As We Were Saying…

In House, Notice | chris, November 13th, 2007

The summer is over, and so is our hiatus.

The Open Source conversation is reborn at the Watson Institute at
Brown University.

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66 Responses to “As We Were Saying…”

  1. Potter Says:
    November 13th, 2007 at 6:38 pm

    First on my list of those who got it right, who get it right is Sarah Chayes.

    Did you read her article, her amazing story, in the December Issue of Atlantic Monthly?

    Scents and Sensibility

  2. nbowling Says:
    November 13th, 2007 at 7:17 pm

    My day just got way better!

  3. OliverCranglesParrot Says:
    November 13th, 2007 at 7:39 pm

    This is fabulous news. Thanks for the update Chris. The Watson Institute sounds like an amazing place.

  4. mzmartipants Says:
    November 13th, 2007 at 8:42 pm

    Lazarus lives! ;) Welome back, old friend. You’ve been missed very much.

  5. Sutter Says:
    November 13th, 2007 at 9:23 pm

    Great news, Chris and Mary. Welcome back!

  6. nhboy Says:
    November 13th, 2007 at 9:46 pm

    This is such great news! I’ve been listening to the most recent podcasts to hit my itunes and I cannot tell you how good it is to hear your voice again, Christopher. Looking forward to this next adventure…

  7. sidewalker Says:
    November 13th, 2007 at 10:47 pm

    … give opensource another chance.

    Great way to start the day here, finding out my favorite podcast voice is again getting a chance to ask, with the community, the insightful questions.

    To respond to one of the questions, I would suggest fewer shows, less tied to the news cycle. The best of the best from the last version of OS were those that engaged the topics off the pounded airwaves, those that gave voice to people we don’t normally hear from, such as Alain Pacowski (Le Jazz) or Abrigal Forrester (Black Men in America: Behind the Numbers).

    An international staff could also make the show more global.

    Mary and Chris, let’s get it on.

  8. thomas Says:
    November 14th, 2007 at 12:15 am

    hot damn.

  9. ampis Says:
    November 14th, 2007 at 7:08 am

    Ottimo. Buona notizia!

  10. Zeke Says:
    November 14th, 2007 at 9:04 am

    Fantastic news. Best wishes for continued “reinvention” and thank you for welcoming us back into the conversation.

    I agree with others that keeping a bit outside of the news cycle makes good sense. Find topics and guests that illuminate the news cycle rather than parrot the story line of the day. Shows like the one on Thucydides and the corn show good examples that come to mind. Introduce us to writers and artists other than the ones making the rounds on NPR to promote their latest work. Lastly, explore further the notion of “series” that you started on ROS: Black Perspectives, Katrina, They Got It Right, etc.

    The Emerson discussion (and the related shows) introduced me to writers who have become very important to me (and helped me make better sense of the news cycle as well). Although the discussion eventually petered out, I wonder if it might have been even better if buttressed by occasional podcasts.

    My final suggestion (for now) may sound trivial. Don’t sacrifice useful radio conventions (like introducing guests and their backgrounds) on the assumption that people have had time to read the website before the broadcast. Also, for the mechanics of the way I record, the interviews that were chopped into pieces was difficult. (Recently you started posting how long the interview is, and this was very helpful.)

  11. TEP492 Says:
    November 14th, 2007 at 10:33 am

    Outstanding! And Providence now makes your production a local affair for me. The guest lectures offered by the university should offer new guests and ideas for shows. And possible collaboration between lecture series / panels and shows. We’ve aready seen a little of this with the recent Piano Master podcast.

    Godspeed!

  12. oolitic Says:
    November 14th, 2007 at 11:38 am

    Man that is super news!

    I *so* enjoyed the Coltrane as well.

    Again, congratulations!

    Scott R

  13. Stargazer Says:
    November 14th, 2007 at 12:14 pm

    Congratulations Chris - glad to hear the news!

    Confession: I didn’t listen to Open Source as much as I did The Connection, but I’m glad you’re giving me another chance. It was partly due to the time difference - (I loved hearing you on the radio in the morning- pure and simple), and partly because I wasn’t comfortable with podcasting, period.

