Audio distraction: podcasts, audio books, radio on demand

I also have to say I’m a huge fan of This Week In Virology podcast - TwiV. Just love listening to virologists and others who *know things* talk over Coronavirus & other virus issues - assessing the current state of play, acknowledging when they get things wrong & calling poor research out.

I find it Quite Interesting, but also helpful if I’m sleepless as while my mind is wrapping itself around fiendish complexities, I can often drop off. Also, have some sense of confidence that there are people out there who really know and understand the COVID issues, including the unknowns- to counterbalance a lot of poor messaging.

Love it that the host, Vincent Racaniello, insists on a strong chat game & reserves the right to be grumpy.

Lots of episodes to catch up on, even if the brain cells can’t compute sufficiently to ‘learn things’.

Link lots of ways to download & links to follow up
https://www.microbe.tv/twiv/

 

Ha ha. I often say that if only I could remember all the things I have 'learnt' listening to podcasts I'd be a very wise person by now. Alas...

 

Yes I will be glad to.

 

This audiobook of Jack Finney's classic 1955 science-fiction novel, "The Invasion of the Body Snatchers," is incredibly well performed by actor Kristoffer Tabori. Tabori is actually the son of Don Siegel, the man who directed the 1956 film version starring Kevin McCarthy and Dana Wynter.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b3BxhbolIZw

[This is the updated version of the book published in 1976. The original edition was simply called "The Body Snatchers." The 1956 film changed the title to "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."]

 

The Annika Stranded series on Sounds is good detective series set in Norway, female lead. 15 min short episodes, narrated by the main character, wry stories, not gruesome. You have to search for them

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/b01pz5jg

 

Working my way through "The Constant: A History of Getting Things Wrong" now. Highly entertaining. I think it would appeal to a lot of people here. Chock-full of scientists through the ages getting things hilariously and/or disastrously wrong. This episode about Franz Mesmer has me wondering if reincarnation is a thing after all, the similarities to some of our favourite BPS peddlers are striking. Plus ça change...

https://www.constantpodcast.com/episodes/mesmerizing

 

This story is short. 5 minutes. Quite entertaining.

Japanese Mosh Pit

https://player.themoth.org/#/?actionType=ADD_AND_PLAY&storyId=1336

 

I've listened to two out of the three seasons of The Lovecraft Investigations, which is billed as "An investigation into witchcraft, the occult and secret government operations." and I've really enjoyed them. I'm not normally one for podcasts but this one has been great, probably helps that the (fictional) subject matter, which is based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft, appeals to my inner geek.

Link to first episode of the first season,
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p06spcbl

They are also available on Spotify and other places, search for "The Lovecraft Investigations".

 

I heartily recommend this:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000s7n1

A 30-minute investigation of the Stockholm Syndrome. I don't want to spoil it, so I'll just say I was extremely satisfied with the conclusion. There are many parallels to our situation, and anyone with ME will find themselves nodding in world-weary agreement by the end.

 

I'll never understand how anyone found this junk convincing, it's far weaker than even the Stanford prison experiment and Milgram's experiment. It's a single case that is completely unconvincing and the facts don't even line up. It takes a completely cartoonish view of human nature to find it convincing. Psychiatrists are so damn gullible it'd be embarrassing if they were capable of it.

No idea if it's the same myths being dismantled but basically the police went in with the intent to fuck things up regardless of what happens so the hostages were basically trying not to get killed in the process, getting the police to just not "resolve" the situation with force after understanding they were written off as collateral damage as an acceptable loss to not "negotiate with terrorists", an approach that has changed massively since, as obviously things aren't ever that simple.

So like every damn piece of psychological mythology of course it was entirely political and a cover-up of malfeasance. You can always count on psychiatrists to pathologize perfectly reasonable behavior simply because they weren't there and don't know the facts. Ironically mixed with another profession that has a conflicted relationship with the truth but an ability to make lies the official version.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1401540552840077314

 

Second episode is about Munchausen's Syndrome by Proxy, and equally good. I have a feeling I'm going to enjoy this series.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000s2kt/episodes/player

 

I've discovered The Loremen Podcast, http://www.loremenpodcast.com/, which is described as

"Loremen is a podcast about local legends and obscure curiosities from days of yore. Join James Shakeshaft, Alasdair Beckett-King & guest comedians as we “investigate” forgotten folklore."

