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How do you create a piece of music that excites for hours and that can automatically adapt to what happens in the world it helps create? A fascinating dive into sound design for video games.
A collection of some of the best links from around the web, manually curated.
A brilliant, detailed musical analysis of arguably the most popular song in the world, with one billion plays a day (!) at its peak: the Nokia ringtone. Yes, that one. This is an older and somewhat atypical episode of my new favourite podcast, «Switched On Pop». A musicologist and a songwriter go deep into the anatomy of popular songs (usually not ringtones) and explain what makes them hits and «help listeners find a-ha moments in the music». They are at their best when they cross-examine songs – like in «Hotline Hello: Drake and Adele».
Inside the curious world of the «Mutilated Currency Division». I wasn’t aware of this: You can send in destroyed money (meaning: burned, shredded, digested by a cow, even) and if those people can establish it’s real money, you are reimbursed.
Days before he was scheduled to die, John Shields had a surprising idea. He wanted to have a wake for himself. And he would be there. Alive.
I was completely hooked on season 1 by Serial. I fell out of love in season 2. Now S-Town, not exactly season 3, but a co-production by Serial and This American Life, sounds very promising again. Will drop as a binge-able bundle on March 28.
You’ve probably heard the news: 2016 has been the hottest year on record. For some context, I highly recommend this hour-long interview with Elizabeth Kolbert, one of the best-known writers on climate change, who won a Pulizer Prize for her book «The Sixth Extinction». Enlightening and trenchant. The quote that stuck in my mind: «We live in yesterday’s climate.»
What if you countered islamic radicalisation with…empathy? That’s how two Danish policemen started a fascinating experiment in Aarhus, after dozens of young men had gone missing, presumably joining ISIS in Syria. A brilliant episode of the always fascinating Invisibilia podcast.
This podcast is all you can hope for. An episode by episode dissection of The West Wing. Witty and with a lot of love for detail, it instantly makes you want to watch the episodes again. Hosted by Hrishikesh Hirway – who also makes the wonderful Song Exploder podcast – and Joshua Malina, who played Will Bailey in The West Wing.
If you like pub quizzes, you will love this podcast.
Imagine a captivating crime series like «The Killing», but with a real story and only in audio. This is the first season of Serial, a new podcast by the makers of This American Life. The story of a murder case is told in episodes over the course of a whole season. It’s only started two weeks ago and it’s fantastic. The only downside: new episodes are released weekly, so no chance of binge-listening.
Make sense of what’s happening, and imagine what could be.
Carefully curated recommendations on what to read, watch and listen to. For nerds and changemakers who love when something makes them go «Huh, I never thought of it this way!».Undecided? Learn more | Peek inside
Immerse yourself in a particular topic, with some of the best links from around the web, handpicked.
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