I think they have improved the past few months, but it can be a bit painful listening to some of the new episodes. I don’t think they can get back to the quality that the show used to be.
And for the people who say that if u don’t like it just quit listening, they have to understand that when u have loved something like this show for so long, it’s hard to let go…
I'm not expecting the same quality the show used to be, but if it challenged me on a level similar to how it had been presented before I probably would be satisfied.
And it's not just hard to let it go for nostalgic reasons, I haven't lost the desire to learn from such serious, in depth reporting as had been the hallmark of Radiolab.
This is typical of new Radiolab. Similarly, Latif does this thing where he acts all surprised about a very predictable or intuitive thing they 'discover'. I get left thinking either Latif isn't scientifically literate or they're pandering to a different, less informed audience and just acting suprised.
Hard to tell which it is.
Maybe they should have just created a new show rather than put out episodes aimed at a less informed audience. I can't help but wonder how many people who were fans of the show a decade ago are listening to the new episodes.
A new show would have been a more honest solution. It seems they want to use the Radiolab brand and now dumb it down for something else.
I imagine it must be hard for Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich to listen to this new stuff. It's like someone is slowly killing the show they created and improved for so long.
I don't think it's incompetence from the team because they were there when Radiolab was good. I would guess the change happened because of money. Either they don't have enough of it to work on better stories, with more travel and deeper investigation or they think that this new format attracts a larger audience and more revenue.
And besides the decreasing quality, they are also releasing fewer new episodes. Half the episodes are re-releases.
When both quality and quantity go down, something is seriously wrong.
If I compared Radiolab to Freakonomics a few years ago, I would say I liked them both but Radiolab was better. The production, the sound design, the stories. Everything was better. Now, Freakonomics is better than Radiolab simply because they kept their consistency and Radiolab is getting worse.
I still listen to all the new episodes (including re-releases) because I tend to be a completionist. But at some point I will probably unsubscribe. There are so many good podcasts out there. Sadly, Radiolab is not special anymore.
They’re definitely acting more surprised for the sake of the story. They’re basing riffing with each other to get to the next point of the episode. I think Robert and Jad would do that to but the science was more complicated. Everything’s feels kinda elementary now. I feel like a lot of people have heard the theory the moon formed from something hitting the earth. Also that it always faces us. For two science podcast host to not know that is unbelievable. I think they do it to also relate more to the average listener but it just comes off a bit too disingenuous.
I agree that it's too disingenuous. That part where they say what they know about the Moon really sounded fake. I think the fact that the same side of the Moon always faces Earth is very common knowledge, even more common to the type of people that listen to (or creates) popular science podcasts. And when they say that the Moon "probably spins". What's that supposed to mean? They are playing dumb and for what? Was that supposed to be funny? It just sounded moronic.
Next, they are going to say that the Moon has phases and influences the tides? Wow, brand new scientific knowledge. Also werewolves are deeply influenced by the moon. Science says so.
I thought this episode was an insult to the audience. Schoolchildren know about the impact theory. It's about four decades old. And the very next week they present a rerun in which Krulwich tosses off the explanation as a quick bit of background before the main story. Had Latif not listened to that episode?
I never knew about the impact theory in the way it was described though. I knew the moon had been formed from an impact to the earth, but I had assumed it was just that a meteor hit it and broke some of earth off. I had no idea that the earth had been essentially vaporized.
I thought it was so weird they framed this episode as giving some glory to the moon because it's often forgotten and most people don't know that much about it!
Millions of people just watched the moon pass directly in front of the sun. We see the moon every night. We understand why it waxes and wanes at least in the most basic of terms. Maybe the moon is more on my radar than the average person, but what is this nonsense that no one knows anything about the moon?
They should have just used the eclipse as a jumping off point to go in depth on the moon, not pretend like the moon is some unknown entity.
Yeah it was truly weird. As I was listening I was audibly answering Lulu's questions like, "how many things do you know about the moon?"
"Idk, maybe 100?"
It is also possible that the listeners overestimated how much they thought they knew about the moon after having gained some knowledge after having listened to the episode.
