A Podcast Playlist That Digs Deeper
The New York Times recommends a selection of interesting podcasts, including Pang! created by Profes
For nearly two decades, Department of World Arts and Cultures/Dance Professor and Chair Dan Froot has been focused on issues of food insecurity. What began as an exploration of hunger in Los Angeles has become a series of oral histories and theater productions sharing the stories of families living with food insecurity across the country. This summer, Professor Froot released the latest iteration of his creative work to much acclaim: an audio drama podcast, Pang!, which attemps to answer the question, "What does hunger sound like?" The podcast has been streamed in more than 25 countries and earned a spot on the New York Times' Podcast Playlist that Digs Deeper.
"Every month the podcast universe seems to expand exponentially, both in terms of listeners and programming. But that rapid growth makes keeping up with all the new shows — let alone discerning what’s worthy of your time — even harder. So we’re going to help with that.Each month, we’ll be assembling a mix of the latest releases, looking in particular for things that don’t necessarily make it onto the “New and Notable” section of your listening app. We’ll bring you a fresh mix, across genres and styles, of the most intriguing new shows in the medium. Here’s what you may have missed so far this summer.
“Pang!” is an experiment in the dynamic power of the podcast medium as it endeavors to answer the question, “What does hunger sound like in America?” The first episode, “Los Angeles,” is an audio drama in the style of old-time radio plays. First adapted for the stage, and now for headphones, this play is based on the oral history of an American family living in hunger. As you hear gut-wrenching performances depicting the life of a single mother of nine and her uncle’s struggle to hold onto the family home of 70 years, you might wonder how a play that barely mentions food scarcity could answer that original question. Yet the second episode, which drops Monday, pivots into reality with interviews with the actual family members that this play was based on, who will “teach us how to hear hunger in every moment” of their story. The rest of this monthly series will give the same treatment to families below the poverty line in Miami and Cedar Rapids, Iowa."— Phoebe Lett, Aug. 9, 2019
This post is an excerpt. Read the full article and the rest of the podcast suggestions on the New York Times website.
Stay engaged. Use #UCLAarts to stay connected.
