Posts Tagged ‘Little Atoms’

Thursday Listening Party

September 11, 2014

On the Thursdays we don’t release a new AMT, we crank up the spoken word audio and have a Thursday Listening Party.
Click here to attend all previous gatherings.

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Noises from home:

Exciting news: Martin’s got a new album coming out on Saturday! Go here to preview three of the tracks and to buy; it’s £5 to preorder but pay what you want when it is released. Or, if you are a retronaut who prefers your music on a physical format, wait a couple more weeks and then buy one of the forthcoming limited-edition CDs with a handmade papercut sleeve (if you follow Martin on Instagram, you may have seen some sneak peeks).

There’s a new news-themed episode of the Sound Women podcast, in which Olly’s LBC colleague Petrie Hosken tells me how she felt safer nearly getting kidnapped as a war correspondent in Bosnia than as a woman working in British radio. Good times!

Apparently there’s been some Royal News this week? [Shrug] It’s an ongoing mystery at AMT that none of us give a shit about the royal family, and yet questions about them are always fruitful on the podcast. So whether you give shits or not, have a go on the Answer Me This! Jubilee album for an hour of regal hijinks.

Noises from elsewhere:

The show Strangers is always worth your time, but particularly the recent Love Hurts episodes (part 1 and part 2), in which Lea Thau transforms the question ‘Why are you single?’ from an awful thing Smug Marrieds say to a very personal and reflective investigation into why she has been reluctantly single for the past four years. At least, judging by the exes who appear on the show, she’s dated some Good Sports during that time…

From Strangers to friends: I really enjoyed this Woman’s Hour/Men’s Hour collaboration all about friendship. Of course, they cover the When Harry Met Sally adage that men and women can’t be friends, which Olly and I have been disproving throughout our fourteen-year friendship. If you need additional on-air partnerships as evidence, I direct you to the programme’s guest Geoff Lloyd, whose brilliant Hometime Show on Absolute Radio with Annabel Port crackles with sexless tension.

Various AMT friends have been busy piping up this week. Ruth Barnes from Amazing Radio made a terrific Radio 4 documentary about folk singer Judee Sill, who had a beautiful voice and a tragic mess of a short life.

And finally: I was thrilled to hear two AMTpals and primo podcasters team up, when Little Atoms‘ Neil Denny went on Dave Pickering‘s Getting Better Acquainted. They talk about reading books, prayer, and masturbation – all the solitary entertainments, really.

I’m always listening out for shows to try; please recommend some in the comments.

PS In case you missed it: my Bugling brother Andy and I were interviewed by the Guardian about why the Zaltzman family communicates in jokes rather than human emotions. Click here to read it.

Tune in to our various other gigs:

• Catch up on AMT297 and the episodes preceding it.
• AMT episodes 1-170 and the special AMT albums are all available for a piddling little price at answermethisstore.com, and if you buy any of them you’re bankrolling the podcast, for which we are extremely grateful.
• Olly’s on LBC every weekday 1am-4am. Set your alarm.
• I host the monthly Sound Women podcast and am on Let’s Talk About Tech from BBC 5 Live.
• Martin the Sound Man makes numerous other podcasts, including Brain Train, The Global Lab and The Sound of the Ladies.

• ALBUMS • CLASSIC EPISODES • BOOK • iTUNES • SOUNDCLOUD • FAQ •
iPHONE APP • ANDROID APP • FACEBOOK • TWITTER • YOUTUBE • MERCH

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Posted in podcasts other than AMT, Thursday Listening Party | 1 Comment »

Thursday Listening Party

August 28, 2014

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On the Thursdays we don’t release a new AMT, we crank up the spoken word audio and have a Thursday Listening Party.

Noises from home:

In the latest episode of The Media Podcast, Olly’s coming from the Edinburgh TV festival – with June Sarpong! Listen here, or here:

This month’s Sound Women podcast is all about SPOOOOOOOORT, which as you know is my favourite topic…

COUGH COUGH COUGH. OK, you know that really one of my favourite topics is My So-Called Life, and since this Monday was the 20th anniversary of the show, hear me banging on about why I love it on this episode of Little Atoms from earlier this year.

Noises from elsewhere:

• Another TV show for which, over the years, you may have noted my fondness is Twin Peaks, so I’m intrigued by this new podcast Fire Talk With Me, contemplating the show episode by episode. Good luck to them when they hit that three-episode arc starring James Hurley in the second half of series two, amirite?

• When I was at SXSW last year I saw the documentary An Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story, about a man who was exonerated after serving 25 years in prison for murdering his wife. He was a local man, so many people in the audience had been following his case since the 80s and throughout the film were booing the corrupt lawyers and cheering the good guys. Then at the end, when Michael Morton came out on stage along with the lawywer who spent a decade proving his innocence, the audience went APESHIT with joy – screaming, crying, it was truly amazing to watch. The facts of the case are pretty horrific, though; here is Michael Morton talking about them on Outlook from the BBC World Service.

