I chose to listen to Slate’s The Gist podcast, in which journalist Mike Pesca examines current cultural and political happenings in the US. I had not listened to this particular podcast before, but enjoy several of Slate’s other podcasts and thought I might discover something new.

The particular episode I listened to was entitled “The Great Tightening, Explained.” Originally released on September 15, this episode examined the tightening of polls between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump. Pesca interviewed  FiveThirtyEight senior political writer and analyst Harry Enten for this segment, who argued that though the polls may be tightening, an average of poll results reveals that Clinton still has a substantial lead over Trump. In a second segment, Pesca interviewed NPR reporter Scott Detrow about Trump’s recent visit to a church in Flint Michigan, which was highly controversial (Trump has made claims about the level of support he received while there that are not substantiated by Detrow’s recordings).

Overall, I cannot say I enjoyed this podcast. The opening of the podcast was a brief solo segment in which Pesca discussed economic recovery in the US, arguing that those who do not see it or insist it has been “unequal” are wrong. I recognize that podcasts are not “news” and discussion of personal opinion is common, but I found the manner in which Pesca handled the subject to be abrasive–shouting “you are wrong” into the microphone does not make me want to hear more. Secondly, and this is a theme I have noticed in many podcasts, the summary I read online that initially interested me in the podcast was not an accurate representation of what was covered in the episode. Yes, there was discussion of poll tightening and this segment was the longest, but it took them a solid 7 minutes to get there, and had I not been doing this for an assignment I feel confident I would have lost interest by that point. The numerous ads throughout (though I’m sure necessary to continue the podcast’s production) were also highly distracting from what was being discussed.

On a more positive note, I can say honestly that sound quality was good, there was appropriate use of music and voiceovers. Part of the discussion on poll tightening included explanations of interpreting polls, which I think was a good subject to include for listeners who may not have a solid foundation in statistics. I think many people would enjoy this podcast–I just didn’t happen to be one of them (maybe I need to give it at least one more try with another episode)

0:00-0.35: introduction, thanking sponsors

0:36-5:37: Mike Pesca on the economic recovery, including news clips at 1:04-1:16

5:38-5:52: music

5:52-7:05: music underneath ad for HBO

7:06-19:33: interview with Harry Enten on poll tightening and poll interpretation

19:34-21:23: music/ads

21:24-27:00: interview with Scott Detrow on Trump visit to Flint

27:00-28:00: thanks for listening, join us next time

28:00-28:38: join us for other podcasts

I chose the Legacy of Autism edition of the Fresh Air podcast on NPR. Psychology is a pet subject of mine and autism particularly as I have a close friend with Asperger’s (or what would have formally been called Asperger’s before the newest DSM.) Anyway, they interview Dr. Silverman who gives a brief introduction of autism – though rather than repeat the old tired phrases, he refers to autism as an over-arching difficulty interpreting “social signals in real time” which I found fascinating.
The podcast gets really interesting in that in delves deep into the history of autism and illustrates how the way we think of it today – it terms of the problematic high-functioning vs. low-functioning distinctions – was in some way shaped by forces of history. Hans Asperger, a child psychologist, did research in the 1930s on autism. He is sometimes mistakenly credited with discovering Asperger’s (because it’s named after him) but that’s not quite accurate. He actually discovered and documented the existence of the entire autistic spectrum that had “a wide variety of clinical presentations.”
Unfortunately, when the Nazis invaded Austria, his work at the clinic became threatened. The children immediately became targets of the eugenics program. So Dr. Asperger ingeniously gave the first public talk on Autism in history to the Nazis — he presented the “most promising cases” in the hope of protecting the children he was treating in his clinic and that is where Silverman asserts that the idea of high-functioning / low-functioning autism really stems from.

• Podcast Link: CNN Student News, September 20, 2016. (Note: This podcast is produced the day before it airs so that teachers can retrieve it and use it in their lesson plans. Thus, even though it is dated September 20, 2016, I found it on September 19.)
• Why I Chose It: I’m unfamiliar with podcasts, so I figured I couldn’t go too wrong with one geared toward middle and high school students. This one was a video podcast.
• What I Liked About It:
  1. I liked the fact that it explained unfamiliar concepts briefly but well. For example, the broadcaster stated the term terrorist cell, and then gave a brief definition (a small group of terrorists) so that his viewers would know what it is. This helps students especially, who may be unfamiliar with concepts and nomenclature we as adults take for granted.
  2. I also like the fact that it took breaks from the narrative by filming (with audio) some nice B-roll elements that supported the story. For example, at one point we hear an off-camera officer shout “Fire in the hole!” three times, each time the scenery panning to a different place on a near-empty bomb range. The final shot (with audio) is of a van exploding in slow motion, a brief shot of music, the approach of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) agents to the exploded van, and an interview with one of those agents.
• Interview Segments and Voiceovers: I’m still new to the terminology of podcasts and a Google search was not as revealing as I would have preferred, so I’m going to guess at what what these terms mean.
  1. This podcast had interviews with ATF Trainer Agent Will Creech and ATF Public Information Officer Michael Knight in a segment explaining what ATF agents do in processing a bomb scene; during their interviews, they were sometimes in the shot while at others B-roll footage was creating the visual.
  2. This segment then flashed to the next stage of bomb-scene processing, lab analysis, and the podcast played an interview with forensic scientist Natasha Neel while lab B-roll footage played intermittently.
  3. Then it flashed back to the ATF guys before returning to the broadcaster.

