I remember that 99pi episode. (Too bad that podcast turned into overproduced muck.) Pretty cool how he went to great lengths to get his design up to spec, especially when spec means a 135 page government document that has literally no images or designs in them.
Huh. 99PI has become overproduced muck, hasn't it? I used to love it, and I was a regular listener. I've always felt that Radiolab was the worst podcast for overproduction...But 99PI started following their format, and I never thought about it hard enough to notice Weird epiphany to have, and a weird context too...Oh well. If you have any podcasts that scratch that itch but with less fanfare, I'm all ears!
I stopped listening somewhere around episode 190. There was this transition from “super nerdy niche things Roman Mars enjoys” into a much more mainstream set of topics by other reporters who were interchangeable. I’d love to be proven wrong, but generally a show that makes a push for a much wider audience doesn’t ever get back. I will admit I still have a huge soft spot for the earlier Radiolab episodes. They are overproduced to a fault, but it’s in such a way that I get swept away by their stories like almost no other podcast does. Man, I do miss those kinds of podcasts, the ones that plunge you into some small corner of our amazing world. Closest thing I’m a fan of now is John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed, which incidentally was also featured on 99pi recently.
Truth. Imo they hit their peak right before that, though. Episode 114: Ten Thousand Years is probably my favorite. It's the one where they talk about designing warnings for a nuclear waste dump-site that even stone-age tribes of humans would understand as meaning 'Danger!' I used to like Radiolab as well, but I can't say I have any particular set of episodes I love. I checked out during an episode on high school debate, and never checked back in. That sounds interesting, but I've never really been a John Green fan! Is it different than his usual content? If so, I might check it out.
That may have also been the episode I quit Radiolab, funnily enough. AR strikes for me a very good balance of interesting facts and personal stories. The weight is on the latter, for the better. My favorite episode is the one about Indianapolis / Love at first sight, which is pretty representative of the rest. I like John as a person too much to properly judge if it’s also a good listen for someone who isn’t me, I’ll admit.