I should begin by stating that I am not the target audience for this podcast.
My husband, however, appears to be in a long-term committed relationship with it.
Before Opposing Bases, he was a perfectly normal pilot. He flew airplanes, talked on radios, and occasionally discussed aviation like a regular human being. Now he casually uses phrases like “do you have cancelation cookies on the menu” and “let’s think about this from the controller’s perspective” while ordering lunch.
I have personally listened to portions of approximately 37 episodes. By “listened,” I mean I was trapped in a car while two men discussed airspace, radar, procedures, phraseology, and apparently an entire polar nation run by penguins probably called Penguinea.
At first I assumed this Penguinea was a real place. Then I thought it was a joke. Then I learned there are penguins living on an iceberg that represents your brain, and every time you learn something new, more penguins jump aboard and push older penguins into the freezing ocean.
As a non-pilot, I have concerns.
First, who is monitoring the welfare of these penguins?
Second, is there a union?
Third, why is no one discussing the emotional trauma experienced by the penguins who spent years learning obscure aviation knowledge only to be shoved off the iceberg because somebody needed room for a new holding pattern clearance?
My husband assures me this is educational.
The evidence suggests otherwise.
Since discovering Opposing Bases, he has become incapable of hearing an airplane overhead without explaining where it probably came from, where it’s going, what frequency it’s on, what controller is talking to it, and what the pilot should have said instead.
I once asked a simple question about our flight. Forty-five minutes later I knew the history of the National Airspace System, the purpose of Class A,B,C,D,E and G airspace, and the likely emotional state of Approach Control. And I have a questions. What happened to class F airspace. Did it fall off an iceburg!
And yet…
He genuinely loves this show.
He laughs out loud at references I don’t understand.
He learns something from every episode.
And somehow, after hundreds of hours of listening, he still gets excited when a new episode drops, as though AG and RH have personally arrived at our home carrying fresh penguins for the iceberg.
So while I cannot comment on the aviation content, I can report that Opposing Bases has successfully transformed one husband into a walking FAA advisory circular.
Five stars.
Please stop throwing penguins into the ocean.
— The Wife of Emperor Captain Juliet Lima Sierra, Protector of the Remaining Penguins of Penguinea, Speaking from just north of the coffee bravo on the Denver 301 radial at 905.2nm DME. (I do not know what that means but he told me to sign it like that. Is this a strange aviation encoded message or some secret code like the Freemasons or Knights of Columbus use)
