Podcasting a wide net. (Part 2)

Good for laughs, good for learning

So in my last post, I spoke about my favourite podcasts that made me laugh and you could class as "entertainment". Today's post covers my favourite podcasts that are still entertaining, but I see them more as tools for gaining a better understanding of the world around me, or just for general self-betterment. They cover a wide range of topics, from human interest stories, obscure stories from history to lessons on how to become a better writer. I feel that all of the podcasts I'm going to mention have given me perspective on some very diverse topics, as well as making me a more considerate person.

Human interest; made interesting

Those of you reading who listen to podcasts, and many of you who don't may have already heard of Serial; a spin off podcast from "This American Life". Season 1 garnered widespread acclaim for its approach to covering a long-dormant murder case from 1999. I won't say any more here, as it's the developments in the podcast that make it so compelling. I'm aware that there is a second season, but I don't like to wait for the next episode in shows like this, so I am waiting until I know it's finished before I jump in. Anyway, Serial isn't on my list because it's possibly the most ubiquitous podcast of all time, and you'll know from the description whether it's your thing or not. I mention Serial because it compelled me to look into more podcasts that cover human interest stories, and I've found some that range from deeply personal stories of survival, revenge, escape and peril, to some inspirational stories about the people who build monuments to science, culture and technology and have been forgotten. If you like hearing about remarkable people, here are some remarkable podcasts.

Snap Judgement

Snap Judgement is definitely in my "must listen to" category for podcasts. Glynn Washington has a voice that instantly makes me think of 70s late night American funk radio hosts as they're depicted in movies and TV, and that might be because Snap has its own band who score every episode and it's normally funky as hell. But presentation is just the icing on the cake of this top-notch show.

In the couple of years that I've been listening to Snap Judgement, I've heard stories from an incredibly diverse range of people. Glynn himself has led an interesting life, from growing up in a cult known as the "Worldwide Church of God" where race mixing wasn't allowed, to studying in Japan as a young man; he often throws in his own personal anecdotes to episodes. My personal favourite episode that I've heard is called "Mercenary", which includes a segment about James Brabazon; a journalist who is assigned a mercenary to watch his back as he follows rebel fighters around in a civil war in Liberia. The two become close friends after going through some real hardships together, and while Brabazon acknowledges that his best friend kills people for money, he feels guilty for not being there when something goes wrong. 

Other highlights include an episode where a deceased hip-hop artist's secret collection of unreleased material is found in a storage locker, and the fight for his mother to use the music to recoup many of the costs of her son's medical bills gets nasty. There's a story about a woman in the middle east who is forced to marry a man who works for the government, or else he will have her family arrested and killed. It's not always sad though, there's often a satisfying, if not "happy" ending. The Snap Judgement Live shows are often hilariously funny and touchingly personal at the same time. If there's only one podcast that piques your interest from reading this, I hope it's Snap, 'cos there's something there for everyone.

Stuff You Missed In History Class

A member of the "How Stuff Works" family of podcasts, SYMIHC specialises in telling the stories of people and institutions that history has largely forgotten. Because of the in-built racism and misogyny that permeates so much of culture, this often means they're stories about minorities and women who have done amazing things but haven't seen recognition in the wider cultural picture. There's also a lot of stories about institutions that have been kept on the down-low, or were perhaps taboo subjects at the time.

While many of the subjects are very compelling, they are guided somewhat by the interests of the two presenters, and this recently led to an episode on "The History Of Knitting". I listened to it and I don't know what I was expecting, but it was exactly what it sounds like, so I do sometimes skip episodes if it isn't something that is likely to interest me.

Recent highlights include a two-parter story on the Women's Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) during WW2, the way French women objected to Nazi occupation, Harriet Tubman's lesser-known work with the Underground railroad and the story of Hercules Mulligan who worked as a spy during the American war of independence. With some moderation in what you listen to, you can have a great listening experience and learn about totally new and unheard-of historical tales. One small problem with the show is something that dogs the entire "stuff" network and that is the frequent and lengthy advertising breaks. Normally there are two or three per 25-30 minute episode, and if you don't have a chance to skip forward, it gets really annoying.

