Goldman Sachs interview on Planet Money

PHOTO : THOMAS HAWK


I stopped listening to every podcast of NPR's Planet Money several months ago when they started getting rambley.

I downloaded a few of their recent podcasts, and was really surprised by Alex Blumberg's interview with Goldman Sach's spokesperson Lucas van Praag.

Planet Money's style, I guess, is to be down to earth, jargon-free and off the cuff. They want to report economic news so that anybody can understand it. Sometimes they just sound flaky and disorganized. Alex Blumberg is a little clumsy, awkwardly mellow, but he does know what he wants to find out from Goldman Sachs, whatever way he can. The exchange ends up allowing for some illuminating comments from the spokesman, like this one

"I think that compensation is always a major hot topic. Understandably, in an environment where people are losing their jobs, have lost their jobs, losing their homes, have lost their homes. And not withstanding the fact that the statistics suggest the rate at which people are losing their jobs and losing their homes is slowing, it's still happening, and [it's] miserable. And entirely understandable that people would be angered by what they consider to be, as you described, a situation where people who were responsible, or thought to be responsible for, assisting in the creation of crisis are seen to be benefiting disproportionately. "

I appreciated Blumberg's questions about compensation in light of the Government's rescue of AIG and Goldman, and van Praag is fascinating to listen to, whether or not he's telling the whole truth.

Advice regarding Parental Advice

The New Yorker Out Loud podcast offers a spirited interview with writer Jill Lepore on the history of parenthood as we know it today, and the role of the parenting advice industry - magazines, books and media.

She brings up the influence of a fewer number of children in middle and upper class families, and how this affects the roles of parents and children.

Recently, Thinking Aloud from the BBC took on two voices in the field of modernity and family sizes, trying to pin down the reasons why people have fewer children and why that's a characteristic of modern societies.


Thinking Aloud is available on their website, or subscribe to new episodes in itunes (previous episodes not available).

The New Yorker podcast is available in itunes, or listen below.

The New Yorker Out Loud - Interview with Jill Lepore

Episode 1

Leo Laporte has a classic radio host voice, but his shows are strictly in the new media landscape. I discovered his site twit.tv and downloaded the first episode of his new show, This Week in Google.

It's off to a good start, energetic guests, timely topics and a point of view that assumes you know that AJAX is not the stuff you clean the toilet bowl with.
They're not connected to Google and Leo Laporte said he's committed to objective reporting on their goings on.

I enjoyed learning what Google Wave is, Pubsubhubbub (which might be the funnest net thing to say since Twitter) and an online presentation software called Prezi.

Listen on the Twit site here or in itunes.

Two Programs on Sunnis and Shiites

A recent In Our Time episode describing Shia Sunni split in Islam featured one of my favorite regular experts on that program, Amira Bennison. The episode heads into the minutia of the events leading to the split, at a loss to the larger thematic points, and offers little about the groups today.

I thought I'd pair this with the terrific series by Mike Shuster on NPR from 2007 on the same topic. That one is a five part series and is a good deal more comprehensible than the In Our Time program.

In Our Time is available on itunes and on their website.

Our Blurry Brains

This illuminating NPR story by Jon Hamilton explains the controversy behind the reliability and quality of fMRI imaging to understand brain function.

It points to our vulnerability to be swayed by visual depictions of data which are appealing in their clarity and familiarity, but are actually simplifications of complicated data. They look like other sorts of diagrams we can understand, but the all the necessary information isn't expressed in the images.

This has armed me with some much-needed skepticism for studies that rely on interpretations of fMRI readouts.

It Was Controversial at the Time

I really do dislike This I Believe.

They manage to transform honest sentiments into cranky, cloying proclamations.

Anyways, I forgot about all that and tuned in this recent episode that replays Eleanor Roosevelt's original This I Believe statement. It's short and it's a treat to hear her accent and phrasing.

Her audio is book-ended by a good introduction and analysis by Bob Edwards and a historian.

Listen on itunes or on the This I Believe website.

Salmon Salad

As usual, Frank and Erik's podcast this week does not disappoint. A slow episode like this one where they barely have enough to talk about really shows they can turn their minor, awkward experiences into something funny.

Available in itunes or on their website.

Three Minute Fiction Winner

This recap and winner announcement was a little tepid, but the winning story is read well and worth hearing.