Episode 400

Since about October 2000 I have regularly listened to This American Life, originally as broadcast on WNYC (supplemented with streaming archived episodes), more recently as a podcast (and still supplemented with streaming archived episodes).  Over the more than 15 years that I've been listening to the show (which has since grown in popularity) quite a number of episodes have stuck with me, a disproportionate number of which have stories from Scott Carrier (Does it get better than Running After Antelope?).  Contributions of individuals aside, the show has been consistently great for the 20 years it has been on the air - which is an impressive feat (Hell, they even managed to develop a semi-well known passable spin-off [not counting the TV show].)

One episode, above all others, for more than six years has stood out as a miss.  First broadcast in early February 2010, episode 400, in which several of the show's producers attempted to produce stories based on suggestions from their respective parents.  And, ha ha, most of the stories pitched to these producers weren't very good and really didn't make for great radio.  The somewhat self-congratulatory point of whole thing seemed to be that professional radio producers are better at picking stories for radio/This American Life than average people.  (Give me at least a little bit of warning when you're going to hit me with such hard truths makers of This American Life - I don't want to hurt myself when I get knocked over).

(Kidding aside, yeah, we know - you're good at your jobs.  That's why so many people keep coming back to the show week after week and why Serial is as popular as it is.  I think it's fair to say that most listeners recognize this skill when we listen to the show.  While I, presumably like many other listeners, would love to be able to make a This American Life-style show, it is clearly beyond my skill set and the skill sets of many in the listening audience.  I think most of us recognize and accept that there is something in the skill department that the makers of This American Life bring to the table that we don't have.)

Of course, I am inclined to suggest that at least two of these parental suggestions didn't make great radio not because of the quality of the suggestion, but because the staff at This American Life just didn't understand the significance of the stories and, not surprisingly, the resulting stories missed the point/weren't that great.

In the show's first Act Lisa Pollak attempts to follow-up on her mother's suggestion that she look into funny funerals or humour at funerals or maybe funny things that have happened at funerals? She's never seems all that clear about the issue she is trying to examine.

I think the point Pollak misses is that her mother isn't looking for funny anecdotes about funerals gone awry, but about funerals that are true celebrations of the life of the deceased that involve the use of humour.  As someone, like Lisa Pollak's mother and father, who has attended a funeral that did have a fair number of laughs I think I see where's she's coming from.  Really, what better way is there to celebrate the life of the deceased than by remembering the high points of that life and, maybe, punctuating those memories with hearty laughter?

At my grandmother's funeral in 2003 there were plenty of laughs, all of which reminded the attendees of the best features of her personality.  Instead of wallowing in sadness and loss, we were reminded of my grandmother's unique contributions to our respective lives.  By others laughing along I could also tell (or at least thought I could tell) that others in attendance were reflecting on similar experiences they'd had with her.  The feeling that I had at the end of the event, despite the inherent sadness associated with her death, was that my grandmother was truly known and appreciated by those in attendance - and the shared laughter was the mechanism by which this truth revealed itself.  Had it been a normal, quiet funeral I would have been provided with no sense of the feelings of the other attendees.

Since this funeral I have realized that the only features of my funeral that I truly care about are that it is filled with laughs and that it celebrates my life instead of mourns my death.  I don't care about which songs are or are not played, which readings are or are not read, or where the event does or does not take place as long as most people leave after having had a hearty laugh.  (I can't really say that I'll be disappointed if this doesn't come to pass - I'll be dead after all - but I'll definitely be disappointed if this doesn't come to pass.)

I think part of the problem with Pollak's approach to the story is that she contacted funeral directors for input.  Despite this group seeming like an obvious place to turn, I'm not convinced that funeral directors as a group get this approach to funerals and that funerals really, at their core, should be celebrations.  Maybe it's because most funeral directors don't have a particularly strong connection to the people whose funerals they're leading (and thus don't know how to draw out the humour in each person's life) or because there's a general sense that funerals are supposed to be sad and sombre affairs (rather than funny) so that's what they give the dying public?  Or maybe it's because when you're surrounded by the business of death and the grieving it's hard to always find the light?  I don't know exactly the cause, but the reality seems to be that a strength of funeral directors, and their are many strengths, is not injecting levity into the funeral process.  And that's a shame, maybe even more of a shame than Lisa Pollak also seems to miss this point.

