Reader Enrico told me that Sarah Silverman hosted Jimmy Kimmel’s show twice this week (they used to be a couple). Even though I’m no longer as smitten with Sarah after I discovered that she endorses BDS, I still had to watch the four clips on YouTube. Here’s one of them.
The one below was fairly good, though I thought the segment with Louis Virtel was pretty weak and not funny at all. But I greatly enjoyed “the greatest plague facing our nation,” which turns out to be PODCASTING. It begins at 8:20. (Siverman does, by the way, have her own podcast!)
It does seem that everyone who used to write prose (with the exceptions of Dawkins and Pinker) has turned to podcasting, and, as you know, I can’t listen to them. They go on for hours, and yes, I know that some of them are absorbing. But the turn to podcasting has to reflect things like people’s increasing need to multitask rather than read (which you can’t do while cooking), itself perhaps a result of Internet-lowered attention span, and maybe to the fact that it’s simply easier to do a podcast, especially if it involves a conversation, than to write something substantive.
Sarah’s right: everybody’s getting into the game. Bari Weiss, for example, seems to have abandoned writing on her Substack site and gone to podcasting. The pieces on her site are all written by others. The result: I don’t get the chance to read her, and I don’t listen to her. And if lots of good writers transition to podcasting, well, the quality of writing will go down.
But I still love Sarah—all Jewish boys do.
The other three videos of Sarah hosting for Kimmel are here, here, and here.
I don’t like listening to podcasts that are solo, either. They are boring and self-indulgent in many cases. I do like podcasts with good interviews. Julian Vigo has a decent podcast at Savage Minds, for one. Even though I have some disagreements with some of her POV’s she has good guests and asks good questions. Podcasters need to realize that a podcast, like a radio show, needs to avoid dead air.
I like Sarah for the most part. I haven’t listened to her podcast, though. But her standup is fun.
I’ve always been a fan of Sarah (the BDS stuff not withstanding), and thought she was hilarious. In a recent standup special, however, I was really disappointed to see that her material had devolved into what I call “shock” comedy, where the comedian simply gives incredibly graphic descriptions of sex acts (and their by-products). I’m no prude — far from it — and I’m a frequent patron of comedy clubs and R-rated comedians, but I always thought that the laughter generated by that type of shock humor is simply nervous laughter elicited from the surprise of hearing those graphic descriptions. it doesn’t seem to me take any cleverness or creativity to come up with that type of material. Sadly, it seems to me that there has been a trend toward this type of material by a number of comedians, perhaps because its easy.
I have to agree with you. I spew out enough vulgarity, obscenity, sacrilege, and just plain cussin’ here in my own space. Some things are just best left to the imagination in the public arena.
Still, I sure do like Ms. Sarah.
JohnE, I’t’s obvious you have not followed Sarah’s comedy history for very long. She has been a long time champion of challenging the sexist, double standards of some heterosexual men. And you’re also in denial about your own prudishness.
Up to the last statement, this was fine. The last sentence is rude and insulting. You will apologize to JohnE or never post here again.
What kind of person are you who comes on a new website and starts calling other commenters names right and left.
Isn’t podcast just another name for talk radio.
With fewer commercials, a broader range of topics, less focus on ratings so that the shows don’t cater to the lowest common denominator, the ability to listen on your own rather than the program director’s schedule, the ability to save for later and return to an interesting topic, an avenue for science communicators to engage, a source for music that doesn’t make the hot 100, and something that I can listen to while running, biking, cycling, or driving, or showering.
There are garbage podcasts and good ones. There’s only garbage talk radio.
Other than that, yes. Just another name for talk radio.
I agree. I don’t like podcasts. Print is so much easier to consume. It’s also faster, since I can read faster than a person usually speaks.
I don’t listen to podcasts unless there is also a transcript available. I perhaps miss some interesting things – but there is so much else out there.
A lot of us goyish boys do, too — although my current crush in this regard is the lovely and talented journalist and legal commentator Ms. Emily Bazelon. Doesn’t hurt that she’s the granddaughter of the late liberal icon, and former chief judge of the second highest court in the land (the DC Circuit), David Bazelon. (Yes, I know she’s married; I’m not looking to break up her happy home, simply to admire from afar.)
So you are looking for some legal assistance?
