Story of how HI sparked one of my best friendships
It’s been years since I last opened this sub, but I recently got curious about HI and decided to check in. It’s cool to see so many posts, but most seem to be about the mod policies, hiatus, and general frustrations. I wanted to share something a bit more wholesome: how this podcast sparked one of my closest friendships, one that’s remained strong nearly a decade later.
The story starts in 2017, when I was in high school. We were on a field trip, and I ended up sitting next to someone who was, at the time, more of an acquaintance than a friend. The night before, I’d stumbled across the fact that CGP Grey had a podcast. I’d never really listened to podcasts before, but I decided to give it a go, and the latest episode at the time was “Break Glass in Case of Emergency.”
For those who don’t remember: it’s an episode where Grey and Brady work through a book of hypothetical questions, pausing to discuss each one. Right at the start, there’s even a little disclaimer recommending you listen with someone so you can discuss the hypotheticals together.
So when I heard that, since none of us had much to do I suggested we listen and discuss together. It might sound stupid, but that shared experience was genuinely the spark that turned an acquaintance into a friend. Over the following months we each worked through the back catalogue and talked about episodes constantly.
Eventually the hiatus came, and we slowly moved on. But the friendship survived. Today, even though we live in different countries and have completely separate lives, we still call each other every week, and He’s one of my closest friends.
I just wanted to put that out there, a reminder that media can have an outsized impact on people’s lives in ways the creators would never expect.
Thanks, Grey and Brady.