15 Responses to “Best of ROS”

1. Sutter Says:
   June 25th, 2007 at 5:56 pm

   Some of my favorites, off the top of my head (sorry for the shorthands — is there a way to link to a plain-vanilla list of episodes, to jog our memories?):

   Post-9/11 Literature
   Transcendental Women
   The Death of Anna Politkovskaya
   Juan Cole’s “Iran’s at the Center of it All” Theory of Mideast Conflict
   Thomas Ricks and Noam Chomsky on Iraq
   Peter Hessler on China

   And I have a very special place in my heart for “The Democrats’ New Reading List.”

2. Dora Says:
   June 25th, 2007 at 8:55 pm

   1. Emerson Redux and 2. Transcendental Women
   The two best shows you’ve ever done. Christopher is truly in his element when talking about Emerson.

   3. William James: Son, Brother, Hero
   I love Richardson’s citing of this James quote: “It may be that we are in the universe as cats and dogs are in our libraries.”

   4.Thucydides: Ur-Historian of the Ur-War
   The perfect historical lens through which to view our nation’s current dilemma.

   5. Shakespeare and Power
   Perhaps I shouldn’t choose this as I pitched it. But I desperately wish you’d do more shows on literary topics, so I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this one.

   6. Chalmers Johnson and his “Nemesis”
   A companion to the Thucydides show.

   7. Economic Hit Men
   A companion to the Chalmers Johnson show.

   8. Don Quixote at 400
   Please do more shows on literary topics.

   9. Moby-Dick, Cheney, et al.
   Please do more shows on literary topics.

   10. At Dinner with David Halberstam
   All the problems with contemporary journalism diagnosed, if not solved. Elegiac and bittersweet.

   Now, the worst show: Christopher Hitchens. Why? I think again of William James–specifically James’s insistence that rejecting anything was the death of an intellectual. Indeed, Mr. Hitchens.

   The best show you haven’t done yet: an hour with Marilynne Robinson.

3. Andrew Kinney Says:
   June 26th, 2007 at 8:47 am

   The show that got me hooked was Moby Dick Cheney, et al. And I tend to gravitate towards the more literary shows, too. Some other personal favorites: Libraries, Ellison, Hip Hop, Camus’ The Plague, all the Paglia shows, Major Jackson, Surveillance, The Death of Cursive, The Great American Novel, William James, and my favorite show of all time, Zizek. Oh–the Ecstasy of Influence. OK, I have to stop. There are a lot of shows before summer of 2006 I still haven’t listened to (sorry), so you long time listeners are going to have to fill in the gaps!

4. Emmett O'Connell Says:
   June 26th, 2007 at 9:21 am

   In no particular order (actually, the order I found them on the site and opened a new tab):

   Hyperlocal Journalism — This show inspired the creation of a hyperlocal site in my town, Olyblog.net, so it has to be up there.

   Elections ‘06: Montana Senate

   Elections ‘06: Missouri Senate

   Redistricting: The Art and Science of Gerrymandering

   Voter Fraud: Real Menace or Rove Meme?

   Baseball: The Dominican Pastime

   Baseball: Big in Japan… AND America

   Notes From New Orleans

   Experiments in Democracy

   Somalia: Next Front Line for “Holy War”?

5. Sutter Says:
   June 26th, 2007 at 10:18 am

   Oh, I also remember really enjoying “After 9/11: The Long View.” http://www.radioopensource.org/after-911-the-long-view/ Schama and Wilentz were wonderful, and did a great job of elucidating a key point lost on the current administration — namely, the distinction between “democracy” and “liberal democracy.”

6. peggysue Says:
   June 26th, 2007 at 11:27 am

   I too loved the Convergence show. I felt like that one lit up parts of my brain in a new way. I also loved the Transcendental Women, Samuel Beckett and the Jazz shows. The thread I think I had the most fun participating in was the one on Global Hip-Hop.

7. rahbuhbuh Says:
   June 26th, 2007 at 11:30 am

   not a simple ranking of shows, but grouping into reasons they were the best.

   Katrina in ways we didn’t hear it anywhere else:
   Craigslist and Nola.com: Information as News
   To Rebuild or Not to Rebuild?,

   Rather than just remembering someone, legacy analysis and recollection:
   Carrying the Torch for Jane Jacobs
   Ralph Ellison’s America
   At Dinner with David Halberstam
   The Death of Anna Politkovskaya
   The Murrow Era

   Eloquent fluff:
   A Bespoke Tailor. Online.
   Passion: Candy

   Understandable theory on things I normally don’t understand:
   A Tale of New Cities
   China vs. India — The Next 100 Years
   The Holy Grail of Physics

   Current events at the time, with a different view:
   Gold Rush for Financial Information
   France: The Sarko vs. Ségo Prism
   The Optics of This War

   Shows which I had high hopes for, but kind of floundered whether due to less engaging guests or too much “isn’t it great that _____?” and “remember ______? that was cool.” without the questioning and nudging I normally appreciate in ROS:
   The New Age of Old Age, Passion: Libraries, The History of Utopia, The Spread of HIV in Africa, Anthropomorphism, Doping: Better Sporting Through Chemistry?, What Should College Teach?

