ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

On RadioLab: Podcast Review

Updated on July 12, 2015
Source

Podcast review: RadioLab

  • Topics: Science, Life, Cool Things
  • Names of presenters: Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich
  • Website associated with podcast: http://www.radiolab.org/
  • Production quality: High
  • Organization associated with podcast, if applicable: produced by WNYC distributed by NPR

RadioLab, RadioLab. The best, the most delightful, the deliciously sparkling podcast. This was my podcast gateway drug. Only after I’d listened to all of these episodes twice did I ask, “are there other podcasts out there?”

It’s listed under Science in iTunes, but it’s science contextualized, poeticized. It’s insightful, well written, and fun. You’ll learn. You’ll be entertained. You’ll be amazed. The tone is upbeat, the dialogue feels (and from what I’ve read, apparently is) extemporaneous and feels effortless. There is cool music.

Some of my favorites: “Colors,” “Famous Tumors,” “Emergence,” “Patient Zero,” “Parasites.” I guess I need to listen to them all again to chose more favorites. Darn. I keep trying to force my 9 year old to listen to them. In “Parasites,” a man divests himself of allergies by infecting himself with hookworms. After you listen to “Colors,” you’ll never look at a rainbow the same again. You will be personally enriched by the experience.

However, I have to admit, over the last year, my finger has paused before I pressed play on the most recent podcasts. Too often, the shows have not been in any way associated with science and wonders, and have been overwhelmingly negative in tone. Recent podcasts include: “La Mancha Screwjob” was about a particular incident in professional wrestling that changed it forever; in was pretty interesting, but not really memorable. “American Football” focused on the history of football, with a sideline of the Carlisle Indian School team, and one parent’s conflicts about her child playing the game; I like history, I like parenting discussions, but it’s not science, not wonders. “Outside Westgate” was about the massacre at the Westgate Mall in Nairobi, Kenya in 2013, and about the “space between the official narrative and the stories of the people who experienced it.” (According to their website.) Lots of in-depth discussion of fear and horror. “Juicervose,” about a child with autism, was so depressing I couldn’t listen to it. A recent podcast, “Sight Unseen,” detailed the restrictions a photographer has on photographs taken during the Afghanistan war. It also elaborated on their grief extensively. Basically, they kept talking to them until they cried in the recording. I turned it off. If I wanted that, I’d listen to This American Life.

Please, RadioLab, stop the fall into becoming This American Life-light. You are special in your own way.

Podcast Rating

4 stars for RadioLab

RadioLab available on CD

© 2015 curiositykeeper

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)