Benjamin Walker

October 27, 2005 1:58 PM

Benjamin Walker's Theory of Everything. Suggesting specific podcasts might be a little iffy but if you haven't heard Benjamin Walker, you're really missing out. A self-described "radio artist," Walker's delivery immediately jumps out. And once you start to listen to whatever it is he's saying, you'll find yourself angry, fascinated, entertained and/or perhaps enlightened.
posted by panoptican (15 comments total)

One show I particularly enjoyed was American Exceptionalism.
posted by panoptican at 2:01 PM on October 27, 2005

I must say:


This is a freakin fantastic show. It runs here in Chicago on Saturday afternoons.

Not an ipod person here, but it is well worth downloading. Very much what public radio ought to be.

ts
posted by timsteil at 2:27 PM on October 27, 2005

that's benjamEn!

and i had forgotten about BW - thanks so so so much for bringing this to my attention. he rules.
posted by Marquis at 2:29 PM on October 27, 2005

Hey, I get to work with Ben from time to time. Cool stuff.
posted by mathowie at 2:40 PM on October 27, 2005

Good stuff. I just found that it is in the iTunes Podcast Directory. Thanks.
posted by ericb at 2:40 PM on October 27, 2005

He had a fantastic piece on PKD a while back:
http://www.toeradio.org/archives/2004/10/program_10.html

I enjoy the show and listen to it in SF on KALW, but I feel like his monologues/delivery comes across Joe Frank-ish most times. This makes it difficult to pay attention (since Mr. Frank is such a towering figure when it comes to radio), but I continue to listen due to the fact that I'm a sucker for anything done well in the medium.
posted by vporter at 2:54 PM on October 27, 2005

One show I particularly enjoyed was American Exceptionalism.

Thank you for that link, and especially, from that show, for this.

I really ...can NOT thank you enough
posted by Peter H at 2:58 PM on October 27, 2005

*podcasting newbie
So when you subscribe (like I did in iTunes) it downloads the CURRENT program and you will get all subsequent programs. But there is no way to get the PREVIOUS programs without grabbing them individually (like from the page in the FPP?)
posted by spock at 3:10 PM on October 27, 2005

Hey again:

If you like TOE, you will probably also enjoy this.

I don't think it is syndicated outside of Chicago, but very much in the same vein. The episode on Raymond Carver is probably one of the best portraits of a writer I have ever heard.

ts
posted by timsteil at 3:12 PM on October 27, 2005

It's been a while since I checked out ToE...does he still sound like he's masturbating while doing the show?
posted by unsupervised at 3:16 PM on October 27, 2005

I've always wondered about his voice, unsupervised. In some episodes, he'll be interviewing someone or otherwise show up incidentally on tape, and he sounds perfectly normal.

What I've yet to determine is whether I like the show voice or not. Sometimes it's intriguing, and sometimes it makes me want to turn the episode off (although I haven't, yet—most are too compelling).
posted by esd at 3:56 PM on October 27, 2005

Fantastic show, if I heard this on radio it would cause numerous 'driveway moments'.

oh...bonus, we use the same hosting service.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 7:06 PM on October 27, 2005

Any fan of theory of everything should check out Benjamen's former show, "Your Radio Nightlight". It's in the same vein as the Theory Of Everything, but more out there, more dramatic, and less focused on anything in particular. I think Ben stopped when it ran its course.

Unfortunately it looks like the former homepage (yourlight.org) has elapsed and been purchased. It looks like some links are on the left on the theory of everything homepage.

I have a few your radio nightlights saved to disk, but check out "What a wonderful World", "Noa Noa", and "Sacrifice".

I kinda wish Your Radio Nightlight were available somewhere. There are a lot more which I fear will eventually disappear.
posted by adzuki at 7:34 PM on October 27, 2005

Thanks for this link!
posted by nitsuj at 11:24 PM on October 27, 2005

spock writes "But there is no way to get the PREVIOUS programs without grabbing them individually (like from the page in the FPP?)"

Make sure you're subscribed, then click on "Podcasts" in the "Source" column to the left of your screen in iTunes. Find the show in question, then click on the arrow to the left of the podcast name. You should see a dropdown list of recent episodes. Click "Get" on the ones you want.

\only took me two months to figure that out.
posted by Optamystic at 4:32 AM on October 28, 2005