1 rich Libsyn https://www.libsyn.com 90 600 THIS IS NOT A VERY GOOD EPISODE OF THE WALKING PODCAST.&amp;nbsp; A few weeks ago, for reasons I explain in this episode’s ad break, I decided to try something new: instead of a traditional sponsor for each episode, I’d start asking people I admire to tell me about a non-profit or philanthropic organization that they believe in, and then I’d tell you, the listeners, about it. (I would call this innovation “Philanth-ertizing.”) One of the first people to reply was Hrishikesh Hirway, who told me about a great organization (see below.) I wrote back: “Perfecto! I’ll do this next week!&quot; Well, I did not do Hrishi's Philanthertizement next week. Or the week after, or the week after that. In fact, ever since, it’s like I’ve been cursed. I went to record the next episode of the show and my recorder broke. I recorded an episode using a backup recorder, but then couldn’t get the file off it. Then I got sort of busy and it slipped my mind that I make a podcast. (Probably not part of the curse, but who’s to say; could be a mind-curse.) Three weeks went by—no new episodes. Finally, one night after dinner, I laced up my shoes, switched on my new rig, and walked out the door to get this episode done. It did not go smoothly. It was dark. I had a headlamp on. But just as I got to the end of the driveway, the headlamp started flickering—then zonked out. So I turned tail, back to the house, to fetch another headlamp—and just as I did, my phone started chiming with texts from a friend. (I’d forgotten to silence it.) Inside, I tried to hug my daughter and knocked her over. Then, back outside and finally walking, I got dive-bombed by a bat. Then another bat. Then, I discovered a tremendous tree had fallen over the trail! Then, as I stood in front of the tree, talking into my recorder, trying to explain “Philanth-ertizing” so I could get to Hrishi’s ad, I got dive-bombed by a couple more bats. Then finally, after some more walking, when I was almost home, an owl flew right in front of me, very low, like a swift white phantom, and scared me shirtless. Anyway, here it is: a cursed and atypical episode of the WALKING podcast.&amp;nbsp; This week’s walk is sponsored by Hrishikesh Hirway on behalf of Women’s Audio Mission, an organization that brings the art and science of audio engineering to women and gender non-conforming people. Please consider supporting the work they do. Thank you, Hrishi, for letting us know about them. The WALKING podcast https://www.jonmooallem.com/ <iframe title="Libsyn Player" style="border: none" src="//html5-player.libsyn.com/embed/episode/id/13104428/height/90/theme/custom/thumbnail/yes/direction/forward/render-playlist/no/custom-color/88AA3C/" height="90" width="600" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen></iframe> https://assets.libsyn.com/secure/item/13104428