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.

A Delicious Silver Lining

We made it. We trekked 20 miles total: five miles up hill in drizzling rain, strapped with an extra 25-30 lbs; five miles racing to make an "under-20-minute mile" only to unnecessarily wade across the river twice (r.i.p. Robbie's sneaker), walking the last 1/4 mile barefoot to the hot springs; five miles back to camp in the dark, and five final miles with our packs back to the home-sweet-home mobile on a beautiful Sunday.

At the last minute before we hit the trail, I jettisoned the second pound of trail mix that I'd prepared for the group. I regretted that decision because our energy-burning army of 10 devoured the duplicate bag by sunset on day one. I had tossed the bag in the back seat of the Buick, took off into the woods and looked forward to returning to it all day on Sunday. I'm pretty confident about my trailmix. I love it so much I couldn't care less if anyone else can stomach it. When we did return to the car I was faced with a disappointing fact: the organic, dark chocolate chips had melted into a warm, gooey mess. The little things weren't equipped with a melt-in-your-mouth coating, a problem that in ordinary circumstances a little finger licking could clear up. I admit I considered going for it in my condition, but ultimately I couldn't eat out of fingers so dirty ink would be unnecessary to stamp prints. It worked out for the best. The bag spent the night in the car and completed a beautiful metamorphosis:

Trail-Mix Brittle

Recipe:

Plump, golden raisins
Organic, semi-sweet chocolate chips
Salted, roasted, mixed nuts (the snooty sort with a low-peanut percentage)
Dried banana chips
Nature's Valley Hemp Plus granola

Proportion each ingredient to taste. Set granola aside. Mix remaining ingredients in a large bowl. When you're satisfied with the distribution, mindfully mix in the granola, staying careful not to stir it into crumbs. Eat as is, OR...

Place on backseat of 1999 Buick Regal on a sunny day in Big Sur, California. "Challenge" yourself to 20 miles up and down mountains. When you return exhausted, leave the bag in the back seat in forfeit. Return the next morning, delighted to find it edible and ready for you.

Enjoy.

In California you can go camping in March

I'm backing out of a full-length post this week because I can't fit it in. I've been letting academia sap all of my writing energy lately (and even that's not enough.) I've also been letting it make me a little crazy. So, that is why this weekend is coming at a perfect time. I am forcing myself to take a break. The three of us are going backpacking with a group of awesome people. We're going to Sykes Hot Springs in Big Sur. In my lifetime of camping, I have never gone all the way and carried it all on my body. We'll be hiking 5 miles in tomorrow morning, setting up camp, then hiking another 5 without packs to the hot springs. Once we've relaxed enough in the springs, we'll hike the 5 miles back to camp where we'll stay for the night. I'm nervous and excited. Apollo has no idea what his weekend holds.

Welcome to your late 20s

My #1 turns 28 on this glorious SAD turn around day. I spent the entire week working on a draft for this and preparing for Andy's big surprise weekend. It was a test of will to keep him in the dark about my plotting and crafting. But now that the cat's out of the bag, I can share what I've been up to with all of you.

(Tiny-Type Disclaimer: If you fail to notice the subtle differences, this post might make me look like a hypocrite going back to the round-up formula. Appreciate subtly while it lasts.)

Andy's physical birthday gift was a planter decoupaged with the candidates of this year's presidential election. I started with a huge stack of magazines and catalogs and a pair of scissors. I went nuts chopping out anything that looked appealing, trying not to consciously discriminate.
.

Eventually I started to see trends in what I was pulling out and grouped my clippings into categories. The number of clippings seriously outnumbered the amount of space available on the pot I picked out for this project, so I was forced to narrow things down to a single theme. I went with politics and shoved the remaining pieces in zip locks for a future project.

Andy witnessed my initial stages but once things began to materialize into his actual gift, I moved my set up next door in Tim and Lauren's dining room. Those two provided a lot of help by giving me free access to my hiding place their home. Lauren also contributed creative input, manual labor and company for me through the entire birthday process. Tim helped by avoiding Andy "like the plague" so he could resist spilling any beans in some sort of tourettic outburst.

I finally got to the application stage on Tuesday morning. I used mod podge as the adhesive and stuck on tons of small pieces for the background.

I let that dry for the afternoon while I shifted back into academic mode for a while. There is only so long I can think in lofty abstractions, so in the evening I went back to gluing. Lauren shared her crabapple juice and tasty strawberry-scented oolong tea and read a Michael Pollan; Apollo curled up on the carpet and enjoyed a raw-hide bone; and I cursed over almost losing Dennis kucinich's leg. Conveniently, Andy stayed at work late that night and didn't notice our absence.

I organized my paper-doll top layer on the table before I painted them on, one by one.

Then I bit the bullet and went for it. Here's how it looked when it was wet, and how it looks now:

Andy's other gift was a party.

On Friday Rebecca and Andrew came over and I put them to work. Andrew made the beautiful fruit salad and talked me out of whipping egg whites by hand. As if on cue, Lauren came to the rescue again with her Kitchen Aid mixer. She stuck around and chopped kabob-sized veggies with Rebecca. I baked the cake at T&L's, saving our apartment from an inexplicable aroma of Andy's favorite dessert wafting about suspiciously.

The show went down on Saturday afternoon at Cragmont park in Berkeley. Our friends got there early and went to work preparing the party. Lauren used my camera and took some pictures of the prep activities:

And everybody hiding as they waited for Andy's arrival...

It was a big success that Andy had no suspicions of whatsoever. We cooked up lots of great food, chatted, played games and stood in awe of the view of the bay. Everybody stuck around until sunset enjoying a beautiful California-Spring day.

The best part of this party was an opportunity to accept help from our friends. A year ago we were still living in NH and now we're out here with an established group of people show they care about us through offering their time, space and energy. It killed me not to be able to talk to Andy about this all week, but it became crystal clear for him at his party. We have awesome friends.

I want to take one quick moment to brag. Back before we started counting from that Saturday in August, Andy's birth date was the anniversary of our first official date, 7 years ago. I'm still feel very special that he spent #21 with me and every birthday since. My life keeps getting better with my best friend in it with me.

I love you, Andy.