Give Issac Chotiner subpoena power

My co-host Britta and I did a two part re-evaluation of the podcast Startup a year ago (the 10th anniversary of the release of that podcast), and we found—especially in the second episode in our series “Suitcase Full of Cash”—that the show now comes across like a Greek tragedy. tinyurl.com/5xbf589x

I know it’s not a solution, but this is part of why my co-host Britta Greene and I launched our podcast Phonograph exactly a year ago. Someone needs to argue for the value of narrative podcasts. Why not us? Our episode about Signal Hill is a good example: pod.link/1438655330/e...

If the rock musicians of the 1960s had been hired to make music for the record companies of the era, and then after a decade they were all laid off, that might approximate what’s happened to narrative podcasters. Super depressing, but my hope is that folks might start making their own music again.

@thehighsign.bsky.social Your question about Napoleon reminded me of how much I enjoyed Tolstoy's portrayal of him in War and Peace, where right from the first page he looms Trump-like over dinner party conversation. And later Russian aristocrats have to try to stop speaking French in protest.

So nice to see @laurenpassell.bsky.social texting the latest episode of Phonograph to friends (and writing such nice things): "Like putting someone’s (sharper) ears over my own, someone who knows what’s going on layers beneath the surface." podcastthenewsletter.substack.com/p/dead-inter...

@agoldman.bsky.social You might’ve seen me posting about this, but I wanted to be sure I shared with you this episode of my podcast where we delved into four episodes from the early years of @99pi.org, ending on Heyoon, among my favorite episodes of all time. www.anxiousmachine.com/phonograph/2...

I've always thought @kottke.org and @99pi.org were kindred spirits of a sort. So it's super cool to see my podcast episode about the one on the website of the other. If you have any interest in @99pi.org, I really think you'll enjoy this show.

@myke.social I feel like there’s a chance you might enjoy this episode of my podcast where we dig into the early years of @99pi.org. Sort of like an Incomparable episode, but about a podcast. Or that episode you guys did about the iPhone launch with clips. overcast.fm/+AAPC1ej4JvE

@juliaturner.bsky.social Considering your interest in both design and podcasts, there's a chance you might enjoy this episode of my podcast, where we do a deep dive into the early years of the show 99% Invisible, which is coming up on its 15th Anniversary: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/p...

I wonder if we’d benefit from a term for work that’s produced without generative AI. Maybe “organic”? This bookstore only sells organic books. I only listen to organic music. This podcast only uses organic, host-read ads. Our school uses an fully organic curriculum. Something like that?

This reminds me of how I’ve always wondered if male writers — from Hemingway to Updike — *were* misogynists or if they were just *describing* misogyny. The answer is both. Not unlike Conrad’s relationship to colonialism. Men are endlessly fascinated by the corrupt systems to which they belong.

I will never forgive TAL for choosing Iowa over Minnesota.

For the latest episode of Phonograph (with the approach of @99pi.org's 15th anniversary) Britta and I dig into four very different episodes from the show's first four years. And I couldn't resist telling the story of the time I met @romanmars.bsky.social. www.anxiousmachine.com/phonograph/2...

Anyway, @99pi.org was one of the first podcasts I fell in love with, and I think this episode of Phonograph is a really fun celebration of that show’s early years. I hope people check it out.

For the latest episode of Phonograph (with the approach of @99pi.org's 15th anniversary) Britta and I dig into four very different episodes from the show's first four years. And I couldn't resist telling the story of the time I met @romanmars.bsky.social. www.anxiousmachine.com/phonograph/2...

This is true of every work of art made by an independent artist. Unless you want "big algorithm" to decide what stories get told or what music gets made, etc., *be* the recommendation engine you want to see in the world. (Says the guy who keeps meaning to post more recommendations on social media.)

Totally agree. And reminds me of my personal belief that podcast criticism would be simpler if we could all agree on the four basic podcast categories: Talk Shows (conversations and interviews), Commentary Shows (analysis), Documentary Shows (true stories with tape), and Audio Drama.

Does anybody remember a vintage episode of @99pi.org that ends with @romanmars.bsky.social stringing together a series of conversational abbreviations like "OMG"? (Asking for a friend who makes a podcast about podcasts.)

@michaelhobbes.bsky.social I had to give you and @yrfatfriend.bsky.social a shout out on the latest ep. of my show, where we dissected the podcast “We Were Three” about the effects of Covid and Covid denialism on one family. Your Covid Conspiracies episode was top of mind. pod.link/1438655330/e...

Sometimes I wonder if I’m the number one fan of this song by the Walkmen. It’s weird to love a song so deeply and yet to understand why few other people would love the same song. youtu.be/50J1mfS6b_4?...

One of my favorite parts of this episode is when Britta and I discuss the moment Nancy Updike confesses, out of nowhere, how much she misses smoking.

With this episode we're also launching an experiment in the form of a Patreon bonus feed. On Phonograph we talk about audio stories; our bonus feed will feature *examples* of audio stories, starting with a story from me about grocery shopping in the early days of Covid. patreon.com/Phonograph_p...

My self-serving advice this weekend is to take a break from the news, listen to Nancy Updike's devastating podcast "We Were Three" (if you haven't yet), and then listen to me and Britta digging deep into both that show and why we love Nancy Updike so much. www.anxiousmachine.com/phonograph/2...

