November 11, 2018
THE LIST
Yes, this was my number one pick last week. And yes, I did listen to it again this week, in part for my review of Decoder Ring for Podcast Review (a channel of the LA Review of Books), but also because it is very good. It's an exceptional episode of an incredible show, and intrepid listening leads to the revelation of a secret episode. Try to solve the puzzle yourself, or appeal to the power of the Reddit hivemind for the link.
No doubt you've heard that securing your digital identity is incredibly important. But you might still not be completely compelled to do anything to protect yourself. What's that? You need a vivid narrative to spur you to act? This is it. A podcast host puts a lot on the line to foster a meeting between a scared teen and the thief that preyed on her.
Why are prices so high at sporting events, concerts and airports? Simple: these places all have captive audiences with no other options for sustenance. But does artificial inflation actually make the most business sense? Planet Money visits the NFL's Atlanta Falcons and their experiment to set concessions prices much closer to the retail value of the food in question in this jamboree of food, sports, and consumer psychology.
HONORABLE MENTION
SOMETHING NEW
When I set about prepping to review a podcast, I generally like to sample a range of episodes - especially if show has a prolific back catalog. But I'll level with you: I did no such thing for today’s review. Dan Carlin’s six part epic “Blueprint For Armageddon” clocks in at over 23 hours, much closer to an audiobook in length than even the most verbose of pod series. And while we’re speaking candidly, I’ll go ahead and admit it took me the better part of two months to make it all the way through. Did I time this exploration to coincide with the 100th anniversary of Armistice Day back in September when I started listening to the series? Did I think about how the first episode of the series debuted almost exactly five years ago? No. These bits of synchronization were completely accidental - I merely followed a recommendation from my cousin to check out the show, and did not realize the nearness of the anniversaries until I finished the series a couple days ago. If you are by chance reading this on Sunday and somehow didn’t realize it, today is the centennial of a world peace that would last...well, not long. “Blueprint For Armageddon” follows the lead up to and the conflict during World War I, with a relatively short outline in part 6 of how the war foreshadowed the second World War that would follow a couple decades later.
While war is at the crux of this series, Carlin’s presence as narrator is more germane to the work than that of other podcast hosts heading up other projects. A former television and radio broadcaster known for his program Common Sense (1994-2004), Carlin injects an excitement into the war that balances nimbly between valorizing combat and lulling listeners to sleep by cranking out rote recitations of dates and strategy incomprehensible to lay people. He is a bit like an eccentric college professor on a tangent that builds and builds until it is clear he actually is following a coherent and structured through line. His voice carries a hushed intensity throughout, which makes it hard to hear while listening through headphones and brushing one’s teeth but which also endows the work with a sense of reverence and respect. Despite a coolly level disposition, he keeps a quick pace and is clearly quite intrigued by the myriad of actions and reactions that slowly reveal the outcomes of each move.
Carlin’s reverence for horror is conveyed several times throughout “Blueprint For Armageddon,” and it should come as no surprise that the depravity of armed conflict offered multiple opportunities to do so. Weaponized nation-state conflict as a whole seems much more tantalizing than abhorrent to most of the world, and Carlin certainly is no exception. But he devotes space for acknowledging this war’s role in ripping the romance from battle. New technology rendered much larger and more expedient death tolls, and I appreciated Carlin’s emphasis of this shift. Carlin often notes that he is not a historian, but to my rather ignorant self he sure seems well girded with research and citation. The episodes are largely monologues seemingly drawn from Carlin's informed imagination, but from time to time he does stop to read quotes from established writers - both trained historians and first person accounts from those who participated in battle. Of course, this is not just a meandering 23 hours of an expert’s thoughts - it is carefully considered and well written, and also (probably painstakingly) edited. Don’t lose sight of the gargantuan creative process at play here, even in the shadow of the massive listening accomplishment it also definitely is (***pats self on back***).
If you want a quick overview of major events from WWI, “Blueprint For Armageddon” is not for you. Read a Wikipedia article. That said, this show is still accessible with little prior knowledge of, well, anything, and I would bet that Carlin's fervor could engender a sense of wonder in even the most history-agnostic of listeners. My own interest level was initially very piqued, and got through the first 3 hour chunk with relative expedience. But the repetition did begin to wear me down and I had a hard time staying engaged. I would have very much enjoyed getting these massive episodes broken down into more digestible sections, and with podcasting’s on-demand nature I could have easily delineated such chunks on my own. I found myself shying away from hitting play when the time of the second chapter read 3 hours and 20 minutes. This is “hardcore history" though, so it was really my mistake if I was expecting to easily consume the show given my limited contact with WWI lore. I resolved to press on, though, and by the time installment six hit my ears I took to it quickly and downed the episode during two sessions of leaf raking.