(Maybe the craziest part of this mess of a story is that after the story is played for the audience the staff of This American Life, themselves having just listened to the piece for the first time as a group, all heap praise on the piece and laud it for being well reported.  Apparently, the fact that even in the story Lisa Pollak's mother seems dissatisfied with the results of the investigation doesn't merit much consideration.  Weird.)

Alex Blumberg's story, or Act 3, based on a suggestion from his father to examine the origins of corporate personhood suffers from slightly different problems - it adheres too closely to the original pitch and spends too much time showing it's workings while transitioning to a more do-able version of the pitch.  In this case, the suggestion from Alex's father is something I think has the potential to be quite interesting and it seems to be a story pitch that Alex understands.  As is reported in the story, maybe the approach to the issue of corporate personhood suggested by Alex's father isn't quite the best way in - which isn't that surprising given his lack of expertise on the subject demonstrated by his quest to learn more - but that doesn't mean that the general topic isn't fascinating and ripe for inquiry.

Unfortunately, just as Alex's story has worked it's way through the hiccups of the pitch and is moving on to the interesting side of the story (and I suspect that in most This American Life episodes they would have just cut this prologue and gone right to the portion of the reporting that lead to fruitful results) Ira decides the story is too boring to continue and the kills it, leading to a reverse en media res of sorts.

How Alex's dad's pitch was handled was disappointing because I think that it is likely a This American Life-style narrative story about the origins of corporate personhood, or maybe a consequential instance of corporate personhood, could be a great fit for the now.  Now, because of the failings of this piece, we're unlikely to hear such a story.  It seems it's been decided that issues associated with corporate personhood are just too boring for This American Life.

For better or worse, I can't really remember the other stories included in this episode.  I suspect that means that they were just fine, but not particularly memorable for being either great successes or great failures.  Whatever the quality of the remaining stories, this certainly hasn't been one of the episodes I've been tempted to revisit over the years since it was first broadcast/podcast - it just wasn't that good.

The ultimate irony of epiosde being that in an attempt to demonstrate the special skills and contributions of producers of This American Life that go into the creation of each and every episode of the show, this episode was one of the least skillfully produced and execute.  These skilled producers certainly weren't able to manage the less-than-alchemical transition of silver to gold.  Instead, we were given a peak behind the curtain and shown that when handed a story they don't understand, just like us, the producers of This American Life fumble around and, sometimes, miss the point of the assignment.  Of course, I don't really think that this was the point they were trying to make.

(Ok, there hasn't been much narrative to this whole thing, but how was that for a This American Life-style ending.  Just throw a little Coffaro's Theme or Mogwai underneath and you wouldn't be able to to tell this wasn't the real thing.)

(Jeannette thinks this post may be a little harsh, especially when I am a fan of This American Life and typically listen to each episode the night it is released.  I think it is because I know the quality that is typical of the show that this somewhat disappointing episode merits discussion - but maybe I'm wrong and I should just let it go after six years.  The truth is that I'm probably probably overly committed to the idea of funny funerals to provide an unbiased assessment of any piece of work that doesn't understand their significance in the same way I do - it's possible that this first story set the tone for the entire episode and I'm not judging the rest of the episode fairly.

Who knows?

But you should definitely take the opinion of a rando on the internet who's been obsessing over a single episode of a long-running podcast for more than six years with a grain of salt.)

Cameron - 7
Neil - 0

A Few Quick Notes 617

-After several weeks of unRegina like Winter weather, we've finally moved on to the type of Regina winter weather I've come to know and love - it's about -20 and sunny.  As far as I'm concerned this is almost perfect Winter weather.  It just doesn't get better than this.

-While doing some supplementary shovelling today (I did the driveway, paths, and sidewalk immediately after the snowfall) I had the pleasure of taking in some of this wonderful Winter weather first hand.  Of course, to prepare for the low temperatures I put on my coat, mitts, scarf, face mask, and hat.  I was amazed to find that when I came in about 30 minutes later I was really sweating (and at no point did I feel cold).

