Hyperfixed

The Reply All split is an interesting study in the symbiotic relationship that makes for engaging dynamics. After that pod’s demise, host P. J. Vogt went on to create Search Engine, and his co-host, Alex Goldman, has developed this very similar pod, Hyperfixed. Really, they both took the DNA of the pod they created together and their two personalities peeled off one another to conjure the weird yin and yang of their solo projects. Vogt, the admittedly anxious ball of nerves whose sense of things trends toward the paranoid — even when the subject isn’t — and Goldman, who always sounds like he’s surprised his nerdy endeavor is actually a thing. Together they both balanced each other out — the dark and the light — but also sparked off each other in a way that was really amusing at times. Solo, it’s almost too much of one and not enough of the other. And while Vogt is clearly doing some work on himself, Goldman is just going to be that goofy, sometimes bordering on sunny, guy. I mean, what the fuck, dude?

And, no, not having a gray cloud over your head is not a bad thing. But there is also some seriousness that Hyperfixed lacks. And in that way, I guess it hones pretty close to Reply All. Goldman’s more affable nature and interest in niche questions sent to him by listeners brings with it that energy you used to get as the tag at the end of your local newscast. The “human interest” story. The one that, after all the stories about murders and crooked politicians and sinkholes that swallowed a family in their VW, make you kind of smile and realize that all of humanity isn’t a terrible pit of despair. Because some lady is 105 and still smokes cigars and loves cats and still goes square dancing with her great, great granddaughter. Or the guy in Queens with the biggest collection of beer bottle labels in the world who also happens to be a third-generation sanitation worker and is damned proud of his roses he grows next to the Marry in a bathtub in front of his Astoria townhouse. You know the ones.

Now, imagine those stories and make them way nerdier. More niche. And add in the “mystery” angle that Goldman loves. The quirky interest in license plates. Lost media. The reason why dumb Americans use an equally dumb measuring system when baking. Or, his latest — and honestly, hardest hitting — mystery about why there’s a black market for cat drugs. Which is a three-part series. The ask-the-Internet type shows are not singular, of course, but Goldman’s approach is both entertaining and informative and generally not anxiety inducing or self-referential the way his former co-host’s can be. He’s like the very curious geek whose questions and desire to learn is infectious but not threatening or probing in a way that would uncover something larger and deeper about humanity. Even in the cat drug series, “The Cat Drug Black Market,” when he warns that his questioning of one of the women involved in the report gets super awkward and contentious, it really doesn’t. I mean he brings up some awkward questions — basically the insinuation that some volunteers working to import black market cat drugs from China to battle a fatal cat disease, FIP, were actually profiting from their volunteer work — but even his awkward is still pretty mild. I suppose everyone’s level of uncomfortable is different, but when you start from a place where you’re generally talking about Star Trek ephemera and people’s dopey Shopify issues, I suppose lightly pressing a random lady about her Facebook group’s potential cat scam is pretty harrowing.

This all said, Goldman kind of rides the line between his old pod and something like Heavyweight, where he focuses on one person’s experience and truly enjoys getting to the bottom of their problem. Even if that problem is less problem than a random thought that struck them while smoking a joint on the back porch. Or walking through the supermarket. Or figuring out that their Google search hit a dead end. It’s a great break form the true crime pods and the news and political stuff that has jammed up my feed. Or even the constant churn of pop culture reviews and previews and commentary. It lives in its own universe. A universe that is endlessly amusing. Which is a good adjective for Goldman, actually. He seems both fascinated and amused with everything he does. That’s kind of his special sauce; that almost childlike way he approaches these quandaries and conundrums. Certainly ones that aren’t going to change the world, get a falsely accused victim out of prison or save an indigenous population, but it’s great to have something that is both informative and entertaining. And, best of all, amusing.