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CaptainYesterday posted:Single story, two weeks. It's about a high school in Chicago that's had 29 shootings. These guys are seeing a major gap in journalism efforts and are sailing straight through the hole again with some actual news work, aren't they? Good for them. (If I'm not mistaken, this started with their year-long preoccupation with the U.S. economic crisis of 2008.)
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Feb 16, 2013 19:57
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TAL seems to be the rare example of something that's been around for a good long time as far as media programs go, and is not just still good but continuing to evolve. It's really refreshing. I appreciate how they're willing to shake up the format sometimes; the show's better for it.
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Feb 17, 2013 00:33
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CaptainYesterday posted:Single story, two weeks. It's about a high school in Chicago that's had 29 shootings. Holy crap. Looking forward to what they do with that. I imagine a breakdown of events trying to find the root cause and sound bites from teachers and students. The first episode actually popped up in my RSS feed yesterday so that was cool.
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Feb 17, 2013 01:57
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doctorfrog posted:These guys are seeing a major gap in journalism efforts and are sailing straight through the hole again with some actual news work, aren't they? Good for them. (If I'm not mistaken, this started with their year-long preoccupation with the U.S. economic crisis of 2008.) "Another Frightening Show About the Economy" is what got me into TAL. All the episodes involving the economic crisis are incredible.
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Feb 17, 2013 02:01
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Gio posted:"Another Frightening Show About the Economy" is what got me into TAL. All the episodes involving the economic crisis are incredible. "So... then the bankers basically knew what they were doing, but were separated enough between series of curtains from one another they could pretend to themselves that they didn't?" "... well, yes." "But there's no way anyone ever had to feel really guilty or responsible for it, and there's no way anyone is ever doing 30 seconds of jail time, because of how spread out it was?" "... yes." "And these are almost all the same people who are currently in positions of great power in the U.S. economy? Things have not changed at all?" "Oh, my, yes." TAL was the first that reached my ears to not only come to this conclusion, but also logically follow an actual trail to that conclusion and explain every step of the way. Not that I've distilled a true or accurate understanding of either the crisis or TAL's explanation of it in this post.
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Feb 17, 2013 05:33
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I prefer the episodes where they do actual journalism, like investigating the banks or the patent system. After a while I get tired of stories about frogs in love or fluff pieces about people's school crushes.
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Feb 17, 2013 10:56
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I like that they give the big stories and little stories fairly equal representation.
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Feb 17, 2013 13:10
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Rick posted:I like that they give the big stories and little stories fairly equal representation. That's really why I keep tuning in. I'm a news nerd so for most of their big story coverage I've heard rumblings about and they're just providing a fresh view of it, but then they do the little obscure, in the big picture totally meaningless stories, and they treat them with the same respect and weight, and I love it. It's like they listen to those five minute 'haha and the cat show's in town today, I hope everything goes purrfect' bits of local news and go 'yea, what's going down at the cat show?'
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Feb 17, 2013 23:17
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I was really gripped by the first part of this story. One of the best TALs in a while and there's a cliffhanger in the middle...
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Feb 18, 2013 00:17
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Hoops posted:I was really gripped by the first part of this story. One of the best TALs in a while and there's a cliffhanger in the middle... Yeah, this story is phenomenal, they're really hitting it out of the ballpark if you ask me. Devonte's story is just so depressing. When they said that he couldn't sleep anywhere except his brother's bed, I was pretty much about to start crying in the train. Also, listening to the PTSD act from the Doppelganger's episode later that day was a bad idea. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good lighthearted episode to cheer me up?
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Feb 18, 2013 21:42
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Fragrag posted:Yeah, this story is phenomenal, they're really hitting it out of the ballpark if you ask me. Devonte's story is just so depressing. When they said that he couldn't sleep anywhere except his brother's bed, I was pretty much about to start crying in the train. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/61/fiasco
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Feb 19, 2013 02:56
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Fragrag posted:Yeah, this story is phenomenal, they're really hitting it out of the ballpark if you ask me. Devonte's story is just so depressing. When they said that he couldn't sleep anywhere except his brother's bed, I was pretty much about to start crying in the train. Was the pig anus doppelganger story not lighthearted enough for you??
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Feb 19, 2013 18:26
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Drunkboxer posted:Was the pig anus doppelganger story not lighthearted enough for you?? I thought Fred Armisen as Ira Glass was hilarious. One of my favorite TAL's was the one where they set up at a diner (The Golden Apple?) for 24 hours. It wasn't particularly insightful or anything, but I liked it as a sort of infinitesimal slice of American life. It really reminded me of a Studs Terkel style oral history, moreso than any of the other programs I've listened to, in that it shows the many permutations of life that for some are horribly mundane, but for others is just fascinating.
