Three Banana Thursday Special Dispatch
Hi,
I've almost started this thing back up a couple of times now. But right now I'm thinking through what I can do with it, that will better connect up to the audio work that is now my 100% focus. And I think that's the right way to approach it. If you have ideas, let me know.
In the meantime, in the last several days two exciting audio things went live that are at the center of my universe, and I wanted you to know about them if you don't already.
The first in reverse chronological order was the start of the second season (or second issue as Doug Duguay calls it) of the Valley Heat podcast. You possibly read about this show in the last edition of Three Banana Thursday, the one from June 17th, 2021. A month or so after I wrote about it, I up and wrote to Valley Heat's creator, we forged a great friendship, and I have been working with him on the show since. Sometimes getting involved with things that you love from afar doesn't pan out and you wish you had never gotten closer to them. I worried it might dispel the magic. This has been the opposite situation. It's been so fun and satisfying and enlightening and I can still manage to be in to it as a fan every bit as much as I did before I joined up. If you have never listened to it before, I recommend starting with the first episode.
The second reverse chronological super exciting audio thing is the launch of the podcast Ridiculous Crime this week, which I produce for iHeart and hosts Zaron Burnett and Elizabeth Dutton, of whom I think the world. It takes the true crime genre as a departure point, and looks back at crimes but chooses cons and capers and heists that are absurd and ridiculous instead of primarily gory, poignant, or tragic. What I love about the show is that it doesn't take itself too seriously, it treats the criminals like people instead of caricatured perps, and it doesn't engage in glorification of the criminal justice system. It's a really fun and funny show, and like with Valley Heat, we have forged a great friendship in the process of making it. Yesterday's episode is about a 16-year-old boy who rappelled in to a car dealership and stole Guy Fieri's yellow Lamborghini, and tomorrow's is about the theft and recovery of some clothing items from an animatronic at Disney's EPCOT. And a few of the crimes you'll hear in the next couple of weeks: the UK Cat Shaver, the gold rush era booze cruise purveyor/kidnapper who gave us the term "Shanghai", and a guy who got dosed with PCP at his family reunion.
There's a third super exciting audio thing that I'm hopeful will come soon, and that's iHeartMedia's recognition of the iHeart Podcast Union, which my colleagues and I have worked very hard to build and support. If and when we get voluntary recognition, I'll probably tell you about it here.
Thanks for opening this random email from the list. I hope you don't mind my coming back to you from time to time with news you might like. As always, you can hit reply and it'll go only to me.
-Dave C.