Episode Reviews

Stuck in my mind more than anything else I heard this week, this episode of 99 PI takes a journey into the act of listening. For anyone who enjoys music, podcasts, concerts, theatre, movies or anything with sound, this is amazingly relevant. The episode starts out with the first edition of a new Radiotopia project called Showcase (which will feature short-run podcast specials that aren't full-fledged shows with seasons). Podcaster and musician Damon Krakowski takes the reins in the first installment, dubbed "Ways of Hearing," which recounts a brief history of sound's transition from analog to digital. Even if that doesn't appear to be a thrilling topic, Krakowski integrates narrative expertly and had me on the edge of my earbuds. It's kind of cheating to list this as a single episode, because after Krakowski's piece we are treated to a clip from an old 99 PI. We find a beamishly young Roman Mars circle 2012 introducing a 2006 excerpt from the WBEZ radio show Sound Opinions. This brief appendage to the show deals with music as either a performance piece and a song - essentially whether a sound can be reproduced en-mass by any talented performer, or whether the original author's performative ability dwarfs the inherent genius of the songwriting. It's not always a clear-cut distinction, but it has definitely shaped the way I listen to music!