I’m a podcast junkie, and LISTEN TO THIS is a recap of my favorite tidbits, soundbites and short bursts of brilliance that I have to share with everyone who will listen. After digesting hours and hours of podcasts, here’s the best 9 minutes from this week.
WE MUTUALLY PLEDGE
The Thomas Jefferson Hour - Fourth of July 2012 (Show 978)
I’ve only recently discovered the Thomas Jefferson Radio Hour (Hat tip: Patrick Ball), but it makes sense that they would do a special Fourth of July episode each year. I enjoyed listening to this year’s as Jefferson, played by Clay Jenkinson, talked about his perspective on the Declaration of Independence and the events surrounding it. The must-listen moment comes at 35:44 when Jefferson says, “Abigail Adams once asked why the British had invented liberty, but had lost their capacity to honor it.” He gives a surprising answer that would shock paleo enthusiasts, and right after that closes his interview with a dramatic reading of the last paragraph from the Declaration:
And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.
WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING CRACKERJACK?
Lexicon Valley #15: Then is Now, Now and Then
This witty (and nerdy) podcast about language usage is quickly becoming one of my favorites. It’s like the original Observation Papers that Dr. Herman Wilson had us write in Structural English Grammar. This week, they looked at the “historical present” tense - when someone describing the past switches from past tense to present tense. One of the examples they give is from Seinfeld, where Kramer recounts the story of taking control of the city bus to get his friend’s severed toe to the hospital (starts at 12:20 - I’ve listened to it 4–5 times and laughed more each time). The best point for writers comes at 26:54 when they quote Phillip Pullman critiquing the limited range of expressiveness with this technique.
WITH ALL THE EVENTS RESUFFLED IN TO A NEW ORDER
WNYC’S Radiolab: Radiolab Remix
Rabiolab did a clever contest by posting individual tracks of source material from previous shows and asking listeners to create remixed versions. They received 136 submissions, and in this show they play selections from winning edits and interview their creators. Judging by the listener comments, the grand prize winner is not for everyone. It’s different. Even the hosts couldn’t agree. Jad admired the work, but didn’t care for the broadway nature of the finished product, and Robert wanted his life to be composed in this manner. Love it or hate it, listening to this re-edit that took David Minnick over 60 hours to produce will give you a new perspective on the sound of language. If you’re short on time, skip the set up and jump to 3:05 to hear the winning remix.
Podcast Test Drives:
- Blank on Blank is a project working with “journalists, interviewers, authors, documentarians, and publications” to take a second look at interviews that ended up on the cutting room floor. On Twitter, I asked, “Is it a good idea to resurface content that was edited out?” Blank on Blank answered “Yes” rather quickly. And I think they’re right for two reasons: they edit them beautifully in short bite-sized presentations and we can handle more information today because technology allows us to sort and search for more specific interests.
I downloaded the new Apple Podcast app along with Stitcher, Downcast, and Pocket Cast. I’m going to test drive each over the next couple weeks. Which app do you prefer use for listening to podcasts?
Unsubscribing from:
None this week. I’m on vacation for the next week, so I’m hopeful to increase my podcast consumption, and with testing driving a few new apps, I have to subscribe to something different in each of them.
OTHER PODCAST POSTS YOU MIGHT ENJOY:
What about you? What podcasts did you enjoy this week and what do you recommend? Leave your favorites in the comments below.