There a newer podcast called Criminal that's quite good
― ancient texts, things that can't be pre-dated (President Keyes), Monday, 15 December 2014 16:20 (nine years ago) link
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.
― Brio2, Monday, 15 December 2014 16:26 (nine years ago) link
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)
― gr8080, Monday, 15 December 2014 16:34 (nine years ago) link
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.
― Brio2, Monday, 15 December 2014 16:38 (nine years ago) link
wait you mean really you?: stuck-in-the-middle (act 1 is me IRL)
― Brio2, Monday, 15 December 2014 16:39 (nine years ago) link
no thread police but we do have this threaD: this american life, c/d
― gr8080, Monday, 15 December 2014 16:40 (nine years ago) link
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
― ancient texts, things that can't be pre-dated (President Keyes), Monday, 15 December 2014 16:42 (nine years ago) link
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, 15 December 2014 16:43 (nine years ago) link
LOL for a second i thought you were saying you were one of the TAL producer's 81-year-old dad
― Brio2, Monday, 15 December 2014 16:45 (nine years ago) link
i was thinking man this gr8080 guy is pretty clued in to pop culture for a guy in his 80's
― Brio2, Monday, 15 December 2014 16:46 (nine years ago) link
gr8181
― ancient texts, things that can't be pre-dated (President Keyes), Monday, 15 December 2014 16:47 (nine years ago) link
― 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.
― carl agatha, Monday, 15 December 2014 16:57 (nine years ago) link
Also LOL at gr8181
― carl agatha, Monday, 15 December 2014 16:58 (nine years ago) link
Guys, I just got around to listening to 1-11 and I'm loving it. Interested to see what the PI comes up with.
― smoochy-woochy touchy-wouchy, (sunny successor), Monday, 15 December 2014 17:04 (nine years ago) link
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
― gr8080, Monday, 15 December 2014 17:04 (nine years ago) link
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."
― Kiarostami bag (milo z), Monday, 15 December 2014 17:54 (nine years ago) link
takedown of Serial, op-ed from Philadelphia public radio
http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/blogs/centre-square/item/76311-with-one-episode-left-will-serial-soar-or-crash-and-burn
― Brio2, Monday, 15 December 2014 19:05 (nine years ago) link
v otm, or at least echoes most of my misgivings
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 15 December 2014 19:26 (nine years ago) link
i for one refuse to have my news mediated by guys who look like thishttp://i.imgur.com/frgsPiN.jpg
― rip van wanko, Monday, 15 December 2014 19:27 (nine years ago) link
aw i like mo
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 15 December 2014 19:30 (nine years ago) link
xxpost
yeah - this sums it up well.
At times it seems Koenig’s true topic is not the factual case, but her own feelings about it.
She is fascinated by the puzzle of whether a guy whom she finds likable could really have been capable of strangling a teenage girl with his bare hands. She returns to this theme again and again. She is more like a novelist playing with the classic question of “what is evil?” than a savvy journalist hunting fresh evidence.
― Brio2, Monday, 15 December 2014 19:31 (nine years ago) link
Comparing this to Fatal Vision is pretty bizarre, but I do agree that the story is as much about Koenig as it is about the murder which definitely begs question of "why do this"?
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Monday, 15 December 2014 19:36 (nine years ago) link
― Brio2, Monday, December 15, 2014 2:05 PM (39 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I liked this. And if *that's the point* -- then it's sort of a narcissistic exercise, isn't it?
― man alive, Monday, 15 December 2014 19:45 (nine years ago) link
"But how does this affect me, Sarah Koenig?"
― man alive, Monday, 15 December 2014 19:47 (nine years ago) link
that's what i realized was driving me nuts lately
i dont think i really care so much abt how she feels
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 15 December 2014 19:51 (nine years ago) link
Sometimes I feel like "Ok, you find that hard to believe, I don't, so what?"
