I listen to podcasts. If you don’t, then yes, you’re missing out. They are a brilliantly simple medium. A sound file pushed out into the world to be heard. I listen to fiction, news, religion, and creativity shows and each one makes a commute shorter and dishes easier to do. Each an opportunity to listen anew.
Some podcasts are really good and some individual episodes are ones I want everybody to hear. But sharing them on Facebook and Twitter doesn’t seem like enough curation. We rarely get the chance to hear why we should listen.
I’m going to simply share the three podcast episodes this past week I wanted everyone to hear. Not because I’m an authoritarian telling you what you must listen to or suffer the wrath of my miniature army. I want you to have the same amazing opportunity to engage with brilliant ideas, new ways of looking, or fantastic stories I have.
This past week, I heard several brilliant podcasts which dealt with politics, faith, media, and public health in unique ways.
In order of heat of public conversation and timeliness:
1. ““Free Speech Week” Puts Berkeley Back in the Crosshairs” – On The Media
On The Media is required listening in general. But in this Podcast Extra, the crew explore why the conversations we’re having about free speech aren’t able to handle all of what’s going on behind the scenes. This is particularly the case in Berkeley this weekend, when a spectacle called “Free Speech Week” was preparing a clever sleight-of-hand on the viewing public.
Unsurprisingly, since the airing of this podcast, the event wasn’t.
2. “Radical Hope Is Our Best Weapon” – Junot Diaz – On Being
In this episode, Krista Tippett interviews the esteemed writer and professor Junot Diaz. His book, Drown was a formative work for me as a young adult. And this interview, the way Diaz has with words and weaving concepts is on full display. Whether it’s his response to masculinity’s dangerous substance as only sides, but no innards to our “cannibal logic” of consumption, we hear someone who can describe our present age with clarity and opportunity.
3. “The Finnish Experiment” – 99% Invisible
Universal Basic Income (UBI) is buzzy right now. A big reason why is that it has support in liberal, libertarian, and conservative circles as a means of wrestling with our country’s economic future. But how do we make change on a massive scale without endangering everything we hold dear? The 99PI team shows how Finland is giving us a chance to see a creative way forward.
