The Pod Piper

1. Invisibilia - The New Norm Invisibilia is back and didn't miss a beat.  This is, in my opinion, is the pinnacle of podcasting excellence, hitting all the notes that hook me in and create an hour's worth of content that breezes by in what feels like an instant.  "The New Norm" features stories delving into the emotional scaffolding behind the spread of a massive fast food chain and the masculine underpinnings that caused a high rate of accidents on an oil rig...until someone picked in apart.  The multi-cultural angle on this episode made me think that this show has endless subject matter and could run infinitely.  May we all be so lucky to have it do so. 2. This American Life -  Tell Me I'm Fat (#589)  As the show is wont to do, this episode of TAL provoked thought on perceptions that American culture may take for granted. "Tell Me I'm Fat" focuses in on how we view beauty and weight, daring to ask the question 'Is it OK to be fat?'  I ...

1. The Cracked Podcast -  How NASA Was Born Out of Magic Loving, Orgy Having Nerds (#126) I'll admit that at times I listen to podcasts peripherally, multitasking and inevitably not catching the finer nuances of a given episode.  Generally the medium lends itself well to this kind of behavior, but some shows are better suited than others.  The Cracked Podcast, for instance, is great to have on while accomplishing other things because it is discussion based where each story tends to be pretty brief.  But far from being trite, the formula for this show (funny people researching and discussing widely unheard of topics) produces highly entertaining bits of listening on a theme that is usually far reaching.  This week, the morsel of thought gleaned from discussion of the frankly insane NASA origin story is that sci-fi literature often begets new technology.  #126 is Cracked at it's best - meeting at the pinnacle of wit and "What?!" 2. Code Switch -  ...

1. Strangers -  The Son, The Goddess, and Leopoldo Any podcast that opens with "I was born into a coven of lesbian witches" is bound to hold ones attention.  But that salient salvo of a lead in is bland in comparison to much of what unravels in this enthralling episode of Strangers.  It may go without saying that this is one of the more disturbing podcasts I've heard, and as such is only suited for listeners with a tolerance for some graphic and disturbing details. Joshua Safran gives a harrowing first person account of growing up in a mightily unstable environment of transient Luddite hippies, and the remarkable story of how he managed to pull himself out into an adult existence of relative normalcy.  The horror of the first part of the show is balanced out by the incredible story of exoneration when Safran connects with an imprisoned woman whose circumstances closely relate with his own volatile upbringing.  One of the finest episodes of the year to date...