This page highlights a quality radio program from the previous week.
Click for previous picks from 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009
"Passing the Baton" on Metro Morning from CBC Radio One
Last shows often have substantial value with retrospective segments or other rare audio. Andy Barrie's last show and Matt Galloway's first show as permanent host of CBC Radio One Toronto's Metro Morning was special even in this genre, as discussions included big issues like the evolution of the CBC and the medium of radio in general, in addition to personal moments. About an hour of the best clips have been posted to show web site from the three-hour program.
Listen to streaming Windows Media of Metro Morning "Passing the Baton"
"How Should Medicare Pay Doctors?" on All Things Considered from NPR
Radio is all about good story-telling, and this story has it all, at least in terms of health care policy--medicine, politics, economics, and lobbyists. "How Should Medicare Pay Doctors?" did the best job I have heard of describing the history behind a current, comparative minor issue in medical pay in just a six-minute segment by Planet Money's David Kestenbaum and Chana Joffe-Walt which aired on All Things Considered.
Listen to streaming MP3 of All Things Considered "How Should Medicare Pay Doctors?"
"Jennifer Heil Profile" on The Current from CBC Radio One
There has been a lot of Olympics coverage in the past week, but I thought the best moments came early in the week when the CBC's Anna Maria Tremonti interviewed Canada's first medalist, Jennifer Heil. Tremonti did a great job of interviewing in front of a live audience, finding ways to bring up issues like not getting a gold medal in tactful ways, and Heil handled herself and told stories in a truly inspirational way in the 22-minute segment.
Listen to streaming MP3 of The Current "Jennifer Heil Profile"
"Hive Mind" on To The Best of Our Knowledge from Wisconsin Public Radio
On what program in the course of an hour can such diverse items as E.O. Wilson talking about ant pheromones, the Borg from Star Trek, and Jason Lanier talking about Web 2.0 be woven together cohesively? To The Best of Our Knowledge, of course. The Wisconsin Public Radio program came up with another winner this week, a 53-minute show on Hive Minds.
Listen to streaming RealMedia of To The Best of Our Knowledge "Hive Mind"
"Persuasion Fail" on The Age of Persuasion from CBC Radio One
One of the things that radio does all too infrequently is take one back to nostalgic moments. In this week's 27-minute episode of the Age of Persuasion, Terry O'Riley brings up almost too many past marketing failures to count in such a short program--worth listening to just to see how much can be packed into a half-hour show, never mind the memories.
Listen to streaming MP3 of The Age of Persuasion "Persuasion Fail"
"The Wonders of Physics" on To The Best of Our Knowledge from Wisconsin Public Radio
Technically, I am breaking the rules this week, as this program first aired in 2009, but for some reason I passed it over at the time, and it was the best program I heard in the past week on its re-run. In exploring physics, Wisconsin Public Radio's premier interview show To The Best of Our Knowledge brought out insights from Richard Muller's reasoning on why a president should understand physics to the idea that all chemists are gangsters. There is just enough scientific "inside baseball" to hold my attention in the 53-minute program while being presented in an accessible way for a general audience--a feat not easy to attain.
Listen to streaming RealMedia of To The Best of Our Knowledge "The Wonders of Physics"
"Google vs. China" on Search Engine from TVO
TVO's Search Engine with Jesse Brown has previously been cited on this blog as an exceptional example of niche media. This week, the podcast was a nice demonstration of the influence of the Internet on media more broadly, as it interviewed Watson Meng, editor of Boxun, a Chinese citizen-journalism news site. His take on the Google-China dispute from the past week is interesting, but like anything else on the Internet, can it be trusted in this 10-minute podcast?
Listen to streaming MP3 of Search Engine "Google vs. China"
"Animal Minds" on Radio Lab from WNYC
I'm slightly reluctant about this week's pick because it raised far more questions than it gave answers, which is not my preference for a science show. Yet, it's hard to deny that this 59-minute episode of Radio Lab told some very compelling animal stories in an engaging way, even if the explanation for the behavior is unclear. Stay tuned to the end--the final story about a seal trying to feed a human may have been the highlight of the whole show.
Listen to streaming MP3 of Radio Lab "Animal Minds"
"Marketing the Unpleasant" on The Age of Persuasion from CBC Radio One
Terry O'Reilly is back with another season of the excellent radio show on marketing, The Age of Persuasion. The 27-minute program made quite an impression in its first show of the season, taking on the task of how to promote unmentionables. Especially interesting was a process I watched in my own life, how HIV changed what content was acceptable on the air. This was a well-done retrospective, a great example of how to make history interesting to start the year.
Listen to streaming MP3 of The Age of Persuasion "Marketing the Unpleasant"
Click for previous picks from 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009
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(C) 2006-2010 Lance Gleich - Last Updated: 6 March 2010