Radio Lab – Salles des Departs
February 5th, 2008 by Russell DaviesPartly because of speechification, and partly for work reasons, I've been thinking a lot recently about how radio might, and should, change. One of the great and exciting possibilities it seems to me is for radio to show more of its working, to let you peek behind the scenes a little. iPM is doing that very well, and Pods and Blogs (and presumably the presence of Chris Vallance doing both programmes is not a coincidence) but I also have to say hats-off to WNYC's RadioLab for what they're doing with their podcast.
They're not on air at the moment, they're working on series 4, but they're still podcasting; letting you hear some of what would seem to be raw material for the shows they've got coming up. Interviews, features etc. They're not finished and polished with the same Piers Plowright meets Art Of Noise sonic intensity of their regular shows but they're still great little listens, and they maintain your relationship with the show while they're off air. This tiny little feature on what composer David Lang did when asked to write music for a morgue is a perfect, and touching example. MP3 here.