July 15, 2020
THE LIST
Don't let the title fool you - this is hardly a break from reality. Made me cry real hard whilst making dinner. The entire show is centered around the city of Detroit and it's response to surging Covid-19 numbers in April.
Fly-on-the-wall journalism and podcasts are like soul mates who often can’t get out of their own way - sacrificing narrative excellence for self-indulgent editorializing. But this episode delivers a gem of the genre, with observational interviewing at a corner store in NYC against the backdrop of world-altering social and biological upheaval. Another winner in the "seize the moment in a genuine way" category from TAL.
For years, Baz Luhrman’s only meant one thing to me. He was the man who released the Suncreen Song, which first entered my ears courtesy of Now That's What I Call Music! 2. Perhaps his connection to this cult hit is legitimately his biggest claim to fame, never mind his notable achievement in visually distinctive cinematic storytelling. Avery Trufelman is a delightful guest host, turning this beloved song inside out with the Switched on Pop dudes.
This is the best repackaging of old content I've experienced in the podcast game. Planet Money holds summer school with two "economists in residence" acting as MCs for select excerpts of the PM back catalog. In addition to learning basic concepts in economics, listeners are treated to some of the show’s stickiest stories. It's almost like Cliff/Spark/Blinkist/other-newer-media for podcasts. Every Wednesday through Labor Day.
This story about a man seeking out sounds in an increasingly crowded world is what I needed to hear on a Sunday morning. As I walked the dog through our quiet neighborhood, the sounds of nature coming through my headphones made me keenly aware how often I cannot hear such things on my daily outings. My ears are usually tuned to places far from my home, and while I don’t exactly plan to change this it did make me wonder what I might be missing in the rhythm of my routine.
Gladwell is keen on burning down the strictures of upper class living and forcing people to examine their unspoken societal rules. And nothing says high society like an art museum that would rather increase the price of admission than part with even a fraction of their precious collection. Institutions hoard paintings they can't even afford to store, and have the dragon-like tendency to lock their treasures away where no one - sometimes not even museum staff - can see such things. What is the value of something you barely acknowledge or remember owning in the first place?.
HONORABLE MENTION
SOMETHINGS NEW
Rabbit Hole
This is a brief history of getting lost on the internet in a YouTube silo. Sad and compelling, Rabbit Hole made me feel old and a little curmudgeonly. The web still occupies some corner of my mind that views it as a city on a hill, a great democratizer for so many things and a mechanism for bridging physical distance. But that’s not how people have monopolized it, and not how users have chosen to subject themselves. The New York Times left me wanting more most of the time, with content that bordered a bit on the salacious side a la true crime. There are other moments when it feels more meandering and loses the centering narrative. But the show asks some compelling questions and provides a window into a lifestyle so many people inhabit and so many others only vaguely understand.
The Darkest Timeline
I’d describe this show as not quite an impromptu live stream but far less than a podcast with any shred of production value. It’s everything your mother probably thinks a podcast is, with poor audio quality to boot. That said, fans of Community will find some fun behind-the-scenes morsels buried in the sea of aural pratfalls. Ken Jeong and Joel McHale co-host, and they have a comfortable banter that may even appeal to some listeners. It was fun at first, since I’m re-watching Community, but the novelty fell away commensurate with the hour-plus episode length. It’s a great example of a show that could benefit from a friendly editorial hand. If you are so inclined to check it out after this rave review, I’d recommend any episode with a guest star. The third voice breaks into the rambling, and helps flush out the potential Jeong and McHale have.
Headlong: Running From COPS
Almost exactly a year before George Floyd’s murder, Dan Tabersky put out a show that deftly captured the odd public/private intersection of law enforcement and entertainment in America. You’ve probably heard by this point that the TV show COPS was cancelled after 30 years of crafting police-approved narratives of near-perfect arrest quotients. This pod is an incredible behind-the-scenes recounting of how the show rose to prominence and the absurd perceptions producers and police departments inculcated in a national television audience for decades. Tabersky has a sardonic wit that he doles out with beautiful restraint, serving up the grim truth with journalistic integrity while not shying away from calling attention to propaganda that is clearly propaganda.
This is a brief history of getting lost on the internet in a YouTube silo. Sad and compelling, Rabbit Hole made me feel old and a little curmudgeonly. The web still occupies some corner of my mind that views it as a city on a hill, a great democratizer for so many things and a mechanism for bridging physical distance. But that’s not how people have monopolized it, and not how users have chosen to subject themselves. The New York Times left me wanting more most of the time, with content that bordered a bit on the salacious side a la true crime. There are other moments when it feels more meandering and loses the centering narrative. But the show asks some compelling questions and provides a window into a lifestyle so many people inhabit and so many others only vaguely understand.
The Darkest Timeline
I’d describe this show as not quite an impromptu live stream but far less than a podcast with any shred of production value. It’s everything your mother probably thinks a podcast is, with poor audio quality to boot. That said, fans of Community will find some fun behind-the-scenes morsels buried in the sea of aural pratfalls. Ken Jeong and Joel McHale co-host, and they have a comfortable banter that may even appeal to some listeners. It was fun at first, since I’m re-watching Community, but the novelty fell away commensurate with the hour-plus episode length. It’s a great example of a show that could benefit from a friendly editorial hand. If you are so inclined to check it out after this rave review, I’d recommend any episode with a guest star. The third voice breaks into the rambling, and helps flush out the potential Jeong and McHale have.
Headlong: Running From COPS
Almost exactly a year before George Floyd’s murder, Dan Tabersky put out a show that deftly captured the odd public/private intersection of law enforcement and entertainment in America. You’ve probably heard by this point that the TV show COPS was cancelled after 30 years of crafting police-approved narratives of near-perfect arrest quotients. This pod is an incredible behind-the-scenes recounting of how the show rose to prominence and the absurd perceptions producers and police departments inculcated in a national television audience for decades. Tabersky has a sardonic wit that he doles out with beautiful restraint, serving up the grim truth with journalistic integrity while not shying away from calling attention to propaganda that is clearly propaganda.
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