[Swprograms] Podding Along - Issue 417

[John Figliozzi <jfiglio1@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Podcasts are a great development in the history of radio because they permit a shift of listening time from a set appointment to virtually any convenient occasion.  I do it while “power walking” (most) every morning when weather and my own psyche permit.  Indeed, were it not for podcasts I doubt I would have found any other inspiration for putting in these miles as long as I have.

Hence…Podding Along!

Some of the best radio comes from the public networks of the UK, Australia, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and the U.S.  While there are hundreds, perhaps thousands, of great podcasts from other sources, the ones sponsored via public radio have been vetted though the worthy objectives of the medium. 

Furthermore, I personally curate this continuing series of small samplings that are listed in more or less 90 minute helpings. Admittedly that makes these recommendations somewhat subjective.  But, as you will see, my interests are many and my tolerance for incompatible topics and views are pretty wide-ranging.  I hope you will find these suggestions helpful in enhancing your enjoyment of radio.

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“Paul Wolfowitz on the 20-year war as the Taliban reclaims Afghanistan”
BETWEEN THE LINES - BBC Radio 4
Nearly 20 years ago, the 9/11 terror attacks on the US shook the civilised world.  Washington and its allies, including Australia, intervened in Afghanistan to drive out the Taliban which had harboured the plotters of the attacks, and rebuild the nation.  Yet last weekend, the Trump-Biden withdrawal of US forces led to disaster as the Taliban took back control.   Does responsibility for this crisis go beyond Trump and Biden?  And what happens next?  Guest: Paul Wolfowitz, former President George W. Bush’s deputy secretary of defence.   (29”)
https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/betweenthelines/paul-wolfowitz-on-the-20-year-war-as-the-taliban-re-claims-afgh/13502288

“Record Shattering Weather”
THE SCIENCE HOUR - BBC World Service
July 2021 saw temperatures in the western US and Canada smash previous records by 5 degrees. And that’s what we should expect, according to a study prepared much earlier but published, coincidentally, just a few days later. A hallmark of rapid climate change, says author Erich Fischer of ETH Zurich, will be an accelerating number of record-shattering, and socially disruptive, events. 
A large new study on communications and hierarchy across a large range of our ape and monkey relatives has just been published. Lead author Katie Slocombe of the University of York explains the findings: like us, the primates live socially in groups, and there are leaders, but the more tolerant ones are also the more communicative ones. In species with ‘despotic’ leaders, order seems to be maintained with more menacing silence. 
The double helix of all DNA on earth twists in one direction. But researchers at Tsinghua University in China have made some important steps towards making mirror life, in which the DNA twists in the opposite direction. Chemistry journalist Mark Peplow discusses the significance of this discovery with Roland Pease. 
One of the benefits of science’s ability to read normal DNA has been to compare human genomes from across the globe – for example in the Human Genome Diversity Project –for what they reveal about both our health – and our past. But sequences from the Middle East have been sadly lacking. The Sanger Institute’s Mohamed Almarri and colleagues have just rectified that, saying that the Middle East played such a key role in the human story.
Today, up to 3 billion people around the world play video games, from candy-based mobile puzzles to virtual battlegrounds filled with weapons. Many people have turned to gaming during the pandemic as a way of staying connected – but what does science really say about the impact of gaming?
Does playing violent video games lead to violence in the real world? Do brain training apps really work? How much gaming is too much – can video games really be addictive? And how can video games help us to explore difficult issues like death, grief and loss?
Alex Lathbridge and Anand Jagatia look at the evidence and play some games along the way, speaking to psychologists, doctors and game designers about the power of video games to change us - for better or worse.  (65”)
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/w3ct1yvj

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A monthly (well, mostly monthly) compendium of these newsletters, plus on occasion additional pertinent material, is now published in The CIDX Messenger, the monthly e-newsletter of the Canadian International DX Club (CIDX).  For further information, go to www.cidx.ca

John Figliozzi
Editor, "The Worldwide Listening Guide”
Current 184 page 9th EDITION available from Universal Radio [universal-radio.com], Amazon [amazon.com], Ham Radio Outlet [hamradio.com]
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