Month: August 2017

Podcast Madness: South, Round 3

/ austinfey / Leave a comment

Recap: 40 podcasts, single-elimination brackets — 1 winner will emerge!

If you’re confused, read the first post here, then come back for the results.

South, Game 1: What Should I Read Next? vs. the West Wing Weekly

In What Should I Read Next? I listened to episode 80: Books that make you want to skip dinner, work, and life. Host Anne and guest Cori talked about a charming library near the ocean, and of course, favorite books! They discussed how hard it can be sometimes to explain to someone else why you love (or hate) a book, exactly.

I think my taste is much more in line with this guest than the previous one I listened to, and I appreciated hearing some titles by authors of color to expand my reading horizons.

The episode next up for The West Wing Weekly was season 3, episode 8, the Women of Qumar. This was a heavier episode: prostitution, trafficking, and an episode that in general one of the hosts was a bit critical of.

But Allison Janney finally made an appearance — hooray! C.J. Cregg might be my favorite character on the show, so it was great to hear from the woman who brought her to life on screen. I love this podcast, but since I already listened to it before this challenge, I’m going to have to move on to something else, plus, I want more book recommendations….

Winner: What Should I Read Next?

South, Game 2: The Bright Sessions vs. Random Trek

In The Bright Sessions episode 3, the continuing logs of Dr. Bright, Chloe, a girl who can read minds — or maybe read subconscious thoughts/ feelings comes for a session.

This episode was interesting, as the unflappable Dr. Bright becomes flustered by this girl, the daughter of the first “atypical” the doctor worked with…what does this mean? What is the doctor hiding??

I listened to episode 148 of Random Trek, discussing Critical Care (Star Trek: Voyager, S7 ep. 5). Hey it’s Jason Snell (of the Incomparable podcast fame)! Scott and Jason discuss this episode of Voyager that focuses on the Doctor. Apparently, seeing as it’s a season 7 episode, neither of them had seen it before, which was interesting. They were heartened to hear it focused on the Doctor, as those episodes tend to be strong.

They talked about how the content is even more interesting in today’s political climate with healthcare in and out of the spotlight, and how Trek at its best brings up big questions like: how do we handle ourselves and prioritize (or de-prioritize) people when there are limited resources?

Winner: So close, but I’m giving it to The Bright Sessions

Podcast Madness: West, Round 3

/ austinfey / Leave a comment

Recap: 40 podcasts, single-elimination brackets — 1 winner will emerge!

If you’re confused, read the first post here, then come back for the results.

West, Game 1: The Road Back to You vs. Sawbones

First up this time, The Road Back to You, episode 3: Interview with Nadia Bolz-Weber (an 8 on the enneagram). This was an interesting interview with a Colorado pastor on how her strengths and weaknesses work with her vocation. It’s interesting to hear about personality typing in this way that explores deep-seated fears and weaknesses as identifiers.

Thankfully, they discussed strengths as well as weaknesses, but it’s such an interesting approach. I’m not 100% sure what my enneagram type is, and while I find this podcast interesting, it’s a little frustrating to listen to the interviews while trying to simultaneously figure out what my type is. I’d probably enjoy learning about the other types more if I had that question settled. I suspect I may be a 5, but more research is needed.

Next up, Sawbones. I listened to the episode on Fluoride. The topic reminded me of a Parks and Recreation episode in season six:

Ok, now back to the podcast. This was a live episode, which is always interesting. Sydnee and Justin talk about how dentists figured out that fluoride is good for teeth, and how water is a great delivery system. Apparently too much flouride causes teeth to turn brown?! Gross, but interesting.

Their podcast style remains informative and entertaining, and I just now made the connection that Justin McElroy is related to the other podcasting McElroy brothers (of My Brother, My Brother and Me and other podcasts). Yes, it really took me that long. I enjoy this podcast though.

Winner: Sawbones

West, Game 2: The History of Philosophy Without Any Gaps vs. Truth’s Table

In the History of Philosophy our host finally got to the famous Ockham’s metaphorical razor! I learned about Ockham’s simplification of entities and I appreciated that he wanted to boil things down from a complicated system to a smaller, more manageable system.

Honestly, it’s been a while since I’ve done heavy philosophical thinking/ lifting, so this podcast requires more attention and focus. I think it would be good to have more challenging educational materials in my roster, but I’ve still got a ways to go in this bracket challenge, so I’m simplifying (sorry, Nathanael). Ockham might approve of simplifying? Ok, this is nothing like what he was doing. He probably would frown on intellectual laziness.

The ladies of Truth’s Table talked about Malcolm X in the episode I listened to, and how his legacy impacted them personally. They also talked about how good he was at diagnosing cultural problems in America, and his towering position in black American culture.

As a white American, I don’t have the same kind of connection or knowledge about Malcolm X, but I like hearing this perspective and learn more about places I know little about.

Winner: Truth’s Table

I’m Back!

/ austinfey / Leave a comment

Hello, any readers still left. I’ve taken a bit of a break from my podcast posts, mostly because I left the notebook that contained my notes in North Carolina after my cousin’s wedding, and I didn’t have it in me to reconstruct my thoughts (and I didn’t really want to re-listen to the podcasts and try to remember what I thought) for this round.

My mother kept the notebook for me (thanks, Mom!) and now I have it back, so I’ll jump back into the podcast brackets soon. I do kind of miss the frenzied podcast-listening, and I’m looking forward to jumping back in.

After visiting my family a couple weeks ago, I also realized that I’m not the only one who likes to turn things into a bracket competition. One of my brothers asked another one of my brothers to rank his medical school prospects bracket-style. Yes, apparently my family defaults to brackets and competition when trying to decide between things. I’m ok with that.

On a completely different note, I’ve also been thinking a lot this week, as have many, about the nature of public discourse, protests, violence, and media coverage in the wake of the Charlottesville rally and counter-protests last week. It was surreal to see my town name turn into a negative hashtag and in international headlines. I don’t have a lot of coherent things to say, but the events of last week have been stirring around in my mind, making me reevaluate where I’m spending my time and energy.

It is so easy to reduce one another to the aspects we dislike, the political views we disdain, the feelings we abhor. I don’t want to be reductive, but I also don’t want to stay silent while people who look like me lash out at other people who look different, just because they look different. A human being is a human being, and I want to remember that before every interaction, especially online, where it’s so easy to forget that there’s a living, breathing, feeling person behind every comment.