The Pod Piper

I didn't quite have time to pull together a full edition of Pod Piper today, but here are some abbreviated episode reviews along with a healthy serving of honorable mentions to get you through the short work week ahead. THE LIST 1. Revisionist History  -  "Burden of Proof" This is reminiscent of Gladwellian tipping point ruminations, with a bit more aggressive "what gives?" stance that underlines the logical gap between institutions of higher education promoting a sport that causes brain damage.  2. Radiolab  -  "More or Less Human" Artificial intelligence is certainly a topic primed and ready for the Radiolab treatment, and this episode delivers with more talk about Furbies than I've heard in decades. 3. The Allusionist  -  "Oot in the Open" When a language is demonized and outlawed, does it die or does it adapt?  HONORABLE MENTION Caliphate  -  "Chapter One: The Reporter" Upon Further Review  - ...

THE LIST 1. 99% Invisible  -  "Immobile Homes" Mobile homes. Most people are aware of these humble dwellings, but it’s doubtless many of us have ever thought much about their metaphorical place in the American landscape. 99PI paints us an aural picture of the importance and subjugation of a structure integral to survival via the threat to a small community in Utah.  2. We Came to Win  -  "Zaire '74: The Most Misunderstood Team in History" I try to leave out episodes of the show featured in the lengthier review, but this one is just so good. It’s a reminder that while soccer is the world’s game, not all teams and players are given the same amount of respect - even on the World Cup level of competition. 3. Revisionist History  -  "Divide and Conquer" Malcolm Gladwell is back, and he comes out swinging with this lengthy investigation into one of the most potentially relevant punctuation marks in US history. It is every bit as rivettin...

THE LIST 1. We Came to Win  -  "How the 1990 World Cup Saved English Soccer" If you are familiar with the Hillsborough disaster, this episode may not be as shocking as it was to me. Regardless of any prior familiarity with this tragic event in the history of English football, this episode canvases the trials and eventual resurrection of a national past time now internationally integral to sports culture.  2. Track Changes  -  "Put Your Phone Down" The episode title might elicit a skittish reaction from those fearing a 'get off the lawn' type epithet from crotchety old men. Originally released the day of the 2016 US presidential election, this conversation is the most impressively earnest dialogue on the extent to which technology affects being present in a physical space. 3. Broadway Backstory  -  "Deaf West's Spring Awakening" I am sad to say I have never once thought about how voices in the deaf community are captured on...

THE LIST 1. This American Life  -  "Random Acts of History" From the incredibly apt title to the thought-provoking complexities unraveled in the featured story, this episode gripped me in a way that merited ongoing reflection. It drove home the idea that outrage is easy to inhabit, while complete understanding is much more difficult. It's problematic to have a group of kids laughing about the Holocaust in public, but who is really to blame?.  2. Love and Radio  -  "Choir Boy" Humans are capable of weathering an incredible expanse of experiences in a single life time. We tend to valorize self-made bootstrapping narratives of people who go from zero to hero in their own life stories, but a lesser-seen arc is the extraordinary person who rises steadily and then seemingly voluntarily self-destructs just for the hell of it. This story is rife with exploiting racial and class privilege, but to an unusual end.. 3. Futility Closet  -  "The M...