Ignorance Was Bliss

About Ignorance Was Bliss

Kate describes the show as a podcast about how we become who we are. Almost anything can seem normal. Are you sure you really want to know? The length of each episode is about an hour. This series is ongoing with new episodes available several times a month. 

The Free Guide to Find Podcasts You’ll Love

I hope you’re excited about Ignorance was bliss, but if you’re not so sure if it’s a good fit for you, I have a guide that can help you find a podcast you will love. The guide has nine different types of podcasts like History, Parenting, and Health and Wellness. And under each type of podcast, there are links to three different shows that is 27 different podcasts for you to choose from.  If you try a couple and you don’t like any of them, I put my email at the bottom of the guide so you can email me and I will personally help you find a podcast you love. 

Introduction to Kate & Ignorance Was Bliss

I am a former forensic psychologist and crisis clinician. I broke my back in 2014, which is a terrible idea. Don’t do that. And I spent, I don’t know, three and a half years sitting home feeling sorry for myself, which as we know can be a full-time job.

And so I did, I really threw myself into that for a little bit. And then, I kept listening to podcasts and I kept thinking, Why are they asking these questions? I was listening to a lot of True Crime podcasts or psychology or history podcasts.

What does it mean if somebody is not guilty by reason of insanity?  Or what is anxiety? What is schizophrenia? What is competency? Things like that, and every time I’d be sitting alone on my couch, six months after the podcast has actually been recorded, answering out loud, sure to my cats, telling me and I finally kind of realized like, hey, maybe I should just start my own show.

And so that’s where Ignorance Was Bliss started, and this would be at another piece of it is that I have four children, and at the time also my father was living with us and I’ve been married for a thousand years and it was on New Year’s day of 2018 where I kind of hit a wall and I went up and depending on who’s telling the story. I either gently tapped my husband on the shoulder or I grabbed him by the shirt collar and pulled him real close, and I said, I’m going to start a podcast. And being a smart man, his answer was, Okay.

I was literally sort of losing my voice. Being on disability and feeling like I’m no longer playing a lead role in my own life, that now I’m playing a supportive role in their lives. And that’s it. And I needed something that was mine and that forced them to shut up, you know?

And so it started as a true crime or sort of true crime adjacent thing, trying to answer some of the questions that I was hearing after maybe 50, 60 episodes. I decided I don’t wanna stay just in the true crime space because I wanna talk to other creators. And because the true crime space can get a little sensationalistic and voyeuristic at times, and so I wanna pull the lens back and I just wanna talk to anybody.

So that’s where we are now. You know, creeping up on five years later, over 400 episodes. Later. It’s not an addiction. I can stop any time I want.  

What to expect from Ignorance Was Bliss

It depends on the episode really, because every episode is unique to my guest. So early on it was very scripted and very planned and structured, and I realized that’s not me, that I light up and I do the best when I’m bouncing things off somebody else. And so after a while, I stopped planning. And I sort of literally sign on with somebody.

We do a little bit of housekeeping at the beginning and then I hit record and we throw stuff at the wall and see what happens. See what sticks and so there are some that are raucous and hilarious. There are some that are dark and scary. I’ve talked to other podcasters. I’ve talked to lawyers, I’ve talked to sex workers, I’ve talked to priests, I’ve talked to convicted murderers.  You can decide which of those is the scariest outta the list.

The Vibe of Ignorance Was Bliss

It very much comes as it comes. It’s very much about what the person brings to me and my job, which is picked up through my training in psychology, but I try not to be a psychologist. On my show, I try to share my own stories. 

There are people who would argue that I talk too much on my own show, which is fine.  I accept that it’s probably true. t’s exactly right and it’s about bouncing back and forth off the person that I’m with. And so there are episodes where I’m, you know, dropping the F bomb and I’m laughing with people and we’re all just having a grand old time and. Like, I can think of one, maybe six months ago from now, from when we were recording where I was speaking to the mother of a murder victim and we hit record and she just had to tell her story.

She had things to say and she didn’t feel like anyone had listened, and I figured pretty quickly that my role here is to sit back and shut up and listen. And so I don’t think I say a word for the first 45 minutes of that episode. That is a different vibe, but apparently that’s what needed to happen for that episode.

Kate’s Favorite Episode

I flatly refuse. I flatly refuse because it doesn’t matter what my favorite. You know, it depends on what my guests need to get out of it. Like, it’s really important to me that nobody ever regrets coming on my show.

It also depends on what my audience gets out of it.It’s not about, like, I’ve had some bigger names. I hate the “big names.” I don’t like that. But I’ve had some relatively famous people on the show, and that may get me more downloads, but those aren’t necessarily the most powerful or impactful episodes.

And so it really depends on what you’re looking for. Like I deliberately mix it up so that any two consecutive episodes should not have the same feel. Or the same moral of the story, if you will. And so I don’t have a favorite because they all are good.

Ignorance Was Bliss & Little Ears

My podcast is not safe for work, small children or house plants at times. Once in a while, it’s you know, like once in a while some episodes are, but by and large I have it marked explicit because it’s aimed for an adult audience.