I Feel Like I Should: Music, Identity, and the Expectations We Carry

Daniel Whitaker is a graduate student in mental health counseling, a bonsai instructor, an event host, and a self-described professional goofball living in New York City.We begin with a conversation about music, belonging, and the challenge of fitting in before you know who you are. Daniel reflects on growing up in the Midwest, coming out later in life, and finding community while building a life in New York City.Along the way, we talk about identity, queerness, comparison, authenticity, mental health, self-acceptance, and the pressure to feel like you're somehow behind everyone else. We also explore what it means to stop measuring yourself against other people's timelines and start making room for your own.Follow the show for updates and new episodes:Instagram: @ifeellikeishouldpodifeellikeishould.comFollow the show for updates and new episodes.Instagram: @ifeellikeishouldpodifeellikeishould.com

Shane Alcock is a filmmaker, father, and self-described interested human being who hopes the caring and compassionate side of humanity can continue to blossom and flourish.We begin with music and the sounds that shaped his childhood in South Africa, then move into family expectations, fatherhood, creativity, and the challenge of finding your own path. Shane reflects on growing up in a fishing family, choosing a life different from the one imagined for him, and an eco-lodge dream that remains meaningful even though it never became a reality.Along the way, we talk about curiosity, regret, deep listening, and the ways music can nurture, connect, and help us better understand ourselves.Follow the show for updates and new episodes:Instagram: @ifeellikeishouldpodifeellikeishould.comFollow the show for updates and new episodes.Instagram: @ifeellikeishouldpodifeellikeishould.com

Lola Villa is a Bogotá-born composer, musicologist, DJ, and sound designer whose work explores the intersection of electronic music, deep listening, and environmental consciousness. She is the co-founder of Future Sound of Nature, a record label featured in MoMA Magazine; a board member of DJs for Climate Action; a co-founder of EchoSystem School of Sound; and the sound designer behind I Feel Like I Should's original theme music.The conversation begins with music, taste, and the expectations that shape our choices, then expands into family expectations, immigration, productivity, rest, anxiety, and learning to trust your own experience. Lola reflects on creativity, identity, body awareness, and how music, nature, and deep listening have shaped her life and work.Content note: This episode includes discussion of anxiety, eating disorders, body image, and mental health. If you or someone you know needs support, contact the NAMI HelpLine at 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or [email protected] the show for updates and new episodes.Instagram: @ifeellikeishouldpodifeellikeishould.comFollow the show for updates and new episodes.Instagram: @ifeellikeishouldpodifeellikeishould.com

Kim Fox is a podcast producer, educator, and researcher whose work has helped shape audio storytelling in Egypt, across Africa, and beyond. A Professor of Practice at the American University in Cairo, she specializes in radio, audio, and podcasting, with a focus on Global Majority creators. She is the founder of PodFest Cairo, the first podcasting conference in Egypt and Africa, and the executive producer of the award-winning bilingual podcast Ehky Ya Masr (Tell Your Story, Egypt).The conversation explores how Kim found her way into podcasting, the cultural expectations she grew up with, and what she hopes to accomplish next. She reflects on creativity, teaching, entrepreneurship, and the experiences that shaped her path.Follow the show for updates and new episodes.Instagram: @ifeellikeishouldpodifeellikeishould.com

Emily Johnson is a freelance journalist whose reporting has taken her around the world, from Ukraine to Argentina to East Africa and parts of Asia. She is also an associate professor in the journalism department at Baruch College and is currently working on her first novel.In the first episode of I Feel Like I Should, Emily starts with a song she once felt like she should love. From there, the conversation moves into journalism, identity, expectation, and the stories we carry about who we’re supposed to be.Follow the show for updates and new episodes.Instagram: @ifeellikeishouldpodifeellikeishould.com

I Feel Like I Should is a podcast built around a simple idea: most of us have loved things because we thought we were supposed to.Each episode begins with a song or artist a guest felt like they should have loved but didn’t. Sometimes it comes from friends. Sometimes from family, culture, or a moment when fitting in matters more than being honest with yourself.There’s usually a pause when I ask the question.Then people start talking.What begins with music opens into something else. Conversations about identity, expectations, and the quiet pressure to become a certain kind of person.I’m Keith Lane. This is I Feel Like I Should.Episodes coming soon.Follow the show for updates and new episodes.Instagram: @ifeellikeishouldpodifeellikeishould.com