99% Invisible

Roman Mars' voice is the audible equivalent of a warm jumper and a cup of cocoa. He is perfect for Radio, and although he normally only takes care of the introduction and outro of the show, he welcomes new listeners in and makes you feel comfortable before the show-proper begins.

The show is principally about design; talking about not only why every objects, organisations, techniques and structures are made the way they are, but the minds behind some of the greatest inventions you've never needed to know about. The human interest element often comes from interviews with people who designed the items, as well as those whose lives have been affected by the subject of the show. I cannot stress how big an effect this show has had on my awareness of design as I walk around. From the question of "why do police officers wear uniforms like that?" to "how do they build skyscrapers that can withstand hurricanes, typhoons and earthquakes?" 99PI has you covered. There was even an episode about the restoration of Stirling Castle. The tagline for 99PI is "Always Read The Plaque" which is a great message for people who are interesting in not only how an item works, but why it works and who made it. They did an episode on "Challenge Coins", an American military tradition, and to aid with a crowdfunding campaign, they even made their own and sent them out to everyone who pledged to support the show. I keep mine in a little pouch in my office. 

Always read the caption. The audio waves are Roman Mars' voice introducing the show.

99% Invisible is a part of the "Radiotopia" network of podcasts, and sometimes it does some cross-features with other members of the Radiotopia family. This has led me to listen to a few episodes of "Song Exploder" where host Hrishikesh Hirway invites musicians (such as Bjork, U2, Garbage & Harry Gregson-Williams) to dissect their music-making process and describe how a song is made. I need to listen to more of this, but I am a colossal music snob and it can sometimes make it difficult to listen if I know I don't like the music ahead of time. Still, that's my beef, and if you're more open minded than I am about music, you'll have a great time. I've also heard an episode of Helen Zaltzman (sister of the Bugle's Andy Zaltzman) hosting "The Allusionist", where she and a host of experts discuss how modern society is reflected in the way we speak to each other. This is another show I really want to listen to, as I think it would be very useful to someone who writes for a living. I just can't seem to get my list of podcast episodes down low enough to pick up a new one for long.

Imaginary Worlds

"IMAGINARY WORLDS IS A BI-WEEKLY PODCAST HOSTED BY ERIC MOLINSKY ABOUT SCIENCE FICTION AND OTHER FANTASY GENRES -- HOW WE CREATE THEM AND WHY WE SUSPEND OUR DISBELIEF."

With those words, Eric Molinsky starts off every episode of Imaginary Worlds, and that description does a really good job of conveying what the show is about. This was yet another show that I was turned on to by 99PI, and it was a perfect fit due to Molinsky's ability to cover not only the design of sci-fi and fantasy, but the psychology behind it as well. Sensibly enough, his first episode "Origin Stories" attempts to unlock the formula for a compelling hero, discussing the psychology behind the common writer's trope "The Hero's Journey" that covers characters from Luke Skywalker to Link from Legend of Zelda. In stark contrast, his second episode "When Human Met Creature" covers the practical implications of making real-life human actors work with practical effects. This combination of psychology and technical knowledge forms the backbone of the show, and ensures that you never get bored, listening to the hows and whys of sci-fi. Fans of superhero movies (and Batman in particular) should check out episode 22 "Fixing The Hobo Suit" where Molinsky talks with Hollywood costume designers about how superhero costumes have changed over the years.

Molinsky himself is a former animator, who brings a lot of practical knowledge to the show, having lots of connections with Disney, Pixar and other animation studios it seems. I won't lie to you, I like this show a lot because I am a nerd. If you're not interested in sci-fi or fantasy, then it's probably not going to interest you that much, but if like me, you enjoy finding out about the origin and evolution of WonderWoman as a character, or a radio play about Cthulu and "Eldritch Horror", you owe it to yourself to listen to Imaginary Worlds.