-A few months ago This American Life began a new spin-off show - Serial.  Almost immediately Jeannette and I became rabid listeners.  During the run of the show we more or less restricted ourselves to the weekly podcast and the various discussions we would have with each other after each new episode was released.

Now that the podcast's first season has ended but various related stories have been independent news outlets we've gotten sucked into the Serial Reddit vortex.  We can seem to spend an entire evening just reading Reddit comments about alternate theories of a 1999 Baltimore murder case.  When not reading these comments I am compulsively contemplating my own (or Jeannette's particularly good) theory/ies of the case.

How is it possible that I am spending more time thinking about a 12 episode podcast now that it has ended than I did while it aired?  How can I be waiting for new articles from The Intercept, articles that I know will just upset me, with a greater sense of anticipation than I had for new episodes? (I've probably checked for the concluding segment of the Kevin Urick interview 20 times today.)

-At some point soon I may have to start thinking about what to make for dinner tonight.  On the other hand, because of our ongoing illnesses it seems likely that neither of us may be as inclined to eat in a timely fashion as we normally might be.

A Few Quick Notes 596

-After a few days in the -35 zone we've moved back into slightly more reasonable temperatures.  Though I don't think we actually made it above zero today, with the help of the sun it was warm enough that we actually had a little slush to contend with as we were making our way home from work.    Hopefully this will be frozen by the time I have to head back to work tomorrow morning.

-You know what's great about this time of year?  It's great that when I drive to work it's not pitch black.  It's strangely comforting to know that you're not arriving at work an hour before sunrise.  And it's not bad that the sun doesn't set until about an hour after the workday ends either.

-After work on Friday (at least I think it was Friday) I received a very strange robocall that seemed to be about electoral redistricting in Saskatchewan.  Just about the only thing that I could make out was that the call supposedly came from 'Chase Research.'

Turns out I wasn't the only one in Saskatchewan to get such a call and that these calls have now been the subject of a number of media reports, including this one.

-Somehow, after years of trying, I've finally managed to get Jeannette to listen to a few of my regular podcasts.  The new This American Life has now become a shared Sunday ritual (instead of one I shamefully engaged in alone whenever I could sneak a listen).  And over the past few weeks I've managed to sneak in RadioLab, 99% Invisible, and the always informative Inside Jobs Podcast.  For whatever reason I haven't quite managed to draw Jeannette into my Jordan, Jesse GO!/Stop Podcasting Yourself web.

-I made eight small raspberry tarts tonight.  Now that they're out of the oven I have no interest in eating them.  Maybe by tomorrow morning I'll rustle up some kind of willingness to sacrifice my health so that these guys don't end up sitting on the counter and spoiling.  

What a tough life I lead.

Cameron - 2

Neil - 0

Get your listen on

A few of my favourite podcasts recently came out with episodes that I quite enjoyed.

This American Life's Switcheroo episode had a particularly engaging story about a new form of outsourced journalism.  Despite the fact that I've listened to the episode and also read a few follow-up stories on the profiled company I still don't know exactly how I should feel about the practice of outsourced context-free reporting.  Anyway, I'm definitely glad to know that this kind of thing is going on and that we're now talking about it a bit more than we were a few days ago.

Radiolab's remix contest episode was also pretty fun (though in a very different way than their content usually is).  The contest's winning entry really worked for me and reminded me of the great Idea's episode by Adam Goddard More About Henry (available here as an episode of Living Out Loud).

I write such posts because I realize I am the internet's #1 source of audio content reviews.  If it weren't for these occasionally posted reviews this place would surely be a ghost town.

Or maybe you're actually coming here for the great Leacockian flourishes?

Fixing the internet

I may currently be clogging the internet with garbage, but earlier this afternoon I feel as though I made a real contribution to fixing the internet.

While looking at the episode summary for the upcoming This American Life episode Conventions I noticed that the link to Dishwasher Pete's site was broken (because the site no longer exists).  Through the magic of Twitter I conveyed this information directly to the powers that be at This American Life.

