Ladyland was created out of curiosity. Many good podcasts are, I suppose. But instead of taking a deep dive into an unsolved mystery or picking the brains of uber-rich celebs, podcast host Kim Baldwin decided to look a little closer to home for inspiration. She set out to really understand the women she thought she already knew.
It all started the moment she learned a longtime running buddy built meth labs for a living.
“I used to run with [local running group] East Nasty,” says Baldwin. “I would meet all these women who were my running speed, so we would run together as a group. We ran together for years, and just randomly on runs someone would talk about, ‘Well, you know, I’ve got to go to blah blah blah tomorrow for my blah blah blah.’ And I was like, ‘I actually don’t know! What is your job?’
“The person who started it worked for the DEA,” she continues, “and she re-created meth labs to show people what to look for and how to not explode. And I was like, ‘I’ve been running with you for years and I didn’t know!’ ”
At the time, Baldwin was regularly writing for her blog The Blonde Mule (theblondemule.com). The realization that she was friends with a Ph.D.-holding chemist who spent her days building models of illegal and highly dangerous drug labs sparked a blog series: “These Are My Bitches,” which Baldwin describes as “a Q&A-style series highlighting my awesome friends and their super-cool jobs.”
Baldwin was approached by her friend Michael Eades about doing a show for his podcast network We Own This Town, and the two agreed it made sense to turn “These Are My Bitches” into an audio feature. Baldwin is a gregarious extrovert who loves to ask questions and connect with people — just the sort of person who makes an engaging podcast host. She has amassed a variety of cool and interesting friends, from cookbook author and food blogger Joy “The Baker” Wilson to body-positive burlesque performer Freya West.
Listening to Ladyland feels a lot like listening in on a comfortable conversation between confidants. Baldwin’s affability puts her guests at ease, and producer Mary Katherine Rooker and editor Eades help ensure things run smoothly and sound great. But Baldwin laughs when asked how she managed to pull off such an impressive feat on her first try.
“Ladyland is my second podcast,” she admits.
“I feel like it’s important to have a bad first one! And I had a real bad first one that I have wiped from the internet called Friday Night Noods, like noodles. Didn’t work. No one listened to it, zero downloads, it was so bad. So bad. But that’s how I learned! I was like, ‘OK, none of that worked. So let me try maybe a little more structure.’ ”
Ladyland has completed two seasons, 14 episodes total, since launching in August 2019. (Do not miss the installment in which she chats about Lizzo with New York Times bestselling author Samantha Irby.) But regular listeners have probably noticed that COVID-19 has, frustratingly, put Season 3 in a bit of a holding pattern.
Baldwin prefers to do her interviews in person — “I feel like the conversation sounds better when you can tell the people connected, and that screen is a barrier,” she says. But the pandemic and everything that has come along with it have made it difficult to muster the energy and inspiration needed to be creative.
“I went into a depressive state this summer, like probably everyone did whether they were diagnosed or not,” Baldwin says. “You can’t have a trauma activated and be creative at the same time. I can’t. And I have to be creative to do the podcast. I have to be on, and my energy has to be up here for it to work.
“I think I’ve come out of it,” she continues with a laugh. “Like, I mean, what are any of us doing? Am I still depressed? I don’t know! I’m probably completely disassociated! Am I better? Or have I just learned how to hide it? Don’t know!”
Baldwin’s ability to talk bluntly about mental health — and many of life’s generally uncomfortable topics, for that matter — is a big part of what makes Ladyland so relatable. As Baldwin opens up, so do her guests, allowing listeners to “meet the women you think you know,” as the podcast’s tagline puts it. Conversations have addressed everything from finding a work/life balance to the struggle to maintain a sense of self after having children. But there’s fun stuff too — it wasn’t until listening to Baldwin’s interview with contract lobbyist Melanie Bull that I learned Korean raccoon cafes are a thing.
“In the beginning, I just wanted Ladyland to be a creative outlet,” Baldwin says. “I did it for fun. I ultimately want as many people to hear it as need to hear it. Like, do you feel like no one knows what the fuck you do, or no one cares? The people who are on the show, I want them to have a place to say who they really are and have an honest conversation. I just want it to be big enough to find the people that it could be useful for.”
Check out the rest of the Pod Goals series about Versify, Cocaine & Rhinestones: The History of Country Music, Mirror Mirror, Something's Not Right, The Promise, Nashville Sounding Board, My Fantasy Funeral and Off Ice.
