Support Overthinking It by becoming a member for $5/month!
Mark Lee, Matt Wrather, and Pete Fenzel weather a tough week in talk shows by looking to the classic exemplars and deconstructed scions of the medium, especially the internet talk show Subway Takes. Is the MetroCard in Kareem Rahma’s hand more or less postmodern than the microphone on Jimmy Fallon’s desk? Why does the 100% agree / 100% disagree formula work so well? Is that jacket a jacket? What is the role of celebrity in a medium where they ride the trains, just like us, rather than regale us in showbiz clothes like Joan Rivers and Betty White? Have we sold the past short, or have we misunderstood past senses of belonging?
Broadening their scope to the interview-intermediated podcast in the modern era, how does the authenticity the public seeks now different from the authenticity of the Instagram-filtered 2010s? And through it all, what is the work being done? And how do we know. In an era where Spotify, an audio app, can load a podcast, an audio medium, and default to video, everything we know seems balanced on the edge.
Subscribe: iTunes Other Apps
Further Reading
- Normalize strangers holding babies, SubwayTakes with Kareem Rahma, featuring Giancarlo Soresi
- Microwaving is cooking, SubwayTakes with Kareem Rahma, featuring chef Jose Andres
- Stop using old photos on dating apps, SubwayTakes with Kareem Rahma, featuring Lily Hayes
- “It’s what the people want” – Maven on his YouTube channel success, on the Chris Van Vliet YouTube Channel
- Betty White and Joan Rivers lay into each other, on the Johnny Carson YouTube Channel
- Charles Grodin asks Johnny if he cares about his guests, on the Johnny Carson YouTube Channel
- “She didn’t want to get on the mike until she had a proper fit on” – Matthew Evan Shaw of Bebida Tailgate’s cameo on the AriAtHome improvised street music sessions