The Kondabolu Brothers Podcast
Comedian Hari Kondabolu is having a moment. Last November, Kondabolu released a short documentary called The Problem With Apu. In the film, he and other Asian actors and comedians explored Apu (an Indian character on the long-running and critically acclaimed animated show, The Simpsons) and other racist portrayals of brown people in pop culture.
Fast forward a few months and the makers of The Simpsons last week directly addressed the issues brought up in the documentary and astonished viewers by turning the conversation around to a matter of being “politically correct”.
Needless to say, the internet exploded but Hari remains unfazed because he’s started a conversation. Now, he’s taking that conversation forward with a new podcast that sees him team up with his DJ brother to marry comedy with social commentary. In The Kondabolu Brothers, listeners can tune in to Hari and Ashok travelling from city to city in the US, talking about everything from Batman to toothbrushes, occasionally throwing in political and cultural observations.
They’re laid back, extremely funny and the live audience add to the stand-up aura. My only complaint is that Ashok tends to get lost amid Hari’s excitement, and we hope to hear more from him in the coming episodes.
Deconstructed
When it rains, it pours. And so it goes for news podcasts in 2018. Motivated by the success of the New York Times’ runaway hit podcast show, The Daily, a slew of new shows revolving around distilling the day’s major headlines have sprung up. And we say, the more the merrier.
Jumping on the bandwagon is Mehdi Hasan, the popular British political journalist, broadcaster and author, who recently launched Deconstructed, where every week he unpacks a major news event, going beyond the newsprint and delving into the topic at hand.
For regular podcast listeners, Hasan’s aggressive TV voice might be a bit much; there’s no time to catch up with all the complex ideas he’s throwing at us, as he barely stops to catch a breath. But tonal issues apart, Hasan delivers a decisively compelling series; in episode one he orchestrates a no-holds-barred interview with former US presidential candidate Bernie Sanders about economic inequality in the country. Consequent episodes touched open topics like Black Lives Matter, the US-Syria relationship and North Korea. If you’re a fan of Hasan’s journalism and identify with his politics or are just looking for a place to catch up with the week’s big news, Deconstructed is your new haunt.
The Walk
The folks at Panoply, one of the first networks to set up shop in the podcasting world, are continuously trying to push the envelope when it comes to audio storytelling. Fresh from their ever-growing roster is The Walk, written by British author and game designer Naomi Alderman, whose dystopian novel The Power won the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction last year.
The Walk is designed to be heard while on the move, essentially making the listener the central hero of the story. While you can’t change the course of events in the story, the events take place around you.
Set in Scotland, The Walk begins in Inverness station. Through a case of mistaken identity, you, “the walker,” are given a vital package that must be couriered to Edinburgh. But as you’re about to board the train, terrorists blow it up and set off an electromagnetic pulse. None of the cars or trains are working — you’ll have to walk — but now the terrorists are on your trail because they want the device you’re carrying, and the police are after you as a suspect in the bombing.
It’s a fast-moving story, but most of the thrill gets lost in the exposition as the voices around you try to explain everything that’s happening. Nevertheless, The Walk definitely opens up new avenues for the ways in which the audio format can be expanded to tell new stories. And for those who are ready to try something different and are looking for some high-stakes storytelling while on the go, The Walk makes for an enjoyable new pastime.
