R a d i o Array

Recent Listenin's

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Fri, 29 May 2015 17:17:00 +0000

Haven't posted on here in a long time, but I recently made a list of podcast episodes I enjoyed of late, so I thought I would post that here, at the very least to save it as a record for myself.

Death, Sex & Money, Brooklyn Left Me Broke 1

Death, Sex & Money, Brooklyn Left Me Broke 2

Death, Sex & Money, I Love You, But There's This Money Thing

Bullseye: Jon Ronson

Reply All: Exit & Return 1 (Very good, get it in the itunes store)

Reply All: Exit & Return 2

Reply All: Silence & Respect

This is also an interview with Jon Ronson, this is about online public shaming.

All the Slate DoubleX Podcasts

The Longest Shortest Time, Real Teens, Fake Babies store)

The Longest Shortest Time, Peeping Mom

Fresh Air: Louis CK

Radiolab: Living Room

Dark and sad, but well done.

Philosophy Bites: The Simulation Argument

Recent Quality Listening

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:08:00 +0000

Interview with Sonali Deraniyagala about her experience surviving the 2004 tsunami and the loss of her family.

NPR story on the morning after pill and abortion.

ER Cast had its annual rant-off. Even if you're not planning on putting in a central line or placing a nerve block anytime soon it's worth a listen.

Recent Favorites

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 17:25:00 +0000

David Folkenflik on the media coverage of the Newton massacre

ERCast - Rob Orman with Andy Sloas on pediatric fever

Nerdist interview with comedian Maria Bamford

Alec Baldwin interviews Lena Dunham

Risk Podcast - Women on Men episode

Stuff on a Monday from NPR

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 21:27:00 +0000

Radiolab's statement on Jonah Lehrer - I sought this out after I heard an old Radiolab featuring Jonah Lehrer on the radio on WNYC this past weekend. Like a lot of commenters on this post, I hoped that Radiolab would do a more thoughtful examination of Jonah Lehrer's involvement. Considering his sizable contribution to the show I think a more comprehensive post was in order.

TV Writers Script Safe Sex 'Product Placement' by Neda Ulaby

Can We Learn To Forget Our Memories? by Alix Spiegel

Olympic Sound Design

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 02:07:00 +0000

The sound designer for the Olympic games, Dennis Baxter, describes on NPR how the events are miked, or in some cases, synced live to match the action. My personal favorite Olympic event to hear is the balance beam in gymnastics (minus the commentary) with the rhythmic sounds of feet landing.

PHOTO:PRUITTALLEN

Foot in the Door

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 20:45:00 +0000

NPR's Morning Edition offers a engaging nugget of behavioral psychology with an abbreviated overview of research into manipulation by Shankar Vedantam. The research he alludes to is outlined more specifically in the web story here.

PHOTO: CHRISTINEU

NPR's Dating Tips

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 21:43:00 +0000

I love how NPR's coverage of social issues or popular culture often makes young people sound like insects. Human female speaks to human male about ownership of human currency. This story by Jennifer Ludden takes a look at how student debt affects dating.
At the very least check out the amazing title of her story and the stock photo.

PHOTO:AJMEXICO

Catching Up

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 21:28:00 +0000

Under a crush of work and schoolwork I haven't had time to record my listening habits here lately. Now that I finally have a brief respite here's a rundown of some recent and not-so-recent notable stories:

Bullseye: Jesse Thorn interviews Moshe Kasher, author of Kasher in the Rye: The True Tale of a White Boy from Oakland Who Became a Drug Addict, Criminal, Mental Patient, and Then Turned 16

Radiolab Shorts: A War We Need
A friend is in school to be an ocean virologist and that seemed like a really random career until I heard this.

Radiolab Colors
The first part of this episode includes a chorus hired to sing different combinations of wavelengths of light.

