I’ve long been a fan of This American Life on NPR, and in recent months I’ve been subscribing to the Podcast, since I’m pretty much never in front of a radio for regularly scheduled programming.
When I started commuting to Oakland on the motorcycle, I bought a set of Shure headphones so I could listen to my iPod at low volumes while I ride, which helps to pass the time, makes me feel enriched a little, and also helps to save me from going deaf. Win-win. This American Life has been way better to listen to than music, since it’s enlightening, funny, and just generally entertaining.
And listening while I’m riding is a strange anomaly, since it doesn’t interfere with my ability to focus on the road, yet I’m not too distracted from the audio that I don’t absorb what’s being said. Contrast this with listening while working, in which case, I honestly can’t remember a single word of what was said in the past 10 seconds. Can’t concentrate on writing emails while a talk show is going on.
Anyway, last week I listened to an episode that included excerpts from another show, called Radio Lab, which Ira Glass had mentioned is one of his favorite radio shows as of late.
Yesterday, I downloaded the five episodes of the Radio Lab podcast from iTunes, and I listened to three of them while I worked on my car in the driveway. It’s kind of a science show, but it’s put together with a wit and humor that’s really fresh. I was constantly laughing.
This is quite possibly the best radio show I’ve heard in years. I listened to another episode on the way to work today, and I was frequently laughing my ass off and remarking aloud with things like “wow” and “huh…that’s interesting.” On a motorcycle. Where no one can hear me. This should illustrate something.
The two guys who host the show are just couple of guys. But they’re smart. And they make each other laugh. And the shit they come up with is genuinely funny. Most of it is about the language they use.
Anyone who knows me knows I’m a big fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Most of the reason I got hooked on that show was because of the ways in which they manipulated the language to get a laugh, poke fun at the average teenager, and generally just twist the arm of the English Language until it squealed like a little girl with a skinned knee. Joss Whedon is a genius.
These guys do something similar, but more to the tone of “interlacing a little dumb to make the smart sound more fun.” I used to do this a lot (not so much anymore), and hence the word “ersumthin” became a trademark of sorts among friends: I’d go on and on about something, waxing poetic about the details of some stupid thing I supposedly knew about, using multi-syllabic words ad nauseum…and then end it with “ersumthin. I don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about anyway.”
Anyway, the hosts of Radio Lab use everyday language to get their point across, and look deeper into One Big Idea for every show. It’s fun. And it breaks the mold. I was thinking this morning, as I was listening, that the reason I like it so much, is because they present their stuff in a way that just sounds genuine. Two guys talking. Often talking with other people. Often cutting effortlessly to recordings they’ve made on location. And all of it is woven together in such a way that it doesn’t sound like a script. Doesn’t sound manufactured. Doesn’t sound like something you’d be cool with ignoring.
It’s also about playing with audio, and doing things you don’t normally hear on the radio. For example, the episode I listened to this morning was about sleep. It began with the whispered introduction, “I’m trying to get the sound of a baby sleeping.” And then you start hearing this tiny little snore, coming from the mouth of a baby that can’t be more than a month old. It almost brought me to tears, it was so beautiful. Later in the show, they talked about the brain waves of a cat while it’s sleeping, and how they’re so frantic-sounding that it’s clear that “sleep” does not equal “dormant.” And as a rebuttal, Jad (one of the hosts) says “and this is what my kitten sounds like when she’s sleeping.” And then you hear a half-purring, half-squeaking-half-mewling little kitten snoring that just rips your heart out and replaces it with Laffy Taffy™. And then, without missing a beat, they start into a segment about drilling into the head of an animal (with sound effects) to test its brainwaves, at which point the one host says to the other, “whoa, whoa, wait, WHAT?! They’re not drilling into that kitten’s skull, are they?!” Messing with your mind, with audio, totally playing around. Little things like this happen all throughout every show.
I gotta find more podcasts like this one. Friggin’ rules. I wasn’t even sold on the value of podcasts in general (which are free) until now.
Check it out. You’ll love it.
I intended to write a blog regarding TAL one of these days but just hadn’t gotten around to it yet. I love that show, especially since the podcasts came out on itunes. I heard radio lab for the first time a week ago or so. At first I didn’t like it but the topic was super interesting and they won me over. It was the one about sticking the pilots in the centrifuge and spinning them around until they passed out. I found it interesting because for sometime now I’ve had this hypothesis about these visions and out-of-body experiences that people have when they die. I believe it has more to do with the brain being confused than any kind of spiritual phenomenon. When they talked about the pilots seeing the proverbial “white light at the end of the tunnel” and having out-of-body experiences I felt a little like I might have the right idea on this one. A few days later while performing chest compressions on a dying patient I found myself thinking about that program. I wondered if they were having an experience similar to what was described in the show. Anyway, good post both shows are definitely worth tuning in.
Yeah, I’ve always kinda had a similar feeling that the whole “life flashing before your eyes” is just all of your synapses firing at once, your brain just suddenly throwing shit at you from all the nooks and crannies. Not sure about the out of body experience…I’ve always held onto the romantic notion that it’s a spiritual experience, but I’m sure a doctor or scientist could convince me otherwise.
Speaking of which, my girlfriend is a scientist, and she also happens to toe the fine line of agnostic/atheist (she used to describe herself as atheist, but not so much anymore). Many of the conversations we’ve had in the past tended to challenge the basic spiritual ideas I’ve had for years. It’s kinda scary.
I have become a devout podcast….not because I ride my motorcycle at dizzying speeds for long periods of time and need something to fill the void (there are so many fallacies with that statement I don’t know where to begin)…its just that I learn everything aurally because I’m illiterate. I actually have an expertly trained simian hitting the keys…true story!
Seriously though, I’ll have to give it a listen
As far as your girlfriends agnostic ways…she just needs a refresher course of MP “The meaning of life” its all proven in a prospective study with a randomly stratified sample which is employed in a counterbalance fashion…and its said in a British accent which makes it sound more believable!
Since you are discussing my religious beliefs here…(Why ARE you discussing my religious beliefs here?)…
I’m an agnostic now because I’m not as cocky as I used to be. I don’t believe in a God or gods any more than I used to, but I’m no longer so arrogant as to proclaim that I am right and believers are wrong.
As a wise man once said, everything we believe may be wrong.