It's definitely not serious analysis of historical folklore, which is why it appeals to me.

 

Since many of you here are interested in critical thinking and cognitive biases, you may enjoy some of these.

1) https://youarenotsosmart.com/podcast (transcripts available for those struggling with audio).

Podcast series which mainly explores cognitive biases in some depth.

Have started listening to some episodes (#211 & #213) about conspiracy theories and anti-vaxx thinking because some in my local community have fallen down that rabbit hole and I'm trying to understand a) how some people end up thinking like that and b) how to best talk to them (via my husband, not up to doing much talking myself).

The podcast did give me some new angles under which to consider the issue. As an unexpected bonus it also gives some insights into certain 'persuasion' techniques. Those techniques can be used for good, as in this case where the goal was to get anti-vaxxers to change their mind. But they sure can also be abused in therapy, spin-doctoring and so on. I found this a little creepy to listen to but I figure it's better to know about these things and recognise them when you're at the receiving end (I once had a GP try the 'motivational interview' technique on me. Not that I had a name for it at the time but I felt distinctly manipulated, something I don't tend to take well. I suspect, as a result, I may now have the judgement 'uncooperative' on my medical record.).

I've only listened to a couple of episodes so far and haven't yet worked out the podcaster's level of skepticism towards psych research methods but overall it looks to be at the more thoughtful end of pop-psych. Certainly lots of food for thought so will be listening to more. There's quite a range of topics and I've already bookmarked episode #194 which is an interview with linguist Gretchen McCulloch, author of the book Because Internet and one half of the podcast Lingthusiasm, which is one of my regulars, language nerd that I am.

Tip: Keep the volume control handy, the music at the start and between segments is way too loud.


2) https://www.daviddylanthomas.com/ (the link from this page goes to Apple but I'm listening on Podcast Addict on Android).

Another cognitive bias podcast is the informatively titled "The Cognitive Bias Podcast". This one mainly has very short episodes (the older ones) that just give a short definition plus a few examples of a particular type of bias. I find them useful as a quick reminder of all the shoddy shortcuts we're all prone to taking with our thinking.

3) https://human.no/erdusikker/opplysningsvesenet---en-podkast-om-selvkritisk-tenkning/ (Norwegian)

And Scandinavian speakers may enjoy this podcast on similar topics: "I denne podkasten inviterer forfatterparet Vibeke Riiser-Larsen og Erik Tunstad en rekke kjente gjester for å diskutere temaer som blant annet kildekritikk, bruk av statistikk, konspirasjonsteorier og kognitive feilslutninger."

 

Well narrated short stories from the 1800's. Mostly mysteries / ghost stories.

They are only about 30 - 60 min each, so even listenable on a lightly fogged day.

https://www.youtube.com/c/BitesizedAudioClassics/videos

 

On BBC Sounds, tucked away, there are 55 episodes of The Boring talks. Hits the sweet spot to occupy the mind, but rarely over-stimulating eg The Taxonomy of Cornflakes, Ice Cream Vans. The one exception so far was Carry On Shakespeare which was an excellent & engaging talk by Samira Ahmed making great & unexpected connections.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/series/p05t3gr2

 

Important consideration! For me this one usually fits the bill, helped further by the speaker having a soothing voice:
The History of English Podcast - the spoken history of a global language.

I started listening to episode 151 today. It mentions the origins of the Royal Colleges in the 1500s, medical turf war shenanigans, and how doctors wanted to keep medical knowledge exclusive to their own ranks and most certainly not have ordinary folks get access to their medical books - all very topical with NICE and all the associated toy throwing. Plus ça change...

It also mentioned that a Middle English term for doctor was 'leech'

https://historyofenglishpodcast.com/2021/08/29/episode-151-sick-to-death/

Transcripts available. Note that since history is involved there are a few heads rolling, and not of the metaphorical kind.

 

So glad @Trish You may also enjoy Clare in the Community - Sally Phillips stars as inept well meaning social worker - whole series is there
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/brand/b006qprs