Lately I’ve been searching for something to listen to during my time at work. Previously the most success I have had was with Radio 1, the public service radio channel in Dutch. There is something to be said for having Dutch piped into your ears for hours on end when you are trying to learn the language. With that said, you’re tied down to whatever they are talking about at that moment – and sometimes it can be a bit boring. A little variety is nice.
On Thursday I re-found a podcast, “Serial“. It is a non-fiction story told out over multiple episodes. I had seen it several times over the last few months as I looked for podcasts but hadn’t listened to it. Apparently it was #1 for iTunes podcasts before the first episode even aired. Or something like that. Season 1 is twelve episodes long. It covers the 1999 murder of 18-year-old Hae Min Lee and the former boyfriend who was convicted of killing her and sentenced to life in prison.
What makes this podcast interesting is the use of actual interviews, recorded phone calls and court room testimony. It is not the voice of one person but the voice of many. Since the events are real, you can’t help but feel like you shouldn’t be listening, like this is private. It’s an interesting feeling.
Here are some interesting links:
Official page
Wikipedia page
Reddit thread
Facebook page
I only started listening to podcasts within the last year or so. While I do feel like I grew up with technology — there were computers at my elementary school and I was online regularly by 11 or 12 — I can definitely feel the divide between my generation and the digital generation. I still prefer email over texting. I don’t follow much of the latest crazes like Vine or Snapchat. Never tried Instagram. I had a twitter account, but deleted it after it got hacked (used the same simple password for that as well as a message board password, and the board got hacked first). I didn’t grow up with an iPad in my hands from birth or a pressing need to have a smart phone by age 7. I didn’t get my first cell phone into high school (Nokia, I believe) and didn’t get a smart phone until 2013.
So I can relate to older generations – I can only imagine what technology is going to confuse the heck out of me in 50 years. Heh. Get off my lawn, and just give me my iPad…
Life in the Hague 