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Yeah, this Monday feels particularly tough after last week's glorious three-day weekend. But hey, no moping! We've got something for you to get excited about this morning. Actually, we have something for you to look forward to at sunup every day this week. Here are our current Top Five podcast episodes, primed and ready to entertain you all the way to work. Happy commuting, everyone!
For the first episode of NPR’s new race and identity podcast, Code Switch, hosts Shereen Marisol Meraji and Gene Demby chose a surprising focus: whiteness. As they see it, since we assume whiteness as the norm, we mistakenly don’t consider it as a separate interest group, in politics or beyond. Meraji and Demby talk about whiteness—and why we’re uncomfortable discussing it—with a series of thoughtful guests, including Peggy McIntosh, author of Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack; Catherine Orr and Chenjerai Kumanyika, professors who teach college courses on racial identity; and culture writer Tanner Colby, author of Some of My Best Friends Are Black. Listen here.
If Kid Fury and Crissle haven’t already made you laugh uncontrollably in public, then go listen to their podcast The Read right now. When you feel like they’ve become two of your funniest friends (it should only take a couple episodes), listen to Brittany Luse’s latest episode. Each week on Sampler, Luse plays a selection of podcast clips tailored to her guests, introducing the listener to a highlight reel of new shows. But the real reason to listen is always the conversation between the clips. This week, she talks to Kid Fury and Crissle about the infamous "fuck boy" rant, inappropriate listener letters, and the friendship that grounds The Read. If you’re not sold yet, tune in to hear Shaq telling Anna Faris about his first crush. Listen Here
Turns out, cassette tapes aren’t only beloved by nostalgic hipsters and obsessive collectors in 2016. There’s still one group that relies on cassettes as their primary source of new music: inmates in the US prison system. In prison, CDs can be broken into dangerous shards; MP3 players rely on the Internet, illegal for prisoners. So this week, host Roman Mars takes us into the world where the cassette remains king—speaking to inmates and to Andrea Heart, head of cassette production at Sub Pop Records. Listen Here
Anthonia Akitunde didn't see any positive, honest online spaces for black women navigating careers and motherhood—so she decided to create one herself, on the website Mater Mea. Host Hillary Frank describes The Longest Shortest Time as the parenting podcast for everyone, and this episode, where she talks to Akitunde about the struggles black moms face when speaking with their kids about police brutality and self-image, is one we should all listen to. Listen Here
Sure, Are We There Yet? often does deep dives on the science and tech behind space exploration. But it also routinely answers questions like, for example, "How do astronauts not get sick of each other?" In this installment, Phyllis Johnson, a professor at the University of British Columbia and the principal investigator of the "At Home in Space" study, looks at the issue through a sociological lens, and discusses the issues inherent in maintaining a work-life balance in outer space. Listen up and learn about “space culture,” or how astronauts from different nations and backgrounds share celebrations and traditions on the International Space Station—and how they might do so on a mission to Mars. Listen here.
