Podcast of the Week Ending May 16

Decoder Ring :: Gotta Get Down on Friday

Breaking down the cultural phenomenon of the viral YouTube video “Friday” by Rebecca Black, a song that is so bad because it’s almost good.

Planet Money :: Episode 1,000

It’s hard to believe that I’ve been listening to this NPR economics podcast since the LAST global crisis of the Great Recession.  The 1000th episode breaks down how a podcast episode is made.

Radiolab :: Octomom

A fascinating study of a deep-water octopus species where the mother sits to brood her eggs for several years, starving to death in the process.

Twenty Thousand Hertz :: Pew Pew

The secrets of sound design in making Star Wars films.

What Next :: Decoding the Flood of COVID Data

Tips on how to evaluate what you’re hearing about COVID-19 and how it applies to you and your family.  Visit the COVID Explained website for more.

Running Tally of Podcast of the Week Appearances in 2020

• Anthropocene Reviewed – 2
• Afropop Worldwide – 1
• All Songs Considered – 1
• BackStory – 3
• Best of the Left – 2
• Code Switch – 2
• Decoder Ring – 3
• Fresh Air – 4
• Futility Closet – 3
• Have You Heard – 1
• Hidden Brain – 2
• Hit Parade – 2
• Hub History – 1
• LeVar Burton Reads – 1
• Memory Palace – 2
• More Than Enough – 4
• 99% Invisible – 4
• 60-Second Science – 2
• Planet Money – 2
• Radio Boston – 1
• Radiolab – 2
• Risk! – 1
• Science Talk – 2
• Smithsonian Sidedoor – 2
• The Thirty20Eight – 1
• This American Life – 1
• This Day in Esoteric Public History – 1
• Throughline – 6
• The Tomorrow Society – 1
• Twenty Thousand Hertz – 4
• Wedway Radio – 1
• What Next – 6

Movie Review: Violet & Daisy (2011)

Title: Violet & Daisy
Release Date: September 15, 2011
Director: Geoffrey S. Fletcher
Production Company: Magic Violet | GreeneStreet Films
Summary/Review:

Daisy (Saoirse Ronan) and Violet (Alexis Bledel) are young women with an air of innocent naivete who like puppies, lollipops, and the new dress line from they’re favorite pop star.  They are also killers-for-hire who casually shoot down their targets and jump on their bleeding corpses for fun.  Much of the movie suffers from the style over substance emphasis on being quirky and grotesque, as if Wes Anderson took the reins of a mafia movie.  The movie improves some when they are sent to take out The Guy (James Gandolfini), who turns out to be nice – bakes them cookies, talks to them about his daughter, and listens to their concerns.  There is a lot of acting talent that carries this movie, but it can only go so far as the script and the premise is beneath them.

Rating: **