Best Podcasts | Moving Too Fast | What Will You Buy on Black Friday
Written while searching for a perfect Sunday dinner recipe
Before smartphones and Gameboys, this was what entertained us (Credit: LU)
Pod man
How did I get anything done before podcasts? I recall gardening, cleaning bathrooms, cooking, and walking to work before the golden age of podcasts. Did I hate do all of that? Maybe.
Now, you won’t find me engaged in a menial, mind-numbing, too-often repeated tasks without my AirPods Pros in my ears and a podcast playing. Sometimes, I even use podcasts on long rides, but that’s only if my family agrees. Otherwise, it’s books on “tape” for us.
This year, I expanded my list of favorite podcasts quite a bit. I love pop culture, and many deal with that, but not all.
“The Moth” remains one of my favorites. It’s “true stories as told by people who lived them.” The storytellers often recount their tales before life audiences at things called “story slams.” They are usually themes, like animals, friendship, death, taking risks, etc. They’re short, 5-to-10 minutes at most, and are often deeply moving. It can be quite embarrassing to be discovered tearing up while weeding. You listen and see what happens.
This year I listened to “Dead Eyes,” a podcast that recounted how one actor was fired from “Band of Brothers” by, it seems, Tom Hanks. It’s about more than that and has one of the most satisfying conclusions in all of podcasting.
“The Plot Thickens” from Turner Classic Movies where, each season, host Ben Mankiewicz digs into one subject. He’s covered the making of “The Bonfire of the Vanities” film adaptation (a terrible movie), Lucile Ball, and, the one I’m listening to now, Pam Grier. Each pod is basically a film buff’s paradise.
Back in the mid-oughts, I was a huge fan of Smallville, a TV show that looked at Superman’s pre-superhero teen years. Now there’s a podcast with Tom Welling (Clark Kent) and Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor). They walk back through each episode and give you all the behind-the-scenes details. It’s funny and an illuminating look at what it’s like to shoot episodic TV (at least what it was like almost 20 years ago).
Recounting past episodes of popular shows is a common podcast theme. A couple of friends of mine host an entertaining Doctor Who podcast called “Pull to Open.” It randomly goes through episodes spanning the 60-year history of the show.
Other favs include “99% invisible,” “How Did This Get Made,” Marc Maron’s “WTF” (naturally), Kara Swisher’s new “On with Kara Swisher (for inside-the-media- and tech-way stuff), and Mo Rocca’s "Mobituaries,” which talks about the lives of dead luminaries like John Denver and June Foray.
I have on occasion gotten hooked on murder mysteries and big investigative pieces like the acclaimed “Serial,” but I do feel like those take more of a commitment. Maybe on my next long drive.
Stop moving so fast
When Mark Zuckerberg was first growing Facebook (later Meta) into a multi-billion-dollar business and amassing millions of online members, he reportedly had a phrase written on a whiteboard, “Move fast and break things.”
That worked for a while until it became clear that a multi-national company with touchpoints into the lives of half the world needed to take a bit more care. Most companies don’t work that way for, I think, obvious reasons.
It is, though, how Twitter’s been working since Elon Musk took over less than a month ago. He does not appear to consider any consequences when enacting one of his dictums. Cutting so many engineers in one fell swoop (he shrunk the Twitter workforce by half and then let hundreds more go when they wouldn’t accept to his work-related demands).
Still, it seems like every day we see the results of him “moving fast.” Most recently there were reports that the system for automatically catching copyright infringement is broken and people can upload entire movies (in 2-minute increments).
I agree with those who say that all the cuts Musk made should not result in an instant collapse of Twitter. That’s not how software is built, especially server-based systems that serve millions of people across the internet. There are redundancies and most systems are built with self-checking and even self-repairing systems.
However, big failures can result in a cascade effect, one that could result in all of Twitter collapsing, especially if the right people aren’t still around to fix it.
Maybe, though, that would be for the best. As I write this, Musk has reinstated Donald Trump’s Twitter account (along with all its tweets that people are now resharing). The former president has not returned and maybe he never will. Still, the message Musk just sent (he made the decision after running a poll of his followers) is that whatever Trump did or didn’t do on Jan 6 doesn’t realy matter.
There really are no words.
Buy time
It’s Thanksgiving week, which means families, turkeys, and shopping. The last start in earnest as soon as you put down your fork and pick up your phone, which is already full of Black Friday Deals.
I am honestly curious about what people will buy this year. Will it be big ticket items or, considering the current economic conditions, smaller, more budget-friendly items? I know Billionaire Jeff Bezos is recommending holding off on the former, which is weird coming from the man who built Amazon.
I just wonder what the breakout holiday gadget of 2022 might be. Everything, from phones to tablets and from cameras to drones seems incrementally better than last year. Without a lot of change, people might wait a year to upgrade (or at least gift an upgrade). Maybe analog gifts like the one pictured above (it’s 34 years old, which means it might be a little hard to find) will rule the holidays.
I suspect, though, that wearables will seize the day.
A pair of Bluetooth ear buds won’t break the bank. Those willing to spend a bit more might be looking at smartwatches or at least fitness bands. I’ve seen many for under $299 (and some for just $99).
It could also be VRs year. Meta has a Quest 2 (and the expensive, but startlingly good Meta Quest Pro), HP has the Reverb G2 (needs a PC), Valve has the Index, and Sony has a soon-to-be-outdated PS VR (VR2 comes out next year). I’m sure a lot of gamers will put one of those at the top of their list.
Let’s all check in after the holidays to see how this gift-giving season played out.
That’s all for now. If you celebrate, have a great Thanksgiving.
This newsletter is taking next week off and will return Dec. 5.
Stay well
Be good to each other