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I love the 'Hello Calgary' story. I've had that stupid song stuck in my head all day.
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Mar 10, 2015 05:01
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Snuffman posted:Boo. Looks like a re-run this week. A good re-run (I love the "Hello Calgary" story), but a re-run none the less.
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Mar 10, 2015 05:59
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BeastOfExmoor posted:I love the 'Hello Calgary' story. I've had that stupid song stuck in my head all day. My favorite part of that episode is Ira coldly playing the different versions of the song and telling the guy how many actually exist.
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Mar 10, 2015 18:23
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Golden Bee posted:Thank Mike Daisy for that. That was three years ago, they can reach back more than they tend to. And it's not like they feel they have to reinvestigate everything they ever did, it's all still there on the website for anyone to go and listen to.
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Mar 10, 2015 18:54
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Max posted:My favorite part of that episode is Ira coldly playing the different versions of the song and telling the guy how many actually exist. I am listening to this part of the episode right now and it's amazing. Also, "I'm glad they didn't use the same woman, though, that would have been really bad." "Let me play you, um, something else now..." "HELLO PITTSBURGH."
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Mar 10, 2015 20:47
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Man what does Ira have against Calgary civic pride?
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Mar 10, 2015 20:49
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Tater Love 
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I just found the version from the city where I grew up. It's so wonderfully 1980s, but does give me an odd burst of sentimentality and civic pride... even though I wasn't alive when it was made. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POTL4aAGpfM
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Mar 10, 2015 20:53
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Max posted:My favorite part of that episode is Ira coldly playing the different versions of the song and telling the guy how many actually exist. That's such a funny loving segment. He is genuinely bummed out. HELLLLOOO TULLSSAAAAA soggybagel fucked around with this message at 21:55 on Mar 10, 2015 |
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Mar 10, 2015 21:48
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nerdpony posted:PI Moms is great. It's one of those episodes that sometimes I'll go back and listen to just because. "Mistakes Were Made" is that episode for me, about cryogenics (specifically, the follies of one individual). I've heard it at least ten times and still love it.
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Mar 11, 2015 01:53
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soggybagel posted:That's such a funny loving segment. "I'm glad they didn't use the same woman though, that would've been really bad." "Let me play you something else now. "
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Mar 11, 2015 02:56
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Kangra posted:And it wasn't as bad as the terrible Federal Reserve story (another one produced elsewhere). Was this the episode where they played a bunch of recordings made by a disgruntled and fired employee of the New York Fed and tired to present them as some kind of ground breaking reporting about the Fed being complicit in banking fraud? Because that episode really was terrible on several levels.
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Mar 11, 2015 23:06
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Yep, that's the one. 'Secret recordings of Camen Segarra' I believe, from last year. Featuring a person who literally says she fails to understand what her boss was telling her and a reporter who agrees, and then also goes on to fail to understand other words used by those people. Just really terrible reporting, and you could tell TAL really wanted it to be seen as a grand metaphorical story.
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Mar 12, 2015 07:31
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There was something there but it did not deserve an entire episode. And, again, the way it was billed as some shocking exposé set up listeners to be underwhelmed. TAL has taken on more and more investigative stories since the recession but they are always so toothless.
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Mar 12, 2015 08:29
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Well, they could stick with importing stories from Planet Money, which reassuringly finds economic activity to be universally great!
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Mar 12, 2015 08:43
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That Planet Money import where they bought $1000 worth of a toxic asset was about the worst stretched out story of anything I've heard on TAL outside of some stuff from the first 30 episodes.
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Mar 12, 2015 14:12
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Planet Money is really bad, ever since that disability "scammers" episode . "Is paying slave wages actually good for the economy? Maybe!"
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Mar 12, 2015 15:32
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nerdpony posted:PI Moms is great. It's one of those episodes that sometimes I'll go back and listen to just because. Awww heck, listened to the re-run and "PI Moms". Both awesome. Any other archive episodes I really need to check out? I've listened to "Fiasco", "Mistakes Were Made", "Dopplegangers", "Redaction", "Seemed like a Good Idea at the Time" and have been an avid weekly listener to the podcast since 2014. I've got the TAL app on my phone (I'm using an FM tuner, its all safe!) and love listening to TAL on my long work-related drives. I suppose the app has a "best of" category but, as chat in this thread has proven, what TAL thinks is "the best" and what other people think is "the best" can be wildly different. I liked the "I was so high" episode. 
