Rough Translation
The best podcasts find a way to combine entertainment with hard-core learning, and Rough Translation is one of the magnificent few that pulls it off. Every episode, the host Gregory Warner explores how a controversial topic in the U.S. is being debated elsewhere in the world, asking listeners to try on a different cultural context and see things from a new perspective. The theme this season is people fighting the establishment, such as the woman in “ We Don’t Say That ,” who faces the herculean task of adding words for blackness to the French language. The show is best when holding political roadblocks up to the light; take “ Ukraine: Race Against the Machine ” which, in 20 minutes, explains corruption in Kiev better than extended debate in Congress does. The format works so well, one wonders if the podcast should hire a team of foreign journalists to study the U.S.
Storyline
The best podcasts find a way to combine entertainment with hard-core learning, and Rough Translation is one of the magnificent few that pulls it off. Every episode, the host Gregory Warner explores how a controversial topic in the U.S. is being debated elsewhere in the world, asking listeners to try on a different cultural context and see things from a new perspective. The theme this season is people fighting the establishment, such as the woman in “We Don’t Say That,” who faces the herculean task of adding words for blackness to the French language. The show is best when holding political roadblocks up to the light; take “Ukraine: Race Against the Machine” which, in 20 minutes, explains corruption in Kiev better than extended debate in Congress does. The format works so well, one wonders if the podcast should hire a team of foreign journalists to study the U.S.
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