    Lastly- admittedly -it seemed like Open Source topics were a bit headier or something. I felt a bit ostracized. I probably missed many exciting guests, but I used to love when you’d have a celebrity writer on, like Anne Lamott, or devote a whole show to Hemingway, or “the guitar”.

    The good news is, I’m way-hip to podcasting now. While radio still seems easier somehow, the convenience of podcasting can’t be beat.

    So when are you back “on air”? Did I miss that?

  14. DevanJedi Says:
    November 14th, 2007 at 1:22 pm

    ROS 2: BrownU Boogaloo

  15. jordon Says:
    November 14th, 2007 at 1:32 pm

    Greatest news of the year.

    I second everything Zeke said. I like the series. And I like the *slightly* off-the-news cycle stories (I always loved the step-back approach to covering current events that ROS did).

    Your interview with Chafee alone made you the best interview show around, even if you were on hiatus!

  16. Abby Says:
    November 14th, 2007 at 5:05 pm

    Please do something on Craig Smith. I know that that’s local to Boston, but it’s still important.

  17. RR Anderson Says:
    November 14th, 2007 at 6:57 pm

    It’s about goddamn time! Yo Ho ho ho!

  18. Gar Says:
    November 15th, 2007 at 12:55 am

    This is delight-FULL news - Open Source just jumped back
    up on my podcast menu, and it was like an old friend was
    back in town… can’t wait to be part of the conversation -way to
    go Chris & colleagues….

  19. razib Says:
    November 15th, 2007 at 2:46 am

    congratz!

  20. DougHaslam Says:
    November 15th, 2007 at 11:36 am

    Congratulations and welcome back! looking forward to the– what is this, 3.0 version?

  21. mynocturama Says:
    November 15th, 2007 at 1:40 pm

    Of course I’ll echo all of the above.

    And, you know, I have to admit, when the Emerson summer discussion came to a close on its own accord, when the momentum just stopped at some point, I felt somewhat disappointed that more didn’t join in, that I didn’t do more, that it didn’t quite reach what it could have been. But, in retrospect, I think it helped fill in the hiatus nicely, it played its role well. And soon after interviews starting flowing in, and, now, here we are again. This is terrific. I guess we’ll hear soon what the form/format will be, details about distribution, who’ll be involved, etc… Anyway, congrats again and all that.

  22. rahbuhbuh Says:
    November 15th, 2007 at 2:15 pm

    thank you for pressing on, bravo for partnering with Brown.

    when remembered, I would check in during the hiatus and find new summer shows.

    One difference which can be considered an improvement: the conversation lasted as long as it needed to. time slots and constraints are unnecessary in podcasts. whether that was by circumstance, or because it was a one to one ratio of lydon and guest without llistener/reader input to illicit different ideas. one benefit of this format: they were conversations and not radio interviews. spry and natural, without the feeling as if an interviewer’s checklist is being completed. nothing was rushed into the last minute, no stammering guests’ closing arguments getting cut off. perhaps this is because they were Brown peers?

    while the shows were interesting, they lacked the substance from before. i forgot how much value was in the “warming up” section, how the communal research and “behind the scenes” insight improved my perspective. I hope the spartan staff can resurrect it. anticipation made everything better.

  23. Potter Says:
    November 15th, 2007 at 6:18 pm

    The Emerson discussion had promise but in the end those dwindling few of us could not hold it up. Many posters went on hiatus themselves or were unable to keep their commitment to write a piece and lead the discussion. I had the feeling that we few had said all we could say. I had to stop to read more. I can’t read Emerson fast. The rewards are great but it is very rich stuff. Like eating too much cake- you have to take a break to digest. We could go back to it. To be sure, Les Miserables stole some energy from that discussion. Not that I am complaining about the inspiration that poured forth from those opening essays.

  24. mynocturama Says:
    November 15th, 2007 at 7:08 pm

    Potter, I, at least, may take you up on that. Continuing the Emerson discussion could be like the “back shop” a la Montaigne that I remember talking about in the metagroup however long ago. It wouldn’t have to be on the front page, on stage, and that could be a good thing. If someone has something to say concerning one of the essays, he or she can post it, not necessarily expecting an immediate strings of responses. It would be nice to have something “alive” on the site beyond or behind the scenes, backstage, so to speak, going on while the more hot-topic current issues take front and center stage. Because I do think, especially looking back, that one of the problems - not really a detrimental one but an interesting one - with the threads for the shows in the past was the pressing nature of it all. A show would be announced, sometimes with a decent warm-up period, sometimes not, and people would post, driven in some part by the incentive to get on the air, stirring up all this frantic online energy, then, when the show was done, so was the discussion all of a sudden. It would serve the site and show well to have something more continuous running through it.

