This page highlights a quality radio program from the previous week.
Click for previous picks from 2006, 2007, and 2008
"Women in Iran" on The Current from CBC Radio One
There have been many interesting angles on the elections in Iran in the past week as evidence has mounted for fraud. Arguably, the most interesting aspect of the situation, besides what happens next, is not what happened during the election but how the situation of the past few weeks was created. CBC's "The Current" and host Anna Maria Tremonti took an interesting tack by looking at the influcence of women in Iran in this 22-minute segment, introduced by a nice piece of satire.
Click the "Listen to Part One" Link on this page to listen to The Current "Women in Iran"
"Embracing New Media" on the Age of Persuasion from CBC Radio One
One of the things that radio can be good at is recounting history. This under-used capacity has been utilized by the CBC's Age of Persuasion. There are some great moments in this 27-minute show, from the "You had me at ahoy" joke to descriptions of how some radio personalities didn't transition to television.
Click the listen link on this page to hear The Age of Persuasion "Embracing New Media"
"Quiet Canadians" on Dispatches from CBC Radio One
Some of the best reporting of the realities "on the ground" in Afghanistan in recent years has come through the extended reports on CBC Radio One's Dispatches program. This week, new correspondent James Murray opened the show with a look at how quintessential Canadian sensibilities exist even in the military and make reporting difficult in this 53-minute program.
Listen to MP3 of Dispatches "Quiet Canadians"
"Who's Copying Who?" on Search Engine from TVO
The world now is full of niche media, and in that realm, Search Engine is one of the best. Originally a CBC radio show, then a CBC podcast, and now a TVO podcast, Search Engine provides very interesting coverage of the Internet. This week, host Jesse Brown's second story described how western governments have been trying to pass legislation to inhibit the translation of documents into Braille, which has to be one of the most absurd anti-copyright initiatives I've ever heard, and I've only heard about it on this 14-minute edition of Search Engine.
Listen to MP3 of Search Engine "Who's Copying Who?"
"The Skinny on Skin" on Quirks and Quarks from CBC Radio One
As the time of year when we need to protect ourselves from sunburn gets well underway, the CBC's science show, Quirks and Quarks, not only provided a feature on the microbes that live on our skin, but closed with a question about tatoos and skin cancer in this 53-minute program.
Listen to MP3 of Quirks and Quarks "The Skinny on Skin"
"Can You Win a Cosmic War?" on The Conversation from KUOW
Ross Reynolds and the Conversation have again been impressing me lately with program flow from topic to topic that has been at times brilliantly caller-driven (including calls from witnesses to a major transit crime and a "brothel" raid) and bringing up topics not addressed elsewhere. A good example this week came in an interview with Reza Aslan, an Iranian-American author and commentator who has been getting air time, but only rarely has really gone into his future vision for Islam as in the final segment of this 52-minute program.
Listen to streaming MP3 of The Conversation "Can You Win a Cosmic War?"
"The Difference Between Listening and Hearing" on Weekend Edition Saturday from NPR
I've avoided paying much attention to the controversy over Miss California. However, Scott Simon has made the one point about Carrie Prejean that I believe was worth making--in what started the whole thing, her answer to what seems to have been a planted question about gay marriage during the pageant, nobody seems to have listened to what she actually said. This kind of analysis has been sorely lacking in most of the rest of North American media.
Listen to MP3 of Weekend Edition Saturday "The Difference Between Listening and Hearing"
"Egypt To Censor Religious Statements" on Free Speech Radio News
As I've mentioned in the past, news programs are under-represented here by their timely nature. However, Free Speech Radio News correspondent Aya Batrawy included one of the best explanations of fatwas that I've ever heard in a story on Egyptian censorship that was the final five-minute segment in the Thursday program. This kind of context is all too rare in modern radio.
Listen to WAV file of Free Speech Radio News "Egypt To Censor Religious Statements"
"The Real Deal: Authenticity" on the Age of Persuasion from CBC Radio One
I don't like making a habit of choosing the same program every few weeks, but CBC Radio One's "Age of Persusasion" is really having an excellent season. This week's 27-minute program provides insight into how anecdotes can be used to support a theme, in this case Terry O'Riley's lessons on authenticity. Tiger Woods and Sea Monkeys are among those taking center stage along the way.
Click the listen link on this page to hear The Age of Persuasion "The Real Deal: Authenticity"
"Blogging in Federal Politics" on The House from CBC Radio One
Garth Turner isn't popular in many circles, and he openly admits that he is finished in politics. Yet, he still has an interesting perspective to present on the future of blogging in politics and on the state of party politics (even using one of my favorite words, "sheeple"), providing a highlight to a 48-minute edition of CBC Radio One's "The House" that also featured a look at how this recession is not hurting women as much as men and a nice summary of the way those in the US couldn't get their immigration facts straight this week.
