August 20, 2018

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THE LIST

1. On The Media - "Twitch and Shout"
When media outlets step outside their wheelhouse to cover content that is beloved and obsessed over by a community, even uninitiated spectators tend to collectively sigh and indulge in knowing, eye-rolling judgment about the failed attempt to decipher a hidden world. It's like the Facebook trial all over again, where learned professionals make fools of themselves as they betray their utter lack of knowledge of a given subject. While comparing On the Media to some provincial CBS affiliate's nightly news team would teeter on the brink of blasphemy, I certainly did not expect Bob and Brooke to cover the world of e-Sports. It's possible that my admittedly outsidery perspective is missing some glaring oversight here (and Bob does unfortunately utilize the label 'newbies' during the episode, squandering maybe the best opportunity WNYC has ever had to use 'n00bs' in a journalistic context). But generally I found this very compelling, and it strikes me as a balanced entrypoint for those who may not realize just how many people have found community in outposts of online gaming. 

2. Scene on Radio - "Dick Move (MEN, Part 1)"
There are people who traffic in truculent rage for/against the patriarchy and then there is everyone else, with varying degrees of interest in or awareness of how gender shapes the world. John Biewen, who brought us the excellent Seeing White series on race from Scene on Radio last year, seeks to tread a different course. Working with Celeste Headlee, Biewen attempts once again to tackle a big question via an honest probing of sometimes inconspicuous systems from genesis to the present.

3. This American Life - "The Feather Heist"
You know what I didn't expect to hear a podcast about this week? Fly fishing. But you know what I really didn't expect to hear? A show about a wunderkind fly-tyer who would stop at nothing to procure the most beautiful feathers with which to craft his masterpieces. I loved this piece in all it's obscurity, and it struck me as a Reply All story told with a very This American Life measure of repose. 

HONORABLE MENTION
Slow Burn - "There There"

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