The Art of Sound: Radiolab
Now that I’ve been regularly walking in the evenings, I’ve been getting sick of the same songs on my iPod. Enter the Radiolab podcasts. I dread the day when I run out of their archived episodes!
NPR has been playing in my car for years, but I had never caught an episode of Radiolab. There is no set schedule for this program – they come out when they come out. I’ve heard the promos for Radiolab many times, and I always wanted to listen to it. I love Science Fridays on NPR, and I knew this program would be right up my alley.
I am officially addicted. The research stories and anecdotes are well produced and extremely entertaining. I find myself laughing out loud often, usually startling some birds, on my walks. Some of the topics on the show will almost certainly be discussed in this blog – many are just too interesting not investigate further. For example, the short episode “Strangers in the Mirror” detailed the lives of two people with Facial Blindness. These people are incapable of identifying individuals by their faces. After listing, I went online and found the “Famous Faces” test they discussed during the show. That test is part of a collection of many on the Test My Brain site from Harvard University. I ended up spending a few hours testing my brain!
The sound quality on Radiolab is unreal. The show seamlessly integrates sound effects and music into its interview/reporting style format. During some segments, the background audio is just as important as the interview. Honestly, I feel more immersed in the stories when I listen to Radiolab than when I watch TV.
New episodes are posted sporadically on the show’s website and can be heard on your local NPR channel.
