Short Wave: Save the Parasites [website, Apple, Spotify]
- An ode to those much maligned but vastly under-appreciated critters that are literally everywhere and represent 40% of animal species.
- "Without parasites, our ecosystem would fall apart."
SmartLess: Neil DeGrasse Tyson [website, Apple, Spotify]
- An interview show with three celebrity hosts. Not usually my cup of tea, but those hosts are Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, and Will Arnett.
- Arrested Development was one of my favorite shows when it was on and anything that contains two cast members together pretty much guarantees I'll check it out.
- There is an interesting premise where two of the hosts don't know who the guest is until they are recording.
- Hayes brings on Neil DeGrasse Tyson, who I love on podcasts, books, and TV, but not Twitter (just a general obnoxious vibe).
- Fantastic chemistry between the hosts and Tyson, and the show is tightly edited.
- "Everyone, I think, should have their mind blown at least once a week." I might steal this line from Tyson for the tag line of this newsletter.
Nice White Parents [website, Apple, Spotify]
- A five-part series (four released as of this writing) from Chana Joffe-Walt and Serial Productions (now owned by The New York Times).
- There is a powerful force surrounding city public schools that are failing that is rarely discussed: white parents.
- Very well-done and thought-provoking. You still have time to catch up before the last episode comes out.
The Anthropocene Reviewed: Monopoly and Academic Decathlon [website, Apple, Spotify]
- An astonishing history of the game Monopoly. Spoiler: the man who Hasbro says invented the game merely stole the idea from a woman.
- Do yourself a favor and also listen to the recent episode on Mortification and Civilization [website, Apple, Spotify]. The humiliating stories John Green shares are REALLY hard to beat.
Planet Money: Big Rigged [website, Apple, Spotify]
- An excellent but horrifying look into what is happening in the world of long-haul trucking.
- It reminds me a bit of multi-level marketing, where the business model of some of these massive companies is to treat employees (or rather "contract workers") as the main source of revenue.
Radiolab: The Wubi Effect [website, Apple]
- Written Chinese characters have went through many existential crises over the decades because of how difficult it is to make them work on a keyboard.
- The story of how China has dealt with this and is continuing to deal with this is absolutely fascinating (and more recently, troubling).
|
|