So where do I land on “Blueprint For Armageddon?” Well, maybe with a bit of an unkosher recommendation: listen to episode one followed by episode six and see where that takes you. Carlin himself does preface each episodes with a reminder that this is a sequentially told story, but that listeners can feel free to go through it in whatever order they find most appealing. If you listen to these episodes and feel like you’d love to get some of the specifics nailed down, go right on ahead and get back to episode two. If you’re not feeling it, you’ve saved yourself about 16 hours. It’s a solid product for the right listener, and if that’s not you going in there is still a chance you could become a history convert coming out.
While war is at the crux of this series, Carlin’s presence as narrator is more germane to the work than that of other podcast hosts heading up other projects. A former television and radio broadcaster known for his program Common Sense (1994-2004), Carlin injects an excitement into the war that balances nimbly between valorizing combat and lulling listeners to sleep by cranking out rote recitations of dates and strategy incomprehensible to lay people. He is a bit like an eccentric college professor on a tangent that builds and builds until it is clear he actually is following a coherent and structured through line. His voice carries a hushed intensity throughout, which makes it hard to hear while listening through headphones and brushing one’s teeth but which also endows the work with a sense of reverence and respect. Despite a coolly level disposition, he keeps a quick pace and is clearly quite intrigued by the myriad of actions and reactions that slowly reveal the outcomes of each move.
Carlin’s reverence for horror is conveyed several times throughout “Blueprint For Armageddon,” and it should come as no surprise that the depravity of armed conflict offered multiple opportunities to do so. Weaponized nation-state conflict as a whole seems much more tantalizing than abhorrent to most of the world, and Carlin certainly is no exception. But he devotes space for acknowledging this war’s role in ripping the romance from battle. New technology rendered much larger and more expedient death tolls, and I appreciated Carlin’s emphasis of this shift. Carlin often notes that he is not a historian, but to my rather ignorant self he sure seems well girded with research and citation. The episodes are largely monologues seemingly drawn from Carlin's informed imagination, but from time to time he does stop to read quotes from established writers - both trained historians and first person accounts from those who participated in battle. Of course, this is not just a meandering 23 hours of an expert’s thoughts - it is carefully considered and well written, and also (probably painstakingly) edited. Don’t lose sight of the gargantuan creative process at play here, even in the shadow of the massive listening accomplishment it also definitely is (***pats self on back***).
If you want a quick overview of major events from WWI, “Blueprint For Armageddon” is not for you. Read a Wikipedia article. That said, this show is still accessible with little prior knowledge of, well, anything, and I would bet that Carlin's fervor could engender a sense of wonder in even the most history-agnostic of listeners. My own interest level was initially very piqued, and got through the first 3 hour chunk with relative expedience. But the repetition did begin to wear me down and I had a hard time staying engaged. I would have very much enjoyed getting these massive episodes broken down into more digestible sections, and with podcasting’s on-demand nature I could have easily delineated such chunks on my own. I found myself shying away from hitting play when the time of the second chapter read 3 hours and 20 minutes. This is “hardcore history" though, so it was really my mistake if I was expecting to easily consume the show given my limited contact with WWI lore. I resolved to press on, though, and by the time installment six hit my ears I took to it quickly and downed the episode during two sessions of leaf raking.
So where do I land on “Blueprint For Armageddon?” Well, maybe with a bit of an unkosher recommendation: listen to episode one followed by episode six and see where that takes you. Carlin himself does preface each episodes with a reminder that this is a sequentially told story, but that listeners can feel free to go through it in whatever order they find most appealing. If you listen to these episodes and feel like you’d love to get some of the specifics nailed down, go right on ahead and get back to episode two. If you’re not feeling it, you’ve saved yourself about 16 hours. It’s a solid product for the right listener, and if that’s not you going in there is still a chance you could become a history convert coming out.
From: Standalone
Recommended for: Warmongers, peaceniks, anyone who lives in a country that played a part in WWI, podcast listening iron-people on a cross-country roadtrip.
Drop Schedule: All episodes available now, released October 2013
Average episode length: 180 minutes
Rating: Make It Work
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