The return of Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys!
DPTJ is back for 2025 — and it's going to be better than ever before
Well, hello again, friends — long time, no see! It's 2025, and a new year means it's time for a new start. Yes, that means “Deadly Passions, Terrible Joys” is back! Let's talk about it.
First and foremost, let's talk about what a chaotic year 2024 was. We had so many compelling motorsport storylines. We had an election here in the United States. I started a new job, and I also picked up travel pace between late May and the end of November. I had a seriously sick kitty and a whole lot of vet bills to take care of. And it seemed like no matter what precautions I took, I got extremely ill any time I got on a plane! It was a long year of “life comes at ya fast.”
And that meant DPTJ fell by the wayside. As I've written about before, it takes a lot to put together an episode: Research, writing, editing, recording, editing the audio and video, and promotion — which doesn't take into account blog posts or newsletters or freelance work or any of the other 2,000 things I ended up agreeing to.
That sucked. Like, really sucked. I've loved this podcast because it gave me an opportunity to tell compelling stories, and to really contextualize the importance of those stories within both motorsport history, and in history more generally. It's the exact kind of long-form writing that I adore doing, but it requires a lot of brain power, a lot of planning, and the ability to really chew on information. Unfortunately, 2024 was just not a year where I could sit down and give each episode the attention it deserved.
But I am immensely proud of what I did do! I went from never doing any kind of audiovisual work before to writing, producing, editing, and publishing 17 podcasts. That's a lot to be proud of — but I most definitely did bite off more than I could chew.
And in October, I really started to think about that. The lessons I learned, and the things I wanted to do differently, and the things I wanted to try. I still kept a running tally of compelling ideas for episodes, and I'd note down a blog topic every now and again. In October, as I sat in the media center during the Mexico Grand Prix weekend, I decided that it was time to start fresh. It was time to revive DPTJ — to make it bigger and better than ever before, and to give myself the time to really get it off the ground. And so I started planning.
What does 2025 look like for DPTJ?
This year, I'm bringing you a massive slate of goodies to enjoy (and that I've already started on!), including:
20+ podcast episodes
A book club!
Thought-provoking analyses of motorsport culture
Interviews with critical figures involved in certain episodes
More social media content, including infographics and short-form video
Insider views of the motorsport media world
All the history your lil heart desires!
As was the case last year, all the podcasts will be free and available to everyone (as will anything that gets posted on social media), but I've reworked the subscription element. I'll be posting on both Substack and Patreon (so you can pick which service you prefer), and there will be just one paid tier that'll get you access to any additional writing I publish. And, as always, if you're keen to leave a one-time tip, that's always welcome, too!
Let's get this show on the road!