I chose to listen to the NPR Politics Podcast, mostly because it is a podcast that I listen to regularly and very much enjoy. I think they have a good mix of humor and knowledge that help to make the topics they discuss interesting without veering into John Oliver (though I love him) and Stephen Colbert territory. For this post specifically, I chose the Monday Mail episode from September 5. I picked this because it was one that I knew talked about some interesting topics — Trump on Birtherism, Hillary Clinton and building a resume because of her gender, John Oliver (this is a theme) and the really, really fascinating Ohio Senate race (seriously, if you’re into politics, read up on it), among other things. I feel like it gives a good feel of what the show is about and what kind of content they like to showcase for people who may not be familiar with it. Other than content, there are a few other things that I really like about this podcast (and all NPR podcasts that I’ve come across, really). Quality. Everything is quality, from the musical intro to the sound throughout the podcast to the questions selected to be put on air. They just produce great content.

Segments: An early edition of Monday Mail

Voice Overs: Campaign Reporter/Host Sam Sanders, Congressional Correspondent Susan Davis, Political Editor Domenico Montanaro, and recordings from listeners.

I chose to listen to “The Handsome Family” podcast on NPR’s website. I chose this podcast from the Fresh Air segment of NPR because I have listened to NPR since I was little, riding around in the car with my dad and waking up to it in the mornings and Fresh Air was always the most interesting to me. As a kid, of course, I was never interested in the current events and political discussions on NPR, but the calm, unhurried voices discussing art and culture in artistic detail always appealed to me, even as a child. The first podcast to pop up was also what seemed the most interesting to me.

The description talked about the married couple Rennie and Brett Sparks who write music and the influence of their desert life on their songs. I could already tell that I would enjoy the segment and its detailed topic. The Handsome Family exceeded my expectations, discussing not only their musical sound, but also their individual mental illnesses, religious influences, and life as a couple. The interview was incredibly well-rounded and kept me extremely interested. Afterwards, I was ready to look up the band and download a few songs!

Voiceovers:

• Terri Gross– NPR’s Fresh Air, interviewer
• Rennie Sparks– vocalist and musician of The Handsome Family
• Brett Sparks– vocalist and musician of The Handsome Family

This was a very delightful exercise, almost like a trip down memory lane, because my days of driving forever to get to a store or pretty much any destination have been left behind since moving to Georgia.  Everything is so conveniently located here!  I barely drive more than 15 minutes at a time.  But back in the days of looong drives on almost a daily basis, NPR was a wonderful companion.

It was difficult to choose one podcast from the NPR site since there are so many great ones.  But, I went with one from the pop culture happy hour, just for fun.  I choose a David Greene piece about the Delilah radio show, featuring an interview with Delilah.  I’ll confess that I’ve listened to that during at least a few nighttime drives.  Schmaltzy but still … it draws you in!

So, enough back story.  One thing I liked about this podcast was its smooth transitions between segments.  It’s seamless.  For instance, at one point, Delilah says that everyone thinks she’s so nice but she feels like screaming that she’s really just exhausted (a false dichotomy, but this isn’t about logic …).  Greene picks up the next segment by talking about all the things she juggles in her life.  Another thing I liked was the clarity with no competing sound in the background.  Along with that, there was no talking over one another as might be the case on some podcasts in which rapid fire dialogue results in more than one person talking at once.  Of course, this is NPR, so we can expect exemplary standards!

The podcast is available by scrolling down to Aug. 17, 2016 on NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour website.

Segments:

1. 0:00 – 0:10 Intro music
2. 0:10 – 3:20 Dialogue between Linda Holmes, editor of Pop Culture at NPR, and David Greene, host of the Morning Edition. In this dialogue Holmes “chats” with Greene about his interview with Delilah.  He gives an overview of the Delilah show.
3. 3:21-3:41 Greene speaks to Delilah (interview). This is just the introduction as he greets her and she gives her signature words, “This is Delilah.”
4. 3:42 – 3:59 Voice over by Greene
5. 4:00 – 4:15 Greene plays a clip in which Delilah is talking to a caller.
6. 4:16 – 4:26 Voice over by Greene
7. 4:27 – 4:40 Greene speaks to Delilah (interview).
8. 4:41 – 5:01 Voice over by Greene
9. 5:02 – 6:36 Main part of interview of Delilah by Greene begins
10. 6:37 – 6:44 Voice over by Greene
11. 6:45 – 10:00 Back to interview with Delilah
12. 10:00 – 10:09 Song chosen by Delilah to end interview begins to play softly in the background while interview winds down, gets louder and louder
13. 10:10 – 10:20 Song plays at higher volume after interview ends
14. 10:21 – 10:31 Greene gives concluding synopsis of piece and does sign-off
15. 10:31 – 10:44 Song plays at full volume

I chose the podcast “How I Built This: Instagram” on NPR. I chose this podcast because NPR is a trusted source of podcasts. Instagram is an app that I use daily, and learning the foundation of its invention interested me. Also, this podcast was only a half an hour and that fit best into my schedule. I liked background music in the introduction and throughout the entire podcast. It went in and out of narration and interviews and alternated in a way that kept me interested but was still easy to follow. The quality was incredibly clear, and the light beat that played under the talking meshed well together. The narration and interviews sounded conversational and not too staged, but the information was still concise and interesting. When the tone of what they were talking about changed, the background music did as well. When the inventors were talking about times they struggled, the music became more ominous and slow. I also enjoyed that there were thoughtful breaks and pauses after powerful statements were made so that I had time to digest and think about them without missing anything important. 

Interviews:

Guy Raz: Host of the podcast

Kevin Systrom: Co-inventor of Instagram discussed how the idea came about and the evolution into what it is today. 

Mike Krieger: Co-inventor of the app spoke about how Kevin asked him to partner on Instagram with him and how they have grown since the beginning of the journey.