Within 9 minutes (and it was likely much less than this) the broken link was removed and replaced with a functioning link.

Sometimes the internet blows my mind.

Cameron: 8
Neil: 0

Yo, this is Ann Arbor!

Though I grew up in Newfoundland, both of my parents are from Michigan.  And though Michigan isn't the most populous or the wealthiest state it's residents and places seem to pop up rather frequently, or more than you might expect for a state of its size, in various media.  Because of my somewhat tangential connection to the place (and because it is still where most of my extended family lives) I always take note of these Michigan connections, even if knowing that so-and-so or such-and-such is from Michigan will likely serve me no real purpose in my day-to-day life.

A few years ago, just after I had started listening to This American Life, I learned that contributor Davy Rothbart (also of Found Magazine fame) was from Ann Arbor, Michigan.  When I eventually made it to the Found Magazine website I had a sneaking suspicion that the magazine's mailing address was on the same street as an aunt and uncle's house.

When I got around to asking about this they confirmed that while the Rothbart kids were a little older than my cousins they did know one another.  Maybe more importantly, my asking my cousin about this lead her to re-connecting with Davy.  I know that at one point here were plans to meet in-person, but I don't know if those plans ever came to fruition.

Then, just a few days ago, I happened to come across a relatively new blog, Yo, is this racist? that seems to be making waves on the internets.  I happened to learn about the blog through the author's recent Grantland piece on racist portrayals in sit-coms (though I can no longer remember how I ended up reading this article).

After reading the blog for a while I happened to come across the fact that the blog's author, Andrew Ti, seems to be from Ann Arbor and is about the same age as my Davy-Rothbart-knowing cousin.  I decided to ask if she also knew this guy?

Much to my surprise, just last night I found out that she does/did know this guy (though she said she really knew his sister more).

I find it very exciting to have a cousin who is tapped into things/people on the internet and doesn't even always know that she is until I sporadically ask her about people from her past.

The real problem I have now is how I might possibly extend my streak.  Is there anyway I can organically find a third Ann Arbor/Michigan person that my cousin knows who I can ask her about?  Taking my streak from two to three seems like it might be implausible, but then I thought going from one to two would be implausible.

From This American Life to This is That

For a while I have been interested in creating a graphic representation of development of my podcast listening habits.  In particular, I was interested in looking at the podcasts that I have started listening to either directly because of This American Life or because of podcasts that I started listening to because of other podcasts I had started listening to because of This American Life.

Anyway, last night I got around to sketching out a rough diagram (which I then converted into the image below today). 

I'm sure this image will be as helpful to you as it will be to me.

Note: The Sound of Young America has received credit for referring some podcasts that I actually started listening to because of the Maximumfun.org Podthoughts column.  Also, I know that The Sound of Young America is now called Bullseye, but it was the original incarnation of the show that lead me to these other podcasts, not the one episode of Bullseye that currently exists.

Conflicting Portrayals

A few months ago I read the second Freakonomics book, SuperFreakonomics, and struck by a section of the book dealing the activities of a company called Intellectual Ventures. Much of the discussion focused on the suggestions that the company has for dealing with tropical storm suppression and and reducing global warming. On the whole, the book provided a very positive portrayal of the company.

In a subsequent two-part episode episode of the Freakonomics podcast this company, and its founder Nathan Myhrvold made another appearance in the Freakonomics canon, this time in relation to the recently published cookbook Modernist Cuisine: The Art and Science of Cooking. Again, the portrayal was very positive and the focus was on the invention and research side of the company's operations. Actually, if memory serves me correctly, these are the only aspects of the company that are even mentioned.

As a result of these portrayals of the company I just assumed that it was primarily a R & D firm, maybe even verging on a philanthropic venture.

As of last night I have been given some reason to question my original assessment.

A recent This American Life examination of some of the company's patent related activities suggests a slightly different image of the company. From this vantage point the company is portrayed predominately as an owner and licenser of thousands and thousands of patents. They note that the company, or that related third parties, frequently use legal action to secure settlements from companies that are deemed to be infringing on their patents. At times, though I am not sure if the two individuals reporting the story say it directly, the company is compared to a protection racket.

