May 19, 2020
I've been trying out a lot of new stuff this past month or so, and there's no way I'm going to get to reviewing it all. So this time around you've got several shorter somethings simmering somewhere southerly.
THE LIST
THE LIST
RFFP could rest on its experimental peeklay perfection, but with such an infrequent release schedule you might as well go for it and make an episode where Avery Truffleman tries truffles. This might seem like a lazy shtick if it were attempted by a lesser podcast, but RFFP is a greater podcast. And any chance one has to experience Avery Truffleman in some new context is a chance one must take.
This show is such a singular listening experience in the podcast landscape. The comedic angle and compact format makes for a great social listen - Everything Is Alive deserves lolz. The novelty of interviewing an object is only part of the formula here. The other part is the specificity. Eugene is a tattoo of Shrek with the Jerry Maguire quote "Show Me The Money." This is pure gold, and the interview portion with someone who got a failed tattoo is a cherry on top.
It seems like it's been a lifetime since we've heard from Rebecca Black. And if you're about 9 years old, I guess that is technically correct. Despite the ubiquity of ‘Friday’, I didn’t have much of a read on the song’s origins and I have thought very little of the song or singer since. This episode had a “where are they now” feel, and also aims to trace the origins of fame in the early days of internet virality.
The American education system takes an incredibly hands-off approach to social studies. At best, student governments mimic the politicking of an election cycle with minimal focus on the larger machinations of a bureaucracy. “Schooled for Democracy” follows one school’s attempt to take the process to the people, involving 8th graders in shaping a policy that could impact their district in a meaningful way.
Could I have been great? It’s a central question any adult asks when examining the foundational moments of youth. Michael Lewis takes us back to his high school and hones in on Billy Fitzgerald, a man who seemingly willed greatness from the students he coached. The anecdotes that guide this story are compelling and polarizing, sure to separate the tough love crowd from the compassionate support enclave. For me, those questions are besides the point. Do the ends justify the means? It hardly matters if you aren’t convinced that the ends aren’t all they’re cracked up to be. Greatness isn’t for everybody, and many are eager to embrace that realization - in an effort to stay sane, perhaps. And I suppose that to have some small measure of great individuals there must be a push for everyone to be great. Maybe that old army tagline “be all that you can be” was onto something. Maybe we aren’t all even capable of greatness, but simply capable of living our best lives and giving it our all. That stipulated, what do we do about a man like Fitzgerald? Is some degree of adolescent trauma an acceptable price to pay for being endowed with an insatiable drive necessary to propel someone to the top of their chosen profession? Or is there something to be said for levitating near the ceiling of mediocrity, holding down a good job and a happy marriage with very little in the way of _real_ emotional angst (and just the slightest nagging feeling that a little more work could be the difference between that next echelon of success with untold rewards and satisfaction)? It’s hard to say.
America, you great unfinished symphony. There is so much complex history that sowed the seeds that we forget to see. The nation near and far comes out ahead of itself, a torso lying splayed out on the concrete while legs and arms struggle desperately to ignore what the eyes might someday acknowledge. The nation that never has been yet.
HONORABLE MENTION
SOME NEW THINGS
Hope, Through History (Cadence 13)
While the world is faced with _%#*unprecedented*#%_ challenges related to COVID-19, it turns out that humanity has struggled with some pretty serious stuff before. On this podcast from author/historian Jon Meacham, the hope is mostly implicit - we’ve gotten through these horrible things without ending civilization, so surely we can do it again. More than buoying my faith in humanity’s ability to endure anything the cruel winds of entropic destiny may blow our way, this show was a good primer on some large 20th century historical events that hadn’t previously registered with me. I found the episode on the Cuban Missile Crisis to be particularly compelling, particularly the bits reflecting on how JFK perceived his handling of the whole thing. And the series finale about the 1918 flu pandemic was kind of shocking - I hadn’t considered how this overlapped with World War I, and I certainly didn’t know about the general absence of any kind of federal response or even acknowledgement from president Wilson.
