Podcasts that paint a particularly powerful picture

An audio introduction to this playlist

Lauren Bacon — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 21:10:54 +0000

Listen to an audio introduction to the Look With Your Ears playlist from Tamar Avishai.

The Met’s artist-in-residence is a podcaster

The Memory Palace — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 07:25:11 +0000

Nate DiMeo is giving all of us radio-about-art producers professional hope as the artist-in-residence at the Met. This episode focuses on John Vanderlyn’s “Panoramic View of the Gardens of Versailles,” complete with gorgeous descriptions of the art, the ever-solid backbone of history, and even a nod to all us Hamilton fans out there.

Hot and bothered in Nazi Germany

The Lonely Palette — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 07:20:33 +0000

German art is, and always has been, kinda sexy. Which, if you’re a Nazi propagandist, is pretty off-brand. This episode dives into the origins of German Expressionism, and what exactly about its hot got the Nazis so bothered.

Making eye contact with evil

Criminal — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 07:19:55 +0000

True Crime is the order of the day for intense storytelling, but this intimate little episode about a courtroom sketch artist was a delightfully humane glimpse into the day-to-day proceedings of the occupational hazard of being forced to make eye contact with evil.

Honest-to-goodness cinema for your ears

Homecoming — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 07:19:17 +0000

Homecoming is actual honest-to-goodness cinema for your ears. The complete naturalism of the acting and quality of the soundscape and pacing are straight out of the golden age of TV. In this episode, Cruz’s description of the empty, phony Tampa neighborhood might as well be right outside your car window.

The true crime of the museum world

Israel Story — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 07:18:41 +0000

Israel Story – the self-professed This American Life of Israel – kicked off its first episode in English by discussing, among other things, copycats. Forgeries are the true crime of the museum world: the greed, the desperation, the deception, the dashed hopes when you think you’re part of history and find yourself part of something else altogether.

Listen with Kleenex in hand.

Reply All — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 07:18:07 +0000

This episode gave me a driveway moment in my kitchen: I stood at my sink in rubber gloves for the entire run, without touching a dish. This is one of the most powerful integrations of the audio of the human voice and mental visuals I’ve ever heard, or can ever imagine hearing. Listen with Kleenex in hand.

Exquisite and frenetic

Never Forget Radio — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 07:17:27 +0000

This is an exquisite, frenetic audio essay about the Tribute in Light in NYC on the anniversary of 9/11 and the complicated role of memorials and memory in our society.

Taboo in plain sight

Museum Archipelago — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 07:16:38 +0000

This is a fascinating little history of the presentation of dead bodies in museums, and the aesthetic and psychological lengths that both museums – and visitors – go to to pretend we’re not actually, you know, looking at dead bodies.

Dissecting an aesthetic abomination

99% Invisible — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 07:15:18 +0000

Studying architecture is ideally a classy pursuit. But…ew McMansions. Dissecting the actual reasons why McMansions are so heinous from an architectural and design perspective (like, decide on a window style, guys) is a delight.

The part of the book you skip to

My Dad Wrote A Porno — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 07:14:12 +0000

Reading your dad’s penned porno aloud would be, one would imagine, descriptive enough, but doing it alongside the keen analysis of your best friends, and being British to boot, is what makes this podcast sing. This episode is the part of the book you skip to to finally get to the sex.

A fascinating and surprisingly juicy listen

In Our Time — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 07:13:19 +0000

If academic Brits discussing art all classy-like is indeed your jam, this is the episode for you. The rub is that the invention of photography was just as technical, serendipitous, and ego-driven as anything else human beings ever did, and this is a fascinating and surprisingly juicy listen.

Your headphones will jump off your ears

Archive 81 — Thu, 05 Jan 2017 07:12:37 +0000

The incredible soundscapes and intense mental visuals of this cult horror podcast will make your headphones jump off your ears. In this episode, we join a museum curator as discoveries are made…