Stop and listen radio

Monday, September 20th, 2010 | cool, shows | 1 Comment

I love intricate stories and sound design, but my weekly, can’t miss radio show is On The Media produced out of WNYC. I hope to get rights for a few of their evergreen pieces to put on the ol’ REMIX, but for now, their podcast steadfastly serves as my Saturday morning dishwashing accompaniment. The show is always killer, but this week featured an interview with Richard Connor, editor of the Portland Press Herald of Portland, Maine that made me turn off the water and pay close attention. There are so many great things going on here of note: (1) there’s a level of feet-to-fire holding that you rarely hear on public radio, (2) the interplay gets contentious, but never overly aggressive or mean spirited (to my ears, there is plenty of disagreement in the comments), (3) there are several points where I expected Bob to drop it, and let the newly modified presentation of the point of view stand (because that’s the way it’s usually done), but Bob never lets go, (4) the piece is called “For Some, An Apology Offends”, which is a very nice (and knowing) reference to the media’s long standing tradition of using some form of “some have said…” when they really mean “I” or “we.” I know this fact because On the Media taught it to me.

The short story is, it’s riveting radio and you should check it out.

Side note: this codified another new habit I have when I listen to the radio. Whenever I hear something tense or controversial on the air, I run to the program’s comment page and look at what people are saying about it. I rarely comment myself.

Why we do what we do

Thursday, September 16th, 2010 | cool, shows, sound, stories | No Comments

PRXer Matt MacDonald turned me on to the RSA Animate video series a couple weeks ago, and man alive, are they awesome. This episode tackles an issue that confounds a lot of people in the public radio profession: why do we work so hard on something that (usually) offers so little financial gain? It turns out, independent producers aren’t freaks when it comes to this disassociation of higher brain tasks and monetary gain. We’re normal! At least in that sense. Indies are freaky in plenty of other ways. Come to Chicago in October and we’ll prove it.

Oh, oh: I uploaded a great new piece today (well several, but this one deserves to be listened to separately when other ambient noise is at a minimum). It’s called Secrets and Noise by Amy Conger. The piece gets progressively louder “as more and more noises and voices come in to muffle the speaker who only wants to tell you a little something.” I really dig it, but fear some of its greatness could be lost if you heard it on the car stereo, zooming down the highway. Take the time now, dear listener.

Rip and Rebind: The First Five

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010 | cool, shows, Uncategorized | No Comments

From Rip and Rebind mastermind Carl Scott:

Rip and Rebind is an anthropological snapshot of life taken with hip-hop’s camera. Through a collaged narrative reflecting the mash-up genre whose origins are largely found in Hip-Hop, this sonic journey confirms that the music is a reflection of the people. The series aims to preserve an honest perception of an artistic expression that has too often been commodified. Sample-heavy and audibly rich, Rip and Rebind is essentially cultural “crate-digging.”

The phrase “rip and rebind” comes from the publishing industry. When a successful book is being re-published as a paperback, sometimes there is an abundance of hardcover editions left over. In order to reuse the hardcovers for this new purpose, the books are ripped from their hard shells and re-bound as paperbacks for a new audience of readers.

This show was created, hosted and produced by my REMIX colleague Carl Scott and I’m honored to have it be the first radio series produced with REMIX in mind. The first five episodes are on the stream, but you can listen and rate them on demand at their home on PRX.

All the Planets Wonders Available on YouTube

Wednesday, September 8th, 2010 | cool, shows | No Comments

Josie Long makes me happy. Her BBC Radio 4 series, produced by the awesome Colin Anderson, is without a doubt, my favorite radio from the last couple of years. Unfortunately, the BBC doesn’t have it available all the time, beaming directly into my head, so some fantastic person put them on YouTube. There are only four episodes, and I know I’ve mentioned the show before, but listen now. Whether or not you chose to awkwardly stare at the still photo of Josie at the same time is up to you.

Series one is locked up rights-wise, so I can’t broadcast it on the REMIX Radio stream, but I hear that series two is being commissioned by the internet, so you will hear it as soon as Josie turns in her scripts and it gets produced.

Making Waves

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010 | shows | No Comments

I just added a number of episodes from an independently produced bimonthly podcast/radio series called Radio Waves. I want to highlight it here because (1) it’s a great listen and (2) it’s illustrative of how I think all people who aspire to make radio, should make radio. By that I mean, set yourself a deadline and produce! Produce as much radio as possible and then produce some more. What makes Raves Waves a particular pleasure is that the producer Andrew Parsons is still experimenting with lots of different ways to tell a story. Example– a live remix! Check it out on PRX and write a review if you’re so inclined.

REMIX gets TMI

Thursday, February 18th, 2010 | cool, shows | No Comments

New on PRX: REMIX, Too Much Information! On TMI everyone is invited to the oversharing party. Gurus, Crackpots, Hucksters, Ordinary Folks, and your host Benjamen Walker tell tall tales and share intimate stories about the world where nothing seems real and everything is downloadable. All past episodes are running around the clock and new ones are added every Wednesday on PRX: REMIX. It’s the, um, best show on WFMU. Not to be missed.