Episodes on episodes
Fast food jingles, noisy restaurants, running ukulele, what's real, politics & AI, pretendians
I keep toying with different ideas for what to include in the sweet treats section at the bottom of this newsletter. It started as a collection of links, mostly to tweets or articles. It evolved to include many more TikTok links once I weened myself off of Twitter. And today I’m filling it with more podcast recommendations. Sometimes there are more things that I listen to but can’t quite find the words or time to write about them. But I still find myself thinking about them or wanting to share them. This is one of those times, so I wanted to share extra episode links this week. Maybe that section will become a mix of random links and episode links because there are often episodes of my favourite ongoing shows that I want to highlight without always talking about the same shows. Thank you for coming to my Ramble Talk.
This week’s podstack
To whoever thought of this collab between Switched on Pop and Gastropod - I like the way you think. It could be difficult to imagine how a show about music and a show about food could team up, but across two episodes they proved it’s possible and it’s really fun! On Switched on Pop’s feed, the team of hosts came together to discuss jingles from fast food restaurants. Why are they made the way they are? What’s changed about them? Which ones stick in everyone’s brains the most? There are some surprising names who have worked on restaurant jingles, but not just anyone can make a good jingle. Plus, they have to touch on the creation of sonic logos (think the bell sound for Taco Bell). Then on Gastropod’s feed, they figure out why restaurants are so loud these days, what’s being done about it, and how different music or playlists impact our eating. I’d listen to an even deeper explanation of the sound science (my term, not theirs) that goes into making the acoustics of a restaurant less overwhelming - it’s so thorough!! This investigation also tells us a lot about the ways dining habits have changed over the years and where the trends are headed. Next time you’re at a restaurant and listening to the sounds, you’ll think of this episode.
I didn’t seek out this episode myself. The episode I was listening to ended and my hands were busy washing dishes, so Spotify auto-played this for me next and I’m glad it did! I don’t think I would’ve listened to this episode otherwise, but it has an absolutely delightful story. In order to help raise funds for a theatre company in Ottawa, Hugh Neilson is training to run his first marathon while ALSO playing the ukulele the whole time. Not only is it a unique story to find, Hugh brings so much character to it. He doesn’t take himself too seriously and has so much fun sharing the playlist of songs he’s planned out for each part of his run. He also recounts some of the reactions he’s received as he’s been running with his ukulele to train for the big race. In another time, I’m sure this story would also exist as a quick segment on the local news or a radio interview, maybe a story in the local paper, but thanks to this podcast feed I got to stumble upon it and share it with you!
How to Know What’s Real - How to Know Who’s Real
This feed from The Atlantic always has the most fascinating series and this new one is no exception. The question of what is real, as we’re living in an extremely digital and online world is a big one to answer. In the first episode they make the comparison that we’re kinda in the adolescent years of the internet. For humans, adolescent years mean a lot of changes, growth, and thinking about the future. And that’s a lot of what we’re experiencing with the internet right now. They also discuss what it means to form a parasocial relationship with someone you know from online (and who might not know you) and why we tend to do this. It’s not necessarily a new thing for us to do, but the new access to many more people than society has ever known is changing everything about the way we experience the world. I might have to listen to these episodes more than once to wrap my brain around it. (transcript)
Moral Repair - Political Strategies & AI
I’ve been listening through to the new season and the previous season of Moral Repair and I’m loving the deep way they think about technology. An episode about holograms could get so technical, but they’re able to bring the human, ethical, and pros and cons of it together so beautifully. Keisha and Annanda have been looking at government and political systems so far this season and it’s making me realize the ways that these institutions impact technology. It feels especially important to understand the relationship between political strategies and AI, so I’m very glad they covered it in episode two. What is the moral injury that can occur as a result of voters losing trust in the system because technologies have taken advantage? Who is held accountable? What is an ethical win in the eyes of the public when that win involves the use of AI? We know that using AI in different parts of our lives carries varying degrees of concern, but when it comes to its use for political campaigns, voting, and public debate it can have much more serious repercussions. When we talk about the degraded quality that AI can cause in public debate, we can turn to the places where a lot of low quality AI things have been created for a while - that’s in sports, fashion and finance. This episode really showed me the urgency of this problem! (transcript)
Pretendians - Interview with a Pretendian
If you aren’t familiar with the term ‘pretendian’, this show and this first episode are an extremely strong introduction. Not only do hosts Robert Jago and Angel Ellis catch you up on the history of people pretending to be Indigenous, they’re also sharing an interview with someone who has been thoroughly investigated for being a pretendian. Despite the title, I went into the episode not realizing that they were going to have an actual interview with "Grand Chief" Guillaume Carle and it had me reacting out loud to the things he said. As you listen, you’re balancing between wondering how the heck this guy is going to explain himself and how Robert will question him or try to get real answers out of him. The discussion between Robert and Angel after that interview also gives you a glimpse at how Robert was really feeling while navigating this difficult discussion.
More sweet treats
Featuring some quick hits to snack on this week!
This recap of an elaborate hack that was recently avoided, makes you realize just how fragile the internet and some of our biggest online systems are.
The backlash against ESG is escalating and this is what it says about the future of investing, climate change, and who needs to adapt.
Listening and re-listening to these insights on sleep health and the importance of movement in our every day.
Thank you for reading! If you listened to something this week that made your heart sing, your imagination wander, or your brain ponder, I’d love to hear about it!