The Pod Piper

THE LIST 1. On The Media  -  "The Past Is Never Dead" We construct our worldviews around the things we see in our community, experience in our day-to-day lives, and the various news chunks that come into our periphery. The media we consume plays a big role in how we interpret the world, especially when it comes to international realities most people don't and can't confront first hand. This episode is an incisive look at contemporary issues surrounding coverage of ongoing crises that have fallen out of the media spotlight, and the strange relevance of big tech intersecting with geopolitics. Via a retrospective of reductive stories from National Geographic and Winston Churchill, this episode also highlights how historical gatekeepers have dictated the public narrative of immensely complex chapters in imperial history. 2. This American Life -  "The Walls" I've long bemoaned TAL 's internal identity crisis to be either a home for delightf...

THE LIST 1. This Is Love  -  "A Private Life" If life gives you lemons and also doesn't allow gay marriage, adopt your spouse! 2. Planet Money -  "XXX-XX-XXXX" Ever wonder why social security numbers became a sort of national ID? Planet Money takes us on a journey and discovers a game show where someone had their SSN read on a national TV broadcast. 3. On the Media -  "Like We Used To Do" The Mueller investigation, the West Virginia teacher's strike, and most intriguingly a pair of segments on country music and the working class. Don't be thrown by the fact that this is a couple weeks old by now, because the cultural dissection is evergreen. HONORABLE MENTION The Cracked Podcast -  "Why Americans Hate The Poor" Ear Hustle -  "Firsts" SOMETHING NEW True crime. It's a genre that is apparently just screaming to package deep-dive audio series after deep dive audio series. The reason...

THE LIST 1.  The Dollop  -  "Ten Cent Beer Night" Battle is no longer as routine a part of human existence as it once was. Athletic competition, a long-running hallmark of humanity, is a convenient proxy for war. It satiates some innate animal aggression during times of relative peace. But every now and again, people are forced to reckon with the fight-or-flight instinct that lives somewhere inside us all. Usually this is on a very micro level, in an encounter with a perceived individual or small group threat. "Ten Cent Beer Night" captures the absolute insanity that came to fruition on a massive scale, all because some poorly thought-through PR plan attempted to spur on a baseball rivalry with cheap beer. I cannot believe that the mayhem that unfolded in Cleveland isn't recounting more often in the cannon of American sports history. It simply must be heard to be believed. 2.  This American Life  -  "Five Women" Any subject that enters ...

THE LIST 1.  Tomorrow's World  -  "Is This The Real Life?" Once in a great while a mind-altering idea comes along. Sometimes this happens at the end of a substance induced haze, sometimes this is found at the foot of an altar, and now, I'm happy to proclaim, sometimes this type of wisdom is carried forth by a podcast. Now here's the caveat: the idea will sound fairly insane to anyone in their right mind, possibly to the extent that many listeners won't even entertain a discussion about it. It also might feel like you've heard it before, if you've ever seen  The Matrix . But hang in there and suspend your disbelief, because "Is This The Real Life?" has the potential to shift the way you walk through the world. This season-ending installment of the brilliant  Tomorrow's World  stuck with me in an way that is more augmented-reality than traditional media, and simply must be experienced. 2.  Criminal  -  "The Manual" ...

If you've been paying attention to the news and/or social media in the last week, you've been inundated with anything and everything related to guns and their place in America. I've not intentionally excluded any podcasts on the topic, but the way things shook out there wasn't anything of particular relevance that made the list.  Mike Pesca and The Gist had some excellent monologues last week , and  the latest from On The Media  provided a more classically journalistic angle. Now that we've taken care of that, on to the goods! THE LIST 1.  Hidden Brain  -  "Why Did Marriage Become So Hard" Anyone who is married, wants to be married, has married friends, or is aware of the concept of marriage should listen to this show. Too bold of an endorsement? Maybe. But being pushed to think about this often-taken-for-granted-yet-pervasive thing as a constantly shifting product of culture blew my mind. It had me feeling grateful for my incredible wife ...

THE LIST 1.  This American Life  -  "Rom Com" Romantic comedies. Love them or hate them, this genre of film may be the main source of propagating relationship standards idealized by some and loathed by others. In reality, love doesn't come wrapped in a perfect story arc where the protagonist finds bliss at the 11th hour. But are there people all around us who have experienced movie-ready moments in their own lives? Yes. With an emphasis on the "com." And This American Life is here to share them with us. 2.  The Dollop  -  "The Rube" Before the rise of football and professional wrestling, baseball was the dominating force when it came to capturing the surliest personalities in sports. Regularly showing up drunk was among the least insane things Rube Wadell did during a span of time where he out-pitched Cy Young. Yes, the Cy Young whose name adorns the award for the season's best pitching. The Dollop  hits a sweet spot of quirky histor...

This week I'd like to direct your attention to a place where you can find a bit more of my writing.  Podcast Review,  a   channel of the LA Review of Books, just launched this past week, and I've contributed a longer-form review of the excellent show  American Suburb.  You can find that particular piece  by clicking here ,  along with other great reviews and interviews throughout the site. I'll still continue to write  The Pod Piper , while also occasionally contributing to  Podcast Review.  Now, on with the podcast recs! THE LIST 1.  The Cracked Podcast  -  "Why We're Terrible At Taking Care Of Our Mental Health" The publishing world is awash with countless volumes on the topic of self-care, often seen through the lens of dieting or self-actualizing via positive thinking. But that was back in the olden days, when outlets for anxiety and self-preservation occupied the quiet recesses of the thoughtful r...