    Here’s the Montaigne quote btw, in all its tasty glory:

    We must reserve a back shop all our own, entirely free, in which to establish our real liberty and our principal retreat and solitude.

  25. Zeke Says:
    November 15th, 2007 at 7:22 pm

    The Emerson discussion was instructive about how the dynamics of these things work on the internet. Potter’s and mynocturama’s comments here, reminded me of something I thought about at the time: is there a way to allow those who wish to to communicate directly with others or give access to their email to others?

    And another small thing: could the website be designed to display a sign when new posts are added to a particular thread? This might help keep threads alive when they go “back channel” since one would know when to check them.

    i’m pretty tech-ignorant but it seems like both things would enhance the interaction that is possible.

  26. nother Says:
    November 16th, 2007 at 12:54 am

    Like that boxing guy says: “Let’s get ready to rumbleeeeeeeeee!”

    I’m looking forward to looking inward with the illumination of Chris’s ever-burning questions.

  27. avecfrites Says:
    November 16th, 2007 at 11:27 am

    Double plus good!

    Let us know what we can do to help.

  28. amari Says:
    November 16th, 2007 at 3:22 pm

    How WONDERFUL that you’re back in full force! You enrich our lives so much.

  29. enhabit Says:
    November 16th, 2007 at 6:01 pm

    welcome to RI chris! you were missed…as was this forum.

    i once heard you say that the best restaurant in boston was al forno!

    s’nice

  30. DHP Says:
    November 16th, 2007 at 7:05 pm

    This is fantastic news! Radio Open Source was a continual source of edification and enjoyment. Now that you’re back, Chris, please continue all your efforts!

  31. Agavar Says:
    November 16th, 2007 at 8:47 pm

    I am so glad you are back. Over the summer I began listening to a lot of BBC program via my computer, and I realized that Open Source was one of the few American programs that came close to some of the great offerings from BBC4, Your program most reminds me of Melvyn Bragg’s In Our Time. I also love the book and poetry discussions, and even the corny quiz shows. Do others listen to BBC, as well.

  32. Bobby Says:
    November 16th, 2007 at 10:00 pm

    School is BACK in session! YES!!! Summer school had its rewards too, though: Professor Emerson lectures were enlightening. (“Mom! Don’t you get it? I’m not disobeying; I’m non-conforming!) And thanks also to Chris and Steve Antinoff for assigning Les Miserables. Wow! What a book!

  33. bmccaff Says:
    November 16th, 2007 at 11:56 pm

    Like the posters above, I too love the shows that introduce me to artists. Growing up in the Boston area (and attending the James Russell Lowell elementary school), I managed to not learn anything about Emerson. I’m glad to have been introduced to his work by Open Source. Keep exploring great authors and artists, I love being exposed to these new (to me) works.

    I understand the comments above about not being too topical or part of the news cycle, but you did explore some great topics when you discussed the neo-cons, or more recently “they got it right”. I’d really enjoy occasional shows with in-depth discussions about current events.

    What I love about Open Source is how it exposes me to wider views.

  34. shunpiker Says:
    November 17th, 2007 at 6:15 am

    Hurrah! Just what I needed as the days get short.

  35. Toby in the North Says:
    November 17th, 2007 at 7:42 am

    Nice to hear you guys are coming back. I hope that you have something that resembles a normal regular show - the type of thing that your amazing quality of guest in the past would be happy to come on. Good luck.

  36. hilde Says:
    November 17th, 2007 at 9:00 am

    Glad you’re back–and what a joy to read the comments page; such smart and interested folk!

    Suggestions:

    Less shows–not one a day; maybe 3 a week.