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Mar 13, 2015 18:41
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You could just do what I do and work though all of them in no particular order. I listened to 199, A House on Loon Lake yesterday and it is worth its inclusion in the "Other Favourites" section of the TAL website. Episode 204, 81 words is somewhat interesting if you ever heard something about how homosexuality was once a psychological problem then suddenly it wasn't for reasons. The Cat Came Back (316) has a couple of fiction sections so avoid if you really don't like those, but it is enjoyable enough and talks about introduced some stuff about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina that was interesting (if not at all about pets). For more Katrina listen to 296, After the Flood and 297, This is Not my Beautiful House. And if you like learning about how a place tries to fix up after a disaster, check out 408, Island Time for a look at just what did (and largely didn't) happen in Haiti. And just assorted other things: 354, Mistakes were Made (Bitchkreig's suggestion) 419, Petty Tyrant (for another example of someone being in a position they really shouldn't have been in) 410, Social Contract (which ties in with the recent couple of episodes about policing) 2, Small-Scale Sin (acts one and three are about old school computer hacking, skip two unless you like poems) 168, The Fix Is In (price fixing scandal that got made into a Matt Damon movie called The Informant)
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Mar 13, 2015 20:39
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I was first introduced to This American Life through one of my econ classes, which made us listen to The Giant Pool of Money episode. That one, and everything in that series, is pretty great.
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Mar 13, 2015 22:26
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Snuffman posted:Any other archive episodes I really need to check out? One of my favorites is a segment from Plan B. It's the part in which John Hodgman tags along with "Cuervo Man", one of those people who does promo alcohol giveaways in bars.
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Mar 13, 2015 23:58
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My first introduction to This American Life was actually this segment from their Showtime show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo1LPf9mnyU Which apparently they also did a podcast/radio show about : http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/33/a-night-at-the-wiener-circle
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Mar 14, 2015 00:21
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Snuffman posted:Awww heck, listened to the re-run and "PI Moms". Both awesome. Watermelon City fucked around with this message at 07:33 on Mar 16, 2015 |
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Mar 16, 2015 07:30
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Snuffman posted:Awww heck, listened to the re-run and "PI Moms". Both awesome. Our Friend David is great, if you haven't listened to it yet.
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Mar 16, 2015 10:40
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What's the episode about the FBI employing a body-building con-man to go undercover into the American Muslim community and ended up getting reported to the FBI for possibly being a terrorist by the very guys that he was trying to sting? Because that's one of the best episodes. They called it "Operation Flex".
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Mar 16, 2015 16:11
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Strange Matter posted:What's the episode about the FBI employing a body-building con-man to go undercover into the American Muslim community and ended up getting reported to the FBI for possibly being a terrorist by the very guys that he was trying to sting? Because that's one of the best episodes. "The Convert." Found this in 2 seconds of googling. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/471/the-convert
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Mar 16, 2015 16:52
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http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/168/the-fix-is-in This is also a pretty good episode. It's about the real-life story that inspired the movie "The Informant".
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Mar 16, 2015 17:36
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Just watched a Simpons episode from February and they lampooned the Hello Calgary song. Nice little reminiscing there.
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Mar 17, 2015 17:23
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New episode this week is good. I kind of want Chana Joffe-Walt to do the 2nd season of Serial, because even this episode alone would have done well by going more in-depth.
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Mar 18, 2015 00:02
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I went to Fieldston and Angela Vassos was a teacher of mine! I should send her an email.
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Mar 18, 2015 01:20
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Kangra posted:New episode this week is good. I kind of want Chana Joffe-Walt to do the 2nd season of Serial, because even this episode alone would have done well by going more in-depth. yeah, I'd love 12 hours of recycled right wing talking points
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Mar 18, 2015 04:57
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Lutha Mahtin posted:yeah, I'd love 12 hours of recycled right wing talking points I'm trying to imagine how you possibly came away with that interpretation but can't even guess.
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Mar 18, 2015 17:00
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Eggnogium posted:I'm trying to imagine how you possibly came away with that interpretation but can't even guess. Okay good I'm not the only one who was confused.
