Podcasts

Tried to download You're Wrong About and it jams. Frustrating.

 

Try another platform? I use both Spotify and Stitcher in free/not premium mode.

 

I have a handful of podcasts that I've been listening to for years. To be honest, I don't think I'd start listening to them today because they all have one minor flaw or another. With so many great podcasts out there. I ignore even really good shows like This American Life.

 

New podcast out from the producers of Serial - The Improvement Association. I binged through the five episodes yesterday, and I'd give it a B, B+. It's about the political climate in a small North Carolina county, and mostly follows the rise and fall of the Bladen County Improvement Association, a Black advocacy group. (As a result, this post could probably go in the politics thread as well.) The best episodes are two, three and five - They do a good job of showing how ingrained distrust and racism can be, in all directions. However, the show is hurt if you're a Reply All listener, like I am, because it's very reminiscent of a three-part series that show did on the Alabama Democratic party.

 

I did like Nice White Parents which they put out last summer.

 

I've been meaning to thank the person who recommended "You're Wrong About". Really enjoying it.

 

I thought that was really good, too.

 

I felt a connection to the podcast because I was a Brooklyn nice white child in the mid-70s when my mom and some other parents used their teacher’s union connections to transfer us to a better (whiter) elementary school. I was a Brooklyn nice white child in the mid-80s when my HS created an honors program to attract the Jewish kids who were fleeing to the cooler quasi-alternative HS a mile away. And more friends than I can count in Brooklyn sent or tried to send their kids to the school in question in the podcast. This stuff fascinates me — people talk a great liberal game but everyone is selfish when it comes to their kids and school.

 

Why are podcasts so valuable when you can skip through the ads?

 

I'm guessing that a lot of folks listen to them in places where skipping the ads isn't as easy - driving, say. Just a thought.

 

Brian Baumgartner has an Office podcast. Really good. I also enjoy The Office Ladies.

I also listen to Mark Maron, he has been at it for like 10 years. I had no idea they have been around for so long.

 

The Thomas Jefferson Hour

the show is gratefully played right down the middle