Jon Richardson and the Futurenauts: How To Survive The Apocalypse (Keep It Light Media)
Jon Richardson offers up some really efficient comedic insights on matters big and small. The British comedian teams up with futurists/authors Ed GIllespie and Mark Stevenson on this coronavirus-christened pod that delivers self-deprecating humor about the dire state of humanity. The co-hosts manage to keep things humming, wasting no time on played out bits or vamping when there isn’t anything new to add to the subject at hand. At the same time, the show has a relaxed feel that admirably models how to deal with some of the seemingly grim realities of our age - acknowledging them with a level head in order to work toward a reasonable solution.
Commencement: Speeches For The Class of 2020 (iHeartRadio)
Since so many graduations are happening remotely, iHeartRadio decided it would be a good idea to commission about 50 celebrities to throw together a commencement address. Episodes are compact, ranging from 4 to 17 minutes with the bulk of them hovering close to 10 minutes. Speakers run the gamut - athletes, politicians, business leaders, entertainers are all well represented - and I’d say the balance tips a little more in favor of folks that older millennials or straight-up boomers would gravitate towards. (Do a lot of 2020 grads look up to Dr. Oz or General Stan McChrystal? IDK). In addition to the celebrities, there is also a set of speeches by random grads - picked by Doritos and awarded with scholarship money. It is appealing to see what different people do with the form, and the stakes are pretty low. So far my favorites have been Guy Raz and John Green, but I’ll admit that’s probably my podcaster-first bias showing.
While the world is faced with _%#*unprecedented*#%_ challenges related to COVID-19, it turns out that humanity has struggled with some pretty serious stuff before. On this podcast from author/historian Jon Meacham, the hope is mostly implicit - we’ve gotten through these horrible things without ending civilization, so surely we can do it again. More than buoying my faith in humanity’s ability to endure anything the cruel winds of entropic destiny may blow our way, this show was a good primer on some large 20th century historical events that hadn’t previously registered with me. I found the episode on the Cuban Missile Crisis to be particularly compelling, particularly the bits reflecting on how JFK perceived his handling of the whole thing. And the series finale about the 1918 flu pandemic was kind of shocking - I hadn’t considered how this overlapped with World War I, and I certainly didn’t know about the general absence of any kind of federal response or even acknowledgement from president Wilson.
Jon Richardson and the Futurenauts: How To Survive The Apocalypse (Keep It Light Media)
Jon Richardson offers up some really efficient comedic insights on matters big and small. The British comedian teams up with futurists/authors Ed GIllespie and Mark Stevenson on this coronavirus-christened pod that delivers self-deprecating humor about the dire state of humanity. The co-hosts manage to keep things humming, wasting no time on played out bits or vamping when there isn’t anything new to add to the subject at hand. At the same time, the show has a relaxed feel that admirably models how to deal with some of the seemingly grim realities of our age - acknowledging them with a level head in order to work toward a reasonable solution.
Commencement: Speeches For The Class of 2020 (iHeartRadio)
Since so many graduations are happening remotely, iHeartRadio decided it would be a good idea to commission about 50 celebrities to throw together a commencement address. Episodes are compact, ranging from 4 to 17 minutes with the bulk of them hovering close to 10 minutes. Speakers run the gamut - athletes, politicians, business leaders, entertainers are all well represented - and I’d say the balance tips a little more in favor of folks that older millennials or straight-up boomers would gravitate towards. (Do a lot of 2020 grads look up to Dr. Oz or General Stan McChrystal? IDK). In addition to the celebrities, there is also a set of speeches by random grads - picked by Doritos and awarded with scholarship money. It is appealing to see what different people do with the form, and the stakes are pretty low. So far my favorites have been Guy Raz and John Green, but I’ll admit that’s probably my podcaster-first bias showing.
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