    Mix of “news cycle” and out of news cycle stuff. Why? Sometimes, OpenSource just clarifies or crystalizes what’s concerning all of us at a moment…like Cheney as Ahab, e.g. Also, news cycle stuff shows the non-listener and journalists out there that a slightly headier take on the news can make it more pertinent.

    As for topics, more philosophical examinations of our technological world would be great. What are we becoming? What is technology making of us, community, art, culture? When all my students leave my classroom and, instead of meeting and talking with one another, get immediately on their cellphones, what does this say about our potential to take a fresh opportunity for community and just smother it in the crib? That sort of thing.

  37. AM Son Says:
    November 17th, 2007 at 10:20 am

    Welcome Back!! My day became exponentially brighter with this news, and my podcast library and playlists feel whole again.
    I like Open Source regularity- covering wide ranging topics from the war in Iraq, N Korea, Chowhound, Emerson, non-fiction reading, spirituality and culture, etc, etc… basically what you’ve done in the past works for me!
    Thank you!

  38. K.G. Schneider Says:
    November 17th, 2007 at 7:50 pm

    Hooray!!!

  39. Bobby Says:
    November 18th, 2007 at 1:35 am

    Mynocturama! Potter!

    back shop? back shop!!! What about the unveiling of:

    The Radio Open Source Institute for the Advancement of Emersonian Ideals

    (sigh) Oh well! I do hope, however, we can revive the Emerson conversations; I was disappointed when they fizzled out. But like Potter said: “those dwindling few of us could not hold it up.” Zeke, I’d be up for connecting directly with others, however, if necessary. Meanwhile, I have 250 Emerson Dolls that I was going to hand out at the unveiling. You can pull a string and listen to pre-recorded messages: “Dude, A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds!” or “Does your heart vibrate to iron-strings?” Perhaps I can sell them on EBay :)

  40. pabelmont Says:
    November 18th, 2007 at 2:32 pm

    Chris,
    It’s nice to see you are in business.
    My topic for you (and others in your game) is:

    >>>> Who’s minding the store? >>> How are we to mind the store? >> When you are driving your car at 100mph at a brick wall 1 mile away
    and you have BRAKES but no steering wheel
    YOU KNOW YOU ARE GOING TO STOP
    AND YOU HAVE A CHOICE ABOUT HOW TO DO IT
    >>> similarly, we are going to stop using oil (in the way we now use it)
    and we have a choice about HOW and WHEN we stop.
    By human decision we could begin to stop now, but if we leave it
    to “human indecision” and “market forces”
    then we may leave it too late,
    because who knows how long it will take to implement
    replacement infrastructure, cars, airplanes, military, ships
    home heating (and maybe cooling), industrial uses,
    plastics, fertilizer (if we really must continue with it)
    pesticides (if we really must continue with them)
    and OUR GREAT PLANNERS like GWB and his advisers show no
    talent for being ahead of things.

    World Population (or did I mention that?)
    Goofy Political systems such as the USA’s where
    its ALL market-driven
    (i.e,, who can BUY the politicians DOES SO)
    Nuclear Waste Storage or danger-reduction
    Total human population
    MAKING PEOPLE SEE CONNECTIONS BETWEEN PARTS OF THE WORLD SYSTEM

    Cheers,

    Peter Belmont

  41. 0,0 Says:
    November 18th, 2007 at 6:08 pm

    This is fabulous news. I listen to numerous podcasts; Open Source is, hands down, my favorite. Great topics, great guests, great host. Keep ‘em coming!

  42. bryongw Says:
    November 18th, 2007 at 10:11 pm

    Thank goodness that didn’t take as long as the last time!

  43. Geoff Dutton Says:
    November 18th, 2007 at 11:13 pm

    I liked Hilde’s suggestion about 3x a week and an on-and-off-news-cycle mix. Consider that.

    If Emerson were alive, would he say “we don’ need no stinkin radio station”? Would Ralph podcast sermons?

    I’m sorry, but I feel diminished by your abandonmdent, for whatever good reasons, of radio. Without you in my kitchen in the evening, it will take more effort than I’m likely to be able to get together to absorb your episodes.

    Please comment regularly on what your work and its impacts are like witohut an FM channel. Lack of a live broadcast will definitely impair my connection and put me at a greater distance from your wor. For how many others of us might this be true? You should worry about that.