• At the more cheerful end of the spectrum, here’s a sweet episode of 99% Invisible about Ikea Hacking. I’m fond of an Ikea hack myself – in fact the urge runs in the family. Back in the 80s, my grandad used to do such hacks as turning an Argos flatpack black ash bookcase into a desk (he went through an inexplicable black ash phase; such were the times, I guess). A few years ago, before Ikea Hacker was even born, I was working on a daytime TV show and was asked to pitch ideas for a home improvement segment that they could do easily in the studio. I suggested getting a designer to rejig cheap, easily available flatpacks in a slot called ‘Flatpack Revivified’ or ‘Flatpack Chimera’. It didn’t happen, because OBVIOUSLY NO SLOTS ON DAYTIME TV SHOWS ARE CALLED THINGS LIKE ‘FLATPACK CHIMERA’.

But regarding the act itself, grandad and I were clearly way ahead of our time.

By the way, if you’re a big fan of 99PI host Roman Mars, check him out on 100 Words Or Less talking about creating his podcast empire and being a straight-edger.

• Aaaand finally: Radio 4 is repeating the very charming and funny Susan Calman Is Convicted. Get on board.

Learn to make your own noises:

On 20th September you can learn all you need to start podcasting at the Essentials of Podcasting Guardian Masterclass: hardware, software, editing, production, formatting, publicity, building an audience, making a show that isn’t shit, etc etc from the likes of Bugle producer Chris Skinner, Guardian podcast producer Jason Phipps, software inventor Drew White, and meeee. Book your place here.

Which shows have been delighting you lately? Recommend some in the comments.

Tune in to our various other gigs:

• Catch up on AMT296 and the episodes preceding it.
• AMT episodes 1-170 and the special AMT albums are all available for a piddling little price at answermethisstore.com, and if you buy any of them you’re bankrolling the podcast, for which we are extremely grateful. At this time of year, whisk yourself away on the AMT Holiday – a bargain minibreak at only £2.49.
• Olly’s on LBC every weekday 1am-4am. Set your alarm.
• I host the monthly Sound Women podcast and am on Let’s Talk About Tech from BBC 5 Live.
• Martin the Sound Man makes numerous other podcasts, including Brain Train, The Global Lab and The Sound of the Ladies.

• ALBUMS • CLASSIC EPISODES • BOOK • iTUNES • SOUNDCLOUD • FAQ •
iPHONE APP • ANDROID APP • FACEBOOK • TWITTER • YOUTUBE • MERCH

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Thursday Listening Party

May 15, 2014

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YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO ALL PREVIOUS
THURSDAY LISTENING PARTIES.
CLICK HERE TO ATTEND.
B.Y.O.B. AND HEADPHONES

In case you’re interested in podcasters talking shop, we’ve started putting up the full-length interviews we conducted for our podcasting documentary on Radio 4. My thoughts on talking to Maron, Savage, Mars etc al (and my brother) are here.

Long-term AMT listeners will already be familiar with my thoughts upon My So-Called Life, but I aired them at greater length on Little Atoms. You’re very welcome.

Then, in the May edition of the Sound Women podcast, I reflect upon My Brilliant Career coughspluttercough, and also learn about prison radio, headed notepaper campaigns, and how YouTube stars are made (talking about hair, apparently):

Further audiotainment:

I’ve spent much of this week doing a large and very fiddly drawing with a tiny dip pen last used by my grandfather at school. My eyes were busy, but my ears were not, so it was an optimal time redress how lately I’ve been slacking on This American Life-listening duties – so many other shows are influenced by This American Life, it made me take the actual This American Life for granted. But blasting through several episodes, including this week’s Call for Help, brought me right back in. I’ll never leave you again, This American Life!

I chased this with an episode of TLDR featuring Alex Tew, who in 2005 created the Million Dollar Homepage whilst sitting around waiting to go to university. Nowadays the site is a bit of a joke for being a relic of a past internet age, and for being more than 20% dead links – but to me, it’s incredible that it is still nearly 80% undead, and still hauling in money. While I was waiting to go to university, I learnt Italian, which earnt me zero dollars and I’ve since forgotten nearly 100% of it. You win this round, Alex Tew!

Drawing with a dip pen takes a REALLY long time, so I also blasted through two series of Radio 4’s The Ideas That Make Us, which is the kind of radio show that makes you feel cleverer as you listen (like In Our Time) whilst being very fun (unlike In Our Time). (Sorry, In Our Time. Melvyn Bragg, please don’t enact revenge on Bettany Hughes for my offence.)