I always love it when I am left with opposing senses of things due to conflicting media reports. It is all the more impressive that these conflicting portrayals are both from New York based public radio shows.

Cases like this always remind me that I need to be a little more critical when consuming media. Of course the problem is that it takes time and energy to be so critical, and I quite frequently don't have the time or energy to invest in these issues. Maybe it's sufficient that I am at least aware of some of the problems with current forms of mass media?

Ethical Question

This morning Jeannette and I were talking about a short 'ethics' she has to discuss in an upcoming assignment. After a few minutes of contemplation I realized that the scenario she was dealing with was somewhat similar to a scenario that had been dealt with by Radiolab in one of podcasts.



[Embedded audio]

Actually, I think that the ethical scenario I remember them dealing with in this episode may have been the first Radiolab segment I ever heard (as it was featured on an episode of This American Life.)

Anyway, if you have the time both This American Life and Radiolab are worth checking out (and would be incredible additions to the daytime CBC Radio One line-up).

It only took them 15 years

After about 15 years of producing some of the best public radio content in North America CBC has finally decided to jump on-board and start broadcasting This American Life in Canada.

While this is definitely a step forward for the CBC, they have definitely not gone quite far enough. Instead of having the show air at an hour when most people might actually listen (and taking a poor quality show off the air) they have decided to clump it in with their late night filler content (most of which comes from international sources). Bummer.

Anyway, This American Life is definitely worth listening to. I have been listening been listening to the show regularly for just over ten years now and have to say that it is one of the best radio shows I have had the pleasure of hearing.

Reality and Art

The first story most recent episode of This American Life deals with key players in a Michigan Tea party. At one point in the story the reporter, while interviewing a subject, happens to record a phone conversation that a recently fired campaign manager has with a member of the campaign team for the Republican candidate. The beauty of this recording is that you basically get to hear the change of position taken the fired campaign manager as well as the willingness of the Republican campaign worker to spread a false story (and I should be clear, I suspect that members of both parties frequently engage in such dealings).

[Embedded audio]

After having listened to this story I recommend that you watch basically any episode of the Thick of It, a great show about British politics. The pace at which positions are reversed, changed, or abandoned in both contexts is amazingly similar. Apparently the writers of the Thick of It really didn't miss the mark by much, which is presumably why the show is so excellent.

(I sure that I should have done a better job drawing out the parallels between the This American Life episode and Thick of It, unfortunately I am a little tired and this thought probably doesn't merit being held until a time when I am a little more rested.)

Might be worth a listen

A few days ago I noticed that This American Life was now allowing others to embed their episodes. I thought I should mention this feature but didn't really have a good excuse.

Fortunately today I started to listen to their most recent episode and realized that it was worth sharing. Both stories in the episode deal with somewhat scary trends in the administration of 'justice' in the United States.

[Embedded audio]

If you have time, another favourite episode of mine is Running After Antelope, which features the work of Scott Carrier(my favourite This American Life contributor).

[Embedded audio]

I guess I should also mention that This American Life's entire radio archive is online and free to access. Check some of their shows out if you have the time, they are worth a listen.

A Few Quick Notes 305

-Today has been pretty great. I get the sense that the temperature must have been pushing 10 for a few hours. Now that evening is setting in things are beginning to cool down, though it is still quite pleasant.

-A few days ago I listened to the This American Life episode "Double Lives," which is mostly about gay men hiding their sexual orientation and living as married straight men. What I found interesting about this episode is how much things seem to have changed in the 13 years since it was first produced. My sense of things is that things like gay marriage weren't really seen as likely at the time. I am curious if some of the people were interviewed again today if they would give the same answers as they gave in the mid-nineties.

-We had turkey pot-pie for dinner last night. I thought it was pretty decent, though I could be a little biased.

-I had a final exam today. It was a pretty exhilarating experience, as they tend to be.

