Yikes. Did I lose you? I think I even lost myself a little bit in that title...
This week for class we were given the task of listening to three podcasts, each from a different source. We were assigned Sandbox from Columbia DSL, The Moth from PRX, and This American Life. The act of listening to podcasts is not completely foreign to me, as I really enjoy Ear Biscuits that Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal host each week and have listened to those episodes quite a bit, but these 3 specific podcasts and styles of presenting information were new to me and it was cool to experience them. This assignment gave me a chance to identify what styles I prefer to listen to and why.
The Sandbox episode I listened to, "A Dinner with Frankenstein AI: storytelling, food, & artificial intelligence," was absolutely fascinating. The subject matter as well as the presentation were captivating and (in my opinion) really successful at engaging with listeners. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to their discussion about a project that was executed to explore the concept of man AND machine rather than man VERSUS machine and gaining some insight on the idea of human connection in general. They inform that the project was founded in the idea of artificial intelligence (AI) being a metaphor for Frankenstein's monster, and this entity searching for what it means to be human. After searching the interwebs only to find hatred, toxicity, and turmoil, it wants to look further. Its goal then is to gather people together in real life so that it can observe humanity's behaviors and characteristics in that scenario. All this being said, the gist of their project was to have real dinner parties with real people (not actors pretending to be part of an abstracted/staged dinner party) that would essentially be hosted by Frankenstein AI. Frankenstein AI would then communicate to the guests through earpieces to prompt them conversationally. The podcast hosts discussed how difficult it was at times to program these conversational cues without too heavily forcing the conversation or not guiding it enough and it kind of fading out or breaking off. This project was intended to take the form of interactive, immersive storytelling that is rooted in literature; this would combine something familiar (Frankenstein's monster) with something slightly less familiar (AI) to simultaneously remind people of their humanity and encourage exploration into the idea and application of AI. I really love that the creators of this project utilized and explored the notion of there still being human touch behind AI and appreciate their willingness to present their results and struggles honestly. At one point they mentioned the idea that the way that we as humans interact with technology can design us in a way and that AI should not, in theory, be designed or advanced to devalue human labor. I thought these were really strong philosophical points within their podcast and appreciate these deep-rooted foundations that the speakers seem to want listeners to reflect upon as well. This ended up being my favorite of the three podcasts by far.
The second podcast I listened to from PRX's The Moth was titled "Cartoons, Cleanups, and Close Calls." This episode is a compilation of live recordings from several different people presenting their stories to an audience. One of the speakers talks about a teacher hiring her to come clean her house when she was younger as a sort of peculiarly presented act of charity since she knew that the speaker's family didn't have much money. Another speaker reflects on conversations that she used to have with an elder figure in her life that she called their "moon and stars talks." The last woman I heard speak began to tell a story about being attacked one night on her way home and as it started to turn into the beginning of a rape story I turned off the episode. The podcast was almost over and I already wasn't enjoying it very much so this pushed me over the edge. I fully understand that it may have ended up being a story of triumph or growth with a positive ending, but the potential for what lay ahead was too much and I wasn't in the headspace to listen any further. This is completely a personal preference, but I was not engaged at all with this podcast style. The material as well as the presentation were not successful in maintaining or ever really capturing my attention because of my taste and personality. Being able to distinctly hear audience reactions was a prominent deterrent for me as well because I felt like a disconnected passersby rather than a member of the audience. I really wanted to be engaged but it just didn't happen, and that's okay! That's something cool about this assignment. I even learned a little about myself.
The last podcast that I listened to from This American Life, titled "The Long Fuse," was all about individuals who have said or done something that caused years and years of lasting turmoil. It goes into detail about three separate accounts, the first being a tale of the MSG scare caused by the publication of a letter that essentially stated that MSG in Chinese food was causing a whole bunch of negative symptoms. A scientist named Howard Steel claimed to have written this letter under a fake name (Dr. Kwok) and that he was distressed by its publication because it was all a joke. The kick though was that Dr. Kwok, Steel's supposed pseudonym, was an actual doctor who actually did write the letter. There was great confusion surrounding this, but come to find out, Dr. Steel had simply "claimed chaos for something he didn't create." The podcast states it beautifully; a lot of people crave justification and making amends at the end of their lives, but Steel wanted to stir up trouble instead. They then presented the story of a lawyer who basically created a contest for women to have as many kids as they could within a certain time period by means of his will when he died. They go into detail about some of the awful repercussions and politics of this, and how this exploded into something rather unhealthy and distorted for those involved. The last story they presented was one about a bike race in which two of the competitors had come to a "gentleman's agreement," but one of them backed out and ended up cheating the other to win the race. The speakers go on to say that decades later, the participant who cheated came back to make amends with not only the man he cheated, but the organization in charge of the race's records. Though it took him years to get to that place, he came forward to admit his wrongness and his guilt after all. I really enjoyed this podcast because it came across as thoroughly researched storytime. It was easy to listen true, centered in reality, and clear in its presentation.
As always, thank you for coming by! Below are the links to the podcast episodes I discussed in this post in case any of them sounded especially interesting to you!!
"A Dinner with Frankenstein AI: storytelling, food, & artificial intelligence" from Columbia DSL's Sandbox
~ https://simplecast.com/s/4b8d4f5e?t=0m0s ~
"Cartoons, Cleanups, and Close Calls" from PRX's The Moth
~ https://beta.prx.org/stories/138743 ~
"The Long Fuse" from This American Life
~ https://www.thisamericanlife.org/668/the-long-fuse ~
{Today's mind/heart/soul-healthy challenge: Look for new ways to be intentional with your time and your energy this week.}
*MAKE TODAY STORY-WORTHY.*