Holy NPR!
by Patrick McLean
A chance to have a radio show on public radio? Geeze, wonder if that’s a good match?
Let me know which two-minute segment you like in the comments. (Or which two minutes I forgot to put in the running.)
The Seanachai
Published: April 24, 2007
I totally love your podcasts (and, for that matter, This American Life), so good luck! I would generally agree with the comments already posted – especially the bit where everyone seems to think St. Patrick is good stuff – so I won’t rehash it. But there’s so many good ones, so I’ll add another vote to chorus and say that I also adored “Better Odds than a Bullet.”
Another vote for St. Patrick’s Day
As presented, St. Patrick’s Day is the best. It meets your good words, right order goal. Entertaining and well produced.
But I’m going to go against the flow and suggest you re-work Candy. It’s the podcast I use when I recommend the Seanachai. It showcases both your insight and creativity. It’s commentary and storytelling. One of the posts above suggests that you wouldn’t be in this contest if you didn’t want to sound like NPR. I’dd add that you wouldn’t have named yourself the Seanachai if you didn’t want to be a storyteller. So go with an entry that tells a story.
Most folks who have panned Candy above object to the “warbling,” so why not edit that section to make it clearer?
Starburst?
Four great options! Sticking to them for a moment:
“Candy” is maybe just the tiniest bit weak in the production department. Maybe that doesn’t matter — they’re planning to do that part, after all — but still, best foot forward and all that. Though I must confess that I’ve never heard the whole, but I’ve downloaded it now after this teaser….
I can’t quite get into George, though the title has several overlays of nuance that catch the ear.
Now, maybe I’m just a bit prejudiced, because I had been working on my own St. Paddy’s day blog for months, when you came out with yours and just BURIED me, but I don’t think the snippet of Saint Patrick quite does justice to the whole: you’ve got the high-comedy slapstick “crazy Irish” part, and you begin to bring in the real homage with the Cahill quote, but then you’re chopped off before you can finish painting the weirdly consistent whole. The full ‘cast gets it done, but not so much this snippet.
So I’m seeing Stavrakos as the strongest of these. You nail the contrast between fear and disdain beautifully, you reveal yourself while letting us loosen up and admit our own finitude, and you get it done in two minutes (don’t kid yourself, these guys really care about stuff like that!).
But of your unnominated oeuvre, I gotta say that “Outsourcing the Chicken” is the one pinned to my walls!
#1 Stavrakos
*I* liked it, but I’m not sure it would have a lot of appeal. Literary/historical references might go over well with the NPR crowd though.
#2 Candy
Forgetable. I just listened to it yesterday, and I can’t remember what it’s about.
#3 St. Patrick
I think this is the best of the lot. I’d heard it before, and it kept me engaged until the end. And it’s funny.
#4 Death of a Dishwasher
Ummm….no. I didn’t get the point.
Personally I’d vote for the Santa series (but David Sedaris has a lock on that, doesn’t he?) but I really think you should submit Better Odds than a Bullet. I think that piece is a shining example of your writing, doesn’t rely on your vocal impressions, and is damn good advice for mankind.
St. Patrick’s day all the way. Also, I think you should really consider ‘death of a hard drive’. I think it’s one of your funnier shorts and a good old fashioned belly laugh never hurt anybody.