Recently Woman’s Hour ran a belter of a fashion special, featuring such legends as Celia Birtwell, and Grayson and Philippa Perry; there was the serious business of sustainable clothing and the Rana Plaza disaster, and the less serious business of stripes and how they used to be the pattern of the devil. The more you know, eh?

Lastly, if you’re interested in how writing for TV goes:
Greg Jenner, historical consultant for Horrible Histories, discusses writing historical documentaries and dramas.
Brent Forrester, who has worked on such shows as The Simpsons, King of the Hill, Mr Show and the American version of The Office, talks about the sweaty business of comedy writing.

Housekeeping:

• Catch up on AMT289 and the episodes preceding it.
• AMT episodes 1-170 and the special AMT albums are all available for a piddling little price at answermethisstore.com, and if you buy any of them you’re bankrolling the podcast, so thank you very much indeed.
• Olly’s on LBC every weekday 1am-4am. If you’re an insomniac, a night worker, or in a time zone where those hours are compatible with waking life, tune in.
• On Saturday evenings I’m on BBC 5 Live’s Saturday Edition, available subsequently as the podcast Let’s Talk About Tech.
• I also host the monthly Sound Women podcast.
• Martin the Sound Man makes numerous other podcasts, including Brain Train, The Global Lab and The Sound of the Ladies.

To keep your ears ever busy until AMT290 next Thursday, here are some other podcasts we like.

Requests are welcome at the Thursday Listening Party. No need to dance sexily next to the DJ booth hoping to be noticed, just recommend shows in the comments.

• ALBUMS • CLASSIC EPISODES • BOOK • iTUNES • SOUNDCLOUD • FAQ •
iPHONE APP • ANDROID APP • FACEBOOK • TWITTER • YOUTUBE • MERCH

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Thursday Listening Party

March 20, 2014

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO ALL PREVIOUS
THURSDAY LISTENING PARTIES.
CLICK HERE TO ATTEND.
B.Y.O.B. AND HEADPHONES

 
It’s the showdown podfans have breathlessly awaited for years…

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…No, not Ira Glass appearing on Arsecast: us on Richard Herring’s Leicester Square Theatre Podcast.

Plenty of NSFW laundry being aired there.

Also on the playlist:

• Little Atoms always makes me feel cleverer after listening, like I’ve read a good book. It was a particular treat to hear AMTpal John Grindrod on there discussing his recent book Concretopia, which makes mid-20th century town planning a thousand times more interesting than you thought it could be.
Fun fact: I fainted at John Grindrod’s book launch. Concretopia = the new Beatlemania! Luckily I did not faint whilst listening to the podcast, but I have decided not to attend any more book launches immediately after donating blood.

• Little Atoms presenter Neil Denny also tells a true story on the new Best of Spark London. (And if you didn’t hear me talking about my dead grandparents on another recent episode, I encourage you to click here to do so.)

• Congratulations to the Picturehouse podcast for reaching 200 episodes! The Picturehouse, Brixton Ritzy flavour, is my favourite cinema; don’t make me choose a favourite film podcast between Sam and Simon here and Mark and Simon. NB to make a great film podcast, at least one of you must be called Simon.

• Our friends at Maximum Fun have launched their annual donation drive. If you want to support independent creators of entertainment – and/or you enjoy such shows as Bullseye, One Bad Mother, Sawbones, Jordan, Jesse, Go!, Judge John Hodgman, International Waters and more – do chip in.

Listen to our regular gigs too:

• Catch up on AMT285 if you still haven’t heard whether Nora in Malawi accepted Greg in Baghdad’s proposal of marriage, or why AMT is only one step removed from Olympic gold medal glory (admittedly, that step is quite significant).
• There’re all the retro AMT episodes (nos.1-170), plus our albums, available for a trifling price at answermethisstore.com.
• Olly’s on LBC every weekday 1am-4am. If you’re an insomniac, a night worker, or in a time zone where those hours are compatible with waking life, tune in.
• Every Saturday evening I’m on BBC 5 Live’s Saturday Edition, available subsequently as the podcast Let’s Talk About Tech.
• Martin the Sound Man makes numerous other podcasts, including Brain Train, The Global Lab and The Sound of the Ladies.

No need to shout “Hey Mr DJ! Play my motherjeffing song!” like a twat; if you want to recommend a podcast for the Thursday Listening Party, do so in the comments.

• ALBUMS • CLASSIC EPISODES • BOOK • iTUNES • SOUNDCLOUD • FAQ •
iPHONE APP • ANDROID APP • FACEBOOK • TWITTER • YOUTUBE • MERCH

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Posted in podcasts other than AMT, Thursday Listening Party | 2 Comments »