5 Podcasts to Play Alongside the Olympics This Week
Unfortunately, it’s tricky to watch the Olympics or follow the latest Trump social media exploits while on the job. (While actually doing the job, that is.) Fortunately, your commute provides valuable catch-up time. This week, cue up these podcasts for the audio diaries of Claressa Shields, who won the first women’s gold medal for middleweight boxing in 2012 at 16 years old, and a lively debate over how much teen Tumblrs and tweets will matter when a generation who grew up with social media runs for office. That’s not all—your commute can also include the family legacy of traveling salesmen, 3,000 self-righteous beatniks, and an opera about urban planning activist Jane Jacobs.
Placemakers, "Jane Jacobs"
In its first episode, Placemakers, the Slate podcast examining people who shape their communities and spaces, looks at Jane Jacobs. In the 1950s, Jacobs criticized urban renewal efforts as ruining the American downtown, successfully defending her West Village neighborhood from a cross-city highway. This inaugural episode also features conversations with imaginary acquaintances and an opera about Robert Moses. Listen here.
SlateARRVLS, "My Carnie Family"
What’s it like to grow up in a family business based around the Shamwow? Listen in on the life lessons learned by the child of a traveling salesman, featuring sauna pants, Oxiclean, and color-changing markers—plus, a highlight reel of the legends of the state fair, and how to decide when to give up the spiel and strike out from the family trade. Listen here.
ARRVLS