  44. igooding Says:
    November 19th, 2007 at 10:37 am

    Great News! I’m eager to join the conversation. I always lurked before, but this announcement makes me want to dive right in and start contributing. My show suggestions: (1) OpenCourseWare and the open education movement; (2) scriptural authority across cultures; (3) the consequences of reduced regulation and oversight.

  45. Michael Beaton Says:
    November 19th, 2007 at 3:21 pm

    So good to have you back online!

    Looking forward to more rousing rambunctious conversation.

    Lets go…there are important things going on. Lets find ‘em, talk about ‘em, and then see if we can shake up the system!

  46. zaxl Says:
    November 19th, 2007 at 4:27 pm

    Most awaited news! Let’s see what this fresh air brings to the podcast.
    Saludos,

  47. Bobo Says:
    November 20th, 2007 at 4:06 am

    Woot! just…. woot!

  48. peggysue Says:
    November 20th, 2007 at 1:16 pm

    Do you mean… back on the radio?
    But just not on KUOW out here in the Northwest?
    I know I have not been paying attention but… is OS a podcast now or something?
    I did fizzel out on Emerson before writing an intro to the essay on Prudence but I actually did send in my commentary on the Art essay complete with illustrations… oh well.
    I guess I need to check the pod collector in my itunes.
    I still think ya’all should move to Seattle and be on KUOW.

  49. Nick Says:
    November 20th, 2007 at 2:12 pm

    Peggy Sue’s got a point about Seattle and its hinterlands. I’ve no data to back this up, but, for what it’s worth: the demographics out here in the Puget Sound region seem to have made the original on-air version of ROS quite the hit – especially for its 9PM (Pacific) timeslot. Now, I don’t expect you to pull up stakes and migrate out here, but ponder this: that 9PM timeslot currently hosts reruns of KUOW’s daytime shows – which are already available as reruns via podcasts and streams on their website.

    Soooo…if you can recreate another hour-long show (even if it means combining two or more 15-25 minute interview segments – akin to your current podcasts), I’d like to think that KUOW might want to consider airing them at 9PM again. No, I can’t speak for them – I can speak only as one of their listeners. A listener who would prefer worldly, thoughtful, original programming rather than those locally produced reruns.

    There’s really no substitute for the reach of an on-air presence. That ancient 20th century technology called ‘radio’ still out-performs webcasts, etc. in attracting an audience. And ROS was – and remains – simply PERFECT for Western Washington.
    Good luck!

  50. Nick Says:
    November 20th, 2007 at 4:29 pm

    PS: What about a one- or two-hour WEEKLY radio broadcast? KUOW just might have space for that, perhaps, at 8PM (Pacific) on Mondays… ( http://www.kuow.org/schedules/schedule_week.asp )
    Again, I can’t speak for them. But I’d be surprised (and dismayed) if you couldn’t work out some kind of on-air arrangement.
    Double good luck…

  51. Chris Says:
    November 20th, 2007 at 5:00 pm

    Dear PeggySue and Nick: It’s not that we haven’t thought of moving to Seattle… Jeff Hansen at KUOW was one of the original believers in Open Source and a sound guide. (Before we started, he said: don’t be shy about aiming high and making it smarter than anything on radio. He said the audience is aware that NPR isn’t as smart as it pretends to be or ought to be…) The listening auidience turned out to be a wondrously expressive writing and commenting community; it was said real friendships, maybe even romances, blossomed among Seattle folk who knew each other only as listeners to Open Source. We came to love everything about the town, including the Pacific outlook, the Mariners, the Koolhaas library, Jonathan Raban and the ferries across the Sound. Don’t change a thing, and invite us again for a visit… but we’re hoping to work our way back to radio — yes, including KUOW — through this experiment in podcasting from the Watson Institute at Brown University. Providence is not so different, and not so far, from Seattle. It’s a smaller, New England version of your waterfront town, full of its own history and burning ambition to be heard in the world. It is a community made for podcasting… for working on the distinctiveness of our voice and our thinking; for observing the transformations of “media” and making ready to plunge back into the surging stream. Thanks for the good wishes. These podcasts are for you.