The Moth Podcast, Tom Herndon & Christine Blackburn: StorySLAM Favorites

The Moth Podcast, Jenny Allen: I Can’t Get It Out of My Mind

This American Life #465: What Happened At Dos Erres

Slate's XX Gabfest

JJGO Episode #203

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 20:37:00 +0000

I used to listen to Jordan Jesse Go pretty regularly in their early days but I haven't been a faithful listener in a long time. In a spate of boredom I looked through their recent catalog and found several great episodes, including Episode #203 with guest Maria Thayer. As Jesse alludes to in the introduction this episode stands out for being unusually monomaniacal, "We engage in what might be longest segment in Jordan Jesse Go History." Clocking in at almost two hours it eventually serves as workshop for Jesse to process a lot of his feelings about producing radio. An extended examination of whether or not to apply for a Peabody award becomes woven into a general conversation about The Sound of Young America, motivations for making art and Jesse's occasional doubts about what he's doing. Much of it is not really funny but I enjoyed it a lot more than many of their episodes. I found myself wishing Jesse could bring more of that honest sensibility to his Sound of Young America/Bullseye interviews. It was refreshing to hear him not trying to be funny. On The Sound of Young America he's steadily improved in his selection of interviewees and in his interview structure and I think he can get even better. I was left feeling that I've underestimated what the serious, less comedically driven Jesse Thorn can do. Funny that I heard it on his non-broadcast comedy podcast.

Un tagging

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:43:00 +0000

I rarely listen to Talk of the Nation but I ran across this recent episode about how Facebook tries to tackle unwanted or inappropriate photos and people tagged in them. Facebook engineer Arthuro Bejar talks about how the issue has evolved, the misunderstandings, the anxieties, and how Facebook is trying to influence how the disputes are resolved, even when they can't intervene. I found myself surprised to be reminded how little authority or control Facebook has or choses to have in some areas, which seems to contradict our associations between technology and authority, order, control and efficiency. I think in many ways users expect Facebook to operate like their other technology products, like their phones or software, that is, relatively bug free, with customer service, accountability and clear standards. But what is a desire to control how the program works and what is a desire to control other people and their behavior?

PHOTO:LUMACHROME

The Lady Mini Figure

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:01:00 +0000

Strange little story from NPR about Lego's efforts to create toys for girls. Features expert Bradley Weiners' gravely voice.

PHOTO: REPOORT

Tell and Cajole

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 23:33:00 +0000

So far, I'm enjoying Alec Baldwin's new show on WNYC, "Here's The Thing" because it still seems a bit rough around the edges. He sometimes struggles to stay on topic and clamors to get his own thoughts in, overstepping his guests.

Alec Baldwin's interview with Kris Kardashian Jenner almost, almost makes the Kardashian reality show sound like it's worth watching, but trust me, it's really not. In this interview the Kardashian matriarch comes across vastly more thoughtful and self-aware than she does on TV, and it makes me wonder to what extent the reality show flattens out the entire Kardashian family into a shallow, clumsily staged version of themselves.

Also, yes, in an off the cuff comment, Alec Baldwin does say that a future reality show might be "Keeping Up with The Klonopins." (An anti-seizure drug). I have no idea what that means.

PHOTO: Eva Rinaldi

Indoor Pollution

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 22:00:00 +0000

Lively and personal short report on air pollution in Beijing from NPR's Louisa Lim.

Link to story on npr.org

PHOTO: JOHN GULLIVER

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 01:58:00 +0000

The Sound of Young America is going to be renamed. I've always found the name endearing because it harkened back to Kids America which I grew up listening to, and because it's sort of long, but I'm looking forward to hearing what they come up with.

PHOTO:QUIN ANYA

A Few Recent and Not So Recent NPR Stories

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:01:00 +0000

Content Farms, by Zoe Chace

Are Vitamins and Supplements Necessary?, by Richard Knox

Hormones, Metabolism and Dieting, by Allison Aubry
Part of NPR's series on obesity.

Interview with Joan Didion about her book Blue Nights, by Susan Stamberg
I'd never heard her voice before. This book is on my list.

Why is College So Expensive? by Larry Abramson

Story on the Listeria Outbreak by Allison Aubry
I'm currently taking Microbiology so this caught my attention.

Recent Slate Political Gabfest Legalese

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 21:04:00 +0000

Emily Bazelon's discussions of current legal issues are my favorite part of the Slate Political Gabfest because she really gets at the sometimes abstruse legal questions that make the cases note-worthy. I've collected a few of those recent segments. The Slate Political Gabfest is also available free in itunes.

Online bullying and school.
Download MP3

Bans on violent video games.
Download MP3

The class-action case against Walmart brought by women who claimed they were discriminated against.
Download MP3

Contracts for Safety

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 02:19:00 +0000

I'm starting to delve into medical podcasts and this is one of the first episodes I've listened to. Dr. Rob Orman invites guests onto his show, ERCAST, to discuss topics in Emergency Medicine.
Many of these episodes are labeled EXPLICIT in itunes, not because of strong language but because of gore (the C Diff episode carries a strong warning: "There are descriptions in this interview that may make you pass out or possibly vomit"). This episode is not gruesome but does contain sensitive topics relating to suicide. The focus is on assessing suicide risk in the emergency room. Originating from the perspective of clinicians makes for different language and different details than you'd get from public radio.

