Tuesday 1 May 2012

Radiolab

Hi!
Visibly, last month was finals month, and I gave up on all internet-related activity that wasn't mindless procrastination inducing. But hey, I'm done now, and I even managed to get pretty good grades!

Over the last month, I spent hours perusing through Rookie Mag's archives, clicking away the time I should have used to write essays. But this procrastination was not fruitless, and led me to discover a new podcast I have been listening to obsessively for the past week or so.

I have already shared with you my love for This American Life, and I was really happy to see that host Ira Glass is an occasional Rookie contributor. So when he recommended the podcast Radiolab, I didn't have a choice but to follow his suggestion.

Radiolab is hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, and it mixes personal stories, socio-historical facts, and science in a seemless, ear-appealing manner. I mean, my description might sound a little bland, but the featured stories are like great, strange stories told by a friend PLUS the scientific/psychological explanations tying up all the loose ends of those stories. Also, the way the sound is mixed makes for an unique audio experience.

I, very obviously, highly recommend you listen to it as well, starting with a few of my favourites:

-Crossroads (short)
On fantastic blues musician Robert Johnson, and the tale of his selling his soul to the devil

-Detective Stories
I think this episode might be my very favourite so far. For one, you all know I can't stay away from a good detective story.
This episode relates the stories of a thousand year-old pile of garbage and what is found in it, someone's lost correspondence, and Genghis Khan's genes.

-Death Mask (short)
On the relation between L'inconnue de la Seine and Ressusci Anne, the CPR dummy.

Until next time, which should be much sooner than last.

2 comments:

  1. bravo for the good marks!!! there's a big world out there that i have to discover and have yet discovered...i'm trying ;P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! And yes, there's a lot to discover, but I think that not knowing more things than you know is much better than the other way round!

      Delete

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