Tag: karaoke

NASA Astronaut Christina Koch Shares How Music and Podcasts Made Groundbreaking Trip Extra-Stellar

March 23, 2020

NASA astronaut Christina Koch may have spent 328 consecutive days floating in space (the longest-ever single spaceflight for a woman), but her love for all things audio kept her firmly grounded throughout the journey. 

As part of celebrating Women’s History Month, For the Record recently spoke with Christina to talk about the role of podcasts and music for her and the crew, as well as her friends and family back on Earth. Read on to hear from Christina how Spotify was no “Space Oddity” on board and to check out some amazing photos from outer space. 

 

Celebrity Trainer and Fitness Podcast Host Don Saladino Spills His Favorite Workout Songs, Podcasts, and Tips

January 7, 2020

If you’ve seen any of the Captain America, Avengers, or Wolverine movies, you’ve likely noticed Don Saladino’s handiwork. The celebrity trainer and entrepreneur works on strength, conditioning, and overall wellness with television and movie stars—from Ryan Reynolds to Blake Lively and Emily Blunt—to help them improve their performance physiques.

Don was a fitness trainer for more than twenty years, but since 2000 he’s been a business owner, brand strategist, and entrepreneur as well. At this point, training is the easy part. He also hosts two fitness podcasts and is a self-proclaimed music buff who tailors what’s playing to his clientele. For example, he knows to blast Pearl Jam when John Krasinski comes in for a workout, and recommends Led Zeppelin for actor Billy Crudup’s reps. For Don’s own workouts, he likes to stream Metallica albums from beginning to end. (He also says one can’t go wrong with ’90s grunge.)

We asked Don (between reps) to make a podcast playlist for us and grabbed a few music and workout tips from him as well—just in time to help you stick with your New Year’s fitness resolution.

How have you seen music help people during workouts?

I’ve educated myself in the last 20 years on fitness, anatomy, and kinesiology (the study of body movement) from the best doctors and coaches. But part of what I do, as important as that is, is play good music. Music’s a big driving force to a workout. Not everyone comes in having a good day, but music is the one thing you can throw at someone where, no matter how bad their day is, you can almost hit that reset button and get them to put a smile on their face, get into a little bit of a groove, and develop a little bit of a rhythm. Once a person starts picking up that energy and momentum, you can really accomplish something.

This year, Spotify’s data showed that health and fitness podcast listening increased 145% in the past year on our platform. Why do you think people are turning to podcasts to get information about health and fitness?

First off, I think listening to podcasts is a great way to fill time. I have an hour commute every morning on the train, and podcasts are an educational, entertaining way to be able to fill that. It’s so easy now with our phones and wireless headphones to just connect anywhere and become a smarter person. We’re also more aware of time management. If I’m on the train two hours a day, man, that’s 10 hours a week where I can listen to a different author or a different podcast or get educated on a different area. That’s really doing a lot of good self-help stuff for me.

Plus, we’re in a much more health-conscious society now. I mean, it is amazing. Twenty, 30 years ago, we weren’t paying attention to organic farming. We weren’t paying attention to how crops were being made or how important the purity of olive oil is—everyone just thought olive oil was healthy. (The other day I listened to a great podcast about olive oil, so it’s on my mind.) So the combination of downtime and connectivity, wanting to be educated, and the move towards health-consciousness all factor in.

Tell us about the podcasts you host—Reps for Muscle and Fitness and D&D Fitness Radio Podcast—what can listeners get out of these? What sort of episodes did you include on your podcast playlist?

Muscle and Fitness magazine brought me in to help elevate the educational platform for their listeners. We really wanted to go out there and not only just get fitness people talking about sets and reps, but we wanted to get the best nutritionists, the best doctors, talking about wellness as well. There are so many skeptics out there about gluten free or about intermittent fasting or about the ketogenic tide.

When you listen to the full podcast playlist, you’ll get points of view from well-educated experts like nutritionists, doctors, and trainers, as well as a level of entertainment from celebrities like Randy Couture, Zach Levi, and Liev Schreiber.

What are three wellness tips that anyone at any fitness level can incorporate into their New Year’s wellness resolution?

Sleep is number one. When we don’t fall into that realm of that seven to nine hours of good quality sleep at night, it impacts our entire body, including hormone function. If your hormone function is off, you’re not going to have a high level of energy, and you’re also not going to be able to burn an appropriate amount of fat. Your strength level is not going to be optimal and everything with your training’s going to drop.

Hydration is number two. Drink half your body weight in ounces of water. That’s going to set you up for proper digestion, better hormone function, better sleep, better energy, and a better way to metabolize foods.

Then, I think from an exercise standpoint, stop thinking that you need to spend 60 to 90 minutes a day at the gym. If you’re someone who hates the gym, but you can get in there for 15 minutes, just aim to break a sweat for 10-15 minutes a day. That is enough.

One bonus tip is to always fact-check—whether you’re listening to a fitness podcast or hiring a new coach, make sure the credentials are good and you’re getting accurate information about your health and workout.

