Radiolab̶w
June 14, 2016 10:10 AM Subscribe
More Perfect is a seven-week long Radiolab spin-off series examining Supreme Court Cases.
- “Cruel and Unusual” examines the history of the death penalty, particularly lethal injection. A related MeFi Post
- “The Political Thicket” digs deep into the drama surrounding the Baker v. Carr redistricting case and the psychological toll it exacted on the justices.
- The next episode airs June 17. Kind of meh on the Radiolab style? Try Amicus for Dahlia Lithwick’s discussions of recent Supreme Court Decisions, the oh-so-dry debates on constitutional law at We The People, or just take your Supreme Court oral arguments straight up from Oyez.
Rats, I've been looking for new podcasts, but this one does EXACTLY the thing I hate in radio/podcasting:
[Sentence from host] intercut with [half of the interviewee/subject's thought] cut back to [the other host FINISHING SOMEONE ELSE'S SENTENCE]. ugh.
(on preview: what dinty_moore describes. I just can't stand that when I'm trying to listen to what someone knowledgeable is trying to say about something interesting. /sigh)
posted by crush-onastick at 10:34 AM on June 14, 2016 [7 favorites]
[Sentence from host] intercut with [half of the interviewee/subject's thought] cut back to [the other host FINISHING SOMEONE ELSE'S SENTENCE]. ugh.
(on preview: what dinty_moore describes. I just can't stand that when I'm trying to listen to what someone knowledgeable is trying to say about something interesting. /sigh)
posted by crush-onastick at 10:34 AM on June 14, 2016 [7 favorites]
I listened to The Political Thicket and loved it. (And if anyone has recommendations for a book about the Warren court, that would be very cool.) It definitely has that Radiolab house style that sets my teeth on edge, but to be honest it's so good and so interesting otherwise, I was fine with the VERY LONG PAUSES and overlays and whatnot. (crush-onastick -- the irritating intercuts decrease a lot after the opening few minutes, I promise.)
(And to be fair, one or two of the pauses are actually appropriate and well-placed in the show.)
posted by kalimac at 10:37 AM on June 14, 2016
(And to be fair, one or two of the pauses are actually appropriate and well-placed in the show.)
posted by kalimac at 10:37 AM on June 14, 2016
I switched from this post to opening my podcast app so fast I might have set my phone on fire.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:40 AM on June 14, 2016 [8 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 10:40 AM on June 14, 2016 [8 favorites]
I also really enjoyed the Political Thicket. It had never occurred to me just how hard some of these decisions are, just how soul-crushing and life-destroying they can be.
posted by maxsparber at 10:41 AM on June 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by maxsparber at 10:41 AM on June 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
Rats, I've been looking for new podcasts, but this one does EXACTLY the thing I hate in radio/podcasting:
Amicus is much more conventional in its discussions, and also quite good.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:56 AM on June 14, 2016 [6 favorites]
Amicus is much more conventional in its discussions, and also quite good.
posted by Going To Maine at 10:56 AM on June 14, 2016 [6 favorites]
<3 pocket casts and it's truncate silence feature. Makes getting through these silly pregnant pauses much easier.
posted by Hasteur at 11:16 AM on June 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by Hasteur at 11:16 AM on June 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
Ive been listening to Amicus regularly and the AJC's Breakdown series and the Reveal. Turns out, I'm incredible picky about audio only entertainment!
But enough about me, there's still Life of the Law! Oh and Federalist Society when I want incredibly dry and lecture-like.
posted by crush-onastick at 11:16 AM on June 14, 2016
But enough about me, there's still Life of the Law! Oh and Federalist Society when I want incredibly dry and lecture-like.
posted by crush-onastick at 11:16 AM on June 14, 2016
Yes, I loathe the sonic wankery of the Radiolab style. Amicus is good.
posted by twsf at 11:25 AM on June 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by twsf at 11:25 AM on June 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
Radiolab drives me up a wall. Not just the audio but the way they go all THIS THING IS SO MYSTERIOUS OMGGGGGG YOU WILL NEVER GUESS _____ except um, yes, I can, a lot of the time. Which is fine, except they insist on playing that ~mysteriousness~ up. And the way they hold out on the answer until the end like a punchline. I want a deep dive, not a magic trick. Planet Money is where it's at, for my ... money.
