The Tenderness of the Grapes of Rad Podcast
The Seattle-based podcast is tender and hilarious
By Seattle Mag March 11, 2016
One of the things I like about The Grapes of Rad, the Seattle-based podcast featuring Aaron Mason and Nicholas Ahlers, is that much like NPR’s Car Talk and ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption, it features life long friends who obviously love one another and who enjoy engaging in quick conversation.
Topics of the show include Mason’s recent divorce and Ahlers’ brother, PJ, passing away from cancer. Other topics include strange but funny news from Florida, the best new potato chips and ghost impressions. But it’s the tender moments that always strike me the most.
It’s rare that you see two grown men interact with the utmost care for each other’s feelings. And it was on this week’s episode (#281 “Make America Grape Again”) where this was most prevalent. In the episode, Mason and Ahlers were joined by former Grapes podcaster, Ben Parsons, who tragically lost his daughter Phoenix.
Because of Parsons’ and Ahlers’ recent experiences with death, they were able to open up with Mason listening quietly, interjecting occasionally with humor. They could laugh a little amongst the hurt, even snickering at the fact that PJ left behind poetry about cancer and a podcast series, called “I’m Dying Here,” where he talked about–and processed openly–living with a terminal illness.
“I’ve said it before,” Ahlers said at about the 35-minute mark, “but he wanted to make sure [people knew about the podcast]. It helped a lot of people.”
“I had to stop it a couple times at work,” Parsons said, “because I was balling. [I was] building a deck and I’m just like, “Bbbleehh, you’re deck is fucked man! WHO EVEN CARES!”
And the three friends could laugh, even if through sad thoughts and fighting back tears. This conversation happens for a good 30 minutes in the hour-and-twelve minute show and I lapped it up like a thirsty animal.
I’ve always thought podcasts work because they’re the medium of the digital hangout. You want to feel like you’re in the conversation with the hosts and that they’re your friends. And so often we don’t have places to talk or listen to ideas about death, about personal struggle, about losing a brother or a young daughter, or about pain. But Grapes brings that space to listeners.
Listen to The Grapes of Rad podcast here.
Follow Us
Spring Arts Preview: Visual Art
New exhibitions across Seattle offer plenty of reasons to spend an afternoon gallery hopping.
Pioneer Square’s First Thursday crowds may be getting the headlines, but the city’s visual arts scene stretches far beyond one neighborhood. From Belltown to Ballard to Capitol Hill—and even down to Tacoma—galleries and museums are presenting new exhibitions that reward a slow look. Here are the shows we recommend seeing this spring. Indira Allegra: The…
Spring Arts Preview: Theater
Stages across the region are hosting everything from intimate productions to beloved Broadway favorites.
This spring’s theater lineup runs the gamut—from a Tony-winning drama at Seattle Rep to a velvet-roped cabaret in Capitol Hill and the return of one of Broadway’s biggest musicals. These productions offer a look at the range of work happening on local stages right now. Hurricane Diane Written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Madeleine George, Hurricane…
Spring Arts Preview: Dance
This season’s dance offerings put storytelling at their forefronts.
With all the recent buzz around Pioneer Square’s post-pandemic awakening, a lot of people are claiming that the arts are back. In our opinion, they never went away. Seattle’s dance community has continued building new work, from longtime local creators to internationally known choreographers. This spring brings returning classics, world premieres, and festivals highlighting artists…
Earthen Art-Rock
Seattle trio Mt Fog’s music is, at turns, dreamy and feral.
There’s a concept in psychology called “nominative determinism,” where people may be drawn to pursue a career in a field suggested by their name—a substitute teacher named Mr. Fillin, or a polar explorer named Daniel Snowman, for example. It’s a condition that seems to mostly affect Batman villains (you can’t just name your child E….