Joy ride: Siblings share air time in silly, science-y ‘Station Wagon’

Published 2:23 pm Thursday, October 15, 2015

Proudly bearing the virtual symbol of old suburbia, the Station Wagon podcast got off to a slow start with its launch earlier this year, much like a real car stuck in rush hour traffic. Lately though, it’s been gaining an audience, and, at the risk of drawing derisive snorts from both of its creators, picking up speed.

“Over the last three weeks, we haven’t had any zero-listener days,” said Marc Shecter, the Snoqualmie half of the brother-sister team that created the half-hour podcasts.

His sister, Julie Kinn of Olympia, watched eagerly over his shoulder as the dashboard ticked up to show another listener found their show.

He  gave a small cheer, then asked if that was dorky. She answered him.

“It’s dorky when you do it,” she said. “It’s very sophisticated when I do it.”

They let it go, because both are in a mood to celebrate. They just released the latest episode of the Station Wagon.

“It’s the best day,” said Kinn.

For both of the siblings, any day spent on The Station Wagon is a good day. Neither of them has a lot riding on, or in, The Station Wagon, beyond their enjoyment of science, history, and just talking to each other.

“We were really close growing up, and we spent a lot of time in our parents’ station wagon,” said Kinn, who first proposed the idea of the podcast to Schecter, just for fun.

“A lot of times siblings our age are talking about more serious things,” she explained. Schecter is 45 and Kinn is seven years younger — “which is super important, because I’m so much smarter” Schecter interrupted.

“For example,” Kinn continued, used to his interjections, “things like coordinating care for elderly parents…”

“What? We’re not coordinating things for our elderly parents!” Shecter bursts in.

That is how pretty much every discussion goes at the Station Wagon, where two smart, tech-savvy siblings discuss science and history, but mostly how superior they are to their siblings.

If that doesn’t make you listen in, www.wagonpod.com, for sheer nostalgia, they also have an undeniable hook — every two weeks, they agree to give up something that we all take for granted in modern life. A couple of months ago, it was eating utensils, then the news. The week we talked, they were giving up paper. Just to see how it went, and to report back to their core of listeners.

“Giving up things is really annoying!” announced Shecter, with a laugh, but that’s actually the point of the podcast, and why it’s named for that family car. “It’s a symbol of suburban life, of things you take for granted,” he added.

Going paperless for two weeks takes real dedication. They have to carry handkerchiefs — although Kinn points out that Shecter’s looks more like a baby’s burping towel — with them everywhere, because they can’t use napkins; they carry towels with them into public restrooms that don’t have air dryers; and they plan ahead for their other, more important, paper needs.

“Look at this,” Shecter sighs, taking a large zip-top bag full of white powder from a jacket pocket. “It’s Splenda, for my coffee, because I can’t use paper.”

There is one limit, though, to the paper-free project. “We still use toilet paper,” he assures me.

Along with their reports on the twice-monthly challenge they undertake, each episode of The Station Wagon includes a short discussion on the subject of the challenge — the history of cutlery, the definition of “news,” the parameters for “not going outside” — which fall under Shecter’s hobby of history and Kinn’s science background, plus short interviews with other people about the challenge.

Those interviews are often an opportunity for other family members to get onto the show, says Kinn, adding that both their families have taken a strong interest in the show.

“One of the fun things has been the engagement with our kids,” said Kinn. “They’re always coming up with terrible ideas for us to do!”

One of their clunkers was giving up eye-contact, Schecter said. Not a great idea for anyone who wants to maintain a career — his is in software, hers is in military psychology. However, Kinn is softening her brother up for a challenge of another sense.

“I think we should give up perfect hearing,” she said. Her work with veterans has made her aware of the prevalence of hearing problems after combat, she explained, so she worked out a way to simulate tinnitis. Wearing a single earbud attached to a device playing white noise, she suggested, would be reasonably close, but you’d have to wear it while sleeping, too.

Shecter wasn’t thrilled about the idea, which posed a difficult challenge to complete, and a challenge to present to podcast listeners. Having a good idea is the key, he said, and the reason he sees The Station Wagon continuing to run for some time.

“We’ve got a lot of ideas for things to give up,” he said. “They’ll last us a couple of years.”

On a more serious note, Kinn and Shecter enjoy their work on their “The Station Wagon” podcast because it’s an excuse to spend time together, probably talking about who really is the better sibling.