Serial - the podcast *spoilers*

http://i.imgur.com/pq88ulD.jpg

There's an "h" in there if you listen closer.

sounds like HHKREEMP? to me

KHIMP at the very least

Right? Just like my dn.

exactly

*delivers hifive*

internet very much in character looking at a show about a girl's murder and wondering "How can we insert 'mail kimp' into some Linkin Park lyrics for our tumblr?"

^

I understand the feeling of distaste about a lot of the Serial jokes but I think it's inaccurate to say Serial is about a girl's murder. It's really about a man's conviction. Obviously Hae's murder is central to that story and I'm not in any way trying to diminish that but the podcast just isn't about her. It's about Adnan.

well, yeah. that's the main problem with it. I didn't have a problem with that Best Buy tweet, but some of the hipster stuff is lame:

https://41.media.tumblr.com/48ba39102e5ece9209f31c7a84300a5e/tumblr_ng2dko0kH21t0d7sno1_500.jpg
http://36.media.tumblr.com/ea6b52083d06b538af1f6fb9deae1cd6/tumblr_nf0414Zgds1qicn50o1_500.jpg

woah that's brutal, what the fuck is wrong with people?

I don't get that second one at all.

Linkin Park had a song called In The End It Doesn't Even Matter. It's a hideously formed "joke" based on Leakin Park, where the body of Hae Minh Lee was buried.

Leakin park is pronounced like Linkin Park in a Baltimore accent

One thing that struck me about this whole thing is the very neutral, professional tone that SK and a lot of the interviewees have - is that an American thing or is it just the amount of time that's gone by since 1999?

Actually dunno about 'professional' there

huh? she seems very casual and informal to me, especially with friends and family of Adnan

what you're hearing is know in America as "the NPR voice"

xp yeah - that's what I mean, casual, neutral, sort of thing. Ah and there's a name for it

At first I was honestly hearing that tone and thinking it was definitely a sign of guilt but I think it might be more that Americans are better at having confident conversations w/strangers where they come across as relaxed

Linkin Park had a song called In The End It Doesn't Even Matter. It's a hideously formed "joke" based on Leakin Park, where the body of Hae Minh Lee was buried.

― Brio2, Monday, December 15, 2014 3:19 PM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Leakin park is pronounced like Linkin Park in a Baltimore accent

― cardamon, Monday, December 15, 2014 3:20 PM (13 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I knew all of this except for the name of the Linkin Park song. Thanks!

And yes that is a hideously formed joke, tastelessness aside. Also it's gross considering the context.

Oh people.

A further question from me is, should I get into This American Life? Like, what is it?

It's a podcast that offers stories (mostly non-fiction, but fiction, too, sometimes) on a theme each week. It's varied enough in its subject matter that I think it's worth looking through the archives and listening to episodes with themes/subjects that you find interesting. Sometimes they do really good investigative journalism type stuff, sometimes it's more like memoir, sometimes it's hilarious, sometimes it's infuriating.

I'm sure if you asked us to name one episode that we thought encapsulated the spirit of TAL, everybody would pick something different, but I'm going to rep for this episode because the diner where it is set is literally two blocks from where I'm sitting right now and I eat there a few times a month so I'm quite partial to it - http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/172/24-hours-at-the-golden-apple.

yes!

its been around almost 20 years at this point and really is the cornerstone of the current american public radio style

as far as content, its all over the place. from straight journalism to personal essays to shaggy-dog storytelling to little-known history to standup comedy and fictional storytelling

their own "favorites" page is as good a place to start as any:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/favorites

i feel like ilx as a whole is a little more critical/wary of TAL than your average group of 30+ educated westerners, but when they're good, they're really good

xposts

All of those on the favorites "short list" are really good.

Yeah, the diner one is quintessential old school This American Life at its best. I think it's been on a not-so-hot streak for the past couple of years - though the high points are still high.

http://m.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/534/a-not-so-simple-majority

This recent one about a school board battle was very good

Full disclosure: I've been a huge fan of TAL since it first aired, so I am not even remotely cool w/r/t my enthusiasm for the show. Haters to the left.