  52. Danny Rubin Says:
    November 20th, 2007 at 8:48 pm

    Christopher,
    Congrats on landing at Brown, my own alma mater. Now I have one more reason to love the place. I’m looking forward to your Groundhog Day broadcast with Harold - always a good choice. Enjoy…

    Danny

  53. Nandes Says:
    November 20th, 2007 at 11:19 pm

    From a Seattlitte and avid listener to Open Source podcasts on her ferry commute, I am SO glad you’re back. I listened to the Oliver Sacks conversation this morning and was reminded how wonderful your program is. During your hiatus, I could not find a podcast that compares. Looking forward to many more great conversations!

  54. W.M. Palmer Says:
    November 21st, 2007 at 6:01 pm

    I, also, am glad that Lydon is back, as I often enjoy the programs, but find I have questions. The very fact that Lydon proclaims ROS as having found a home at a place he is formally “visting” is a tension that should be addressed openly, rather than glossed over.

    Lydon’s voice is clearly an intelligent one, and often interesting, but as a skeptic by inclination, I find this post to constitute more rhetorical self-cheer than a full explanation of what happened to ROS and its current state. Is Lydon, now a fellow at Watson, and using Brown’s facilities on the side, or does ROS as an entity itself have a formal home there - a concrete agreement with Brown that pays for the program? If so, did Brown pay off ROS debts, which clearly had mounted and were pushing it under? If not, what happened to those obligations? - a fair question to ask in light of the public’s money going to ROS indirectly (through the tax-exempt status of the Macarthur grant) and directly through donations.

    What, also, is Lydon’s post-action analysis: why did ROS fail, as it clearly did, as a stand-alone effort, and how is this stint any different from several years back when he was a fellow at HLS?

    In sum, the Radio portion of ROS seems now to be lacking, as does the Open Source aspect, as that, in significant part, suggests full disclosure. The apparent failure of the program, as opposed to Lydon individually, to find a sponsor, is telling. Boston and New England clearly have bright minds who are trying to build independent podcast programs, but perhaps with the logarithmically expanding media options on the WWW, the daily growing flood of options (i.e., competition) is too much for them to gain real traction. One cannot but admire Lydon’s effort in light of its apparent Sysiphean cast, but wonder, in that Lydon is a “visting fellow” - a term that suggests a time limit - what will happen a year from now . . ..

    Put more abstractly, in closing: I find it somewhat puzzling that an individual who clearly has a mind that is very capable of - and likes to - challenge others’ rhetorically self-serving constructs, thereby often asking tough and thought-provoking questions, puts up postings about his own enterprise that do not evidence such a self-questioning dialogue.

  55. randomknowldge(new) Says:
    November 24th, 2007 at 2:55 pm

    The “love fest” on display here among all of the little “incestuous” community is entertaining to say the least. Talk about making “lemonade out when life gives you lemons” but Chris’ retreat into the protection of the Watson Institute as Brown is the result of the fact that he and the show can’t compete for funds out here “in the real world”. Open Source was a successful experiment if you were looking for a model that succeeded in only attracting the crowd with the most uniformly inane opinions. So inane that no one but a “special group” like them wants to listen to them. I once had a friend who was a fan of “Indy” movies who while railing against Hollywood block buster style flicks at a party said “I want to have my own movie theater that only shows the types of movies that I want to watch”. When I pointed out that most of the movies that she had discussed at the party that night not even her friends had seen I said “You mean that you want to own a movie theater that plays movies that not many people want to see?”. – that is Open Source.

    Isn’t it ironic that Chris must rely on the Watson Institute to nurture his new model where “casting where the new discourse of a global age is taking shape.” It is very revealing that Chris proudly states a few facts about Watson and this organization at Brown. He says that it was founded to address “the most urgent global risks of the time: nuclear hazards of the Cold War” by Watson who was “Jimmy Carter’s ambassador to Moscow”. To put this into perspective and give and little insight into who thinks that Open Source is worth nurturing it might be valuable to review a few facts. Watson was a visionary, in his time. While IBM was a de facto US Govt supported monopoly (much more so than Microsoft has ever been or will be) he was unceremoniously dumped when he and IBM’s old outdated business model almost led to it’s destruction. Then the original mission re: the Cold War was made meaningless by Jimmy Carter’s successors Ronald Regan and George HW Bush. The end of the USSR wasn’t due to Carter (and by extension Watson’s) ideas and actions to those diametrically opposite and the current success of IBM was due to Watson but to the fact that today’s IBM is totally different.