Listen to The House "Blogging in Federal Politics"
"Our Peace of Mind" on To the Best of Our Knowledge from Wisconsin Public Radio
The concept of Gross National Happiness as a replacement for the Gross Domestic Product (as advocated by Bhutan among others) has gotten a reasonable amount of publicity in recent years, but the best explanation of the science behind happiness and the rational for Gross National Happiness was aired this week as part of the "Future Perfect" series on Wisconsin Public Radio's To The Best of Our Knowledge. The key segment of the 53-minute program was the second, in which Richard Layard, Robert Biswas-Diener, Sonja Lyubormirsky, and Satish Kumar all weighed in with their opinions.
Listen to streaming MP3 of To The Best of Our Knowledge "Our Peace of Mind"
"Brand Loyalty" on the Age of Persuasion from CBC Radio One
I suppose it shouldn't be surprising that a marketing expert can produce excellent radio, but Terry O'Reilley continues to both spin compelling historical stories explaining how marketing has developed, and to do so with excellent production values. The "Age of Persuasion" is interesting to listen to even if one doesn't care about marketing, and few in the series have been as compelling as this week's show on brand loyalty, featuring such gems as the Molskine notebook and the Harley Davidson motorocycle in a 27-minute program.
Click the listen link on this page to hear The Age of Persuasion "Brand Loyalty"
"Hockey Jerseys" on As It Happens from CBC Radio One
For the most part, I was disappointed with the April Fool's stories I heard on the radio this year. However, for the second straight year, the CBC's As It Happens pulled off a very good one. After all the talk about "pansification" of hockey this year and admonitions on the show that they were unable to run their intended April Fool's prank because of recent news stories related to the environment, their story on the banning of away-team jerseys in the National Hockey League was very nicely done, about half-way through the 24-minute second segment of the show. As always, the follow-up on the show was almost better than the original joke, the second story in the 24-minute second segment the following day.
Listen to streaming Windows Media of As It Happens "Hockey Jerseys"
Listen to streaming Windows Media of follow up to As It Happens "Hockey Jerseys"
"What is Happiness?" on The Conversation from KUOW
I admittedly have a soft spot for good radio production pieces--it's one of the reasons I still tune in the Boston Marathon coverage on the WBZ-AM stream each year, if possible, just to hear the concluding summary the station produces to end the show. I normally avoid programming during public radio fundraising, but KUOW inserted such a well-produced montage of past coverage about happiness on "The Conversation" that I kept listening to the show. The eight-minute piece starts about twelve minutes into the program--skip the fundraising, but enjoy the montage.
Listen to streaming MP3 of The Conversation "What Is Happiness?"
"Facing Time" on To The Best of Our Knowledge from Wisconsin Public Radio
It seems like every time I turn on my radio I hear something about the "slow food" movement, but leave it to Wisconsin Public Radio's inquisitive "To The Best of Our Knowledge" to find a proponent of the "slow time" movement and bundle that together with explorations of time travel and the relation between time and music. This 53-minute episode is another example of why this program is the best interview show on the air.
Listen to streaming RealAudio of To The Best of Our Knowledge "Facing Time"
"Where Tourism is Up" on Keller at Large from WBZ Newsradio 1030
Jon Keller, commentator at WBZ Newsradio 1030 in Boston, had an especially good group of morning commentaries this past week, covering such issues as the possible end of the Boston Globe newspaper and why people are leaving Massachusetts. However, my favorite was one describing a rare tourist attraction that has increasing business during this recession, Old Sturbridge Village. His near-ode to the institution and its relevance to modern life in this two-minute commentary was a nice reminder that the art of the short-form radio broadcast did not die with Paul Harvey.
Listen to Shockwave Audio of Keller at Large "Where Tourism Is Up"
"Tribute to Paul Harvey" on News and Comment from the ABC Radio Network
In the wake of the loss of broadcasting legend Paul Harvey, the ABC Radio Network that he aired on for more than half a century has been putting together a great series on what made the man and his broadcasts such an institution in the United States. Voiced by a person many regard as the best fill-in Harvey ever had, current KGO talk show host Gil Gross, and written by long-time Harvey writer Stu Chamberlain, the series in Paul Harvey's former five-minute and fifteen-minute time slots has been a fitting tribute to a man that has influenced multiple generations.
