July 2 - 8, 2017
1. Radiolab - "Revising the Fault Line"
Blame and responsibility are a huge part of human culture, or at least Western culture, or at least American culture (maybe just my own personal perception of culture?!). If there is some injustice, of any degree, some portion of the population is going to demand a guilty party. It can be difficult to forgive an acquaintance of some petty mishap, so we have a deep hunger for clear-cut rules to dictate right and wrong when something of more import comes to pass. But what if that all changed? Could science explain away culpability? How could we live if forced to be complacent with adjudicating moral failure? Radiolab provokes these and other difficult questions with "Revising the Fault Line." As always I would encourage listening with a critical ear, but try to imagine a world where biology dictates morality as you listen to this one.
2. Revisionist History - "Miss Buchanan's Period of Adjustment"
Racial integration is a topic as fraught with shame as it is engulfed in overwhelming implicit support. As complex of a relationship as we all have with race in the modern world, I'd wager very few individuals would submit that allowing people with different skin color to share a bathroom is a sign of societal decay. Still, our collective proclivity for shame urges a curt response - Yes, how terrible it was, but how great is it now and how much greater still that we don't need to talk about it! Gladwell's aim with Revisionist History, as the title of his show suggests, is to take that extra step and prod into an area of the past that may not sit comfortably with the listener. The big and broadly applicable question levied in "Miss Buchanan's Period of Adjustment" is whether the root of a admirable quest must itself be pristine if the action is to be successful.
3. The Cracked Podcast - "The Weird Origins of Amusement Parks and the Summer Vacation"
It's all too fitting that Cracked rounds out this week of calling out predisposed thinking. This episode is comparatively conspiracy free in relation to the show's back catalog, as the team looks at the rise of Summer Vacation as an increasing right of passage in the American middle class.
HONORABLE MENTION
Song Exploder - "Michelle Branch - Best You Ever"
99% Invisible - "Mexico 68"
SOMETHING NEW
Comedic talking-head-casts are not my thing. I can appreciate the laid-back spirit such shows bring to podcasting and there's no denying the format played a crucial role in the burgeoning stages of the medium. With that disclaimer up front, let me now proceed to tear apart How to be Less Old with a witty and incisive phrase: it is a talking-head-cast. The show is perfectly palatable within that context. It has a nice point of entry: two 30-somethings trying to keep up with the ever-changing culture. The end product, however, feels like a concept that was not served to the fullest. The hosts have a good report with their guest, and I can tell that these people are legitimately funny, but for me How to be Less Old is a conversation with a loose theme that isn't really brought to bare in a satisfying way. Give me an expedient explainer of a phrase's origins, some contextual guidance on how it has been used in popular culture, and, sure, then let a funny person riff on how they've applied (or misapplied) this in their life. But just the last point, extending for close to an hour? I'll settle for aging appropriately.
How to be Less Old
Recommended for: Less-curmudgeonly listeners who aren't expecting a reinvention of the form.
Rating: Break It
Blame and responsibility are a huge part of human culture, or at least Western culture, or at least American culture (maybe just my own personal perception of culture?!). If there is some injustice, of any degree, some portion of the population is going to demand a guilty party. It can be difficult to forgive an acquaintance of some petty mishap, so we have a deep hunger for clear-cut rules to dictate right and wrong when something of more import comes to pass. But what if that all changed? Could science explain away culpability? How could we live if forced to be complacent with adjudicating moral failure? Radiolab provokes these and other difficult questions with "Revising the Fault Line." As always I would encourage listening with a critical ear, but try to imagine a world where biology dictates morality as you listen to this one.
2. Revisionist History - "Miss Buchanan's Period of Adjustment"
Racial integration is a topic as fraught with shame as it is engulfed in overwhelming implicit support. As complex of a relationship as we all have with race in the modern world, I'd wager very few individuals would submit that allowing people with different skin color to share a bathroom is a sign of societal decay. Still, our collective proclivity for shame urges a curt response - Yes, how terrible it was, but how great is it now and how much greater still that we don't need to talk about it! Gladwell's aim with Revisionist History, as the title of his show suggests, is to take that extra step and prod into an area of the past that may not sit comfortably with the listener. The big and broadly applicable question levied in "Miss Buchanan's Period of Adjustment" is whether the root of a admirable quest must itself be pristine if the action is to be successful.
3. The Cracked Podcast - "The Weird Origins of Amusement Parks and the Summer Vacation"
It's all too fitting that Cracked rounds out this week of calling out predisposed thinking. This episode is comparatively conspiracy free in relation to the show's back catalog, as the team looks at the rise of Summer Vacation as an increasing right of passage in the American middle class.
HONORABLE MENTION
Song Exploder - "Michelle Branch - Best You Ever"
99% Invisible - "Mexico 68"
SOMETHING NEW
Comedic talking-head-casts are not my thing. I can appreciate the laid-back spirit such shows bring to podcasting and there's no denying the format played a crucial role in the burgeoning stages of the medium. With that disclaimer up front, let me now proceed to tear apart How to be Less Old with a witty and incisive phrase: it is a talking-head-cast. The show is perfectly palatable within that context. It has a nice point of entry: two 30-somethings trying to keep up with the ever-changing culture. The end product, however, feels like a concept that was not served to the fullest. The hosts have a good report with their guest, and I can tell that these people are legitimately funny, but for me How to be Less Old is a conversation with a loose theme that isn't really brought to bare in a satisfying way. Give me an expedient explainer of a phrase's origins, some contextual guidance on how it has been used in popular culture, and, sure, then let a funny person riff on how they've applied (or misapplied) this in their life. But just the last point, extending for close to an hour? I'll settle for aging appropriately.
How to be Less Old
Recommended for: Less-curmudgeonly listeners who aren't expecting a reinvention of the form.
Rating: Break It
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