Category Archives: not about books

Weekly Geeks 2009-42 – Favourite Podcasts

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I have been an awfully bad Weekly Geeker this year but as someone who is subscribed to about 40 podcasts (I was reviewing them long before I was reviewing books) I felt I should have something to say about this week’s topic which is to provide links to or reviews of podcasts, especially book related ones.

All but one of my favourite book podcasts are all radio shows that I wouldn’t be able to listen to if it weren’t for the magic of podcasting:

  • Radio National in Australia produces The Book Show every weekday and the format is wide-ranging. Some days the entire show will feature an interview with a single author while at other times there will be multiple books discussed. There are also book readings and interesting segments like Off The Shelf where famous Australians talk about their favourite books.
  • The BBC Five Live Books Podcast is a weekly show hosted by Simon Mayo which airs on Thursday afternoons UK time and is released via podcast later the same day. The format involves having the authors of two new release books on the show plus 2-3 reviewers who have read the book and there is a 10-15 minute discussion about each book which includes some plot synopsis and review comments.  The show discusses a wide variety of books including from literary fiction to most of the popular genres (though I’ve never heard them discuss a horror book).
  • The BBC is also responsible for the World Book Club which is aired once a month (except during the English summer) and involves an interview with a single author about a single one of their books (normally their first). It’s normally recorded with a live audience who can ask questions and it’s also possible to email questions prior to the show or ask by telephone during the show. These shows tend to be with authors of literary rather than genre fiction although several crime fiction authors, including Sara Paretsky and Patricia Cornwell, have appeared in the past.
  • Not entirely book related (and not a radio show) but an excellent podcast for those who write is Grammar Girl (or to give it its full name Grammar Girl’s Quick & Dirty Tips for Better Writing). Even if you’re not a grammar junky you’ll get something from the show which is short, informative and well produced. Host Mignon Fogarty is American but always includes tips for users of both British and American English where there are significant differences.

The rest of my podcast aggregator is filled with non-book related podcasts on subjects like technology, politics, news, movies, TV and music. Among my favourites are

  • Coverville which is a music podcast release 2-3 times per week and plays cover songs. Most episodes have some kind of theme, for example covers of one artist or band’s songs, and there are listener request shows too. I would never have thought there’d be enough cover songs to keep me interested for long but the show has been running for over 600 episodes now and it’s consistently introducing me to new artists and interesting music. Last week’s Sesame Street Cover songs episode (to celebrate the 40th birthday of the famous TV show) was a treat.
  • Car Pool which is a video podcast hosted by Robert Llewellyn (yes the one who played Kryten on Red Dwarf). Each week he does an interview in his car of someone interesting. Guests can be film or TV stars, comedians, technology experts and, increasingly, scientists and environmentalists. Past guests have included Jo Brand, Stephen Fry, Chelsea Sexton and a swag of others. I always learn something and/or laugh out loud.
  • The Daily Giz Wiz is a tech gadget show released each weekday. It’s among the 20 or so shows hosted by Leo Laporte (who runs an internet-based broadcast network focused on technology) and Dick DeBartolo and each day they highlight and review a gadget. I don’t really listen for the tech-y stuff (although I have found some great gadgets via the show) because the show is plain funny. DeBartolo writes for Mad Magazine and has written for TV game shows and comedy shows and he brings the quirky sense of humour to the show.

Hopefully there’s something among all that for you to check out and I look forward to seeing what other podcasts fellow Weekly Geekers have to share.

Crime on the Box – Spiral (Season 2)

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NB: I am manipulating this post into the narrow subject matter of this blog (what I think about what I read) on the basis that I watched the series in the original French with English subtitles which I had to read. OK it’s lame but whaddayagonnado?

Spiral follows the workings of a Paris-based police squad headed by Inspector Laure Berthaud, played by Caroline Proust. As well as her team there are many dealings with Judge François Roban and his Chief Prosecutor Piérre Clement (played by the delicious Grégory Fitoussi who’s on the far left of this picture).

Each season of the show has one case that threads through all the episodes as well as several shorter cases that are dealt with along the way.

Season 2’s main case starts out with a barbecue which isn’t what you think. Here it involves being put alive into the boot of a car which is then set alight while a whole swag of people watch and listen to you scream. As Police search for the person who committed this particularly nasty act it becomes clear to them that the barbecuing was all part of a larger crime: drug smuggling. The police put someone undercover in the drug gang and then try to catch the smugglers in the act.

Things I loved about this show

  • Grégory Fitoussi (he’s gorgeous to look at even if he does have a series of unsuitable friends)
  • The people look like real people rather than TV coppers (e.g. their hair gets mussy, their teeth are not perfect, and they do not wear unsuitable clothing and footwear for chasing criminals)
  • The settings are realistic and terribly European (there’s not space age laboratory in sight and no pristine offices either)
  • It gives a real sense of the frustration at bureaucratic nonsense and lack of funding that must haunt police the world over (with the exception of cops in any franchise of CSI where money never seems to be a problem)
  • The characters are wonderfully developed and there’s hardly a stereotype to be found. Laure is terribly over emotional but a fiercely loyal friend and boss, Joanna Karlsson is possibly the most ruthless lawyer ever to walk the small screen (far more so in season 2) and Judge Roban is one of the most complex characters I’ve ever seen portrayed on TV
  • I assume the show reflects the French justice system, the structure of which is quite different to ours here in Australia and what I have seen of the UK and US systems and it’s interesting to me to see something different on my screen.
  • Grégory Fitoussi (I’ll shut up about him now)

Things I didn’t love quite so much

  • The melodrama went over the top this time: towards the end of this season I was openly laughing at the plot which went from vaguely plausible to utterly stupid (I won’t give spoilers but if any police force were as incompetent as this mob were I think there’d be world wide anarchy)
  • Drug smuggling as a crime bores me to tears both for political reasons (which I won’t bother you with) and dramatic ones (it almost always involves criminals killing each other which is dull because I don’t have any emotional investment in the victims)

Things I don’t know whether to love or not

  • Every defence lawyer who appears in either season is utterly morally bankrupt and I can’t decide if this is a particular view of the series’ writers or a wider view in France. It’s not something I’ve seen portrayed quite so vehemently before.

Overall there were many more things to love than not and this is a top notch TV drama which I recommend it highly. Even if you are not quite so enamoured of Grégory Fitoussi as I, there are many things that make this an enjoyably unique show. I would start with Season 1 if you possibly can although it’s not essential to the understanding of season 2.

In Australia it’s available on DVD (including via Quickflix) and has been aired on SBS once so may be repeated. In the UK season 1 has aired and the rights to season 2 have been purchased so presumably it will air soon (on BBC4). In the US you’re on your own (sorry but I couldn’t find any evidence of it ever crossing your borders which my American-resident brother says is probably because it’s in a foreign language which wouldn’t be as acceptable there as it is on the rest of the planet).