[Swprograms] Podding Along - Issue 324

[John Figliozzi <jfiglio1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Most radio listening takes place in the car or while doing other things that allow freedom for the ear, but not the eyes and hands.  Podcasts permit a shift of listening time from a set appointment to virtually any convenient occasion.  I do it while “power walking” (most) every morning in what sometimes seems like a vain attempt to diminish the results of sitting behind a desk for 35 years.  The act of putting one foot in front of the other can be pretty monotonous and by “podding along” while plodding along the mind also gets something useful to do.  So it is with the time spent gardening, washing dishes, preparing meals and many other day to day activities.

Podcasting has grown to the point that it can justly be considered a medium all its own.  Therefore, the attempt here has to be to highlight only a small portion of it, just one corner where excellence reigns.

Some of the best radio comes from the public networks of the UK, Australia, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and the U.S.  Apart from the originating program’s web site, most programs are made available through any number of other amalgamation sources such as iTunes and TuneIn. 

Admittedly, these are thoroughly subjective recommendations, but my interests and tolerance for incompatible views are pretty wide-ranging. Here’s another in a continuing series of small samplings, offered in a 90 minute scope (more or less):

__ __

“Courtown Beach, Grace O'Sullivan, Calypso Ship, Daria Blackwell, Ocean Cruising Club” 
SEASCAPES - RTE Radio 1
Fergal Keane visits the popular Courtown beach, which disappeared in recent storms. Fergal meets Green Party MEP Grace O'Sullivan in Courtown. John Litchfield reports from France on the sad demise of the ship the Calypso, owned for nearly fifty years by the explorer & ecologist, Jacques Cousteau.   And Daria Blackwell of the Ocean Cruising Club tells how they are helping ocean going yachts reach their home ports during the pandemic.  (25”)
https://www.rte.ie/radio1/seascapes/programmes/2020/0612/1147172-seascapes-friday-12-june-2020/?clipid=103431862#103431862

“Post-Truth Expertise”
SPARK - CBC Radio One
Do you "trust the experts"? Or rather, in what circumstances do you trust the experts? In a complex world like ours, expertise is important, but specialization and hyper-focus can also get in the way of seeing the big picture. On the other hand, in rapidly evolving situations where the stakes are high and information is thin on the ground, measured expertise can easily be trumped by rumour and misinformation. + Among the challenges facing the world today is an "unprecedented crisis in public understanding," says sociologist Fuyuki Kurasawa. The Director of York University's Global Digital Citizenship Lab says there's an understandable delay between the public's need for knowledge and the response of experts, who are often cautious and concerned that they offer correct information. Into that gap slides social media, where rumors, innuendo, untruth and disinformation run rampant. So how do we address this? + We live in an era of extreme specialization, and have come to rely on human experts, protocols, and technology to help us navigate our complex world. In his book, Think for Yourself, author Vikram Mansharamani argues that while consulting expertise is essential, mindlessly following narrow specialization blinds us to the big picture.  (55”)
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/podcasts/arts-culture/spark/ (scroll to #479)


__ __


A monthly (well, mostly monthly) compendium of these newsletters, plus on occasion additional pertinent material, is now published in The CIDX Messenger, the monthly e-newsletter of the Canadian International DX Club (CIDX).  For further information, go to www.cidx.ca

John Figliozzi
Editor, "The Worldwide Listening Guide”
NEW! 184 page 9th EDITION available NOW from Universal Radio [universal-radio.com], Amazon [amazon.com], Ham Radio Outlet [hamradio.com]
_______________________________________________
Swprograms mailing list
Swprograms@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://montreal.kotalampi.com/mailman/listinfo/swprograms

To unsubscribe:  Send an E-mail to  swprograms-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx?subject=unsubscribe, or visit the URL shown above.