-Yesterday Mike Watson (SirWatts) mentioned that he would be providing live updates via Twitter from the upcoming event at the Bellagio. After a few minutes of investigation I got the sense that it would be easiest to follow these updates if I signed up for a Twitter account. So I did, it took about a minute. Shortly after signing up I managed to start following Watson as well as the host from a few of my favourite podcasts.

So far I am not quite sure what I think about the whole micro-blogging concept. I get the sense that it mainly serves as a venue for one-liners, PR, and as a popularity contest. I guess I should give it more than 24 hours to reach a definitive conclusion on the topic.

A Few Quick Notes 292

-Well today was a bit of a bust as far as the predicted snowfall was concerned. By the time 5:00 PM rolled around we did manage to get a little snow, though things seem to have largely wrapped up before 7:30. I guess we will wait and see, but I don't imagine that we will get too much more snow this evening, though who knows, maybe I will be way off.

-Given that we did get a little snow, I thought that I would try to make a time-lapse video of it accumulating. What I found interesting in the resulting video is that it seems that the snow is starting to melt near the end of the clip, though this could just be the result of changing light conditions.



[Embedded video]

-A few years ago I broke my collar bone in a rather ill-advised, planned sledding collision. Since then, on occasion, my shoulder has made some strange grinding noises when moved. I was reminded of this phenomenon again today when I heard some noise coming from my shoulder as I was lifting my left arm. Fortunately these noises don't yet seem to be connected to a reduction of mobility, though I can only imagine what time and age my do to my shoulder.

-Yesterday, Neil, Rebecca, and I went to the apartment of their friends' to play a few board games. I was introduced to a game called Power Grid, which was pretty good. I also managed to get a game of Condotierre in, and somehow managed to win.

-For dinner we ended up going to a local Chinese restaurant called Mr. Chang's. All three of us were quite impressed with the food and the prices. Though I don't imagine that we will make weekly trips, I do imagine that we will return at some point in the future. It is nice to know that there is an inexpensive, quality food option nearby.

-The more I have been listening to the The Moth podcast the more I have been sensing its connection to This American Life. This week's episode of the The Moth podcast was the re-telling of a story that appeared on This American Life several years ago. A story by Mike Birbiglia was also recently on both shows. I guess this connection shouldn't surprise me as I learned about the The Moth podcast because one of its stories was featured on a This American Life episode.

-A few days ago my sister was kind enough to send Neil and I a link to Highlights' online joke repository. Boy do they ever have some gold material. Neil and I have been laughing about a number of these jokes since getting the email. Definitely check this link out if you are interested in quality internet content.

-I was shocked to learn today that the Harlem Globetrotters and the Washington Generals do not have the same owners. I wonder how they share the revenues? I also wonder how it feels to be on the Washington Generals, and how long people tend to stay on the team?

-Though I had to do in my living room scarlet runner bean population my bedroom plants seem to be doing quite well. Shortly after taking this picture I installed the preliminary string set-up to allow them to climb to my bedroom window. Eventually I hope to get these plants to climb across my bedroom window, and then back (though this latter trek may be wishful thinking on my behalf).



The other plants in my bedroom seem to be doing relatively well, though aside from the new corn and the thyme none have put on too much additional height in the past few days (though most have shown some form of growth)

That time of the week

It seems that Sunday is my big podcast day, and by the time it rolls around I am ready for the new content. New episodes of This American Life, Jordan, Jesse, Go! and Stop Podcasting Yourself all tend to come out on Sunday evening. I am particularly looking forward to Stop Podcasting Yourself this week as I sent in an email contribution a few days ago (though I imagine it was to late for them to use it in this week's show.

As I am starved for content by this time in week I repeatedly check iTunes for the new the new episodes. Though as all of these shows are located at least two time-zones West of here I should know that there is not point in doing this until it is relatively late in Halifax, sometimes early Monday morning.

Anyway, as usual, I am looking forward to new episodes from all of these shows and will hopefully listen to them while I walk to school or prepare food.

A Few Quick Notes 267

-Today, as predicted, has been a few degrees above zero. Fortunately, I managed to avoid much of the slush by heading in to school early. If the predictions turn out to be right, we could be in for quite a snowfall (and now a storm) here tomorrow, and if things keep going as they have been with closures and such, we could see another round of university and school closures in anticipation of the predicted snowfall.