Finally—for a question that takes us out of the gym—what is your go-to karaoke song?

“Faithfully” by Journey. I think it’s the hardest karaoke song to sing on the planet. My son’s a very good singer and I challenged him to sing it. He’s got a much better voice than I do and he’s almost nailing it right now. He’s 11. I’m trying to see if he can do a much better job than I did. We’ve been having a great time with it. I challenge anyone—if you can hit that song on all notes, you’ve got it together.

Take a listen to Don’s fitness-filled podcast playlist below for expert takes on wellness and working out.

Fashion Force Elaine Welteroth Says You’re ‘More Than Enough’

June 11, 2019

You may know Elaine Welteroth from her time as editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue or, more recently, as a judge on Project Runway. The youngest Editor-in-Chief ever appointed in Condé Nast history in 2017, she’s well-known as a groundbreaking 32-year-old journalist and editor. But you can also refer to her as her lesser-known, unofficial title: Karaoke Queen.

We sat down with Welteroth—the first African American to hold the post of beauty and health director at a Condé Nast publication—to learn a bit about her role on Project Runway, the music she loves writing to, and how she hopes to inspire young women with her upcoming memoir, More Than Enough.

Oh, and her go-to Karaoke song? SWV’s “Weak.” Though as you’ll read below, she’s anything but.

This week is a big one for you: Your book More Than Enough is being released and it’s the season finale of Project Runway. What has been the best part of the season?

The best part has been working alongside people that I just adore and respect. Karlie, Brandon, Nina, and Christian—I’ve learned a lot from each of them. And then of course I love being able to nurture the designers. I got really invested in all of them and ended up crying more times than I thought I would.

What are you looking forward to bringing into the next season of Project Runway?

I think what I’ll continue to bring into next season is some degree of social consciousness, trying to contextualize their work as it relates to what is happening in the world and how fashion can be a platform for speaking about issues that matter to you. My goal is to continue to push the conversations so that they are not just about the fabrication and about the colorways and about the designs, but really about what it means to be a designer and an artist at a time like this.

What was your musical upbringing like? How do you discover music now?

I grew up in a very musical family. My mom is a gospel singer, my dad is a rock guitarist, and my brother is a punk rocker, so my house was filled with music discovery. It was like the original Spotify. In one room you would have gospel, and in one room you have Rancid or Green Day, and in another you have Eric Clapton. I was all about Erykah Badu, Mariah Carey—more Top 40s, R&B, and pop music.

Now I’m engaged to a musician who has exposed me to a lot of different types of music that I probably wouldn’t listen to otherwise. One of the most recent discoveries from him has been Maggie Rogers. I am completely obsessed with her.

Do you have any other favorite young artists whose music and lyrics are really resonating right now?

Lizzo is killing it. I think she captures the spirit of this generation, and is the kind of disruptive, unapologetic, outspoken pop star we need. I love that she’s coming here to just break out of every box that women have been put in. She’s like, “I am who I am. I am expansive and I can do it all. You’re going to watch me and you’re going to love it.”

What do you listen to while writing?

Through Spotify, I discovered different types of jazz music that help me focus while I’m working. As a writer, I can’t really listen to any music that has lyrics—you wind up writing what you’re listening to, or you start singing along and you can’t think of words.

I wrote my memoir while listening to binaural beats, which is really, really relaxing and puts you in this really focused, creative mindset.

Can you tell us a little bit about the types of songs on the playlist you’re making to accompany More Than Enough?

It’s curated to evoke the emotions that the chapters take you through. I want people to listen to it while they read the book, because I think that sensorial experience will be incredible. The playlist as a whole captures the emotional journey that this book takes you on. It’s filled with highs and lows and surprises along the way. But ultimately, it ends on a really triumphant note.

There’s a lot of gospel influence because, like I said, I grew up in a household filled with gospel music. It was really important to carry that sort of thread throughout the playlist. I have the modern interpretations of that too, with Chance the Rapper.

There’s also a lot of ’90s classic R&B music. I especially love Mariah Carey. Growing up as a biracial girl, Mariah Carey was my mixed-race icon. She was the only celebrity I ever saw that I could relate to in terms of racial identity—she had curly hair, she had brown skin—she was in-between worlds in the way that I was.

I hope that in the end, you put down the book and you end the playlist sort of just feeling good. Feeling good in your own skin.

Why was it important to you to spread the message that your readers are “more than enough?”

We live in a world that tells women we are not enough. And we’ve internalized these messages over time or throughout conditioning over generations. We are made to feel like we are not beautiful enough, not smart enough, not woke enough, and not successful enough.

I want this book to be a reminder—a mantra—that pushes back against all of those messages internally and externally. Because the reality is, you can experience that liberated, empowered sense of being more than enough even when you are a work in progress. The goal is not perfection; the goal is to continue to chase the biggest, most expansive version of who you are and to be bold enough to walk away from anything that threatens to hold you back.

Pick up a copy of Elaine’s new memoir, More Than Enough, out today. And don’t forget to stream the playlist soundtrack that chronicles her incredible journey.