8. tara Says:
   June 26th, 2007 at 1:23 pm

   I’ll put in a vote for the show on Ethiopian jazz. Loved hearing the Ethiopian master and the American master talk together about this amazing music. It’s changed my record collection forever!

9. Potter Says:
   June 26th, 2007 at 3:01 pm

   There are some shows that I have not listened to yet that I have high hopes for but here are the ones that stood out for me- and I have restricted myself to the 24 best ( in no particular order with the exception of number one which was my number one) refusing to have to weed further from the 183 that I have on my playlist- I am sure I left some others out that I loved equally- ie I loved the Therimin show- not on my list:

   1. Le Jazz Hot
   2. Emerson
   3. Philip Roth
   4. David and Goliath
   5. No Artist left Behind
   6. Torture 6/23/ 05
   7. Transcendental Women
   8. Andalucia
   9. E.O. Wilson on Darwin
   10. Orwell
   11. Spinoza
   12. Joan Didion
   13. Barenboim
   14. Major Jackson
   15. Sonny Rollins
   16. Donal Fox
   17. Bug Week Part 2 Heinrich
   18. Don Quixote`
   19. Major Jackson
   20. China Migration
   21. William James
   22. Refuge in Fiction: Youssef ( Lebanon) and Keret(Israel)
   23. Camille Paglia
   24. Ralph Ellison

10. Potter Says:
    June 26th, 2007 at 3:04 pm

    Sutter makes an interesting point- unless you collect the shows on a playlist for instance- how can you remember? Perhaps there should be or is an index here?

11. walkerhenry Says:
    June 26th, 2007 at 3:34 pm

    To a newcomer who want to know what ROS provides that makes it unique and necessary, I’d recommend going to the “Series” box at left and clicking on “Military POV.”

12. patsyb Says:
    June 26th, 2007 at 10:08 pm

    Transcendental Women, Emerson Redux, Samuel Beckett — so textured and layered and evocative. Hessler on China, The Ecstasy of Influence, Orwell Revisited, Covergences — critical issues captured diagonally, as it were. Thought-provoking shows all of them. Thx!

13. Tisha Says:
    June 27th, 2007 at 3:41 pm

    Donal Fox:Bach to Monk. Alvin Epstein on King Lear, Neo-Conservatism: the Last Throes?, Passion: the Theremin, Bach’s Chaconne, E. O Wilson: Darwin etc., The First Neo-Cons and “The Last Mughal,” Making the Rounds with Seymour Hersh, Orwell Revisited, Morality: God-Given or Evolved.
    I found your programs on Emerson and friends and the women in that group very edifying but I grew up in England so don’t feel quite the visceral connection I would if I’d grown up here. Anyway, much thanks for so many marvelous programs!

14. Taueret Says:
    July 6th, 2007 at 2:37 am

    ooh. Seeing others’ lists makes me realise I have missed some I shouldn’t have. I’ll fix that. Before I name some of my favourites, I’d like to say that what I love best about ROS and what I tell people when I tell them about it, is that ALL the shows are good. You may not *think* you’re interested in Hawthorne or baseball, but wait and see… you are.

    Ok, so without polluting my choices by looking too closely at the other lists first, and in not particular order, I loved loved loved hearing Philip Roth, loved the show about Nathaniel Hawthorn’s circle, the Moby Dick show, loved the one recentlyish about libraries. The miscellany one, too. oh! Thucycides! That is probably my number one favourite.

    I don’t think you have had Malcolm Gladwell on the show- but he would make a fab guest.

15. tbrucia Says:
    October 10th, 2008 at 3:32 pm

    Perhaps not the BEST show, but the one that influenced my life the most was the one (about three years ago!) about Second Life. It propelled me into a strange and challenging ‘New World’. Bizarre as it sounds, I’ve made friends in Second Life unlike folks I meet in ‘real life’. And I have met ‘real life’ with folks I met there… I’ve helped folks there (see a doctor about your feelings of depression; even if you have no insurance, you can get meds); I’ve been helped by folks there; I’ve learned a bit about scripting, building, finance, etc. there. I’ve discovered a wealth of websites there, and shared others. I’ve even (sadly) learned an online friend in London was killed in a construction accident, and that another has a genetic form of incurable anemia And I’ve had ‘lovers’ there! Some have moved on, and others have moved into roles of platonic friends…. And all this incredible adventure because of Chris’s show on Second Life…. THANKS, CHRIS!

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