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Feb 19, 2013 18:30
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GrandpaPants posted:I thought Fred Armisen as Ira Glass was hilarious. I love this one too. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/172/24-hours-at-the-golden-apple
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Feb 19, 2013 18:36
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Lady Gaza posted:I prefer the episodes where they do actual journalism, like investigating the banks or the patent system. After a while I get tired of stories about frogs in love or fluff pieces about people's school crushes. Just want to agree with this, their fluff pieces are so bad and their real journalism stuff is so good it's striking.
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Feb 20, 2013 00:13
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The second episode about Harper High School made me get teary.  It was building a bit during the earlier stuff but, oddly enough, really hit when they start talking about how all these people who help these kids are at risk of being fired as the school's budget shrinks next year, and the principal goes over her fantasy scenario for properly funding the school by winning the lottery.
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Feb 24, 2013 08:17
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I think is probably one of the best TAL I've heard since I started listening to their stuff. Having been a teacher a real tame school, I can not imagine what the staff and students go through at this place.
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Feb 24, 2013 19:51
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The last two episodes of TAL deserve a Pullitzer. I can only hope the program receives national media attention.
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Feb 24, 2013 21:23
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Chimp_On_Stilts posted:The last two episodes of TAL deserve a Pullitzer.
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Feb 24, 2013 21:27
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I also like at the end, at least for the podcast, of talking to other principals that it isn't isolated to this one school in Chicago but over the entire country.
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Feb 24, 2013 23:11
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calandryll posted:I also like at the end, at least for the podcast, of talking to other principals that it isn't isolated to this one school in Chicago but over the entire country. It almost made me choke up. I think we spend far too little time thinking about / combating poverty in the United States. I said a couple posts ago that I think these two episodes together deserve a Pullitzer and I do not say that as idle praise; I absolutely mean it. Here we are with what sounds to me like Little Somalia in Chicago, ruining the lives of children with the audacity to be born in the wrong part of town. I don't think meaningful change will happen until this kind of thing receives national attention and outrage. Again, I can only hope this episode finds a wide audience.
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Feb 25, 2013 00:25
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Gio posted:"Another Frightening Show About the Economy" is what got me into TAL. All the episodes involving the economic crisis are incredible. You should listen to planet money. It was founded after the financial crisis, and they do a great job exploring some pretty complex economic issues.
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Feb 25, 2013 04:44
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These episodes really made me annoyed with people who think minority communities don't face discrimination and that everything is equal now. You can't tell me that a kid going to one of these schools has opportunities equal to those in a calm suburban school.
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Feb 25, 2013 05:08
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gently caress. Devonte. I hope he makes it. But realistically... If anyone wants to donate to Harper the link is here: http://www.thisamericanlife.org/blog/2013/02/donations-for-harper-high-school I'm not American, so I don't have a congressman or anything, but those of you who do, do us non-Americans a solid and contact your representatives about it please?
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Feb 25, 2013 16:14
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UltraRed posted:You should listen to planet money. It was founded after the financial crisis, and they do a great job exploring some pretty complex economic issues. I like Planet Money but it's worth bearing in mind that they are all neoliberal free marketeers and as such their explanations of the financial crises are heavily biased in that direction. For example, in one episode they compared the national budget of Greece to a household budget and used that analogy to justify austerity. Any sane economist would tell you that national and household budgets are in no way similar. I contacted them about it but they didn't respond, which was a shame. I prefer their episodes that don't deal with major economic issues; for example I liked the episode about the pros and cons of silver/paper dollars, or the one about how shell companies work.
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Feb 25, 2013 17:27
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Lady Gaza posted:I like Planet Money but it's worth bearing in mind that they are all neoliberal free marketeers and as such their explanations of the financial crises are heavily biased in that direction. For example, in one episode they compared the national budget of Greece to a household budget and used that analogy to justify austerity. Any sane economist would tell you that national and household budgets are in no way similar. I contacted them about it but they didn't respond, which was a shame. I prefer their episodes that don't deal with major economic issues; for example I liked the episode about the pros and cons of silver/paper dollars, or the one about how shell companies work. Were they actually campaigning for austerity? I recall a few about the main problem being the Greek government being utterly useless and the complications caused by being in the Eurozone, but nothing saying that austerity had actually helped Greece.
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Feb 25, 2013 18:40
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fivre posted:Were they actually campaigning for austerity? I recall a few about the main problem being the Greek government being utterly useless and the complications caused by being in the Eurozone, but nothing saying that austerity had actually helped Greece. It was more them saying that cutting back spending makes sense because you'd do the same if it were your household budget. By perpetrating that analogy they're saying that austerity is a viable method of improving an economy. I'm not a Keynesian by any means but they don't seem to present the 'other side' of the debate (the debate is limited in scope to two similar sides, but that's another issue) and show the problems with the EU demands and their various growth forecasts. Other less specific things I notice include the importance they place on markets; the market may say X is worth $Y but in my opinion they accept that's fair or correct without addressing deep problems in allowing the cost of things to be decided that way. I just get that general feeling from the way they talk about various issues.