MP3 Download

PHOTO: GABRIELA PINTO

Recent New Yorker Fiction Podcasts

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Thu, 09 Jun 2011 19:12:00 +0000

I recently listened to three terrific episodes of the New Yorker Fiction Podcast, each story very different from the next. Host Deborah Treisman ends up asking almost exactly the same questions in every episode, which gives the show an even perspective episode to episode.

Click on the links below to listen:
Thomas McGuane's "Cowboy"
There's something very funny about hearing Sam Lipsyte read in a cowboy dialect. He tries hard but he enunciates too perfectly, it sounds too correct to be real. To be fair, I'm not sure who could read this story aloud without sounding stilted.

Roberto Bolaño's "Gómez Palacio"
So mysterious to me, hope to read more of his stories.

John Cheever's "The Swimmer"
Anne Enright's reading brings so much to this story. Perfect for a hot day.

PHOTO: LEE COURSEY

WTF Podcast comes to Public Radio

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Wed, 18 May 2011 21:30:00 +0000

Happy to see Marc Marone's caffeine-fueled pet project get picked up by Jesse Thorn & co to be distributed by PRI. Promos by Ira Glass (I guess public radio is a small world):

NPR: Young Catholic Nuns

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 16:37:00 +0000

This story discusses the growing number of young nuns at a Catholic convent in Tennessee. In addition to religious training the women are educated as teachers at St Aquinas College and then work in the schools associated with the congregation. What I found interesting about this report is that Barbara Bradley Hagerty, who regularly produces reports on religion for NPR, describes their role in the community as well as the specifics of how they orient themselves to questions of love and society. The way they talk about their love for Jesus using the language of person-to-person romance is definitely surprising to hear from young American women.
NPR page for the story

PHOTO: CELINE NADEAU

What Shouldn't be Sold

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 20:50:00 +0000

"I don't think of it as constraining peoples' freedom. I think of it as taking on an impoverished conception of freedom that is concerned only with individual or consumer choice in the marketplace."

Professor Mike Sandel explores issues surrounding controversial forms of wage labor and market transactions, such as paid surrogacy, prostitution as well as buying and selling body parts in a conversation on Philosophy Bites with host Nigel Warburton. Is consent on the part of the seller enough? What's the limit of what the market should decide? Excellent questions and responsiveness from Nigel Warburton. A great conversation starter and philosophical brain teaser.

Link to Philosophy Bites page for the episode

Slate DoubleX Gabfest

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 00:09:00 +0000

This week's Slate DoubleX Gabfest(podcast) is terrific; topics include Julian Assange, crying in public and Christmas cards. Download audio file here.

NPR report on Facebook Issues

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:29:00 +0000

This short piece by Laura Sydell talks about some common Facebook complaints and describes a startup social network which hopes to manage those issues better than Facebook does. The idea is creating a network that makes users feel less intimdated by information sharing and the possibility of social gaffes. This report points toward some pretty broad questions, like "Do people like themselves on Facebook?" and "What will come after Facebook?" and it made me wonder whether Facebook has been successful because of its social structure or because of reasons that don't really have to do with the way it's organized. When I think about new or competing social networks it seems like the primary challenge is reaching Facebook's critical mass, and without that critical mass, the issues of privacy and information sharing are kind of irrelevant.
(Also, the comments section for this story on the NPR site included this invocation against Facebook usage, presumably directed toward non-octopi: "LOP OFF THE TENTACLE!!")

Link to NPR Page of the story
PHOTO: NOEL FEANS

Jay Ipson story on PRX

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Fri, 10 Dec 2010 21:16:00 +0000

This is one of those stories that will gray out any other thoughts that are in your mind at the time and demand your total attention. I recently heard on PRX this first-person account of survival through the Holocaust told by Jay Ipson and produced by Charles McGuigan.
You can listen to the story, which is about a half hour long, on the PRX website here, but you do need to create a free account first.

Flying

noreply@blogger.com (A.J.) — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 21:19:00 +0000

The Moth podcast recently posted an episode featuring two stories related to flight and flying. The second one, by Moran Cerf, is the one I'm really recommending. It's the kind of story you'll want to retell to somebody else as soon as you hear it. He tells it a little breathlessly, starts at 7:20 in:

PHOTO:DUNCAN HARRIS