Your new favorite podcast: Emma Chamberlin’s ‘Anything Goes’
If I met Emma Chamberlain I’m pretty sure we would be best friends.
OK, probably not, but it is a nice thought. If you’re not familiar with Emma’s YouTube channel, you might think that she hasn’t showered in a year (which was a rumor Emma started as a joke, but people actually started believing it to be true), but there is so much more to Emma. Yes, Chamberlain is hilarious and ridiculously real, but she has learned so much since she made her first YouTube video and she showcases that knowledge and growth on her podcast, “Anything Goes.”
Chamberlain’s podcast is very appropriately named because she talks about absolutely anything on her podcast. She reads her diary, discusses vulnerability, opens up about her anxiety and fears, and even has an episode dedicated to the illusion of money. Everything she has ever experienced in her life is on the table, nothing is off limits.
I appreciate her perspective on becoming internet famous. Most people who jump into the world’s spotlight get a little bit crazy, whereas Chamberlain has been able to maintain an air of humility, which is definitely intriguing. She started getting attention from YouTube in 2017 (at 16 years old) and her subscriber count keeps growing.
One thing I love about Emma Chamberlain is she actually cares about people and shows it. She genuinely seems like a good human being who cares about her fans, not because they’re giving her a job, but because they’re people with real problems. Chamberlain even occasionally dedicates an episode of her podcast to her listeners, titling the episode “Advice Session.” In these episodes, Chamberlain reads questions her fans send in and answers them honestly, giving advice on relationships, mental health, forgiveness and even tells the occasional embarrassing personal story to lighten the mood. In one of her recent episodes, “The Illusion of Money,” Chamberlain gives her listeners some impactful advice. She explains, “If you don’t work hard to keep up your mental health and your relationships with others, and you have all this money, none of the money matters.”
During these last few historical months, “Anything Goes,” has helped me to realign and adjust my priorities. One of my favorite episodes is called “Put Your Phone Down.” In it, Chamberlain talks about not being on her phone and how it’s positively affected her anxiety.
“I just got this feeling in my head that the internet was, like, the end all be all,” she said. “Everything that happens on the internet is a big deal, everything that somebody says about me is a big deal. It’s so easy to fall into that when you’re on it all the time and you don’t have a life outside of it. But the life that we all could have and can’t have and do have outside of our phones is actually so much better.”
“Anything Goes” is an inspiring and raw podcast that has helped me focus on the most important things in my life during the global pandemic. It’s light, funny and at times, incredibly relatable.
“Anything Goes” can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify music with new episodes every Thursday.
Emily White is a junior studying English and broadcast journalism. She is currently serving as the senior writer for the Lifestyles section of the Statesman.
—emily.white@usu.edu