Yellow Fluff

What a cracker of an episode. Jad-Robert back and forth, Oliver Sacks, linguistic sound effects, music, this show appealed to the devotee (um, like me).

The first time I listened was on a train – I don't think I've ever done that before, gone fresh to a episode of Radio Lab in a noisy world of sounds and headphones and inhibition. But my how it grabbed me. I used the pause button when faced with ticket collectors and opening doors (when you see a train at the weekend in Belgium, you don't let it leave without you). I reacted, giggling, smiling and shuddering like I had a bot worm in my scalp, in spite of what the late night Amsterdam and Antwerp crowd might have thought.

It felt like a final episode – until the end leapt up out of nowhere. It is the end of this series, but, it would seem, not the end of Radio Lab.

Somehow this this episode slipped my mind, which is silly cos it's unforgettable! I started the review weeks ago, but forgot to post it. And now it's all over. Sigh. 

Thank you and congratulations to the Radio Lab on an excellent season.

RTÉ Choice

I've been poking round RTÉ Choice, and I like it.

RTÉ Choice is a speech-based station on Ireland's limited DAB digital radio network.

The programming is a mix of RTÉ Radio one material (some is archive, some I can't be sure of), with some top NPR programmes including Morning Edition, Car Talk, and (wait for it now…) Radio Lab. It also includes the usual BBC rebroadcaster fare – World Today and the features strands – and some unexpected, but very welcome programmes: Hancock (which seems to be Hancock's Half Hour), and I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.

So they've done a decent deal with the BBC. Listeners in Ireland are more aware of the domestic programmes than the World Service ones. This mix of BBC stuff will be popular.

Moving across the pond, I admit I'm not sure I've ever listened to a whole edition of Car Talk, so I can't really comment.

Much of the other programming comes from WRN. I expect they've done some sort of deal to get a discount on the carriage of RTÉ's own programmes on WRN.

There are also some Deutsche Welle programmes in there – I don't know if that's as part of WRN or paid separately.

Finally, there are some parts of the schedule marked "RTÉ Choice". Some are just one minute, some longer. They bought one of my two pieces on PRX – the two minute one. 

Have a look at the a day's schedule.

It's available on DAB – which in Ireland, is in limbo, pressed right up against the pearly gates, but still, in limbo. It covers 44% of the population, leaving out cultural cities like Galway and Kilkenny. It's also available online. Probably not going onto Sky Digital I imagine, what with BBC Worldwide rights.

It's a tough time for most broadcasting (though I suspect we're better off than many businesses – more on that in an upcoming post), and I don't know if RTÉ Choice can quite pay for itself. It looks like it might, just about, break even.

The easiest way to get money from rebroadcasting is, unsurprisingly, often objectionable. Five years ago, when I worked at China Radio International, it was suggested that CRI would pay up to €10,000 a month for a good relay in Ireland. But not only were the programmes mostly poo, they were mostly propaganda too, and so might break the license of a European rebroadcaster. I guess the Luxemburgerers and Albanians don't mind.

RTÉ Choice has an online player, and maybe they could add some geo-coded advertising, for listeners using it e.g. as a time-shifted US public radio station.

I welcome RTÉ Choice. It has become one of my choices.

Diagnosis – Radio Lab

For some reason I didn't get to hear all of this episode in one sitting. I ended up downloading it and listening in chunks, to a slightly distorted and over-length version. 

 

The first half took a second listening. It worked very well on the second listen, and superbly on the third. The first time round it somehow didn't move quite right – the stories somehow didn't have enough followability – be it the right mix of liner content, presenter interaction, sense of direction in the listener, whatever. The flat presentation style of the pathology story has been switching me off of late. Ah, did I call it the pathology story? Coz that's not what it started as, it was pancreatic cancer, right? And the medical professional became the proxy for the ordinary, non-medical listener. On the first listen, it didn't seem to carry off the elegant twirl. Somehow. It maybe reflected the human-mess-ness that sparkles when Jad and Robert are on opposing sides of what a revelation means. 

That was rich in the second half, combined with the some other rocks of the show (familiar voices, wonder, highly effective FX, and brain scanners). In contrast to the top, it takes a very common condition – depression – without squeezing the raw spots – sensitive spots, yes; raw spots, no. And inside it there was a sub-story that itself twirled – Sudden Infant Death to radiation to poverty to… diagnosis. It worked.

Emanuel's story: Some would say this was a bit too NPR. Fair to both sides, yet steeped in the mainstream attitude towards disability. In the US, that understanding is far better than, for example, in China – if you want see me fume, do a story that says "只有一个词：勇敢". My mother was a remedial teacher, and I've worked with an autistic colleague who was, if not undiagnosed, at least never stated his condition. Add to that hypochondriac bonding with a BBC studio manager, and I feel autism is a part of my life. Emanuel's story gave me facts about the condition and its status in the US, not an insight into the condition. 

But this story did give me an insight – into Emanuel's life and his family. That was awesome. 

A final note, on the start. A fun tale of domestic damage, dispute, and deception. Kinda pushes a lot of buttons, for a lot of people. Not a winner to stop people switching off at the top… but maybe that's just me.

Winner

I've just noticed that My Father Takes a Vacation was recognised at the Prix Italia. Here's my review of the RTÉ version from yonks back.

From the Prix Italia website: 

RADIO DOCUMENTARY – SPECIAL PRIZE FOR EXTRAORDINARY 
ORIGINALITY 

SWEDEN – SUEDE SR 
MY FATHER TAKES A VACATION 
DIRECTOR: MARTIN JOHNSON PRODUCER: MAGNUS ARVIDSON 
SCRIPT: MARTIN JOHNSON 

This programme moves across landscapes drawn from postcards sent by a 
father who has abandoned his children. When the author was a teenager, his 
mother died of cancer and his father, unable or unwilling to shoulder the 
responsibility for three young children, left home to cycle through Ireland. 
Martin Johnson casts a cool eye on this story of unforgivable desertion as he 
retraces his father’s steps through Ireland. The jury was impressed by the 
restraint and the sophisticated dramaturgy of this piece which never collapses 
into sentimentality. They also commend the technical production of this very 
difficult quest into the past.

Tipping my hat to PRX's Remix Radio blog, this is a funderella and/or geekerama source of sounds.

Quote: 

These are some typical sounds we hear in our data recovery lab. If your hard drive makes noises like these and you are still able to access your files - backup immediately. If you no longer can see the drive please fill out our simple evaluation form to get a fast quote on our data recovery services.
To listen to the sound simply click on the play button(one at a time). It may take some time to load. Click on the drive manufacturer next to the sound button to learn more about common problems these drives experience.
If you want to use these sounds in your music (yes, we have received lots of requests already) - no problem, but please contact us first.

New Today FM website

Oooh the 21st century has arrived at Today FM! The old website was a stinker, but this new one is gorgeous. 

Reasonable audio access on the front page – it's mostly a pop music station so a lot of listen on demand (a la BBC WS) is a bit pointless. There's no social networking like Virgin/Absolute Radio – but this is whooole lot prettier than that. It has some videos too (which I have yet to look at as it's time to fall asleep to Mixtuur). 

Anyway, for the station they are, the first impression is of a humdinger of a site.