Podcast Roundup: Summer Break Week 4

Conversations–if I’m not involved in one myself, I like listening to them. That’s why I love podcasts.

Here are some podcasts I’ve listened to over the past week or so…

SPORTS

The Lowe Post

Friday, Lowe had a mega-two-guest pod to discuss the upcoming NBA Finals and the unceremonial dismissal of the Bulls head coach Tom Thibodeau. The latter half was more interesting to me. The big revelation? Bulls management was incensed that Jeff Van Gundy, Thibodeau’s close friend and ABC/ESPN basketball analyst, was taking potshots at them on air. During a Bulls/Mavs game, Van Gundy went on a rant about management’s refusal to support Thibs. Even worse? Van Gundy later slammed management by saying that a coach wasn’t the one who had traded Lamarcus Aldridge for Tyrus Thomas (a reference to a really bad trade John Paxson made in 2006). Shots fired!

Hang Up and Listen

This is Slate’s weekly sports podcast and (in general) it’s about good as these kind of things get. It’s the show that made me realize why so much of Sports Talk radio was bad: they have to fill 24 hours. HUAL, on the other hand, can offer pointed analysis and discussion in about 65 minutes because they only have to do it once a week. This week, regular host Josh Levin was out so Stefan Fatsis (author of Word Freak and frequent NPR contributor) hosted with Mike Pesca and Richard Deitsch (media writer for Sports Illustrated) in tow. Topics included concussions and the NBA, extra points and NFL (with former Iowa Hawkeye Nate Kaeding as the guest), corruption and FIFA (with Jeremy Schaap as the guest). My takeaway? Deitsch thinks that Bill Simmons will start his own Glenn Beck-esque standalone subscription network AND do some part time work for Fox.

CULTURE

Slate Culture Gabfest

I had heard good things about Fox’s Wayward Pines. None of the SCG crew dug it. I had heard good things about Periscope, a live-streaming app from Twitter. The SCG crew gave it a “meh.” I hadn’t heard about Simon Pegg’s criticism of geek culture. The SCG crew dug it and made me want to read it. It’s a smart actor/writer thinking about the ramifications of fantasy culture. Bingo. This was my takeaway.

The Gist

Mike Pesca has been hosting this daily podcast for Slate for the past year or so. I listened regularly to probably the first three months of the show (I was definitely in last summer), but dropped out as the school started. This is one of the shows where I can buzz through a week’s worth in an afternoon. In fact, that’s what I did! The conversation that stuck with me most? A short spot on talking about race.

The Double X Gabfest

This is Slate’s “feminist” podcast, hosted by Hanna Rosin and a rotating cast of commentators. A New York Times article about “the wife bonus” earned most of my attention in this episode. Their conclusion? This thing probably isn’t a thing, but it’s the sort of topic that deserves a legitimate anthropological investigation.

Slate Political Gabfest

Yep. I admit it. I basically just ran through the Slate Panopy Gamut this weekend. The SPG gang offered some nuanced discussion about the “mattress”

RELIGION

Sermons

I listened to sermons from four different ministers this week: John Piper’s exploration of education and friendship with God, Steven Lawson’s explanation of “total depravity,” John MacArthur’s inquiry into self-deception, and Tim Keller’s exegesis of the first part of the Lord’s prayer. The last two were particularly good.