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Feb 25, 2013 18:51
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The most recent Planet Money episode was refreshingly anti-monopoly, which in today's hosed political climate is practically socialist.
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Feb 25, 2013 19:45
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Their neoliberal bent is much more apparent in their blog than in their coverage of the banking crisis, but they definitely do have a bias that way. They have some good stuff, but their endorsement of Paul Romer and his neocolonial passions is hardly palatable.
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Feb 25, 2013 19:57
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Lady Gaza posted:It was more them saying that cutting back spending makes sense because you'd do the same if it were your household budget. By perpetrating that analogy they're saying that austerity is a viable method of improving an economy. I'm not a Keynesian by any means but they don't seem to present the 'other side' of the debate (the debate is limited in scope to two similar sides, but that's another issue) and show the problems with the EU demands and their various growth forecasts. Other less specific things I notice include the importance they place on markets; the market may say X is worth $Y but in my opinion they accept that's fair or correct without addressing deep problems in allowing the cost of things to be decided that way. I just get that general feeling from the way they talk about various issues. They've done Keynes v. Hayek a few times and I always came away with the impression that they leaned Keynesian. And I think the neoliberal tone is more a reflection of the state of modern economics than any particular bias on their part.
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Feb 26, 2013 00:36
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Lady Gaza posted:I like Planet Money but it's worth bearing in mind that they are all neoliberal free marketeers and as such their explanations of the financial crises are heavily biased in that direction. Would it be possible for them to produce their show otherwise? The little shows out of Berkeley and Boulder and Eugene that have a different perspective on markets aren't able to get interviews with mainstream economists and insiders. Are there any even slightly left-wing American radio shows that can land an Econ interview with a Wall Streeter or a Senator?
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Feb 26, 2013 02:19
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Gio posted:Their neoliberal bent is much more apparent in their blog than in their coverage of the banking crisis, but they definitely do have a bias that way. They have some good stuff, but their endorsement of Paul Romer and his neocolonial passions is hardly palatable. I think they were just hyping it up like they do when they introduce any new economic idea. They did a pretty good job of showing how the idea lacked international support,and was really unpopular with the Honduran on the street and with the population.
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Feb 26, 2013 02:23
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UltraRed posted:I think they were just hyping it up like they do when they introduce any new economic idea. They did a pretty good job of showing how the idea lacked international support,and was really unpopular with the Honduran on the street and with the population.
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Feb 26, 2013 02:29
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Chimp_On_Stilts posted:The last two episodes of TAL deserve a Pullitzer. I just finished part one, and it killed me. When the social worker (Crystal, I think) starts sobbing about her inability to stop the coming violence after the pep rally, I just felt awful for her. I was upset at first over the lack of volunteers for homecoming, but man, you can really hear the dread and anxiety in her voice. I really, really, really hope these two episodes get remembered well.
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Feb 28, 2013 02:41
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puppiespuppiespuppiespuppiespuppiespuppiespuppiespuppiespuppiespuppiespuppiespuppies PUPPIES!!!! Old story but I hadn't heard it before. I gotta make that into a ringtone now.
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Mar 19, 2013 19:00
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I don't know about the rest of you all, but I was pretty disgusted by Planet Money's coverage for this week's episode. I like that they make very complex things easy to understand, but drat If they aren't the neoliberal shills others accused them of being. The episode was loaded with a lot of truisms without any supporting evidence, and showed little compassion for those on disability. Also, I listened to their coverage of the healthcare industry from 09 on TAL the other day, and they unironically said pet insurance would be preferable than the current system we have. Gio fucked around with this message at 06:27 on Mar 24, 2013 |
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Mar 24, 2013 06:22
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Gio posted:I don't know about the rest of you all, but I was pretty disgusted by Planet Money's coverage for this week's episode. I like that they make very complex things easy to understand, but drat If they aren't the neoliberal shills others accused them of being. The episode was loaded with a lot of truisms without any supporting evidence, and showed little compassion for those on disability.
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Mar 24, 2013 13:38
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Mr. Fix It posted:It's a show about capitalism from a capitalist perspective, and their sources are all economists. I'm not sure what you were expecting. And the pre-Obamacare system was pretty awful. They were in favor of a true single payer system or a truly free market solution. And as bad as that system was, I cannot imagine a "truly free market" approach being preferable to it aside from a pareto optimal view. They only hinted at single-payer at the very end of the two parter, but never really said that's a solution. Regardless, I probably shouldn't have expected better from them given their sources.
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Mar 24, 2013 16:41
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Excellent episode with the teaser on Planet Money. Chana Joffe-Walt is a peter banana fucked around with this message at 17:46 on Mar 25, 2013 |
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Mar 25, 2013 14:45
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HipGnosis posted:Chana Joffe-Walt is a really great journalist. Hahaha, yeah, totes. http://mediamatters.org/research/2013/03/22/this-american-life-features-error-riddled-story/193215
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