Listen to MP3 of News and Comment "Tribute to Paul Harvey"
"Bad Bank" on This American Life from Chicago Public Radio
The economic crisis gripping the United States has been described as "so complicated that anyone that claims to know how to fix it is lying." That doesn't mean that people shouldn't try to understand the complexity, and there have been remarkably few tools available to assist such attempts. NPR's Planet Money team continues to provide remarkable insights into the realities of the situation, presenting them on a variety of public radio programming but in full form in this week's 59-minute episode of This American Life. Why isn't anyone else doing this kind of understandable reporting?
Listen to streaming MP3 of This American Life "Bad Bank"
"Obama to Visit Canada" on the Global News Podcast from the BBC World Service
This week, residents of both Canada and the United States had a hard time missing the story that US President Barack Obama took his first foreign trip to Canada. The coverage in the Canadian media was of course especially thorough, but the most interesting context came from farther away--the British Broadcasting Corporation. Because the BBC is best at news programming, which often becomes stale, it has been neglected in this feature. This context piece on the events in Ottawa demonstrates how the BBC presents the daily news in a very useful form every day, not just when I finally get around to highlighting it. The story in question is about 14 minutes into the 25 minute podcast.
Listen to MP3 of BBC Global News "Obama To Visit Canada"
"Annoying Music for Valentine's Day" on Weekend Edition Saturday from NPR
Sure, a show on Abraham Lincoln or Charles Darwin could have been selected this week, but what really stuck with me was Jim Nayder's appearance on Weekend Edition Saturday. Nayder occasionally takes his Chicago-based "Annoying Music Show" nationwide on the program, and this 8-minute episode was one of his better segments. Highlights included the "Taco Bell Canon" (somebody had to do it), "When a Man Loves a Chicken", and a Welsh men's choir singing "Feelings"--it's even worse than you're imagining, but a great example of how to do comedy on the radio.
"The Day the Music Died" on the Brian Copeland Program from KGO Newstalk 810
Thanks in large part to Don McLean, 3-February-1959 has come to be known as "The Day the Music Died." Just before the 50th anniversary of the day that Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson died in a plane crash, KGO Newstalk 810 talk show host Brian Copeland teamed up with the San Francisco Chronicle's radio columnist Ben Fong-Torres to co-host a two-hour program featuring a variety of interesting interviews with survivors of that day, including THE Peggy Sue, THE Donna, and the Big Bopper's son. If you don't understand what the fuss is all about, this 103-minute show will provide a proper perspective on the events of that day.Listen to MP3 of the Brian Copeland Program "The Day the Music Died"
"Private Companies Waste Money" on the Dave Ross Show from KIRO-FM
The election of Barack Obama as President seems to have emboldened liberals around the United States, and some of them are saying things that never would have made the mainstream media even six months ago. Dave Ross, traditionally considered a moderate at KIRO-FM in Seattle, went over the liberal deep end this week by spending the better part of an hour arguing that private companies wasting money was just as bad for the economy as the government wasting money. Such audacity made for radio that simply wasn't heard on the mainstream commercial dial until quite recently, making this 39-minute clip something notable and worth checking out.
Listen to MP3 of the Dave Ross Show "Private Companies Waste Money"
"Yellow Fluff and other Curious Encounters" on Radio Lab from WYNC
The process of scientific discovery is something that too few of us ever experience. This episode of Radio Lab, the final of this latest season that stands as the current podcast, provides some real-life examples of how it happens. Be forewarned--this 59-minute show should probably not be heard on a weak stomach, but the tale of Jerry Coyne and the botfly larva is one that quite graphically explains how many scientists think and cannot be found anywhere else on the radio.
Listen to MP3 of Radio Lab "Yellow Fluff and other Curious Encounters"
"Recession Marketing" on The Age of Persuasion from CBC Radio One
Everyone right now would like to know what to do in a recession. There are some tips on how advertisers should behave during a recession. Yes, the CBC has brought back Terry O'Reilly's quite entertaining "Age of Persuasion," and this 27-minute episode will not only provide nostalgic clips from the past, but teach us what smart marketers are probably doing during this recession based on some great historical examples. This show is a classic example of how to use audio to present history and educate.
Click listen link on this page to hear The Age of Persuasion "Recession Marketing"
"Samuel Johnson at 300" on On Point from WBUR
Generally speaking, radio shows on long-deceased authors do not interest me. However, a caller about 35 minutes into this 53-minute show described how he had acquired the giddiness about Samuel Johnson that author Jeffrey Meyers and analyst Jack Beatty had been expressing from the top of the show, and I suspect that most listeners will share that giddiness after hearing about Johnson's modern relevance. This show was a great example of how to make a literary figure accessible and interesting to a general audience.
Listen to streaming MP3 of On Point "Samuel Johnson at 300"
Click for previous picks from 2006, 2007, and 2008
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(C) 2006-9 Lance Gleich - Last Updated: 27 June 2009