-To continue the last topic, I think that I would rather not have a snow day tomorrow, though I am sure I could deal with one if it was thrust upon me.

-Just moments ago I learned that one of my favourite This American Life contributors, Scott Carrier, is now an assistant professor at Utah Valley University. Maybe this explains why he has been contributing to This American Life less frequently (though he does seem to still be contributing to Hearing Voices with some regularity).

-I have been doing so much reading about Canadian federalism in the past few weeks that it has started to creep into my dreams. Fortunately, my federalism dreams seem to be much more pleasant that my cataloguing nightmares of library school.

-I managed to get through my first lecture today, though there was a room change that kind of threw me off my game. I guess I now continue my preparations for Wednesday's lecture.

-And for those of you with 30 seconds to kill, feel free to check this out. If you don't have an extra 30 seconds, it probably isn't worth your while (nothing happens, just thought the internet needed some more filler).



Blog-off
Cameron: 3
Neil: 0

Podcast Withdrawal

All of my favourite podcasts (Stop Podcasting Yourself, Jordan, Jesse, Go!, Radiolab, The 40 Year Old Boy, and This American Life) seem to be on extended Christmas hiatuses. Each day for the past few days I have been checking to see if new episodes are available only to find that in all cases there are none (though This American Life has been posting old episodes). Hopefully Sunday evening will prove a little more fruitful, though I fear that the hiatuses will extend into this common upload day.

Interview on Media and Politics

For the past few weeks I have been reading about media and politics (mainly because of an assignment on the same subject). Much to my surprise, this topic has really stayed on my mind and caused me to think about at least some of the media that I consume on a daily basis.

A few days ago I had the pleasure of listening to a The Sound of Young America interview with Gideon Yago (former This American Life contributor), which happened to be on a similar subject. Yago, a former MTV News employee, talks about his experiences with that organization as well as about other media related matters in the United States. Maybe it was just my recent reading, but I found this to be a particularly informative and insightful interview. If you have any interest in the subject matter you might want to check it out.

A Few Quick Notes 164

-Today was a beautiful day, the first in a while. The weather was quite warm, certainly warmer than reported by Environment Canada, and the sun was out, making it a nice day for walking and being outdoors. As the night progresses, the temperature has begun to drop, a somewhat common trend.

-With two more loses today I am now 8/38 with this year's Roll Up the Rim contest. My attempts to pick up my game have clearly failed. Maybe if I try hard I will be able to improve tomorrow.

-As my milk was about to go I decided to bake some bread today. This seemed to go relatively well. As I was doing laundry at the same time I didn't really waste too much time.

-My laundry washing was also quite productive. Though I am beginning to become somewhat frustrated that each time I wash my duvet cover items seem to migrate inside, and then don't dry properly.

-As term will be ending in a few weeks I need to start thinking about moving. Unfortunately, it seems that this is going to be a somewhat unpleasant process, particularly as I will likely be forced to leave things in Montreal and then re-buy equivalents where ever I end up next year. I guess it really isn't worth moving crap half-way across the country though.

-For some reason my library use seems to be way up this term. Particularly my checking out of monographs seems to be way up. I would guess that I have checked out more books this term alone than in the three previous terms combined.

-It seems that Sunday is now my big podcast day. Both Jordan, Jesse, Go! and This American Life Tend to release new episodes at around the same time on Sunday evening. The downside is that most new podcast content is consumed withing about a four hour period. Maybe I will try subscribing to a few additional podcasts to fill the void.

Free Hospital

While reading a Industrial Inquiry Commission I came across the following few sentences:

"The [St. Lawrence] Hospital was built by the Government of the United States of America in appreciation for the humanitarian efforts of the people of St. Lawrence area during the marine disaster of February 18, 1942. At that time the U.S.S. Pollux and U.S.S. Truxton ran ashore on the Burin Peninsula during a storm."

If you are interested in learning more about this accident and there is a This American Life story on the subject (episode 201 - Them) that was produced by Newfoundland radio producer Chris Brookes.