July 28, 2022
What’s a fortnight in months instead of weeks? It’s been that long again since my last transmission, and with the imminent arrival of my second child I wouldn’t be surprised if this soon becomes The Pod Piper Quarterly. Per usual, though, my listening habits have held steady even as my writing has tapered off. The music I’ve been digging since May includes Regina Spektor, Tennyson, and more Regina Spektor. Listen and you will learn that “Spacetime Fairytale” is legit. And the podcast listening has kept up as well. Here’s a quick digest of some stuff that didn’t quite make the top 3: MusicalSplaining for Sondheim fans with Company and Sunday in the Park With George |the Normal Gossip episode about a possibly ill-advised tale of fan fiction crossing over into real life | The 11th’s “Walking Tours For Your Home” excerpted from an audio edition of McSweeney’s | This American Life’s “The Possum Experiment” - specifically act 2 about a life altering gift from a stranger | and the fact that Reply All is over, albeit a bit anticlimactically. All that plus…
THE LIST
This is a fantastic piece of podcasting. A mix of classic Still Processing, but mashed up with some audio essaying on location. I'd say that this should be the new format for a spinoff series, but I'm not sure it can be duplicated on an ongoing basis. Investigative nonfiction narrative at its finest.
What if drunk driving were a bigger deal? Well it almost might have been. This chapter from season 7 of Revisionist History gives off a hint of The Last Archive and You Must Remember This as Gladwell takes us into a speculative past rooted in Hollywood lore and unbelievable old-timey-ness (the legal blood alcohol limit used to be twice what it is today?!).
I’m not sure how TAL swung this kind of access, but the episode revolves around the abortion clinic at the center of the case that overturned Roe v. Wade. Following staff in the days leading up to the decision (and on the day itself), the episode captures the facts of our current moment as well as the sentiment on the ground where it is really impactful. This feels like the kind of thing historians will use as a primary source in some kind of work decades in the future.
SOMETHINGS NEW
Newts!
A PRX audio drama musical based on Karel Čapek’s 1936 novel War with the Newts ! It’s zany and the music is a bit…chintzy?… but also pretty fun with just the right amount of serious themes to help the satire land. I appreciated the very short intros on each episode about Čapek’s life, and I’m now certainly interested in reading him some day. The show also features a slate of minor celebrity cameos, which are fun if you know those folks and not at all distracting if you don't.
Persona: The French Deception
Longform co-host Evan Ratliff stepped out on his literary interview show to make this podcast about an all-time scammer. Is this just another intriguing-and-well-made narrative pod, or is there a bigger takeaway? I think it trends toward the former, but the mystery and globe-trotting flavor of it all has kept my attention. Regardless, it’s a pleasant way to fill your commute/drown out the existential void.
Emergence Magazine Podcast
This show is basically a vehicle for essays to be read out loud, but an admiral amount of low-production value lets the words shine. It’s admittedly a little liberal leaning, although more in the hippy-ish sense than the political ("We believe in sharing stories that have the potential to shift ways of thinking and being in our relationship to the living world."). Occasionally I'll catch myself eye-rolling at the mention of a topic, but pretty much unfailingly I've reconcile my incredulity with a belief that attention should be paid to these widely-ignored issues. It has kind of forced me come to grips with what I believe and how I my worldview is or isn't on display to others.
A PRX audio drama musical based on Karel Čapek’s 1936 novel War with the Newts ! It’s zany and the music is a bit…chintzy?… but also pretty fun with just the right amount of serious themes to help the satire land. I appreciated the very short intros on each episode about Čapek’s life, and I’m now certainly interested in reading him some day. The show also features a slate of minor celebrity cameos, which are fun if you know those folks and not at all distracting if you don't.
Persona: The French Deception
Longform co-host Evan Ratliff stepped out on his literary interview show to make this podcast about an all-time scammer. Is this just another intriguing-and-well-made narrative pod, or is there a bigger takeaway? I think it trends toward the former, but the mystery and globe-trotting flavor of it all has kept my attention. Regardless, it’s a pleasant way to fill your commute/drown out the existential void.
Emergence Magazine Podcast
This show is basically a vehicle for essays to be read out loud, but an admiral amount of low-production value lets the words shine. It’s admittedly a little liberal leaning, although more in the hippy-ish sense than the political ("We believe in sharing stories that have the potential to shift ways of thinking and being in our relationship to the living world."). Occasionally I'll catch myself eye-rolling at the mention of a topic, but pretty much unfailingly I've reconcile my incredulity with a belief that attention should be paid to these widely-ignored issues. It has kind of forced me come to grips with what I believe and how I my worldview is or isn't on display to others.
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