April 23 - May 6, 2017
1. Planet Money - "Georgetown, Louisiana (Part One & Two)"
This two-part series from Planet Money probes into the nuances of a recent revelation: that Georgetown sold slaves to help keep the university afloat. It's not shocking that a prestigious institution had a hand in something unsavory, particular since this history-drenched school lies south of the Mason-Dixon line. The surprising thing is that Georgetown has acknowledged this injustice and is (sort of) seeking to make amends in some form. These episodes explore life in a town where many of the slaves were sent, checking in with various locals who can trace their lineage to these enslaved people. The tension here lies between doing the right thing, and realizing that the manifestation of adequate compensation is uncomfortable after so many years have passed. It's tempting to think of reparations as some bizarre narrative from a parallel universe where humans treat each other abhorrently. Sadly, our history has written itself in a way that necessitates considering how to right the wrongs we've collectively perpetrated on each other throughout time.
2. Radiolab - "Henrietta Lacks"
Continuing on the theme of injustice, Radiolab presents an old episode about the woman who unknowingly advanced science more than perhaps any person in history. This is timely, as HBO recently released a film based on the non-fiction book which reveals the long-untold story of Henrietta Lacks. I'm sure the film is wonderful, and I'm even more interested in reading the book. But this episode richly details the main points of the story in a way that is both informative and direly emotional. The portrayal of Henrietta Lacks and the family she left behind captures the pride in progress juxtaposed with the uniquely strange idea that Lacks is in some sense still alive. I'm not the first to unearth this subject, and certainly not this episode, but it is as worth listening to as anything I've heard this year.
3. Criminal - "The Kingfish"
As I often opine when writing about a Criminal episode, the true-crime podcast genre is over-saturated. Typically I tend to think of these shows as a bit much, but there are an increasing number of outlets rolling out incredibly compelling storytelling with a tragic event at the center. The thing I find lacking in almost all of them, however, is a sense of reverence for the victim. Criminal almost always succeeds on this front, and "The Kingfish" is a prime example. What starts out as a strangely conspiratorial political murder weaves its way into a story of how the perpetrators of crimes leave behind a heavy legacy resting on surviving friends and family. It would be hard to live with the idea that your loved one inflicted fatal blows on another person, but what if you believed that the documented facts weren't the entire truth of the matter at hand?
4. The Memory Palace - "Notes on a Plaque, Still Imagined" The typical mode of operation for The Memory Palace is to place the listener under a whimsical lacquer of sepia-toned audio, transporting us to another place and time. The episodes aren't always whimsical in nature; in fact, most of the time the subject matter tends toward the melancholy. In "Notes on a Plaque, Still Imagined," however, host Nate Dimeo sheds a little distance and brings some righteous indignation into the narrative. The key takeaway from this episode is the nature and purpose of memorials. They are not simply passive remembrances of a long-lost figure, but charged with their own politics and biases that should be questioned - not simply tokens of figured meant to be revered eternally without qualification. I don't think I'd like it if The Memory Palace shifted to a more blatantly editorializing stance throughout all episodes, but when well-placed this can be quite effective in the audio storytelling world.
HONORABLE MENTION
Slate's Culture Gabfest - "Live From Washington D.C. Edition"
Flash Forward - "Robocop"
On the Media - "In Other Words"
The Cracked Podcast - "How We'd Fix These 4 Broken Franchises"
This two-part series from Planet Money probes into the nuances of a recent revelation: that Georgetown sold slaves to help keep the university afloat. It's not shocking that a prestigious institution had a hand in something unsavory, particular since this history-drenched school lies south of the Mason-Dixon line. The surprising thing is that Georgetown has acknowledged this injustice and is (sort of) seeking to make amends in some form. These episodes explore life in a town where many of the slaves were sent, checking in with various locals who can trace their lineage to these enslaved people. The tension here lies between doing the right thing, and realizing that the manifestation of adequate compensation is uncomfortable after so many years have passed. It's tempting to think of reparations as some bizarre narrative from a parallel universe where humans treat each other abhorrently. Sadly, our history has written itself in a way that necessitates considering how to right the wrongs we've collectively perpetrated on each other throughout time.
2. Radiolab - "Henrietta Lacks"
Continuing on the theme of injustice, Radiolab presents an old episode about the woman who unknowingly advanced science more than perhaps any person in history. This is timely, as HBO recently released a film based on the non-fiction book which reveals the long-untold story of Henrietta Lacks. I'm sure the film is wonderful, and I'm even more interested in reading the book. But this episode richly details the main points of the story in a way that is both informative and direly emotional. The portrayal of Henrietta Lacks and the family she left behind captures the pride in progress juxtaposed with the uniquely strange idea that Lacks is in some sense still alive. I'm not the first to unearth this subject, and certainly not this episode, but it is as worth listening to as anything I've heard this year.
3. Criminal - "The Kingfish"
As I often opine when writing about a Criminal episode, the true-crime podcast genre is over-saturated. Typically I tend to think of these shows as a bit much, but there are an increasing number of outlets rolling out incredibly compelling storytelling with a tragic event at the center. The thing I find lacking in almost all of them, however, is a sense of reverence for the victim. Criminal almost always succeeds on this front, and "The Kingfish" is a prime example. What starts out as a strangely conspiratorial political murder weaves its way into a story of how the perpetrators of crimes leave behind a heavy legacy resting on surviving friends and family. It would be hard to live with the idea that your loved one inflicted fatal blows on another person, but what if you believed that the documented facts weren't the entire truth of the matter at hand?
4. The Memory Palace - "Notes on a Plaque, Still Imagined" The typical mode of operation for The Memory Palace is to place the listener under a whimsical lacquer of sepia-toned audio, transporting us to another place and time. The episodes aren't always whimsical in nature; in fact, most of the time the subject matter tends toward the melancholy. In "Notes on a Plaque, Still Imagined," however, host Nate Dimeo sheds a little distance and brings some righteous indignation into the narrative. The key takeaway from this episode is the nature and purpose of memorials. They are not simply passive remembrances of a long-lost figure, but charged with their own politics and biases that should be questioned - not simply tokens of figured meant to be revered eternally without qualification. I don't think I'd like it if The Memory Palace shifted to a more blatantly editorializing stance throughout all episodes, but when well-placed this can be quite effective in the audio storytelling world.
HONORABLE MENTION
Slate's Culture Gabfest - "Live From Washington D.C. Edition"
Flash Forward - "Robocop"
On the Media - "In Other Words"
The Cracked Podcast - "How We'd Fix These 4 Broken Franchises"
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