Review of Pop Vultures #2 Boy Bands and Pop Tarts (deleted)
I heard about this show sometime ago, heard about this show that was all about the very most popular of pop music, yet that was also lauded by the high council of public radio (or something like that). So for a while I avoided it. I made up my mind that any show with titles including "boy bands" "Pink" and "American Idol" just wasn't for me. So somehow I eventually stuck my toe in the water, I just got curious, and I've heard a few of their shows now.
Immediately it was clear that regardless of the subject matter, this was a group of funny smart people being smart and funny on the air. But still the whole pop thing was a little troubling. But I was just listening to this episode and it occurred to me that all of these people talk about pop music like a good friend who is like struggling with a drug addiction or something like that. They've had a lot of good times together and that's enough. It’s somewhat inexplicable in that sense, or at least sentimental, but that’s a positive thing for me. It’s an interesting secondary plotline that runs through the entire series and that in some ways is even more interesting than the explicit plot.
So I gave it three stars because I, personally, can’t quite get over the pop stuff completely. I can only take so much, but while I’m listening I’m having fun.
Intimate and irresistibly evocative. The immediacy and sincerity with which Mrs. Jolly confides herself in this piece, makes it something special. She relates a portrait of depression, self-loathing, and guilt, this profound existential drama, with a simplicity and directness that nearly overwhelms me with a compassionate melancholy of the best sort.
This is the sort of piece to end a longer radio program with. Its subtle poignancy would compliment a more scientifically oriented exploration of a similar topic very nicely.
This piece from (((Hearing Voices))) sounds, to my own untrained ear, flawless. Although I don’t mean to imply that it is perfect, I am unable to think of any real criticism to make and although it probably isn’t the “best” possible presentation of this issue, I am unable to think of a better one. It is an often stunning mixture of speech, sound and music and a thoughtful integration of sociology, psychology and history, it is deep insight artfully conveyed.
As far as interviewing techniques, Mr. Vogel seemed to do a rather good job of asserting himself and keeping the interviewee on track. The production was a bit monotonous for me; in a half-hour long program I prefer some variation and polyphony.
But really, my objection to this piece has to do with the material presented. Although I agree with a lot of the things the guest says early on in the show, mostly concerned with brain development and environmental impact upon it, I am troubled by the certainty and vehemence of her interpretation of this information. When I list "authoritative" as one of the tones of this piece, I mean it in a rather pejorative sense, authoritarian might be more apt. Trying to make a science out of childcare, it seems to me, is not a wise thing to do. From my perspective, a bit more information and a bit less dogmatism would be an improvement here.
There is something about the personality of Benjamen Walker as radio host that, even when he is espousing opinions which I disagree with, I find engrossing. I am the sort of novice radio listener who does not have much of an established vocabulary or context with which to work, but as far as the enjoyment I get from hearing this (which is apparently the major PRX rating guideline) I am clear. The unelaborated intermingling of journalistic fiction, monologue, essay, interview (etc.) is a form that I have always found fascinating in a sort of shockingly simple way, and although Ben Walker is, of course, not the first to use it I find his execution thoughtful, refreshingly exploratory, and wonderfully earnest. For example, I cannot help but admire the sort of contrarian streak that decides to put the introductory blurb 20 minutes into a half-hour show. The slightly twisted humor in this particular show’s first section and the more straightforward philosophy of the second add up to a poignant and creative personal elaboration of this long-standing classical question of the truth of the famous revelation “no man is an island”.
The one major feature of Mr. Walker’s new show that I find unfortunate is its length. When compared to the archived episodes of the hour long Your Radio Nightlight that I have heard, the T.O.E.’s have a somewhat limited feel to them.
Comments by Bill Wolfe
Comment for "Pop Vultures #2 Boy Bands and Pop Tarts" (deleted)
Bill Wolfe
Posted on August 05, 2005 at 01:30 PM
Review of Pop Vultures #2 Boy Bands and Pop Tarts (deleted)
I heard about this show sometime ago, heard about this show that was all about the very most popular of pop music, yet that was also lauded by the high council of public radio (or something like that). So for a while I avoided it. I made up my mind that any show with titles including "boy bands" "Pink" and "American Idol" just wasn't for me. So somehow I eventually stuck my toe in the water, I just got curious, and I've heard a few of their shows now.
