We want Obama - Open Source and Economist

My podcast source for the American elections, The Economist's blog  Democracy in America, which is included in The Economist's podcast, is joined by the podcast Open Source with two issues. Somehow, it is all about Obama. It seems McCain is but a candidate; Obama is a phenomenon, not just a national phenomenon, he is a phenomenon of supranational proportions. He triggers fascination in all worlds and it's who he is and what his person stands for, rather than his politics that make him so.

On The Economist, Bill Barnard addresses this in the most straightforward way: Obama represents a minority and the chances a man from the minorities has in a great democracy to achieve the highest office. If you think this is about race, nobody agrees. This reaches further. On Open Source, Anthony Barnett and Kanishk Taroor, characterize Obama as 'metro-racial', a product of the endless intermingling that is so modern. No matter how you call it, Obama is attributed the magic of hope that appeals to everybody, all over the world, and by virtue of that alone is the most mesmerizing candidate, comparable to John F. Kennedy in 1960.

George Lakoff, continues on Open Source to analyze Obama's strength from the perspective of brain science. He basically explains in terms of the mechanics of our brain what is described in more emotional terms above. But to my taste he goes slightly over the top. I can't go along with his conjecture Obama finally does right what Reagan did right before him and what the Democrats have done wrong for decades. If it were so crude, you can not explain why the last elections were decided by tiny margins rather than land slide victories.

In any case, magic of Barack Obama is so strong, the podcasts cannot hide, even if they try, their profound preference for his election.



More Open Source:
The end of Hegemony,
Go for a walk with Open Source.

More from the Economist:
Getting comfortable with Obama,
Democracy in America - podcast review,
Issues of Race,
The primary system,
The Economist in New Hampshire.

Win, lose or draw - BTHP review

The Binge Thinking History Podcast has reached the concluding episode about the Battle of Britain. After having recounted the history of the battle, host Tony Cocks takes on the compelling questions that come up with the battle. How pivotal was it after all? How much of a serious threat has it been and how much of an effect did it have on the rest of the Second World War?

BTHP shows a very intelligent quality in this episode. All of these questions are taken on and conclusions are drawn and well supported. This is a true history podcast and top notch at that.

So what about the battle? I would not want to give too much away of this podcast, I can only beg you to go and listen. I can disclose the bottom-line though. Even if the Battle of Britain was not too big of a battle and even if the Germans were not hell bent on actually defeating, let alone invade Britain, Cocks argues that the British victory had an important effect. Both tactically as well as symbolically, it kept the western front open and allowed an allied victory in Western Europe in the end. In addition, he makes a point how the importance stretched even beyond the Second World War.

Previously about BTHP:
Blitz on London,
Battle of Britain,
The American Constitution's British roots.

Through the Stomach - History podcast review

The Podcast History of Cooking is a new and very promising history podcast (feed). Maker Jesse Browner takes on history with the subject that has been with us for ever: preparing our food. Even if not all food preparation is cooking, this history goes way back, much further than written history, as Browner makes a point. Sure, but how to find out what the cooking was? Another direction he takes, is even more ambitious: cooking as a measure of history; he assumes our cooking represents the direction our history takes, sometimes earlier and more accurately than for example politics, economy or war.

When speaking of food in earliest times, we have to rely on supposition. Browner criticizes a widely accepted assumption that the pre-historic diet was bland, monotonous and simple. I find his point very convincing. Man, throughout history, is no less smart, inventive and curious than today and consequently, there is no reason whatsoever to assume anything other than that early man applied all his technologies he had access to, and all the edible stuff he could find, in his cooking. In rich environments such as the Mediterranean and the Middle East, this would have resulted in a varied, tasty and rich diet.

Browner is a novelist and has attended well to his text. In addition he reads it out carefully with good intonation and tempo. The two episodes that are available thus far, take twenty minutes each. This is a very good length for a podcast that consists of a text that is read out. All of this results in a very professional and very effectively produced podcast. I am very excited to find out more about history through the stomach.

Maria Stuart - OVT's martelaren

Maria (Mary) Stuart werd geboren op de troon van Schotland. Ze was de volgende in lijn om op de Engelse troon te komen. Maar ze was Katholiek. Op een wat rommelige wijze bespreekt OVT hoe het hoofd van Maria onder de bijl kwam.