Becoming a better writer

My ambition is to write stories for games. That's really the top of the list of things I want to do in my professional career right now. I enjoy telling stories and I am passionate about what videogame storytelling is just now, and may become. To that end, I have tracked down a couple of podcasts that cover writing. It sounds a bit corny, but it really is inspiring to hear the stories and advice of other writers as they describe their preferred methods for getting stuff done and improving their own work.

Writing Excuses

Fans of sci-fi and fantasy will probably be familiar with the name "Brandon Sanderson", even if they haven't read his work. To describe him as "prolific" seems to be an understatement. He leads up a team of experienced and published authors as they give short 15 minute episodes on a very wide range of writing subjects, from "how to start", "how to write convincing characters" and "how to end a story" to "how to pace a story" and "how to spread out text". While this isn't likely to appeal to a wide range of people (Which is why I saved these podcasts for last), casual listeners might find it interesting to see how the professionals do it.

I am still working my way through the episodes, as it seems Sanderson is as prolific a podcaster as he is a writer. Fortunately, as the tagline states; episodes are only fifteen minutes long. Often they'll have guest authors on, discussing a particular facet of writing that this specific author excels at. They've discussed creating your own role playing game book, as well as writing comic books and screenplays. While I like the fact that Sanderson is primarily a fantasy writer, rest assured that the show is somewhat genre neutral, so aspiring writers should be able to find something here.

Script Lock

The difficulty of finding a podcast about games writing is that the role of writing narrative for games isn't an especially well-established position in the industry. Sure, we've been telling stories in games since the Zork era, but different studios have different approaches to the level of control and agency a writer is given. Often it's the case of the game design being almost finished, then the writer is brought in to build a narrative that fits the mechanics that have been distributed throughout an already established game world. This can often make for a story that is full of contrivances to make it fit the gameplay. Because the role is quite specialised, it's challenging to find a podcast that covers narrative in games, but the Folkman brothers' "Script Lock" is a great example of a podcast that embraces the hurdles that storytellers have to deal with when they're writing for games.

The format of the show is that the Folkman brothers (Max & Nick) will invite a couple of guests into a skype call (of wildly varying audio quality) and the foursome will discuss their experiences in writing for games, as well as what they're excited about in the world of interactive narrative. The range of guests has been really eye-opening as well, with some of them coming from a more technical standpoint, talking about the work that goes into building a framework to support narrative, while others discuss the colossal task of recording thousands of lines of audio for a game with spoken dialogue. Once again, this is probably a bit more niche as podcasts go, but if you like story-driven games, this is a good chance to see how story and gameplay fit together.

A podcast in every home

So that's it, folks. A rundown of some of my favourite podcasts at the moment. I have some that come and go from my iPod from time to time, as their format evolves or guests are replaced and swapped out. I listen to podcasts almost everywhere, from when I'm doing the dishes, to my commute and at the gym. I also love recording podcasts, and I am trying to put one together at the moment that combines my love of videogame music and talking with friends. It's proving to be a tricky format to nail down, but I'm confident that when "That Sounds Like Fun" makes it out, it's going to be worth checking out. In the meantime, you can check out my work on Brashcast, where I discuss all things movies, games and TV with my friend Liam.

I hope this list has shown that podcasts are as wide-ranging as any other media format, and makes it possible for almost anyone to create one. I use free software such as Skype and Audacity as well as a cheap USB microphone to create shows, and it really is good fun. If you have a hobby, there's a good chance there's a podcast for it. If it turns out that there isn't one, get your friends together and make one.

Next Time...

It's been a tough time in the Alexander household of late, with me being made redundant from my job. While I'm hunting for new jobs, I find it's been helping to keep up this blog, so thank you to anyone who's reading these, I appreciate it. It's been a few episodes since I spoke about games, but I have been playing some recently, so expect to read more about them next time. I will be covering:

Hard West
Rainbow 6:Siege
Assassin's Creed: Rogue

Until then, thanks for reading!