Here’s what we enjoyed this week. Let us know what you’re listening to, and what you’d like us to feature, in the comments.
The return of Invisibilia
Many podcast fans will already be familiar with Invisibilia, the NPR show that investigates “the invisible forces that affect human life” – and that topped charts as the most popular podcast for much of last year, surpassing Serial. After just six episodes last winter, they left us hungry for more. From the first season, check out How to Become Batman – about a blind man who can ride a bike, and much more – or Entanglement – about the condition of mirror-touch synesthesia, which makes people feel what they see happening to others around them. The first episode of season two, last week, was on a par. With the brilliant Hanna Rosin as a new host, the show tackled social norms: first, through an experiment aiming to mitigate macho culture among workers on a Gulf of Mexico oil rig; and later, through an attempt to change Russia’s cultural aversion to smiling – using McDonald’s. There’s been a lot of fanfare, with more than 200 “listening parties” on launch night. Yes, there’s a lot of hype. But damn they’re good.
• The Personality Myth by Invisibilia
Duration: 57 minutes
Listen here / Subscribe here
Come for the fanfare, stay to learn how McDonald’s cured Russia’s aversion to smiling
US election essentials
If you’re a politics junkie, you might enjoy the recently launched No One Knows Anything podcast from Buzzfeed. Last week, they went inside a Trump rally, asking voters what they felt it would take to truly “Make America Great Again”. The answers often don’t quite add up; there is a lot of white-man-whining – and views as surreally depressing as xenophobia against the Polish in middle America. Here are some of their answers...
Rally attendee: I like that he doesn’t pull any punches, and tells it like it is, and we need somebody like that, absolutely.
Presenter: Who needs to be told like it is?
Rally attendee: I don’t know ... [Pauses]. We have serious financial problems in this world and in our country, and we need to address these issues.
We’re also following FiveThirtyEight’s Elections podcast, which is now airing five-part series Kitchen Table Politics, dissecting what’s at stake in the election for people from birth through to retirement, plus the staple that is Slate’s Political Gabfest.
• Inside a Trump Rally by Buzzfeed
Duration: 33 minutes
Listen here / Subscribe here
Come for the insight into Trump fans, stay if you’re a politics junkie
A Millennial grows up
There’s one of two ways you can feel about this ... you’ll either find it cringily self-aware, or a boldly honest account of what it’s like to “navigate your 20s”. I fall in the latter camp, though it took me a while. As a fellow twentysomething, I try to steer clear of the very word that gives this podcast its name. However, after I got past that, I have ended up seeing it as Megan Tan’s very personal, and brave, account of her coming-of-age in a world of internships, relationships and emotional messes.
It’s in real time, and it’s DIY – but her storytelling is so good she’s recently joined the Radiotopia podcasting network. It will be interesting to see how it develops now that career insecurity is not an issue. The most recent episode is a candid look at friends who fall out when they’re in different financial situations – but we preferred the previous show, Message in a Bottle, an exploration of people like her who feel comfortable sharing intimate details online that they wouldn’t in the real world.
• Haves and Have-Mores by Millennial
Duration: 28 minutes
Listen here / Subscribe here
Come for the coming-of-age tale, stay for the bold honesty
As an extra, we love this illustration by Liana Finck. Let us know what you’re listening to in the comments!