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Mar 18, 2015 17:17
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the lf opinion is that Planet Money are libertarian shills or something
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Mar 18, 2015 17:31
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Eggnogium posted:I'm trying to imagine how you possibly came away with that interpretation but can't even guess. http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/490/trends-with-benefits This entire episode is Joffe-Walt just parroting bullshit from places like the Cato Institute. She even repeats bog standard "those lazy poors are using their kids to collect more welfare" nonsense. EDIT Here's a good example of something she said, taken from (one of many) rebuttal articles that were written about the episode: quote:I started hearing about another group of people on disability: kids. People in Hale County told me that what you want is a kid who can "pull a check." Many people mentioned this, but I basically ignored it. It seemed like one of those things that maybe happened once or twice, got written up in the paper and became conversational fact among neighbors. I found that the number of kids on a program called Supplemental Security Income -- a program for children and adults who are both poor and disabled -- is almost seven times larger than it was 30 years ago. [NPR, Planet Money, 3/22/13] Do you notice the rhetorical sleight of hand? She starts out by injecting her own opinion as fact with a standard "some people say" anecdote. Then she does a classic NPR "hmm well I don't know, certainly there has to be another side to this", which signals to her audience that she's actually researched the issue thoroughly. This allows her to pivot to a factoid that appears to confirm her (possibly made up) anecdote. But notice that the anecdote has no actual relation to the factoid: its truth lies only in the minds of those who already believe that the poors and the darkies are lying through their teeth so they can buy a Cadillac with free government money. And it wasn't just Media Matters and other progressive organizations whining. Eight former commissioners of the Social Security Administration denounced her work. These commissioners served under various presidents of both major parties. Lutha Mahtin fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Mar 18, 2015 |
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Mar 18, 2015 18:49
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That's cool and all but we were talking about this week's episode which has a pretty left wing thesis.
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Mar 18, 2015 20:34
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Yeah, the disability piece was bad but 'Three Miles' hints at more nuance. But since it has a lot of narrative to get through, the episode only devotes a few minutes to consideration of causes and what could be done differently. Which is why I think the topic would be well-served in a longer-form show. zakharov, I'd be curious to hear [if you want to share] any thoughts about the show or if you knew any similar scholarship kids.
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Mar 18, 2015 20:55
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This is a debate that's been going on at Fieldston that this episode is sort of related to. http://www.wsj.com/articles/mandatory-race-talks-roil-elite-new-york-city-school-1426293330 http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/22/nyregion/at-new-york-private-schools-challenging-white-privilege-from-the-inside.html
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Mar 18, 2015 20:59
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Kangra posted:
I graduated in 2004, so I wasn't there for this particular incident. Fieldston does have a stronger rep than most schools for serving students who might not otherwise have the opportunity. There's a really strong culture of community service and engagement there - we were one of the first schools to have it as a requirement for graduation. Obviously it isn't perfect but it does better than most. The episode was a great lesson in unintended consequences. Angela Vassos is one of the best teachers I've ever known, and I'm not surprised she was involved with a program like this. The ending to this episode was more depressing than the one on cops. edit: ugh I'm reading the Reddit comments about this episode and it's awful. Several people saying it was all Jonathan/Melanie's fault. Jonathan had classic depression symptoms going on - it's so easy to get into a death spiral like he did. zakharov fucked around with this message at 21:59 on Mar 18, 2015 |
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Mar 18, 2015 21:54
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zakharov posted:edit: ugh I'm reading the Reddit comments about this episode and it's awful. Several people saying it was all Jonathan/Melanie's fault. Jonathan had classic depression symptoms going on - it's so easy to get into a death spiral like he did. Jonathan does a much better job of articulating the defeatism and self-loathing that can come with growing up in that type of situation. If I had just heard Melanie's story, though, I probably would have felt the same way. Without the "badge of inferiority" context, it would be really easy to think that she just psyched herself out or gave up after a single disappointment.
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Mar 19, 2015 03:40
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I'm always surprised at the reaction of that disability episode because when I listened to it, I could not think of a more left-wing story. It never gave the impression of "lazy poors" to me. On the contrary, it speaks to one portion of a growing issue of governments completely misrepresenting true unemployment rates, of cutting welfare benefits and other social services forcing those who are impoverished to abuse loopholes, and as a result ends up as another initiative that is reactionary rather than proactive. A lot of that Media Matters critique seems to be angry at assertions some right-wing pundits have made based on the story, not anything claimed by the actual story.
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Mar 20, 2015 16:24
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