March 20 - March 26, 2016

Rank	Podcast	Episode	Lowdown
1	Cracked	Children's TV Shows With Horrifying Implications (#114)	The Cracked podcast could be considered a purveyor of conspiracy theories and cultural commentary. And usually it is! But the show consistently delivers an unorthodox spin on familiar subjects, and the casual, informal discourse belies the considerable depth of knowledge possessed by each member of the panel. This episode plumbs the extensive depth of movies and television created for children, examining the subtle or sometimes not so subtle implications and messaging coded into such fare. It can be tempting to label this sort of theoretical exercise as either cynical and/or inaccurate (can writers really be so intentionally insidious?), but since most media funneled toward adolescents goes unchecked it was refreshing to view these shows and movies as being more complex. Besides, critical theory is fun when you've encountered most of the source material multiple times in the past!
2	Suprisingly Awesome	Pigeons (#9)	Oh the things we forget, America! The pigeon, once adored, has become maligned. Once considered alternately a delicacy fit for consumption in fine French restaurants and a decorated vessel of war, the animal that came to be reviled and known as "a rat with wings" has suffered quite the fall from grace. "Surprisingly Awesome" takes us on a journey through the eyes of both a researcher/enthusiast and a manager of pigeons kept for racing to highlight the resilience of an animal we've likely all encountered and equally all not ever given a second thought.
3	Criminal	Either/Or (#39)	Episodes of "Criminal" have the potential to be satisfying when the topic is lighter (see the show about theft at the petrified forest), but more often the show has an inherently dark milieu you would expect from a podcast about crime. This episode made for some incredibly hard listening, partially due to some very graphic descriptions of the crime that took place, but also from the challenges in posed to my ethic of favoring restorative justice as a response to wrongdoing. Meting out prison times in exchange for breaking the law is a reductive, vindictive and ultimately, in my opinion, not wholly effective method for correcting behavior or bringing about peace of mind. Our natural human inclination for revenge is something that a just and civil society should fight to overcome, not promote...you know, "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind" and all. Still, the judge presiding over this case presents a reasonable choice for the convicted persons - jail time or castration - which begs for further delving into my conception of justice in the penal system.
4	Only Human	The Man Who Cured Everything	"Only Human" occupies a relatively empty space in the podcast realm - shows that examine the endless stories surrounding the human body. The format is similar to "Hidden Brain," taking a standard journalistic interview approach to topics in a niche area of science, but "Only Human" tends to be a little more provocative (see earlier episodes focusing on abortion and female sexual pleasure). This episode reaches back into the past to explore the biography of a charismatic man who proposed fasting as a cure to any and every ailment. Since Western medicine is still somewhat new as a field of study, it's important to realize that some treatments were initially predicated on faith before experimentation bared out the truth (or fiction) of a given thesis. Trendy modern health and wellness practices may have been proposed years ago, and while it can be difficult to glean empirical data that could help sift through bunk, the idea that history repeats itself holds true in many arenas of study. Medical history has never been so gripping!