August 30, 2019
SOMETHING NEW
Moonrise, the new podcast from The Washington Post, boasts some of the most impressively topic-appropriate sound effects in any audio doc I’ve ever come across. There are so many great historic sound bites that set the mood for this dive into the backstory of the space race. The whole design is a little other-worldly with a strong science fiction vibe, and as someone who didn’t live through the space race I feel like the tenuous sense of complete doom conveys pretty well in the soundscapes.
The show’s aesthetic reminds me a little bit of NPR’s Throughline, evoking a cool vibe that dictates the way we are to feel about the subject. It seems a little insidery and almost conspiratorial, a general whiff of counterculture wafts throughout the series. That said, maybe it isn’t any wonder than the flow of the episodes is a little disjointed. The show has more than a few dry spots, and I found my attention wavering in the lack of a simple narrative thread to tie episodes together. This show does not rely on the cliff-hanging hooks to lead listeners into binging. It feels a bit like wandering through a very niche archive with a late-mid-century moon theme, and that is kind of novel in the world of podcasts. There are call backs to specific characters, but I had a hard time connecting a lot of the names that resurfaced.
Curiously, the show’s release schedule is structured in two six episode arcs. The first half concluded on August 27th, and the final six episodes will begin releasing weekly on September 17th. I’m almost certain my pea brain won’t retain enough to launch back into it after three weeks off, though the show’s visceral nature makes it possible to have a positive experience even without perfect recall. Though the episodes can meander, the show transports me to a different headspace. I really enjoy being in this world and if the worst bit of it is that my mind occasionally wanders I can live with it. My historical interests do not extend to this particular window of the past, and I’m thus unlikely to spend much time with something in any other medium. Podcasts, coupled with my innate inability to stop consuming a cultural property once I set in, again prove to be an inroads into unchartered territory.
The show’s aesthetic reminds me a little bit of NPR’s Throughline, evoking a cool vibe that dictates the way we are to feel about the subject. It seems a little insidery and almost conspiratorial, a general whiff of counterculture wafts throughout the series. That said, maybe it isn’t any wonder than the flow of the episodes is a little disjointed. The show has more than a few dry spots, and I found my attention wavering in the lack of a simple narrative thread to tie episodes together. This show does not rely on the cliff-hanging hooks to lead listeners into binging. It feels a bit like wandering through a very niche archive with a late-mid-century moon theme, and that is kind of novel in the world of podcasts. There are call backs to specific characters, but I had a hard time connecting a lot of the names that resurfaced.
Curiously, the show’s release schedule is structured in two six episode arcs. The first half concluded on August 27th, and the final six episodes will begin releasing weekly on September 17th. I’m almost certain my pea brain won’t retain enough to launch back into it after three weeks off, though the show’s visceral nature makes it possible to have a positive experience even without perfect recall. Though the episodes can meander, the show transports me to a different headspace. I really enjoy being in this world and if the worst bit of it is that my mind occasionally wanders I can live with it. My historical interests do not extend to this particular window of the past, and I’m thus unlikely to spend much time with something in any other medium. Podcasts, coupled with my innate inability to stop consuming a cultural property once I set in, again prove to be an inroads into unchartered territory.
From: The Washington Post
Recommended for: Space junkies, definitely. Moon newbies, maybe!
Drop Schedule: Tuesday, Weekly
Average episode length: 35 minutes
Rating: Make It Work
THE LIST
Ramona Shelburne nails episode after episode in this 30 for 30 series about infamous ex-NBA owner and Donald Trump wannabe Donald Sterling. Part 1 pairs particularly well with a luxuriously long walk on an enchantingly foggy morning.
I tend to balk at any kind of cultural property that purports to offer up a genuinely beneficial human service into a consumable bit of media (shows about hoarding, for instance). I’m convinced that real and sincere transformation can only happen without performatively acquiescing to the kind of dramatic arc that will keep an audience engaged. This episode of TAL may be the exception. It is entirely focused on one woman's journey through a new kind of therapy, and it is as well done as anything in the genre. That's due in large part to the fact that the protagonist is also the reporter.
Following the news of Andrew Luck's retirement, HUAL brought on a pair of former NFL players who walked away from the game on their own terms. Then, Josh and Stefan unravel the strange act of methodical torture that is auditioning for the role of kicker on an NFL team? Also, a topic not often in the center of the sporting world: the National Women’s Soccer League.
HUAL rarely surfaces once in a Pod Piper issue, let alone twice (suffering for it’s consistent greatness and lack of wide variance from a theme...and relatively frequent release). Regardless, the segment on words to discard from the sports lexicon is a compelling listen regardless of one's affinity for athletics. And the parsing of the NFL's recent deal with Jay-Z makes an excellent lesson in business and ethics and the socially just intermingling of the two.
Is Dora the Explorer the most famous Latinx of all time? Maybe. Is it insane to think that the show has been on the air for 19 years? That alone makes it worth featuring on an episode of Code Switch.
HONORABLE MENTION
Comments
Post a Comment