September 3 - 9, 2017
THE LIST
1. Startup - "The Domain King"
Most people would love to hit on some secret that leads to a life of easy wealth free of financial obligation. In order to pull off a feat like this you must be uniquely positioned most of the time, with a certain amount of insider knowledge mixed with the right level of gutsiness and resolve. Startup often encapsulates stories heavy on hustle with varying results, and the contrast of success and failure is riveting. In their debut episode of season six, the business-themed podcast spins a yarn about a man who stumbled into a good thing and kept it going - regardless of how unsavory some of the details of his ploy may appear.
2. Planet Money - "The Ransom Problem"
There are some shows that really squeeze a topic for all it's worth. This could be the fruit of a well-meaning producer following an instinct in the wrong direction, and has the potential to leave listeners over-burdened. Planet Money never falls into that trap, and this episode may be evidence of the opposite problem. The NPR economics show has undertaken a couple different multi-part series, and "The Ransom Problem" was so tightly packed with content that I was left wanting more. Though, to be fair, I guess it is easier to make your own t-shirt than to facilitate a kidnapping just to follow the process of paying ransom. Still, all that doesn't by any means warrant skipping the show! It is a thoughtful meditation on a complex issue, full of psychological, monetary, and political meat that I've been mentally bouncing back to throughout the week.
3. Showcase from Radiotopia - "Ways of Hearing #5 - POWER"
The fifth installment of Ways of Hearing from Radiotopia's new mini-series platform returns to packing the kind of philosophical punch I felt on hearing about the concept of the six-parter. "POWER" takes on the modern channels of distribution we frequent as well as players rendered increasingly benign by streaming. Much like the slow food movement where the origin of produce is taking center stage, podcaster Damon Krukowski posits that there is more to music than the mere act of listening. The pursuit and capture of a new tune enhances the experience, and the ease of access purveyors like Spotify offer takes randomness out of the equation. Is a curated playlist from an algorithm really preferable to the joys and struggles of sifting through a bin of records? What are we losing in our quest for comfort? The question resonates not only with music, but all forms of media that are shifting towards a more streamlined approach.
HONORABLE MENTION
Reply All - "The Case of the Phantom Caller"
99% Invisible - "The Age of the Algorithm"
Song Exploder - "Ibeyi - Deathless"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOMETHING NEW
With the high volume of podcasts that pass through my ears on any given week, it is rare to get sucked into an unplanned binge-listening affair. The most likely time for that to happen is when I'm reviewing a drama that can't be fairly parsed without a sense of the arc across a season. This week, however, the non-fiction narrative reporting show featured in this segment got me to inadvertently stream all six episodes of it's inaugural season. Terrestrial is built around the theme of people connecting to their community via an environmental issue. The stories in season one range from the entanglement of pollution and race, to a new experiment with body composting, to the decision to have kids in the face of a planet careening toward environmental ruin. Unlike other podcasts in which the environment surfaces, this show takes climate change as a given without lip service to a) how it is clearly happening, b) how it is clearly being undercut by skeevy politicians/corporations, or c) how it is clearly overblown by media elites. If you are looking for a politically charged debate or even a well-meaning contrarian approach to the topic, this is not the place for that.
While the show could be called left-leaning (would you expect anything less from a product of a Seattle-based public radio station?) the tone isn't too preachy or one-sided. Much like the short-lived Placemakers podcast from venerated radio personality Rebecca Sheir, the scope of Terrestrial is national and local at the same time. It has an organic feel that doesn't spring up on more highly produced shows. Not to say that the technical elements are raw or unpolished, but rather that an earnest tone bleeds through that might be edited out of a show from a larger network. The episodes are breezy - rarely reaching past 20 minutes - and the topic of each one could lead to a lengthy conversation if listened to with a partner. These are issues that either have the potential to affect everyone, or are already doing so in some possibly unseen manner. When season two hits, I'm all in.
Terrestrial
Recommended for: Anyone aware that as things change and adapt over time, so must we
Rating: Gotta Have It.