― man alive, Monday, 15 December 2014 19:52 (nine years ago) link
Now I'm imagining Serial featured as a segment of a TAL episode exploring podcasters and the surreal internal places their projects took them
― rip van wanko, Monday, 15 December 2014 19:54 (nine years ago) link
bet you they decide on an ending before they start pumping out the next one.
― Brio2, Monday, 15 December 2014 19:58 (nine years ago) link
― rip van wanko, Monday, December 15, 2014 2:54 PM (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
This doesn't seem that far-fetched!
― man alive, Monday, 15 December 2014 19:59 (nine years ago) link
Let's let it end before we "decide" that the ending failed.
― One bad call from barely losing to (Alex in SF), Monday, 15 December 2014 20:01 (nine years ago) link
Ep. 12: It Was Don
― man alive, Monday, 15 December 2014 20:01 (nine years ago) link
Ep. 12: Adnan's New Squarespace website
― ancient texts, things that can't be pre-dated (President Keyes), Monday, 15 December 2014 20:05 (nine years ago) link
A guy who shoplifted from that mall remembers that there was no Lenscrafters. Whole alibi is false.
― man alive, Monday, 15 December 2014 20:06 (nine years ago) link
Turns out it's all happening inside a snow globe in the hands of an autistic streaker.
― Brio2, Monday, 15 December 2014 20:08 (nine years ago) link
people really think SK is using a "solemn NPR monotone"? if anything she's too jokey and colloquial IMO.
the show is like those Dateline NBC episodes that are entirely dedicated to one criminal case that I used to watch when I was a kid stuck in the house on a friday night and only had 3 channels to choose from, but made by and for gen x/y instead of boomers. so for me it feels cozy and familiar.
― slam dunk, Monday, 15 December 2014 22:17 (nine years ago) link
yeah totally Sarah Koenig is the new Bill Kurtis
― Brio2, Monday, 15 December 2014 22:19 (nine years ago) link
yeah I wouldn't call it solemn at all. It's very conversational, would almost say "affected immaturity," that sort of "gee gosh I'm just wondering well I don't know" stuff she does.
― man alive, Monday, 15 December 2014 22:20 (nine years ago) link
agreed
level of glibness is at times v on-the-nose
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 15 December 2014 22:21 (nine years ago) link
Slam dunk nailed it - it's a Gen X voice. Kind of straining to be hip ("I was totally that kid stoned at the party") and unable to commit to anything.
― Brio2, Monday, 15 December 2014 22:22 (nine years ago) link
It does seem sort of effective as an interview style, like maybe it gets people to drop their guard with her. I've actually noticed Terry Gross does it sometimes, probably strategically.
― man alive, Monday, 15 December 2014 22:23 (nine years ago) link
I relistened to episode 1 the other day and I was struck by how, in this NPR-ish aw shucks way, it was totally selling the prurient stuff off the top. "For months now I've had to ask teenagers about their sex lives and drug use!"
― Brio2, Monday, 15 December 2014 22:26 (nine years ago) link
Worst song of 2014:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8xyfK4lES8
― polyphonic, Monday, 15 December 2014 23:55 (nine years ago) link
ughhhhhhh why
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 16 December 2014 02:28 (nine years ago) link
it was too painful to watch more than 30s
― kola superdeep borehole (harbl), Tuesday, 16 December 2014 02:48 (nine years ago) link
yeah I couldn't
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 16 December 2014 03:03 (nine years ago) link
I labeled it, buyer beware
it gets worse though, keep listening
― polyphonic, Tuesday, 16 December 2014 03:09 (nine years ago) link
like fuck
― difficult-difficult lemon-difficult (VegemiteGrrl), Tuesday, 16 December 2014 03:25 (nine years ago) link
I just spit at my computer
― Your Ribs are My Ladder, Tuesday, 16 December 2014 10:07 (nine years ago) link
Good grief I'm so happy I've been staying away from all the fandom over this.
― Elvis Telecom, Tuesday, 16 December 2014 10:55 (nine years ago) link