Podcasts (and a little Yelp)

I re-discovered a great writing warm-up today. This will account for the big red map on the bottom right down there. As I continue to spread my Web 2.0 wings, I welcome you to check out my Yelp page, even though it'll do you little good unless you are in my neighborhood. If you are a Yelper too, friend me!

Now I'm ready to write what I really sat down to work on...

I've decided that I'm an aural learner. I learn best by hearing ideas, quite often my own. I heard Andy account the other day that I can't write an academic paper until I can get him to understand what I am talking about. Before that point, my ideas aren't even clear enough in my own head to articulate them succinctly and persuasively. (I'm truly fortunate to have a partner willing to be this sort of listener for me.)

I also thrive from playing the listener myself much of the time. In this spirit, over the past several years I have fallen in love with the craft of radio. I even dabbled in producing it for a project at school, and I'm on the verge of trying it again, just for fun.

I've never been a huge bookworm. I have felt shameful about that, in fact. I've wondered what kind of student--or better yet, writer--can I be if I do not read? I feel more at peace since discovering how much I love the audible world. I still struggle through books for school and for pleasure, but I now know that I am still a student and a writer when I listen. I think critically when I consume radio, it even comes more naturally to me than reading a book.

Radio is my favorite medium. I am lumping podcasting under the radio umbrella because the craft is largely the same. In fact, I listen to a lot of NPR programing on my ipod. It's the NPR style I like, but I have branched out beyond that particular brand, as well. For that school project I mentioned, I did a lot of research on the craft of radio. The project was super fun, and I still reference websites like transom.org and prx.org for ideas and great things to listen to.

I listen to the radio in the apartment. There is a radio in the bathroom for showers and the stereo in the living room for dishes. When I'm on a run or doing laundry I have my ipod full of podcasts.

Like the businesses on Yelp, I'm in the mood to give shout outs to my ear-bud companions. In ABC order, here is my current set of staple casts on rotation every week (or as often as they come out):


Fresh Air
This show is probably syndicated on every public radio station in operation. It's in interview format and hosted by Terry Gross out of WHYY in Philadelphia. Gross is a master interviewer and her guests are top notch, ranging from current events to politics, to high and pop art. One program Gross will speak with a journalist just back from Iraq and the next she'll talk to Arthur Penn about his contributions to cinema. She is prolific, too. The show is on just about every week day, and I'm not going to pretend I keep up with it. I will listen to it anytime I catch it in real-time, and I skip around my podcasts around for a program that catches my interest quickly. Gross has a way of asking cleverly insightful questions, and knows exactly when and how to follow up or move on to a new subject. She interviews famous people regularly, but it is almost better when she talks with someone unknown. In those cases I have no expectations going in and I inevitably find myself feeling entertained and informed in the end.



Grammar Girl: Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing
This is a short podcast, generally about 5 minutes long. It's just what you'd expect by the title, except more fun. Grammar Girl (Mignon Fogarty) enjoys the English language and appreciates it for its systematic nature, but is human all the same. None of us are perfect and none of us know all the rules. Listeners call Grammar Girl up and ask her questions about the grey areas of the language. In turn, she researches the answer and shares it with all of her listeners. One of her recent shows discussed the difference between bad and badly, for example.

I love that she strikes a healthy balance between a prescriptive point of view, one that infers there is a single right way to use a word, and a more descriptive one that sees language as a living creature that develops and changes with time. I'm thinking specifically of her view on gender neutrality. She recognizes the need for such an institution of equality, and she points out that it is currently correct to write "she/he" rather than just "he" or even "they." However, she also acknowledges that our language is a bit old fashioned in its lack of gender neutrality and roots for "they" to win out as an official neuter alternative.



Lynch Land
This is the only video podcast I listen to consistently. I know this post is about how awesome audio is, but I can't let this list be published without giving more props to Liam Lynch. His podcasts have only become more accessible and consistently awesome since I last wrote about Lynch. I call him a media renaissance man because he does it all. He writes, directs, animates, sings, performs in, and edits all his podcasts himself. He does a lot of that for a living, too. I am not going to start the laundry list of what I love about LynchLand because it could go on forever. Plus, he's wacky enough that what I dig about his show could be entirely personal, and there is probably a good portion of people who would get nothing out of this podcast. But for whatever its worth, I think this guy is a creative genius and a huge inspiration.



On the Media
This is a meta show about media coverage that comes out of WNYC. It is hosted by Brook Gladstone and Bob Garfield. It aims to make media (mostly news) more transparent by analyzing coverage and discussing the implications it has on society. I aim to be a media nerd, so this show couldn't be farther up my alley, but it's accessible for non-nerds, too. They make media analysis smart, engaging and fun, the way it should be.



Radiolab
Another great show from WNYC, Radiolab is a documentary-style program with a healthy dose of creative sound manipulation. This show is just plain cool. It comes out in seasons of five shows a piece.The first podcast of Radiolab that I listened to was Making of Radiolab, and I recommend it as a starting point. It provides a self-conscious examination of the program itself by the creators and thoroughly illustrates their love for the art of radio. I have been hooked ever since.



Savage Lovecast
Like Liam Lynch, I count Dan Savage as one of my idols. Since I was 15 I have been getting the majority of my sex education from Savage Love, Dan Savage's weekly sex-advice column syndicated from The Stranger. Savage, a self-identified gay man, is as sexually progressive as they come. He knows what it's like to grow up Catholic, surrounded by narrow-minded and harmful ideas of sexuality, and he serves as an advocate for almost every sort of sexuality under the sun. He tells his message straight, often with a foul mouth, making all of his work entertaining and valuable.

About a year and a half ago, Savage extended his advice into a podcast format. People call in with their comments and questions about sex. Savage answers them with a healthy balance of personal attention and tangential ranting. After reading his voice in his column for so long, hearing him for real adds a great new spin on Savage Love. Plus, he's a political junky and he's friends with Ira Glass. Before I die I want to meet Dan Savage and give him a hug. I fully endorse his column, his books and, of course, his podcast.


Studio 360
Yet another show out of WNYC. This one is more a more straight-forward documentary than Radiolab, but it is just as engaging and well crafted. It's hosted by Kurt Anderson, a man who has perfected his own radio voice. The show sticks in the realm of pop culture with a mission to "get inside the creative mind." One show will focus on Michel Gondry or The Wire and others will be on Nicola Tesla or The Lincoln Memorial. No matter what the topic, Studio 360 is a consistently fascinating and inspiring way to spend an hour.



This American Life
Ah, my first radio love. I will always hold TAL and its host, Ira Glass, in a special place in my heart. This show is broken up into acts. Each act is independent of the rest but they all fit into a common theme, such as "matchmakers" or "quiz show" or "conventions". Most of the content is filled with personal stories spoken by all kinds of people in America. It consists mainly of anecdotes edited from interviews tied into a bigger picture narrated by Glass or another TAL radio producer. The acts and stories are strung together with great music and timing that make it widely pleasurable to listen to. This show is less about education and more about philosophy and entertainment. It's mostly about craft that is undeniably compelling. TAL carries a lot of influence over other documentary-style radio programs out there (and wannabe radio artists like me.) TAL complements a long stint of traveling like nothing else.

All of its success is increasingly evident in their spread to television, the stage and the big screen.


What do you think? Can I convert any of you into audio lovers? Do you think I'm missing a great show from this list? Please, share your thoughts with me.