One thing to believe that local journalism is necessary for a functioning democracy; quite another to hear in detail how local journalists literally save lives. The latest ep. of @brihreed.bsky.social's Question Everything is essential listening. And fucking riveting. pod.link/1765799296/e...

Has anyone subscribed and listened to any of the TAL bonus content yet? This is the first tease that tempted me.

Sometimes I worry that with the current state of narrative audio, Britta and I could run out of things to talk about on our little podcast. And then I see things like this and it gives me hope. I wish I could buy this archive like a Criterion Collection boxed set.

People should be excited about @signalhillfm.bsky.social the way they get excited (or at least *used to* get excited) about an incredible debut album from an incredible new indie rock band. Could be the album of the year. Banger after banger after banger.

Just finished War and Peace (oddly relevant to this moment) and what I loved most about the ending was how the weird and flawed the main characters are still struggling— even in the midst of post-war tranquility — to restrain themselves from getting angry about stupid things. That's true realism.

The reason I’d love a Letterboxd for podcasts is that instead of top charts, I wish there were some place that encouraged and surfaced entertaining user reviews, user curated lists, and made it possible to follow other users who share similar tastes. It might not possible, but a guy can dream.

Now that this episode is on their main feed, I’m sharing this clip again. The true test of rapport between podcast hosts is whether they remain entertaining (or become even more entertaining) in the midst of a diversion.

Where’s the Letterboxd for podcasts? Someone should build that.

Imagine if the leaders of the audio industry were building a new generation of audio makers and listeners. Imagine if these people actually cared about what they were making.

Nice to see a shout out to @signalhillfm.bsky.social and Phonograph’s epsiode about @signalhillfm.bsky.social in @laurenpassell.bsky.social’s newsletter podcastthenewsletter.substack.com/p/gretzky-su...

A bit shocked to hear @marcmaron.bsky.social is retiring his podcast this fall. On today’s episode he makes jokes about feeling guilty for helping unleash the manosphere, but to me he demonstrated how an unbounded, audio-only interview could help even the most guarded public people drop their masks.

Here's our Issue One contributor crew. We all worked so hard on the first issue of Signal Hill, and we want to keep making more. Sign up to be a monthly donor ($6/month) at www.signalhill.fm/support. And just this week, donors at ANY level get a one-of-a-kind t-shirt. Don't wait!

The most important takeaway from this second Lab Leak episode of @ifbookspod.bsky.social Mile High Club. (Incidentally, is there a better bonus feed than the Mile High Club? I love that their bonus content is merely applying their sensibility to things other than books.)

One of the reasons I’m so excited about the podcast @signalhillfm.bsky.social is that I’ve long wished more indie podcasters would form teams instead of going it alone. On this episode of Phonograph, Britta and I talk about what this amazing team has created. pod.link/1438655330/e...

I love the idea of helping a new show find an audience. @signalhillfm.bsky.social is not exactly obscure (they've had a story on @radiolab.bsky.social), but I still think fans of narrative podcasts will enjoy learning about the entire scope of their audio magazine project. pod.link/1438655330/e...

Having started Phonograph last summer, Britta and I couldn't have known how inspiring and restorative it would be to focus so much time and attention on audio stories we love. Tomorrow we share perhaps the most inspiring episode yet (to us anyway) about the amazing @signalhillfm.bsky.social.

Joel Lovell is a fascinating character in the history of TAL contributors over the years: a former editor of the show who pops up to tell stories about pretending to be a vegetarian or employing a questionable accountant. And he's the reporter behind the incredible "Crispy with the Rock" story!

Outdoorsman persona.

As narrative podcasts have retreated to the audience safe territory of true crime, one of the more subtle changes is that music and sound design have become more perfunctory and uninteresting. Nobody's taking sonic risks anymore.

I couldn't focus on grading papers, so I took out my fancy new fountain pen and wrote in my journal, "I'm going to sit down at my desk right now and grade some papers." And writing it down made me do it. I've invented a new form of productivity. Get me a book deal!

The telling moment in this excerpt (as someone who teaches writing), is when the student weighs her enjoyment of writing against getting a good grade. We can blame ChatGPT for *how* these students are avoiding the work of learning, but we long ago taught them to value something other than learning.

Do we already have the Linux or Wikipedia equivalent of AI? If I have to use it, I think I’d prefer to be using that, right?

I just want to highly recommend Phonograph after giving just one episode a listen. I can’t wait to hear more and then listen to the full stories being featured. Thank you!

I also just want to say that this episode begins with one of my favorite openings we’ve ever recorded for the podcast: Britta’s story about how the only time she ever really prayed growing up was when she prayed to her childhood cat.

I feel the need to acknowledge (as I didn't really in this episode) that this story "Pray," which I first heard in 1998, was *the* story that made me want to make radio. And it's just amazing that more than a quarter of a century later, I got to share with the person who made it how much I love it.

In 2019 Britta and I recorded 3 episodes of our podcast that we never released. We finally released one of those episodes this past October. Today, we release the second, a discussion of @alixspiegel.bsky.social's story about prayer for This American Life. phonograph.libsyn.com/i-dont-know-...