Chicago MMXII

carl, what is the old time radio spooky story podcast you listen to? Sounds like something I might dig.

wait don't you guys listen to music?! i listen to music on the train, while cleaning, while shopping, walking, getting ready for work, etc.

radiolab ep about SPACE is my FAVORITE

i have listened to it like 5x

I listen to music maybe 50% of the time.

usually morning commute is music + reading, afternoon commute is podcasts (because my eyes are tired from looking at computer all day so i don't feel like reading)

I find that listening to podcasts/audiobooks usually makes the time go by faster than listening to music, which is important to me

I like hearing people talk on the train usually, and I feel weird not being able to hear ambient noise. Plus I don't like having music on unless it's something I want to actually *listen* to.

My dad never let us play the radio in the car b/c you couldn't hear the car. I don't think I "inherited" that trait from him, but I'm somewhat similar to him in that way.

I also am always playing a game or reading twitter on the train.

My problem with listening to podcasts on public transportation is that it makes me feel guilty for not reading. Not that I don't do it at least once a week, especially if there's a new episode I'm excited about. But then I just sit there playing a game on my iPod or something. Of course, if I find myself on a train or bus that's so crowded I can't sit down, then I don't feel guilty at all.

Mostly, though, I prefer to listen to podcasts when I'm at the gym or while doing household chores.

ok i downloaded the radiolab space episode to listen to sometime. it sounds kind of TAL-style emo based on the description, is it? i don't like TAL-style emo.

starts off that way with carl sagan luv story, gets scientific in the middle, then talks about seeds and space art
if i like it, it can't be that emo, please

My favorite Radiolab episode of the last few months was Patient Zero, which is about Typhoid Mary, the origins of HIV, and the inventor of the high five.

tanuki, did we watch The Room together?

yes!

The editing on Radio Lab makes it unlistenable for me.

It can be very very annoying. The space episode is one of the only ones I really like.

Askance, the spooky old time radio podcast is called THE HORROR. It's a production of Relic Radio and it's basically just a dude who is clearly a spooky old time radio podcast geek providing a 30 second intro to an episode, and then the episode (often with hilarious commercials! From back in the day when people were too skinny and suffered for lack of iron due to war rationing!). The transfer quality is pretty consistent, though obviously the quality of the stories themselves vary.

http://relicradio.com/otr/

I also love the intros to the different programs, Arch Obler telling everybody, "We urge you calmly, but very sincerely, if you frighten easily, turn off your radio now." And "Phantoms of a world gone by speak again the immortal tale..."

R swears by the howstuffworks Stuff You Missed in History Class Podcast

I like that one, too. Stuff Your Mom Never Told You is also good.

I don't mind the editing on Radiolab, although I do wonder sometimes how much of the hosts' conversational patter (in which they often profess to be surprised or confused by the other) is scripted:

"Wait wait, back up, you said what?"
"Well, I'm just saying, it's been proven by science."
"But I don't understand!"
"Here, let me explain..."

Fun fact, though: Radiolab host (and MacArthur genius grant recipient) Jad Abumrad is surmounter's cousin.

Anyone up for a movie tonight?

http://chicagofilmmakers.org/cf/content/i-am-secretly-important-man

Looks very cool.

has anyone been to the downtown st. patrick's day parade here? should we take e. to it tomorrow or will it be too much of a clusterfuck? keep in mind that i am lazy.

my inclination is no because i don't like crowds of people, parades, or st. patricks day

i think i just answered my own question

it would take a hefty bribe to get me anywhere near that thing

there should be a podcast that is like WTF but instead of comedians, musicians. like their background, creative process, neuroses, etc. i guess the problem is musicians aren't always talkers, the way comedians tend to be.

shop talkin: a series

thanks Carl, I will probably subscribe to THE HORROR when I get home.

I feel like I might have to barricade myself inside my apartment tomorrow, just in case any st. patrick's day douchebags make it to my 'hood.

I'm unreasonably excited about that! I realized as I wrote and then deleted four totally overenthusiastic posts about this podcast and which shows/hosts I like best (hands down Vincent Price, but that's kind of obvious) and which era I like best, that it is entirely possible I, too, am an old time spooky radio show geek. So it will be nice to have company out here on Dork Island.

I have to be out and about all day and I'm skeered.

You should carry some garlic to chuck at those people. They deserve it.

I just walked up through the Loop at lunch and its already a clusterfuck. They have cops (badly) directing traffic at many of the intersections and all the barriers are up already. I can't even imagine what it will actually be like tomorrow.

I think my dad brainwashed me to like oldee timee radio by playing a lot of episodes of "The Shadow" when I was a kid.

I spent about 20 minutes outside this morning, smashing up an old shelving unit with an ax. It was the best part of my week.

Some of the loop issues might be bcz barry is in town?

It's really nice outside, y'all. I actually sat outside and ate.

Nick, you should probably find a way to drink outside.

Some of the loop issues might be bcz barry is in town?

Oh, after looking at the parade route, that must have been it. But I can't figure out why they had one of the E-W streets (can't remember if it was Adams or Monroe now) lined with barricades on both sides of the street.

Must've been Monroe, Obama was at the Palmer House Hilton. That explains the mess.

it's colder outside than i expected, i came back inside to get my hoodie before going on my walk. i also saw lots of horse cops, and wabash appeared to be closed off between adams and monroe so maybe our president was shopping for jewelry.
xpost

hey chicago -- if you want to hear four super long freaky versions of "danger bird" today is your lucky day!!
Neil Young - Zuma

there should be a podcast that is like WTF but instead of comedians, musicians.

trying to think who could possibly host this, like who would have the cred + connections + interviewing skills. actually...j0hn d would be perfect.

henry rollins
or elvis costello could just take his short-lived tv talk show and turn it into a podcast

it would only be good if it was another musician hosting, not a music critic, sorry.

critics can't talk shop

You should carry some garlic to chuck at those people. They deserve it.

"Those people"? Really? Getting their bangers in the mouth all over everything? Tsk.

all of these suggestions are musicians? kinda?

you know, this role is made for ?uestlove. he has my blessing to retire from playing drums and work on his memoir + podcast full-time.

oh i know i was just being preemptive.

otherwise it would just be 'sound opinions', right? i've only heard that once, in a cab in nyc, and was not into it. they were interviewing arcade fire.

sound opinions blows. the format could be alright if it was dudes without terrible opinions and tastes and voices.

also sound opinions has interviews sometimes but other times it's just them reviewing records or talking about some issue in music or whatever. it's not primarily an interview show.

Is Cee Lo still doing his Talking with Strangers TV show? I got the impression that it was a show where he talked w/other musicians.

sound opinions blows. sound opinions blows. sound opinions blows. sound opinions blows. sound opinions blows. sound opinions blows. sound opinions blows. sound opinions blows. sound opinions blows. sound opinions blows. sound opinions blows. sound opinions blows. sound opinions blows. sound opinions blows. sound opinions blows. sound opinions blows. sound opinions blows. sound opinions blows.