Podcasts of the Week #'s 1-14

#14 - Sept 23, 2016 - If you know me at all, just the title tells you I'd love it.

http://www.ttbook.org/book/chuck-klosterman-thinks-about-present-if-it-were-past

#13 - August 30, 2016 - Back after an extended break from peak ultimate season and my tooth almost killing me to recommend a talk with one of my favorite psychologists, Dan Gilbert. The discussion of surrogacy reminded me of a conversation I had recently with a woman I've had a crush on for years. We've never been able to date due to numerous circumstances but she gave me a glowing recommendation or personality review (to my face) and it fit perfectly with an idea I had for online dating sites. Reviews! OK Cupid should create a section to leave positive-only reviews. Photos and summaries are what we think we want but all they do is kill the magic of discovery. I'd be much better off if the women of my past could share their experience with the women of my future. Gilbert also explains why saying "never" is a good way to look stupid.

http://www.npr.org/2016/08/23/490972873/you-vs-future-you-or-why-were-bad-at-predicting-our-own-happiness


#12 - July 28 - I've been enjoying Malcolm Gladwell's new podcast. This isn't even particularly my favorite episode but I figured I could poke my Vassar and Bowdoin friends into some kind of rivalry.

My school's food was so bad I was traumatized for several years to the point I could not find joy in eating. I understand Gladwell's point that it's important to make college available to everyone who can handle it but he doesn't seem to understand the importance of food. I'm sure there's a middle ground of edible/enjoyable food somewhere between these two examples.

http://revisionisthistory.com/episodes/05-food-fight

#11 - July 8 - I'm curious what people think. In my lifetime I haven't seen a non-violent direct action change a public policy. Are we blindly worshiping the civil rights movement? My gut tells me protest is pointless if that's all people are willing to do. Featuring Oakland #blacklivesmatter activist Cat Brooks.

http://www.ttbook.org/book/do-protests-still-matter

#10 - June 30 - Intersectionality galore! Something for everyone, Even you, white men. And a brilliant analogy about privilege and cycling in the wind.

http://www.bestoftheleft.com/_1019_we_need_a_system_for_everyone_economics_of_racism_and_sexism


#9 - June 21 - Preach, Alan, preach. "The digital system of thinking is too simple" to take us where we need to go. It can be so frustrating to realize the forces suppressing truth are mostly those we've been told are making the world a better place.

"Technology, if it relies exclusively on linear thinking, is going to destroy the environment." There are too many engineers in this world and not nearly enough artists.

http://alanwattspodcast.com/media/113-SeeingThroughtheNet4.mp3


June 20 - Guest rec from Stephen Hubbard - I love when you post about your favorite podcasts, I had one to recommend. Tim Ferris and Sebastian Junger talk about many very important topics, the most consequential of which happen in the second half.

I recommend this to you in particular because I know you do tree work and I wonder if Sebastian's experiences and thoughts on the practice mirror your own.

http://fourhourworkweek.com/2016/05/22/sebastian-junger/

#8 - June 15 - The Leicester City story is incredible but I'm more interested in the description/comparison of the European sport club model with the American sport corporation. Does anyone have any other resources on the topic?

Ultimate players and fans are witnessing the corporatization of our sport right now. Did you even know there's another way?

Quiet bump for my org, Ultimate for All. It's not too late to shape the future of ultimate for the common good.

http://freakonomics.com/podcast/leicester-city/

#7 - June 2 - Congratulations to Dan Savage and his minions on staying not only relevant but ahead of the curve on issues of sexual identity, health, and exploration. From GGG to Santorum, his contributions have made the world a safer, smarter, and more fun place to live. He's been kinda pissing me off recently with his mainstream politics but hey, he's getting old. But I've still learned more from him than anyone else on the topics we don't talk about enough. If you haven't been initiated into the Savage Lovecast world the time has come to come aboard.

http://www.savagelovecast.com/episodes/500#.V1BLZ20rLnA


#6 - May 19 - I really like To the Best of Our Knowledge. Their interviewers are some of the best. They've had better episodes than this but this is recent and tapped into something I've felt for a while. Nation-states became obsolete the moment we turned on the internet. City-states are the future. Discuss.

http://www.ttbook.org/book/borderless-world


#5 - May 8 - Not a podcast but likely the best available audio. It's just so good.

https://play.spotify.com/album/1kCHru7uhxBUdzkm4gzRQc?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open


#4 - April 29 - Something not-so-serious from a little-known amazing series, The Truth (podcast). This is the first episode of their first serial. If you like it go back and listen to the entire library of funny, weird, scary audio drama.

http://www.thetruthpodcast.com/songonauts/

#3 - April 21 - If you've talked to me recently or seen my posts on #UniversalBasicIncome this pick is a no-brainer. I'm glad such a mainstream source as Freakonomics is shedding light on the best idea anyone has had in a long time. Of course, there's so much more to this story and I'm sure you'll see #UBI as a running theme throughout these recommendations. I'm more than happy to discuss this with anyone.

http://www.wnyc.org/story/world-ready-guaranteed-basic-income/


#2 - April 14 - I found the story of Soul City super interesting and relevant to current attempts at social change. Over the last couple years new activism groups seem to have similar goals: get "us" a bigger piece of the pie. We shouldn't be fighting over pie crumbs, we should be finding something healthier to live on. Then, as it turns out this tactic has been tried and failed before. We can't use capitalism to fix what's going wrong with capitalism.

http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/soul-city/


#1 - April 4 - I listen to a lot of podcasts. On a good day climbing trees I can get through 4-5 hours of stories, interviews, news, radio drama, and comedy. For all my friends without the time to sort through the ever-increasing options I'm going to recommend one episode each week that I found extra engaging/important/useful.

Last week the second season of Serial concluded. I've heard some negative reviews from friends comparing it to the first season. While the story of Adnan was gripping and fun to chat about I think the questions posed by Sarah Koenig in season two took more gumption to ask and exposed deeper flaws in an institution even larger and more corrupt than the criminal justice system; the military.

The story of Bowe Bergdahl is of great importance to the progressive movement because it raises serious doubts about not just the war on terror, or war in general, but about the entire military system and those who volunteer to participate in it. This last episode is mostly about blame; who gets it and how much. And while listening to these young men throwing shade in all directions all I could think was, "each and every one of you voluntarily signed a document stating your willingness to murder people."

Blame doesn't seem the appropriate response, but neither does sympathy.

https://serialpodcast.org/season-two/11/present-for-duty