Whats up Society,
First blog post. This was a long time coming! For those of you who are reading thinking of how this blog used to be a podcast please…erase that from your memory. If you are returning with a preconceived notion of what this will be, do us both a favor, throw that out of your head now.
For new visitors to this website, I am a failed podcaster turned blogger because I enjoy writing way more than I enjoy talking about stupid shit for hours on end. Obviously, not all podcasts are like that, but it feels like the market is saturated with a lot of those types of platforms these days. Do not worry friends, this ain’t one of those platforms.
On a serious note, I am here to make good on all of my empty promises in my short lived podcast career. I will be putting my life on display and having fun while I do it! One more promise to add…I promise I will actually stick around this time. I am way more prepared for this than I was before.
General Format
The general format of this blog is pretty simple for now but I hope to expand on it in the future. My goal is to post an article at the end of each month called The Notice. Think of this notice as a newsletter but less salesy, truly just a recap of the last month.
This recap will consist of written observations, opinions and personal testimonies as they relate to the major social events in our lives. I will also be posting recaps of our adventures as well as helpful tips and tricks I pick up on this crazy ride we call life. Basically when we say experience life through our lens…we mean it.
Societal Noir the Podcast?
This is the first and last time I am going to explain this so pay attention. I came up with the idea for this blog in 2020 while laying in the bed of my childhood home in the suburbs of Chicago. My senior year of college had just been cut short by the pandemic so I was sent home. At that time, the idea was to create a platform where I could express my beliefs and opinions around the happenings in our society.
Since more and more people were getting their information and entertainment through podcasts it made logical sense at the time to launch Societal Noir as a podcast. At this point I was living in a 400 sq. ft. studio apartment in Minneapolis working 60+ hours a week and podcasting in what little free time I had left.
After weeks of locking myself away in my shoe box apartment typing show scripts, lining up guests, recording and editing episodes I realized how much I hated the process of podcasting. The recording sessions were draining, my editing was sloppy at best, and the original idea and inspiration for creating this platform was lost. I decided that my idea needed to be more fully developed so I stopped podcasting altogether and I went back to the drawing board.
What Changed?
I moved home and surrounded myself with those who know me best and it was clear that this platform had to be something more personal to me. However, I didn’t know what this would be yet. I also really beat myself up for letting Societal Noir fail as a podcast. I took some time to work on myself and overcome that insecurity through therapy.
Anyone who has been to therapy knows how important journaling is to the process of healing. In therapy I was journaling about my feelings towards my relationships, situation, failures, successes and myself. Both my therapist and I noticed how natural writing came to me as a means of self-expression. The idea for Societal Noir the blog was born shortly thereafter.
I was always forced to write about generic topics that are assigned to me. Personally, I typically did not enjoy these assignments. So I would write the paper hours before the deadline and I would turn it in. After I received a semi-decent grade for my half baked paper I would move on to the next assignment. Rinse and Repeat.
I took my sweet time discovering that I was capable of writing for fun. Not only was I capable of writing for fun but I also realized that I had complete autonomy in choosing topics to write about. Riveting right? I also found that the more freedom I had over what I wrote the more I enjoyed writing. It also made me feel better about myself, my place in the world, and most importantly the content that I was producing. Who knew?
Full Steam Ahead? Why?
Not too long ago my sister sent me an instagram reel of a Lil Yachty interview and said that he reminded her of Kanye West. I decided to give a very detailed response like I normally would explaining how Yachty and Kanye were similar and how they differed etc. After reading that long response she just responded with “You should start a blog.”
I thought this was a funny coincidence considering I was already researching how to start this very blog without discussing it with her. I decided to bite and ask her why she said that. She responded by saying that I was able to clearly and coherently convey my opinion over text. That was what I needed to hear. From that point forward, it was full steam ahead.
The Vision and Our Name!
I said all of this to say, we are happy to have made it to this point. We have written and (based on the fact that you’re reading this) published our first blog post of many and we are extremely excited to embark on this journey with you. I decided to name it after my failed podcast because the vision for Societal Noir as a platform has never changed.
My last name is Lenoir. “Noir” is the french word for “black”. The light and color theory definition of black is the sum of all colors or the representation of complete absorption of all visible wavelengths of light. Therefore, we named this platform Societal Noir because our goal is to be the source of information and inspiration for everyone from every walk of life throughout our society. So since you made it all the way here, you should stay a while!
