Insufficient Funds: Radiolab

 

Insufficient Funds is a weekly post in which we feature a free, or very close to it, piece of media that you can enjoy without overdrafting your bank account. So if you're low on funds, stay tuned to Cerebral Pop every Friday morning.

Most of the podcasts I listen to are a bit conversational in both tone and pace. Some step it up a little, spreading their topics into segments to better focus the discussion. Then, there are the distinct few who truly produce their shows, editing the conversation in a very deliberate way, adding sounds effects or music, and keeping a tight grip on the message of each show. Radiolab definitely fits in that last category.

Each episode runs about an hour long and is lovingly crafted by cohost Jad Abumrad, who majored in experimental music composition in college. Along with his other cohost Robert Krulwich, Jad takes you along a journey exploring a specific scientific topic for each show. To do so, he assembles interviews with experts on said topic and strings them together with some general hypothesizing with Robert as well as appropriate sound effects.

While this might read hokey on paper, I assure you that Radiolab is nothing of the sort. The interviews are often edited within dialogue to both give a chance for the hosts to boil down the raw scientific jargon to a more understandable state and help create a better narrative with the content. Furthermore, the editing is often stitched together with sound effects taken from appropriate sources, cutting in bird squawks in an episode about animal communication or a man's rasping breath as a story is told about a marathon biker.

What you get in the end is a unparalleled, crafted experience that both entertains and informs. Not only that, but you also get little "shorts" on the podcast feed between major episodes of the radio show. These 10-15 minute episodes explore a topic from one or two perspectives instead of the usual four or five, dipping your toes into an interesting topic that might not warrant an hour's analysis. Either way, Radiolab is a truly unique podcast that's certainly worth checking out.

Find it on the web, on iTunes, or add it to your favorite podcatching software via RSS.