It’s nice when people you like work well together. You get the best parts of each world. Like when “This American Life” works with “Planet Money” to get in-depth coverage of the current financial crisis that truly reaches for the emotional core of the story.
As much as I like the work that happens when they work together, it throws me off when both programs make use of that work. Like the discussion of John Maynard Keynes. It appeared in both the January 30th “Planet Money” and the the January 30th “This American Life.”
I point this out not to criticize, but instead just to mention that I noticed it. In a very low-level way, when I was walking around on my lunch break today, listening to old podcasts.
I had almost gotten hit by a car, because I was paying too much attention to “This American Life,” but rather than turn it off, I just stopped paying attention. Survival instincts and learning instincts are not necessarily the same thing.
Then suddenly, it occurred to me that I had heard this conversation before. Which made me pay full attention again, until I remembered where I’d heard it.
It makes sense, really, that they would both use a segment produced together. Particularly when, as in this case, it’s a good segment. I like learning about the actual lives of the people who are in the news, particularly when someone, like Keynes, is no longer among the living.
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I have that experience sometimes with them, and I get it reflected again since the pieces often show up in shortened form in the newsmagazines. Which on some days (like today) I will hear at least repeated twice. They are slightly different as you go through, if you listen closely – for instance, the PM podcast promised that the TAL Keynes piece would have…music
.
I noticed the music. That’s actually what threw me off, until I remembered what I was listening to in the first place.
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