Er mag iets meer nagedacht worden bij OVT hoe het gesprek geprepareerd en gestroomlijnd wordt. Ik wijs maar weer eens naar In Our Time, waar de BBC een prachtige standaard neerzet. Je kan je gespecialiseerde gasten vrijlaten en tegelijkertijd proberen naar een conclusie te werken. Of een aantal punten die aan het eind duidelijk moeten zijn. In het gesprek over Maria Stuart leek dat te ontbreken.

Natuurlijk wordt er zinvol over de geschiedenis gediscussieerd en er wordt wel wat duidelijk over de intriges, over het proces en de executie en over de persoon Mary Stuart. Maar er werd voor mijn gevoel niets afgerond. En hoewel het humoristisch was om een geluidsfragment van Monty Python te krijgen en het best aardig was om Fik Meijer de vergelijking met Romeinse koningsdrama's te horen trekken, aan de lijn van de discussie droeg het niet bij. OVT blijft een prachtig programma en de serie over beroemde executies is een heel origineel en prikkelend onderwerp, maar zo goed als de eerste uitzending over Socrates is het tot nu toe niet meer geworden.

Meer OVT:
Jeanne d'Arc,
Paulus,
Socrates,
Hoeren en Agenten,
Polen.

Hildegard von Bingen - Naxos podcast review

Naxos Classical Music Spotlight Podcast is a promotional podcast from Naxos to pay attention to the Classical music albums they release. The podcasts bring great music with explanations on the side which touch upon music and the biographies of the musicians and composers. As a consequence, this can turn into a veritable history podcast, such as the issue about Hildegard von Bingen.

Hildegard von Bingen (1098 - 1179) was what in the Middle Ages would go for 'well versed in the arts' and this meant not only that she composed music, as can be heard on the podcast and the promoted album, but also that she wrote extensively on whatever subject. She was engaged in medicine, science and literature, to name but a few. She turned into an influential spiritual woman in her time in Central Europe. The podcast tries to emphasize how exceptional this was for a woman, but by all means this was exceptional for any person of the time.

Neurologists (among others Oliver Sacks) suppose her 'visions' were actually bouts of migraine and in addition to the religious pertinence, she turned them into creativity. She wrote poetry, invented language and on. Eventually the podcast is not a history podcast and refrains from too much embedding in the history. In stead, the marvels of her life are narrated and must stand on their own. Nevertheless, as a snapshot of the Middle Ages, it serves quite well.

Bram de Swaan - Marathon Interview

Bram (Abram) de Swaan was te gast in Het Gebouw in 1990. Het marathon interview met hem werd afgenomen door Geert Mak. De twee zijn voornamelijk politiek en maatschappelijk geinteresseerd en daardoor werd het een gesprek over grote onderwerpen, meer dan over het persoonlijke - al probeert de redactie er door middel van Cor Galis wel om te vragen.

We komen natuurlijk wel wat te weten. Bijvoorbeeld dat de familie De Swaan de oorlog overleefde in de onderduik. Kleine Bram werd in de oorlog geboren en als tien maanden oude baby in een gastgezin ondergebracht. Over zijn onderduikouders zegt hij niet al te veel, maar wel dit: 'waarschijnlijk konden ze op het kritieke moment geen smoes verzinnen waarom niet en dus toen zaten ze met die baby opgescheept.' Let op het woord waarschijnlijk. Hij heeft het ze niet gevraagd, of hij wil niets specifieks over hen zeggen.

Waar het hem om gaat is de banaliteit van het goede: goede mensen zijn niet degenen die het goede zoeken, of heldhaftig op zich nemen, maar die er niet onderuit konden komen en vooruit dan maar met de geit. Nee, als er al een held in het verhaal is, is het het achtjarige pleegzusje dat de hele oorlog met de grote mensen heeft moeten meeliegen en dat feilloos gedaan heeft.

Dit soort algemeenheden en veilig op afstand praten kenmerken het gesprek. Minder intiem dan andere interviews, maar door de thematiek wel heel interessant.

Meer Marathon Interviews:
Jan Vrijman,
Maarten van Rossem,
Louis Th. Lehmann,
Marita Mathijsen,
Ruud Lubbers.