Category: podcasts

Everything Is Fine Podcast

~ cafebedouin

“As Gen-X women cross the Rubicon of perimenopause, they’re hungry for stories that reflect their experiences. Most OB-GYNs seem mystified by the particulars of menopause. Gwyneth Paltrow would like to Goop-ify it. Even Michelle Obama seems flummoxed by the contradictions of aging.

Enter Everything Is Fine, a new podcast co-hosted by Kim France and Tally Abecassis that nails the experience in all its highs and lows.

France, 56, has a long-running fashion and lifestyle blog called Girls of a Certain Age, and the sort of hip bona fides that only a career launched at Sassy can offer. Abecassis, 46, is a documentary filmmaker who produced the podcast First Day Back (which was featured here in 2017) and was the subject of its first season; she emailed France after reading the latter’s writing on the Cut about her time at Condé Nast (where she was the founding editor of Lucky), vanity, and dressing your age. The two women’s formidable skills as interviewers and journalists create a dynamic discussion boosted by guests like Darcey Steinke, Soraya Chemaly, Ada Calhoun, and Jane Larkworthy.

They have found themselves at the forefront of a new wave of media focused on the topic. “Somebody said to me, ‘It’s a trend,’ and I was like, ‘How could that be a trend?’ We’re here to stay,” Abecassis said. I talked to them about their podcast, ageism, women’s media, and more.

-Jenni Miller, “Everything Is Fine Wants to Change How We Talk About Aging.” Vulture.com. April 17, 2020.

The Everything is Fine website has all the usual suspects to subscribe.

The Last Castrato

~ cafebedouin

“This episode begins (just about) and ends (indeed) with recordings of Alessandro Moreschi – AKA the Angel of Rome – AKA the Last Castrato. His recordings are the only surviving sounds of a tradition of castrated male singers that lasted over 350 years, and mutilated countless thousands of innocent children in the process.”

Ramsey Janini, “Episode 16 – Alessandro Moreschi and the Blessed Knife.” Noise in the Groove. June 4, 2016.

Interesting throughout. The vocals are different in a way that is hard to describe.

Alessandro Moreschi lived to the age of 63. An Italian born in 1870, had a life expectancy of 30 years of age. Perhaps more anecdotal evidence that castration extends life span?

The Portal, Episode 3: Werner Herzog

~ cafebedouin

“In depth and somewhat reverential interview with Werner Herzog, who the host considers to be an unparalleled genius living in an age that might not be chaotic enough to appreciate him — ”what does a Winston Churchill do if there’s no World War Two to win?”. The answer, apparently, is make films: bizarre, varied, brilliant, inexplicable films that challenge narrative and perception. The conversation here ranges more widely than cinema though, with Herzog giving his views on travel, politics and education among other things. Beyond technical skill, an aspiring filmmaker must “read, read, read,” he says (82m16s).”

—”Expanding Brain.” TheListener.co. November 22, 2019.

Food Busker’s Cult Food Stories

~ cafebedouin

“There is a unique collection of dishes in the world that illicit a fervent following from their devotees. Producing almost religious veneration in their preparation and consumption, Cult Foods generate queues, make restaurants and crash Instagram. John Quilter aka Food Busker will take us on a journey to uncover the history of theses dishes. We’ll hear him speaking to friends, experts and fans to find out the whys, the wheres and the hows in an attempt to unpick the secrets to creating Cult Food. John will also attempt to make the dish himself, sharing any pitfalls, funny mistakes and successes along the way.”

—Food Busker’s Cult Food Stories and RSS feed.

Directive

~ cafebedouin

“Beginning of a six-part fiction series about a man working completely alone aboard a spaceship bound for a new planet. His fellow passengers will remain cryogenically frozen for the 20 years it will take for the ship to reach its destination; Frank’s work is to maintain the environment and make sure all is proceeding as it should. Despite his solitude, the show is actually a dialogue between Frank and Casper, the spaceship’s AI. They have an abrasive, dependent relationship, and the progression of the series made me think a lot about where our current interactions with AI tech might lead (12m38s).”

—”Hebrew, Frozen, Dark.” TheListener.co. September 19, 2019.

The Legacy of the Original 9 in Tennis to U.S. Women’s Soccer World Cup Today

~ cafebedouin

“While some sporting brands used International Women’s Day to launch their Women’s World Cup team kits, lawyers representing the world-champion U.S. team were on their way to a California courthouse to file a landmark lawsuit that would rock the sport.”

—Philip O’Connor, “U.S. women’s fight for fairness puts soccer World Cup in focus.” Reuters. March 9, 2019.

It seems like this might be a good time to mention the Original 9, Billie Jean King and women’s tennis: 

“We wanted to be paid equally and we wanted to be treated fairly. Originally we had hoped to partner with the men’s tennis tour and have a unified voice in the sport on a global basis. But the guys wanted no part of it. And not every women’s player wanted to join us.

So we went to plan B.

For a tense few days in September 1970, we sat in a semicircle in Gladys’ home in Houston and debated the pros and cons of breaking away and starting our own tour. For us, everything was at risk. The USLTA (now the USTA, the governing body of tennis in this country) threatened us with suspension and expulsion. The Australians faced an even stronger enemy in their federation. They were told if they signed with us, their playing days were over.

With one unified voice, each of us signed a ceremonial $1 contract with Gladys to play in the inaugural Virginia Slims of Houston. We drew a line in the sand and we put everything we had on that line. It was now up to us to create our own tour, to find a place to make a living and to breathe life into women’s professional tennis.”

—Billie Jean King, “The Legacy of the Original 9.” The Player’s Tribune. August 26, 2015

It’s now 49 years later, and it’s still the same nonsense. But, on a hopeful note, things do change. It’s also great to see women players that have benefited from previous generations, such as Serena Williams, lending their voices to help women in other sports. If you are inclined, you might want to consider adding your voice as well, there are links to FIFA’s social media accounts on its website.

Also worth a mention, there’s a good retelling of Billie Jean King’s story in Good Night Stories for Rebel Girls, read by Jessica Valenti. It’s something little Rebel Girls, or anyone in your life, will appreciate. Recommended.

The Woman on the Ice on Vimeo

~ cafebedouin

“In 1932 a young, Danish woman went as the first Danish nurse to the sparsely populated Greenlandic east coast. She trained as a nurse with the sole purpose of going to Greenland, but she didn’t get to live there for a year. One night she went out into the frozen landscape. She walked out on towards the sea, to the edge of the ice. Here the story ends with her footprints…”

h/t Radio Atlas.