A podcast series on ransomware from MIT Technology Review and ProPublica. The end of Part 1 automatically leads to Part 4, so I’ll post them in the correct order.
Category: Radio
Hanksy Panky
Tom Hanks is back in the Playtone Records station wagon with a stack of 8-track tapes to give us a break from the January blahs!
Three Christmas Gifts in Five Parts
Last year at this time I pointed out a book I had read, Brian Sibley’s Joseph and the Three Gifts: An Angels Story.
This year the book has been adapted as a BBC Radio 4 play. I can’t embed it here, so it’s linked on this picture.
A young girl in trouble, needing a husband, and he marries her knowing the child is not his. That’s as human as it gets.
From the New Revised Standard Version:
The Birth of Jesus the Messiah
18 Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah[i] took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. 20 But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” 22 All this took place to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:
23 “Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall name him Emmanuel,”
which means, “God is with us.” 24 When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, 25 but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son;[j] and he named him Jesus.
This American Radio Life
Freakonmoics Radio is one of those NPR series with a format patterned after the highly influential This American Life. Stephen J. Dubner’s narration is similar to Ira Glass, who consciously dropped his “radio voice” when starting This American Life. This is irrelevant to the high quality of the program content, but as a former radio announcer myself I find the style a smidgen twee.
After Fun, Fun, Fun
Perhaps taking their cue from the Beach Boys #5 hit “Fun, Fun, Fun” in February ’64, nine months later the Gestures made it to #44 with “Run, Run, Run.”
How could a perfect single like “Fun, Fun, Fun” not make it to #1 on Billboard? What could have held it back? Oh, right. February, 1964.
Cassette Rewind
A favorite bit of audio history is how Bing Crosby made use of technology captured from Nazi Germany. Radiolab has the story as part of its Mixtape podcast series.
Additional details are available from Vox:
https://www.vox.com/2016/5/16/11672678/tape-recording-70th-anniversary-jack-mullin