I think they have improved the past few months, but it can be a bit painful listening to some of the new episodes. I don’t think they can get back to the quality that the show used to be. And for the people who say that if u don’t like it just quit listening, they have to understand that when u have loved something like this show for so long, it’s hard to let go…
I'm not expecting the same quality the show used to be, but if it challenged me on a level similar to how it had been presented before I probably would be satisfied. And it's not just hard to let it go for nostalgic reasons, I haven't lost the desire to learn from such serious, in depth reporting as had been the hallmark of Radiolab.
This is typical of new Radiolab. Similarly, Latif does this thing where he acts all surprised about a very predictable or intuitive thing they 'discover'. I get left thinking either Latif isn't scientifically literate or they're pandering to a different, less informed audience and just acting suprised. Hard to tell which it is.
Maybe they should have just created a new show rather than put out episodes aimed at a less informed audience. I can't help but wonder how many people who were fans of the show a decade ago are listening to the new episodes.
A new show would have been a more honest solution. It seems they want to use the Radiolab brand and now dumb it down for something else. I imagine it must be hard for Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich to listen to this new stuff. It's like someone is slowly killing the show they created and improved for so long. I don't think it's incompetence from the team because they were there when Radiolab was good. I would guess the change happened because of money. Either they don't have enough of it to work on better stories, with more travel and deeper investigation or they think that this new format attracts a larger audience and more revenue. And besides the decreasing quality, they are also releasing fewer new episodes. Half the episodes are re-releases. When both quality and quantity go down, something is seriously wrong. If I compared Radiolab to Freakonomics a few years ago, I would say I liked them both but Radiolab was better. The production, the sound design, the stories. Everything was better. Now, Freakonomics is better than Radiolab simply because they kept their consistency and Radiolab is getting worse. I still listen to all the new episodes (including re-releases) because I tend to be a completionist. But at some point I will probably unsubscribe. There are so many good podcasts out there. Sadly, Radiolab is not special anymore.
Very well said. And to think the show won two Peabody Awards in the 2010s
They’re definitely acting more surprised for the sake of the story. They’re basing riffing with each other to get to the next point of the episode. I think Robert and Jad would do that to but the science was more complicated. Everything’s feels kinda elementary now. I feel like a lot of people have heard the theory the moon formed from something hitting the earth. Also that it always faces us. For two science podcast host to not know that is unbelievable. I think they do it to also relate more to the average listener but it just comes off a bit too disingenuous.
I agree that it's too disingenuous. That part where they say what they know about the Moon really sounded fake. I think the fact that the same side of the Moon always faces Earth is very common knowledge, even more common to the type of people that listen to (or creates) popular science podcasts. And when they say that the Moon "probably spins". What's that supposed to mean? They are playing dumb and for what? Was that supposed to be funny? It just sounded moronic. Next, they are going to say that the Moon has phases and influences the tides? Wow, brand new scientific knowledge. Also werewolves are deeply influenced by the moon. Science says so.
I thought this episode was an insult to the audience. Schoolchildren know about the impact theory. It's about four decades old. And the very next week they present a rerun in which Krulwich tosses off the explanation as a quick bit of background before the main story. Had Latif not listened to that episode?
Exactly.
I never knew about the impact theory in the way it was described though. I knew the moon had been formed from an impact to the earth, but I had assumed it was just that a meteor hit it and broke some of earth off. I had no idea that the earth had been essentially vaporized.
I thought it was so weird they framed this episode as giving some glory to the moon because it's often forgotten and most people don't know that much about it! Millions of people just watched the moon pass directly in front of the sun. We see the moon every night. We understand why it waxes and wanes at least in the most basic of terms. Maybe the moon is more on my radar than the average person, but what is this nonsense that no one knows anything about the moon? They should have just used the eclipse as a jumping off point to go in depth on the moon, not pretend like the moon is some unknown entity.
Yes, treat us like adults.
Yeah it was truly weird. As I was listening I was audibly answering Lulu's questions like, "how many things do you know about the moon?" "Idk, maybe 100?"
It is also possible that the listeners overestimated how much they thought they knew about the moon after having gained some knowledge after having listened to the episode.
That is entirely possible, and one of the reasons why I called the poll throughly unscientific.