I Paused My Podcast to Be Here
A bronze marker commemorating the sacrifice. Thirty-four minutes remained. He mentioned it three times.
- Severity
- Annoying
- Date
- July 12, 2026
- Cost
- $$
- Effort
- Low
- Forgiveness window
- one episode
Dedicate a bronze marker to the brother who announces, the moment he walks in, that he paused his podcast to be here. The Society for the Prevention of Podcast Monologues places markers at sites of notable prevention, and Thanksgiving qualified: an episode was paused, the pause was announced at the door, again at the table, and once more during dessert, and the episode stayed paused throughout. A paused podcast is a monologue held safely in suspension. The Society does not dedicate bronze lightly.
The marker is set in raised letters:
ON THIS SITE, AT 6:10 PM ON THANKSGIVING, A GUEST OF THIS HOUSE PAUSED EPISODE 212 OF A PODCAST ABOUT CONCRETE, WITH 34 MINUTES REMAINING, AND WAS, BY HIS OWN ACCOUNT, FULLY PRESENT.
Mount it among the family photographs, at the height photographs hang, so guests find it mid-gallery and read it as history, which it is. The dedication is brief: the household gathers, the remarks are read from a card, the marker is revealed, dinner proceeds.
He'll ask if this is about him. The card answers: the marker honors the sacrifice, which was real, and which he mentioned. It was real. That's why you cast it in bronze.
Make It Worse
- Light it with a small brass picture light, on a switch
- Engrave the remaining minutes as a living figure; retire the marker if he ever finishes the episode
- Dedicate a second marker at the site of the second announcement
- Observe one minute of silence so he can make progress on the episode; note that it will not be enough