Review: NPR: Pop Culture

NPR (National Public Radio) is responsible for hours upon hours of programming ranging from politics to pop culture. Often thought of as a station for the upper class requiring a college degree to even understand what they are saying, this particular podcast series puts the "Public" in National Public Radio. Since it isn't all Top 40 and tabloid current events, the events that they cover are made up of things you never would have heard about otherwise. Every episode of this podcast is comprised of clips from other shows on NPR's broadcast station.

Podcast: NPR: Pop Culture
Episode Title: NPR: Pop Culture for Sunday, 23 Apr 2006
Length: 26 mins 43 secs
Date Recorded: 4/23/06
Podcasters: NPR
Audio or Video: Audio
Quality: Good
Language: G
Website: www.npr.org

This episode begins with a segment on a 2 Disc CD collection of the rarest early blues and country records called "The Stuff Dreams Are Made Of: The Dead Sea Scrolls of Record Collecting." Debbie Elliot from NPR's "All Things Considered" interviews Richard Nevins, President of Yazoo Records. They play a couple of clips from the CD including a recording by the "Kentucky Ramblers" recorded in the late 1920s that no one knew existed until it was found by pure chance. They discuss collecting, the questionable sanity of record collectors, some of the songs that are on it and how they were found. Both Nevins and Elliot have a warm playful tone and a good back and forth. They give you enough information to decide if this is something worth seeking out if you're interested, but don't dwell too long if blues and country just aren't your thing. The whole segment only lasts about nine and a half minutes, and the time flies right on by.

The next segment is on a new Turner Classic Movies documentary called "Stardust" about the life and times of Bette Davis that launches an entire month of her movies on the station. They cut together clips of dialogue of the interviewees from "Stardust," talking about Davis. Scott Simon from NPR's "Weekend Edition" then interviews the director, Peter Jones, and actress Gena Rowlands. Rowlands talks about meeting Davis for the first time and how Davis called her a "big tall moose." Jones discusses the story Davis told about why she wasn't in "Gone With The Wind," the hatred between Davis and Joan Crawford on "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" and how she was an actor first and a movie star second. Rowlands talks fondly about how Davis was headstrong and full of life even toward the end of her life. Between Jones and Rowlands, a sense of the tone of the documentary comes across. Being the film geek that I am, I set my Tivo to record it after listening to this.

Next Scott Simon interviews Janet Shprintz, who is covering the Anthony Pellicano case for Variety magazine. Pellicano and six co-defendants have been indicted on 112 counts of wire-tapping, bribery and conducting illegal wiretaps. Shprintz lists off some of Pellicano's "victims," which include Sylvester Stallone, Gary Shandling and Mike Ovitz. Ovitz and Brad Grey also seem to have hired him to spy on various celebrities as well. Pellicano was mainly hired to dig up dirt on celebs to later be used against them. Things that scandals are made of – sex, drugs and rock'n'roll. Shprintz talks about the origin of the case, which was all brought to light while a reporter was investigating possible mob ties to Steven Seagal. This is a nice little recap of the story, which has been plastered all over the tabloid news lately.

The episode ends with Sarah Hepola discussing ending her blog on NPR's "Day to Day." She reads sections from her article in "Slate" magazine where her last blog entry was announced. She explains that she used blogging as a way to write everyday and work up the courage to someday write a novel. Unfortunately, that backfired and she found blogging kept her from writing her novel instead of inspiring it. It was just a giant distraction. Book editors approached her, but quickly disappeared when she didn't have anything more to show them. Eventually, it got to be too much and she quit. She equates it to losing a traveling partner, someone she could to turn to and share a thought. It's an interesting look at blogging and the reasons why people do it.

Download this Episode: Yes
Subscribe to this podcast: Yes
Episode Grade: A "Worthy of sibling's reputation"

If you would like to read more of an overall review of the entire podcast series, please click HERE.

Please come back and check out the comic book podcast reviews next Tuesday and don't miss the interview with Lene Taylor from "I Read Comics" available here next Thursday. And thank you for your support.

Powering off.