Okay will give this a whirl. I'm starting to like the idea of a radio broadcast ... on my computer! I'm probably a bit late to that but n/m

most TAL stories end ambiguously or up in the air. Though when they are re-aired years later they may have an update telling you that everyone in the story is now dead or that nothing has changed.

There a newer podcast called Criminal that's quite good

That Tig Notaro thing this week was maybe the laziest TAL story I've ever heard them put to air - just some clips from her tv special strung together with some script from a producer. Quality control is out the window on that show. They have a really great one about every 2 months - usually a full episode on a single topic like that great school board one - and they tread water and run repeats the rest of the time. Probably having 3 of their veteran producers on Serial for the past year hasn't helped TAL proper - but I love the idea that Serial will mean they try creating a bunch of new and different shows.

some personal favorites:

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/492/dr-gilmer-and-mr-hyde (prob the closest in style to Serial that i can think of)

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/486/valentines-day (act 1 is some really amazing personal history, you'll laugh, you'll cry)

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/516/stuck-in-the-middle (act 1 is me IRL)

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/396/1-party-school (probably double-interesting to a non-american, idk)

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/199/house-on-loon-lake (real-life ghost story, the ride is better than the destination though)

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/206/somewhere-in-the-arabian-sea (the fascinating mundanity of the military industrial complex)

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/513/129-cars (the best HBO comedy that never happened)

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/388/rest-stop (cant even put in to words what makes this one so wonderful to me, prob the episode i've played more than any other)

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/534/a-not-so-simple-majority (x-posts)

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/355/the-giant-pool-of-money (prob not as good now, but hearing it in '08 it felt like the biggest thing since live 9/11 coverage)

House on Loon Lake was the one that hooked me. and yeah, Giant Pool of Money might feel familiar now - but it was so important when it came out.

wait you mean really you?: stuck-in-the-middle (act 1 is me IRL)

no thread police but we do have this threaD: this american life, c/d

one thing I began to realize after awhile is that a lot of TAL content comes from other podcasts--that's how I found shows like 99% Invisible and Here Be Monsters

xpost lol no, but my corporate help-desk had that same hold music for years and i became obsessed with it, to the point of hunting down a track that Shazam mistakeny tagged it as. in the leadup to the reveal i was like "is it my song? is it my song????"

funny timing, because they recently replaced it with something that sounds like the night-rider theme, equally as enthralling but i miss the old one

LOL for a second i thought you were saying you were one of the TAL producer's 81-year-old dad

i was thinking man this gr8080 guy is pretty clued in to pop culture for a guy in his 80's

gr8181

xpost lol no, but my corporate help-desk had that same hold music for years and i became obsessed with it, to the point of hunting down a track that Shazam mistakeny tagged it as. in the leadup to the reveal i was like "is it my song? is it my song????"

funny timing, because they recently replaced it with something that sounds like the night-rider theme, equally as enthralling but i miss the old one

― gr8080, Monday, December 15, 2014 4:43 PM (11 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

hahaha that is the same hold music that they used at the fertility clinic where we spent three years trying to make babby happen, so obviously I called there quite a bit, and was also obsessed with the hold music and had the same "IS THIS IT? IS IT????" response. Although as soon as the woman kind of hummed it I knew it was it.

Also LOL at gr8181

Guys, I just got around to listening to 1-11 and I'm loving it. Interested to see what the PI comes up with.

it was a weird experience being in the middle of a 2 week vacation last April and listening to that episode while on a train ride through the Portuguese countryside and then temporarily having my headspace blasted back to the office

re: "stuck in the middle"

Gawker piece on Serial had a great line on the NPR voice:
"She admits her confusion and frustration and speaks frankly about the walls she hits in her investigation, in that solemn NPR monotone that well-meaning liberals like myself have come to associate with quality reporting."