    So, Watson and Carter were both great examples of “road kill” as history ran over their legacies yet it’s touted as success that Chris will shelter under those legacies in order to “move forward”. The phrase “It seems that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” is normally used when making a more direct statement about physical heritage but I think that it is appropriate here.

  56. enhabit Says:
    November 26th, 2007 at 9:49 pm

    since when is “popular” better, and what’s with the gratuitous insults?

  57. Erik Filkorn Says:
    November 27th, 2007 at 11:46 am

    What a brilliant surprise to see the little blue dot next to Open Source on my ipod. I’d been limping along with Melvin Bragg on the BBC and Harry Shearer, but there was nothing out there that would leave me challenged and inspired in quite the same way.

    So this morning, I’m walking my dog in the woods (during the 1-week lull in hunting season) listening to the Bach installment and thinking to myself and missing the days when I used to sing it myself. Nothing is harder to sing than Bach when you’re learning it, and yet once you know it, nothing is more effortless. But what really struck me was hearing the voices in the rehearsal space–the intimacy of the small room. Most people hear that kind of music as finished product in a church or a big hall, and that’s kind of what OS is for me. It’s an intimate discussion of ideas that energize you to go out and do things that will play in a big room.

    Blah, blah, blah. I’m so glad you’re back and hope that folks like “random knowledge” remain in their Jerry Bruckheimer/Morning Edition world and leave us roadkill to our happy little enlightened existence.

  58. Potter Says:
    November 28th, 2007 at 9:25 pm

    Every now and then someone comes around to p-ss and then lay on “a little insight and perspective”. Oh well.

    Mynocturama- thanks for the Montaigne.

  59. Aaron Read Says:
    December 3rd, 2007 at 11:46 pm

    Hey Chris & Mary - are these new podcasts going to be available on PRX for licensing for broadcast? I noticed the Norman Mailer show on there, but nothing newer. Of course, the newer stuff isn’t really the right length for radio broadcasts…but hell, so what? It’s good stuff. I’d like to air it on WEOS, anyways.

  60. Forton Twelve Says:
    December 5th, 2007 at 1:36 am

    This is great news - OS has been a wealth of stimulating (if un-popular) ideas - both in the programming and the commentaries - I’m glad you’re back!

    Radio Broadcasts would be great: I’ll listen on-line; but I think the radio broadcasts open the WEB interaction up to a much broader community.

    Thank You!

  61. GeorgeM Says:
    December 7th, 2007 at 4:13 pm

    Chris and Mary,
    So wonderful that you are back on the air and online. So thrilled to hear your voice.

    George

  62. Emmett O'Connell Says:
    December 21st, 2007 at 12:52 pm

    I’m glad things are getting going again, but I’m not engaged with the current life of this project as I’d like to be.

    Unless I’m really missing something, I miss the threads that happen before a show is recorded. I realize that inserting that conversation into the show had a lot to do with having a blogger-in-chief around, but I still really miss it.

    Also, its time for a new suggest a show thread. The old one was from June. New thread for new life!

  63. enhabit Says:
    December 21st, 2007 at 8:27 pm

    exactly!

  64. Zeke Says:
    December 22nd, 2007 at 10:11 pm

    The pre-interview threads could be revivified by posting the schedule further in advance. I’m sure that even a brief preview write-up would be sufficient to engage the ROS crowd.

  65. lostsa Says:
    December 29th, 2007 at 10:22 am

    Been out of it for a while, just showed up and found that you guys are back and running. Great news, thanks for keeping it up, and good luck.

  66. TEP492 Says:
    January 25th, 2008 at 11:00 am

    I miss the old ROS, where I felt there were more frequent programs exploring deep subject matter. It seems the new format has a lot more straight up interviews. Some programs remain exceptional - American Transcendentalism comes to mind.

    Here’s a link to an interesting topic: Race and IQ. I’m a fan of Gladwell and find his research to be thorough, provacative, and balanced.
    http://gladwell.typepad.com/gladwellcom/2007/12/race-and-iq-con.html

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