Immediately it was clear that regardless of the subject matter, this was a group of funny smart people being smart and funny on the air. But still the whole pop thing was a little troubling. But I was just listening to this episode and it occurred to me that all of these people talk about pop music like a good friend who is like struggling with a drug addiction or something like that. They've had a lot of good times together and that's enough. It’s somewhat inexplicable in that sense, or at least sentimental, but that’s a positive thing for me. It’s an interesting secondary plotline that runs through the entire series and that in some ways is even more interesting than the explicit plot.
So I gave it three stars because I, personally, can’t quite get over the pop stuff completely. I can only take so much, but while I’m listening I’m having fun.
Comment for "The Secret"
Bill Wolfe
Posted on August 04, 2005 at 07:38 PM | Permalink
Review of The Secret
Intimate and irresistibly evocative. The immediacy and sincerity with which Mrs. Jolly confides herself in this piece, makes it something special. She relates a portrait of depression, self-loathing, and guilt, this profound existential drama, with a simplicity and directness that nearly overwhelms me with a compassionate melancholy of the best sort.
This is the sort of piece to end a longer radio program with. Its subtle poignancy would compliment a more scientifically oriented exploration of a similar topic very nicely.
Comment for "HV Special: Mushroom Cloud (Atomic Age)"
Bill Wolfe
Posted on August 01, 2005 at 04:02 PM | Permalink
Review of MUSHROOM CLOUD Atomic Age Special
This piece from (((Hearing Voices))) sounds, to my own untrained ear, flawless. Although I don’t mean to imply that it is perfect, I am unable to think of any real criticism to make and although it probably isn’t the “best” possible presentation of this issue, I am unable to think of a better one. It is an often stunning mixture of speech, sound and music and a thoughtful integration of sociology, psychology and history, it is deep insight artfully conveyed.
Comment for "Computers, Videos and TV: Their Effect on Children"
Bill Wolfe
Posted on July 31, 2005 at 06:34 PM | Permalink
Review of Computers, Videos and TV: Their Effect on Children
As far as interviewing techniques, Mr. Vogel seemed to do a rather good job of asserting himself and keeping the interviewee on track. The production was a bit monotonous for me; in a half-hour long program I prefer some variation and polyphony.
But really, my objection to this piece has to do with the material presented. Although I agree with a lot of the things the guest says early on in the show, mostly concerned with brain development and environmental impact upon it, I am troubled by the certainty and vehemence of her interpretation of this information. When I list "authoritative" as one of the tones of this piece, I mean it in a rather pejorative sense, authoritarian might be more apt. Trying to make a science out of childcare, it seems to me, is not a wise thing to do. From my perspective, a bit more information and a bit less dogmatism would be an improvement here.
Comment for "TOE/The Island"
Bill Wolfe
Posted on July 30, 2005 at 11:16 AM | Permalink
Review of TOE/The Island
There is something about the personality of Benjamen Walker as radio host that, even when he is espousing opinions which I disagree with, I find engrossing. I am the sort of novice radio listener who does not have much of an established vocabulary or context with which to work, but as far as the enjoyment I get from hearing this (which is apparently the major PRX rating guideline) I am clear. The unelaborated intermingling of journalistic fiction, monologue, essay, interview (etc.) is a form that I have always found fascinating in a sort of shockingly simple way, and although Ben Walker is, of course, not the first to use it I find his execution thoughtful, refreshingly exploratory, and wonderfully earnest. For example, I cannot help but admire the sort of contrarian streak that decides to put the introductory blurb 20 minutes into a half-hour show. The slightly twisted humor in this particular show’s first section and the more straightforward philosophy of the second add up to a poignant and creative personal elaboration of this long-standing classical question of the truth of the famous revelation “no man is an island”.
The one major feature of Mr. Walker’s new show that I find unfortunate is its length. When compared to the archived episodes of the hour long Your Radio Nightlight that I have heard, the T.O.E.’s have a somewhat limited feel to them.