He’s a college professor, but Sofer’s delivery doesn’t come off as listening to a lecture. His style can be easily embraced by listeners of any age that wish to be enlightened on why their current day actions would be considered “weird” from a past perspective. The way he produces each episode feels like listening to an episode of “Bill Nye the Science Guy.” Each episode offers historic and scientific understanding through a blend of nerdy humor and academic wit.  

Sofer’s knowledge and delivery comes from two decades of teaching history. In producing each episode, he draws on input he receives from his mentors, colleagues, and students. He earned his doctorate from the University of Texas in Austin, and took an environmental history class with “The Columbian Exchange” and “Ecological Imperialism” author, Alfred W. Crosby. Having studied under Crosby, Sofer finds “the way that present-day humans interact with the natural world is extremely weird. It’s a radical, major break from how past people would get life’s necessities.”  As such, he plans to produce episodes on environmental history as well.

“You Are a Weirdo” started out as a 75,000-word draft of a book that Sofer plans on publishing. His podcast was conceived as a way to build a platform to help jumpstart a following to ensure his book can become a possibility. Sofer knows that the publishing process “might take a while” but he is patient and is “happy to see this podcast as an end itself too.” Currently, it is strictly a solo endeavor. Sofer is excited to see where this journey takes him.