees. The stock price of Spotify jumped up by six percent on those three news items.

Why was Heavyweight targeted for cancellation?

First, it is a resource-intensive show, with money spent on research and travel.  

As one Reddit user commented: "Spotify dropped them, as others have mentioned. I know it’s an expensive show to make, but I have faith it’ll get picked up somewhere. If you listen to the latest episode, Johnathan makes it pretty clear they want to continue the show if at all possible." 

Second, as others have noted, two dudes "shooting the shit" on a Spotify podcast costs considerably less than Heavyweight. There are no research expenses, and typically the "two dudes" just wing it on their podcast interviews with their guests.  

Six months have gone by with no rumors about the resurrection of Heavyweight. Therefore, I'd like to familiarize those who have never listened to the show with its themes and episodes. Even if you have listened, this article can serve as a reminder to go back and listen to some of the show's episodes.

 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 eight seasons, Jonathan Goldstein helped people like you and I try to resolve a moment from their past that they wish they could change.

 In each episode, host Goldstein attempted 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 pitched 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. 

Through eight seasons, host Jonathan Goldstein told intriguing, challenging and heartwarming stories, helping people dig through both difficult and fascinating moments in their pasts and resolve their unanswered questions.

Here are the riveting stories told from my favorite season:
●      #44 Sara
○      Description: Sara received a letter from a woman with the exact same name as her. In it, the woman claimed to be her childhood best friend. The only problem? Sara doesn’t remember this person. At all.
●      #45 Sgt. John Kapphahn
○      Description: When Melanie was a kid, she recorded Billy Ray Cyrus’s 1993 TV Special over something irreplaceable: the sole copy of an interview her father did on Walter Cronkite after being injured in Vietnam. Thirty years later, she wants to make things right.
●      #46 Dan
○      Description: On Dan’s first date with his wife Nancy, a stranger took their photograph. Nineteen years later, Dan wants the photo back. But to get it, he'll have to face the last person he wants to.
●      Heavyweight Short: Cody
○      Description: One day in high school, Cody received a hug that melted his heart. Sixteen years later and he still can’t stop thinking about it.
●      #47 Frederick J. Brown
○      Description: Maia found a painting in the garbage and took it home. But as it turned out, it wasn’t just any painting.
●      #48 Ben
○      Description: Ben was just a kid when Sihan arrived from Korea. He lived with Ben’s family for several years. And then one day, just as suddenly as he’d arrived, Sihan was gone. Ben has been trying to find him ever since.
●      #49 Another Roadside Attraction
○      Description: When Stephanie was in high school, a bookstore seemingly dropped out of the sky into her small Texas town. Then, just as quickly, it was gone.
●      Heavyweight Short: Jesse & Tori
○      Description: For Jesse, Tori has always been the one that got away.
●      #50 Nick
○      Description: Is Nick hearing his dead brother’s voice in a song by a Grammy-nominated musician?

  The Heavyweight podcast acts as a vicarious trip to our own past events, as we learn about ourselves from the experiences of others.

Check out Heavyweight. The show may be gone, but it's not forgotten.