(Obviously Radiolabs works for a lot of people, but it just hits allllll my irritation buttons.)
posted by aperturescientist at 12:03 PM on June 14, 2016 [4 favorites]
(Obviously Radiolabs works for a lot of people, but it just hits allllll my irritation buttons.)
posted by aperturescientist at 12:03 PM on June 14, 2016 [4 favorites]
Funny enough, I just had a friend tell me a great Supreme Court story in his family background that would be a good subject.
His grandfather was a self-made man, and took a challenge on 1st Amendment,religious schools, and the establishment clause (a key historical case) up to the Supreme Court under the Felix Frankfurter court.
His grandfather wasn't dressed according to the standards of the court at the time, which required a 3 piece suit. He was going to be escorted out, but Frankfurter stopped the clerk, said wait, opened his robes and offered his own vest for the petitioner to wear during the arguments.
The grandfather was so pumped up for his big day, when arguments were concluded, that he forgot about the borrowed vest and walked out wearing it.
The establishment clause was held not to be violated, he lost, and from that day forward he was convinced that they had it in for him because of the vest.
posted by C.A.S. at 12:08 PM on June 14, 2016 [14 favorites]
His grandfather was a self-made man, and took a challenge on 1st Amendment,religious schools, and the establishment clause (a key historical case) up to the Supreme Court under the Felix Frankfurter court.
His grandfather wasn't dressed according to the standards of the court at the time, which required a 3 piece suit. He was going to be escorted out, but Frankfurter stopped the clerk, said wait, opened his robes and offered his own vest for the petitioner to wear during the arguments.
The grandfather was so pumped up for his big day, when arguments were concluded, that he forgot about the borrowed vest and walked out wearing it.
The establishment clause was held not to be violated, he lost, and from that day forward he was convinced that they had it in for him because of the vest.
posted by C.A.S. at 12:08 PM on June 14, 2016 [14 favorites]
Can we not with the we hate RadioLab's sound design derail? It's such well trod territory on this site and elsewhere that Going To Maine pre-emptively gave you other options. They're not changing it for you. Art is subjective if it's not for you don't engage with it.
posted by edbles at 12:26 PM on June 14, 2016 [18 favorites]
posted by edbles at 12:26 PM on June 14, 2016 [18 favorites]
Oh I love Dahlia Lithwick’s Amicus! I like to tell people that I need to circle the block to finish my podcast about the supreme court and watch their eyes glaze over. But in all seriousness it is fascinating to learn about the slow, slow wheels that turn, that have HUGE impact on our country. And listening to the actual arguments behind the votes makes them a lot more palatable than "the five R's voted against it".
posted by rebent at 12:38 PM on June 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
posted by rebent at 12:38 PM on June 14, 2016 [2 favorites]
I happen to like radiolab and its sound design, and I am very excited to listen to this. Thanks for posting.
posted by capnsue at 12:38 PM on June 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by capnsue at 12:38 PM on June 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
This podcast is great. Fair warning that the first episode is pretty dark (duh) but man are these great. I enjoyed the second one even more. Excited to listen to the rest!
posted by lazaruslong at 2:16 PM on June 14, 2016
posted by lazaruslong at 2:16 PM on June 14, 2016
I also really like Radiolab's sound design -- and I like this spinoff so far -- but the"oye, oye" sample loop is borderline here and when they then start looping just the "-ye" on a beat it's so...inane! (And then in the second episode they pun off of it as "Oh, yay"? Ugh!
posted by nobody at 8:49 PM on June 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by nobody at 8:49 PM on June 14, 2016 [1 favorite]
God, the first episode is just crushingly depressing. I was familiar with the battle over sourcing execution drugs (and want to punch things at the very mention of Glossip), but I had no idea where the idea of lethal injection came from in the first place.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:07 AM on June 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 7:07 AM on June 15, 2016 [1 favorite]
FanFare post for “The Imperfect Plaintiffs” (The episode before this one was a re-airing of the Radiolab episode that inspired the podcast, “Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl”
posted by Going To Maine at 11:09 AM on July 2, 2016
posted by Going To Maine at 11:09 AM on July 2, 2016
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posted by dinty_moore at 10:32 AM on June 14, 2016