The Pod Piper

What’s a fortnight in months instead of weeks? It’s been that long again since my last transmission, and with the imminent arrival of my second child I wouldn’t be surprised if this soon becomes The Pod Piper Quarterly. Per usual, though, my listening habits have held steady even as my writing has tapered off. The music I’ve been digging since May includes Regina Spektor, Tennyson, and more Regina Spektor. Listen and you will learn that “Spacetime Fairytale” is legit. And the podcast listening has kept up as well. Here’s a quick digest of some stuff that didn’t quite make the top 3: MusicalSplaining for Sondheim fans with Company and Sunday in the Park With George   | the  Normal Gossip episode about a possibly ill-advised tale of fan fiction crossing over into real life | The 11th ’s “Walking Tours For Your Home” excerpted from an audio edition of McSweeney’s | This American Life ’s “The Possum Experiment” - specifically act 2 about a life altering gift from a stranger | and

You'd think after almost two months, I'd be overflowing with podcast recommendations. Well, after my favorite sports team suffered perhaps the most embarrassing defeat of all time , my time was devoted to consuming basketball related media to try and understand what happened. After that I mostly kept busy staying current on the old standbys (i.e. The Gist , The Bill Simmons Podcast , and The Slate Culture Gabfest ) and listening to some new music (i.e. ROSALIA, Bastille, Anaïs Mitchell). I did also really dig the latest season of Against the Rules (flipping the idea of the expert on it's head) and Still Processing (in which Wesley Morris brings on a different guest host each which to aid in parsing out some pretty specific culture-related wonderings). But other than that - which, OK, is kind of a lot -there was time for one show in particular that sound-tracked my dog walks and semi-futile late-spring attempts at landscaping, and that's the main focus of this week'

It's April and I missed March and I'm mixing it up - just three episodes and one show this time around. Because, you know, variety is spicy Life. If you're really jonesin' you can always check out the archives , ye olde archives , ye olde spreadsheet or ye olde spreadsheet archives if you're really feeling it. But if brevity be the food of love, skip the links and just read on. THE LIST 1. Slate's Working  - "How Does the Director of Operations at a Soup Kitchen Do His Job?" If you are wondering how this seemingly random 2018 episode landed in your inbox this week, I’ll let you in on a little secret: I do not commit my listening capital exclusively to the production whims of modern podcast producers. There are a handful of shows - including Slate’s Working - that I’m dedicated to listening through from the beginning. (More to come on that front, someday, maybe) And let me tell you, this episode is a gem! Feeding people at scale sounds like it

I'd like to believe I'd eventually find the space in my life to sit down and write a proper review of Station Eleven , but since it's been nearly two months between podcast newsletters let's put that idea to rest and just satisfy my urge to say thank you right here (because truly, that's more my style as a reviewer anyway - to express gratitude publically). No spoilers - it's just an excellently produced story with a lot of dark spots which still allows for hope and humanity. It's a pandemic story and a post-apocalyptic story, but it's really a story's story and the experience of watching feels like reading a well-written novel (which makes sense, because it was adapted from one!). I felt respected as a viewer and both fulfilled by the ending while simultaneously wanting to experience more of these characters and the often very messed up world they were forced to navigate. I could talk about it at length but can't find more words to write at the

I'm bringing you a very similar format for this year-in-review - because who couldn't use a little stability right now? Also, let's be honest, after laboring over ye olde spreadsheet (my annual list of my favorite new music), I have very little left in the tank for creative formatting and layout work. Here is but a small sample of some of my favorite things I heard in 2021. THE LIST 1. Nice Try!  -  "The Keeper" Avery Trufelman is at her best in this finale to season two of Nice Try , and that's saying something! I was completely charmed by the way this episode melded journalistic exploration and editorializing. It's flooded with nostalgia and reckons with object permanence in the digital age, and it has a sincerity to it that I couldn't shake. It's whimsical and impactful all at once.  2. Richard's Famous Food Podcast  -  "The Last Mojo" RFFP has skewered conventions in podcasting (and food journalism, and just general