Podcasts - Part 3

We're winding up the podcast series with perhaps one more post after this. Another pet hate that creeps into the podcast world is dudes doing their research on the the fly. Some of these podcasters will tell you they are looking up wikipedia and skim through the info, reading it aloud while recording then not bothering with editing. This is lazy and not an enjoyable listen. Microphone technique is another huge problem. Some casters will go from inaudible to screaming into the mike, v annoying. Getting shitfaced whilst recording your show doesn't necessarily mean it's going to be entertaining either. After all there is only one Headly Gritter!

STUFF TO BLOW YOUR MIND
From the same network as the enjoyable Stuff You Should Know podcast. This is similar with good introductions and overviews of interesting topics like MSG, coincidence, shame, Satanic Panic, weird snow, MDMA, science of beards etc. Occasionally I feel a bit like I've had fast food for dinner and need a hearty nutritious meal ie. I haven't been fully satisfied with the information presented. That's the nature of these types programmes though, I guess. You can then go and investigate further on the subjects that intrigue you.

STUFF THEY DON'T WANT YOU TO KNOW
As above, this is another podcast from the howstuffworks.com crew. More introductions to topical subjects. They've covered cannibalism, serial killers, devil worshippers, genocide, the internet, North Korea, the war on drugs, the bible, Osama Bin Laden and a bunch of other stuff. This show's a bit more on the conspiracy theory side of things but looking at the information with sane objectivity.

The aforementioned Stuff You Should Know podcast stills rules the roost for this network though, mainly due to the chemistry of the hosts Josh & Chuck.

THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY...
There are some excellent episodes of this podcast. Recorded live in front of an audience at the library I assume. The classic here for music fans is David Fricke interviewing Lou Reed, Mo Tucker and Doug Yule ex-members of The Velvet Underground in 2009. Other episodes include John Waters on his book about hitchhiking Car Sick, Matthew Wiener creator of Mad Men, Joan Didion, Patti Smith, Debbie Harry & Chris Stein, Laurie Anderson, Jay-Z, Timbaland, Russell Simmons & Rick Rubin on Def Jam and many more.

THE PROJECTION BOOTH
Along with Daughters Of Darkness this is the finest film podcast my ears have come across. Mike White & his co-presenters articulate their knowledge of film with great finesse. The high quality of this show reminds me of Film Buff's Forecast, the brilliant long running 2 hour radio show on Melbourne's 3RRRFM. Every podcast instalment of The Projection Booth I've listened to has been terrific. Who knew Bruce Dern almost made the American olympic running team?

One of their outstanding projects was the 4 hour epic VHS Extravaganza followed up a month later with a 2 and half hour episode The Revenge Of VHS. This double feature of podcasts was a fascinating look inside the resurgence of VHS culture, video collectors, documentaries about VHS, nostalgia for video shops, clam shells, cover art and everything else in between. At over 6 and a half hours it's a testament to The Projection Booth team that I didn't get bored.

An episode on Let's Scare Jessica To Death was first rate as director John D Hancock was interviewed along with Lee Kalcheim who wrote the original script. Who knew this underground movie was a multi million dollar success?

Their discourse on Two-Lane Blackop was a marvellous episode too as it contained an interview with the film's director Monte Hellman.

I could go on and on.....In fact there's something like 300 episodes of this podcast so that should keep any film aficionado going for a very long time. Obviously this is highly recommended for those willing to go really deep into Movie culture.

HENRY & HEIDI
No matter what you may think of Henry Rollings (sic) there's no doubting he can spin a good yarn. Here he co-hosts a podcast with his manager Heidi May who is the yin to his yang. So if you can stomach listening to the man prattle on, there will be much here for you to enjoy. They recorded just 15 episodes of this podcast over a 6 month period in 2015. Hear tales about Hubert Selby Jr., William Shatner, Rollins Band, Lollapolooza, Charlie Sheen, California, acting and RuPaul. Who knew that there was an unreleased musical collaboration between Hank & RuPaul from the 90s?

Scared Jessica