Agent Palmer

Finding Rhythm and Balance as an Amateur Musician

A long, long time ago… I can still remember how that music used to make me smile…

Well, actually, no.

A long, long time ago, I can still remember how I used to know how to play the drums. And I knew that if I had my chance, that I could make those people dance, and maybe they’d be happy for a while.

UNDISCLOSED LOCATION—Relatively obscure internet personality Jason Stershic, perhaps better known as Agent Palmer, recently celebrated two years of The Palmer Files podcast. Released every other Tuesday, Palmer has now self-produced 53 episodes on numerous topics with a variety of guests.

Highlights of The Palmer Files’ small but mighty roster of guests includes noted composer of Ralph Bakshi’s “Wizards” Andrew Belling; science fiction author and Skywalker Sound sound designer Essa Hansen; Jim Henson, George Lucas, and Dr. Seuss biographer Brian Jay Jones; “The Tolkien Professor” Dr. Corey Olsen; and space flight historian Amy Shira Teitel.

Max is my friend. It was unforeseen and evolved in a way that has baffled my partner Stef since he took a strong liking to me, especially since she would love to have that connection with him.

How did this happen? I have some ideas, but it’s probably a combination of many things – some are worth sharing while some are still unknown.

It is no secret that I enjoy listening to podcasts. I have written about them, I have reviewed them, I have participated in them, and then I created and continue to publish my own. But I am also a lover of music, which I have also written about, reviewed, and played.

Of late, podcast listening has taken a back burner to music, specifically Bob Dylan, R.E.M., and some curated playlists on Spotify and Amazon Music.

There’s been a lot of talk about the naming conventions of a certain generation of late. I am one of those unfortunate souls stuck in between, particularly of the newly coined “geriatric millennials,” but it did come with some benefits. We were adaptable to the technological advances of our time, but we also got to experience the joy of the mundane as did our predecessors in Generation X.

Two of those things I came across while cleaning out some old boxes that highlight the mundane were Newfield Publications’ Sports Pages and Edito-Service Military Aviation Airplane Cards.