1. Startup - "The Domain King"
Most people would love to hit on some secret that leads to a life of easy wealth free of financial obligation. In order to pull off a feat like this you must be uniquely positioned most of the time, with a certain amount of insider knowledge mixed with the right level of gutsiness and resolve. Startup often encapsulates stories heavy on hustle with varying results, and the contrast of success and failure is riveting. In their debut episode of season six, the business-themed podcast spins a yarn about a man who stumbled into a good thing and kept it going - regardless of how unsavory some of the details of his ploy may appear.
2. Planet Money - "The Ransom Problem"
There are some shows that really squeeze a topic for all it's worth. This could be the fruit of a well-meaning producer following an instinct in the wrong direction, and has the potential to leave listeners over-burdened. Planet Money never falls into that trap, and this episode may be evidence of the opposite problem. The NPR economics show has undertaken a couple different multi-part series, and "The Ransom Problem" was so tightly packed with content that I was left wanting more. Though, to be fair, I guess it is easier to make your own t-shirt than to facilitate a kidnapping just to follow the process of paying ransom. Still, all that doesn't by any means warrant skipping the show! It is a thoughtful meditation on a complex issue, full of psychological, monetary, and political meat that I've been mentally bouncing back to throughout the week.
3. Showcase from Radiotopia - "Ways of Hearing #5 - POWER"
The fifth installment of Ways of Hearing from Radiotopia's new mini-series platform returns to packing the kind of philosophical punch I felt on hearing about the concept of the six-parter. "POWER" takes on the modern channels of distribution we frequent as well as players rendered increasingly benign by streaming. Much like the slow food movement where the origin of produce is taking center stage, podcaster Damon Krukowski posits that there is more to music than the mere act of listening. The pursuit and capture of a new tune enhances the experience, and the ease of access purveyors like Spotify offer takes randomness out of the equation. Is a curated playlist from an algorithm really preferable to the joys and struggles of sifting through a bin of records? What are we losing in our quest for comfort? The question resonates not only with music, but all forms of media that are shifting towards a more streamlined approach.
HONORABLE MENTION
Reply All - "The Case of the Phantom Caller"
99% Invisible - "The Age of the Algorithm"
Song Exploder - "Ibeyi - Deathless"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"He went on at length about how it was made and it's prominence...a lot of information about the handpan on the date" - Meredith Talusan, Strangers: "A Filipino-Albino-Gay-Straight-Boy-Girl-Poor-Privileged-Immigrant-American Life"--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
SOMETHING NEW
With the high volume of podcasts that pass through my ears on any given week, it is rare to get sucked into an unplanned binge-listening affair. The most likely time for that to happen is when I'm reviewing a drama that can't be fairly parsed without a sense of the arc across a season. This week, however, the non-fiction narrative reporting show featured in this segment got me to inadvertently stream all six episodes of it's inaugural season. Terrestrial is built around the theme of people connecting to their community via an environmental issue. The stories in season one range from the entanglement of pollution and race, to a new experiment with body composting, to the decision to have kids in the face of a planet careening toward environmental ruin. Unlike other podcasts in which the environment surfaces, this show takes climate change as a given without lip service to a) how it is clearly happening, b) how it is clearly being undercut by skeevy politicians/corporations, or c) how it is clearly overblown by media elites. If you are looking for a politically charged debate or even a well-meaning contrarian approach to the topic, this is not the place for that.
While the show could be called left-leaning (would you expect anything less from a product of a Seattle-based public radio station?) the tone isn't too preachy or one-sided. Much like the short-lived Placemakers podcast from venerated radio personality Rebecca Sheir, the scope of Terrestrial is national and local at the same time. It has an organic feel that doesn't spring up on more highly produced shows. Not to say that the technical elements are raw or unpolished, but rather that an earnest tone bleeds through that might be edited out of a show from a larger network. The episodes are breezy - rarely reaching past 20 minutes - and the topic of each one could lead to a lengthy conversation if listened to with a partner. These are issues that either have the potential to affect everyone, or are already doing so in some possibly unseen manner. When season two hits, I'm all in.
Terrestrial
Recommended for: Anyone aware that as things change and adapt over time, so must we
Rating: Gotta Have It.
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