For a variety of reasons (ahem!), thanks for the link to the video, Ken! I’m now interested in reading Bazelon’s book, Charged, the thesis of which, namely, the unfair power wielded by prosecutors, reminds me of the Crews article on Sandusky that was the subject of a recent post here on WEIT.
Having seen these comments and having watched the clip — and having been subject to the conditions it seems to discuss – – I agree, and have now bought a copy of the book. ^_^
The videos she did with Matt Damon, and that Kimmel did in response with Ben Affleck, are hilarious.
A dissenting Jewish vote on Sarah:
Not every Jewish man loves Sarah. Some of us prefer Illiza Schlesinger: just as smart, just as pretty and much less woke.
I beg to differ. There is no way Illiza Schlesinger is as pretty or as smart as Sarah Silverman.
I’d kiss her though.
Sarah Silverman I would marry.
Damien and David H, these type of comments are examples that Sarah would easily mock as objectifying and clueless. But you HAVE to tell us? Are you more Denisovan or Neanderthal ?
This is the second comment you made as a newbie that is insulting to other readers. You will apologize to Damien, David H and John E, and stop calling other commenters names, or you will never post here again. And read the posting rules on the right sidebar.
I don’t need this kind of commentary on this site.
I love podcasts, but you probably have fewer mindless tasks than I. However, each time I click on a story, expecting text but getting video or audio instead, my soul puckers just a bit more.
I agree with these general sentiments. Podcasts and even “videos” of them can be handy during commutes and the like…but when you want to read an article about a news story, for instance, and you’re taken to a video or audio instead, it can be maddening. Does no one READ the news anymore?
I’ve started listening to the podcast, Smartless with Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes, & Will Arnett where they interview guests on the show. I mostly like it because it’s funny. The only thing I don’t like is there are ads that they do themselves but you can skip through that.
The problem with unscripted podcasts is that they tend to end up rambling and self-indulgent, and losing their audience. Just as successful stand-up comedy is the end result of hours of toil, trial and error, and much re-writing, so it is with successful podcasts.
One of my daughters has spent some time over the past couple of years writing scripts for tech-based podcasts, and it takes a lot of research, the ability to order material and pitch it effectively, and the writing skill to tell a story in a way that captures and holds an audience. It’s hard work; but it pays quite well!
If you commute, podcasts are your friend. As are audio books. There are a few good journalistic podcasts, and I’m a big fan of Sean Carroll’s podcast.
I listen to a few: Michael Shermer’s skeptic, a bright Portuguese guy called the Dissenter,
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTUcatGD6xu4tAcxG-1D4Bg
and Sam Harris – all three do great interviews with academics /authors /both – guests are from science/psychology / politics. I think Jerry was on Sam’s at one point?
D.A.
NYC
He was the very first interview, if memory serves.
Sarah Silverman endorses BDU ? Well, she erred, on that and a couple other things. We all err at times.
We wouldn’t be where we are had we never erred.
Anyway, I’m in love, so when she does it I find it cute and that’s it.
Speaking of podcasts, the last Glenn Loury/ John McWhorter blogging heads was really good. If I recall, Glen had just lost a family member and wasn’t up to his usual bluster, which improved the tenor of the conversation.
https://bloggingheads.tv/videos/62356?in=12:26&out=
I love Sarah’s comedy. I also love several podcasts. I also love audible and spotify. I love YouTube whenever I have to fix something, or find a comic, or pretty much anything. I love Netflix and HBO and Amazon Prime and Showtime for original content. And most of all, I love streaming them whenever I want. It’s fucking amazing.
With you on all that.
Youtube is incredible when it comes to fixing things. My kids never new existence before Youtube and don’t find it as amazing as I do. Over the past ten years or so I’ve diagnosed and repaired a broken clothes dryer twice, 2 different broken clothes washers, a broken refrigerator and figured out dozens of other diagnoses, fixes and methods ranging from computer stuff to woodworking. I’ve always been pretty good at figuring stuff out and fixing it anyway, compared to the average person, but many of these things I previously wouldn’t have attempted myself, but Youtube makes it easy.
I do not listen to podcasts but Ido listen to the radio. I have to actively listen though – not do something else if I want to understand what it is.
Most podcasts are easy enough to follow at 1.5 or even 1.75 speed which most podcast players can do. That cuts the time it takes to listen to them considerably.