Podcasts of the Week Ending May 15

Consider This ::  How One LA Neighborhood Reveals The Racist Architecture Of American Homeownership

The story of a vibrant Black neighborhood destroyed to build a highway is an all too familiar story in the US.

99% Invisible :: Tanz Tanz Revolution

How the Berlin Wall, and its fall, lead to Berlin becoming a center of Techno dance music.

Radio Boston :: New Data On Chelsea’s Guaranteed Basic Income Program

To help struggling people in Chelsea, MA, the city gave them direct cash payments as relief.  Good things happened.

What Next :: The Palestinian Perspective

A rarely heard perspective on the continuing crisis between Israel and Palestine.

What Next :: I Was a Teenager in a Syrian Prison

Omar Alshogre tells his story of being imprisoned for protesting the Syrian regime and eventually becoming a student at Georgetown University.

Running Tally of Podcast of the Week Awards for 2021

• Afropop Worldwide – 2
• AirSpace – 1
• Best of the Left – 2
• The Brattle Film Podcast – 1
• Code Switch – 2
• Consider This – 2
• Fresh Air – 2
• Futility Closet – 1
• Have You Heard? – 2
• Hub History – 2
• Judas and the Black Messiah – Entire series
• The Last Archive – 1
• LeVar Burton Reads – 1
• Lost Massachusetts – 1
• The Moth – 1
• The Memory Palace – 1
• 99% Invisible – 3
• Politically Re-Active – 2
• Planet Money – 2
• Radio Boston – 4
• Radiolab – 2
• Reparations: The Big Payback – 1
• Scientific American – 1
• Seizing Freedom – 2
• Sidedoor – 1
• The Story Collider – 1
• Strong Songs – 1
• This American Life  – 2
• This Day in Esoteric Political History – 2
• Throughline – 6
• Twenty Thousand Hertz – 2
• Unf*cking the Republic – 2
• Unspooled – 1
• Up First – 1
• The War on Cars – 1
• What Next – 3

Movie Review: Palm Springs (2020)

Title: Palm Springs
Release Date: July 10, 2020
Director: Max Barbakow
Production Company: Limelight Productions | Lonely Island Classics | Sun Entertainment | FilmNation Entertainment
Summary/Review:

Let’s get the obvious out of the way:  Palm Springs follows the same basic premise of Groundhog Day where someone is living the same day over and over again on a seemingly infinite time loop. There are some key differences. When the film begins, Nyles (Andy Samberg) is already caught in a time loop attending a wedding in which his girlfriend Misty (Meredith Hagner) is the bridesmaid.  He accidentally pulls a second person into the the loop with him, sister of the bride Sarah (Cristin Milioti).  And the movie has more elements of gross-out and sex comedy than Groundhog Day.

It’s an interesting reworking of a formula, and leads to a perfectly enjoyable romantic comedy.  Nyles and Sarah are initially contentious but grow closer after who knows how many thousands of repeats.  It’s a fun lark, but it’s not likely something I’ll return to.

Rating: **1/2