From This American Life.
Episode 427: Original recipe: this most recent episode of TAL has caused quite a stir in the soft drink world. It's such a great piece to listen to as it embodies great story-telling and solid research. What are your thoughts on the organization of the piece? What was the highlight? The part the piece could have done without? Is this topic really worth all this hype?
No More Mr. (or Ms.) Nice Guy: The Wall Street Journal is taking a bold step into present day: no more courtesy titles. Amazing. What are you thoughts on how this might impact the sports section, the newspaper, and the world. What do you think of those pesky courtesy titles? Should they still be in use anywhere? And surely comment on Jason Gay's tone in this piece. How would you describe it?
Happy minicourse ... in a week.
6 comments:
Ira Glass is amazing at interviewing. He seems to get quotes that fit perfectly into whatever he is writing about. Glass also does a great job at building suspense during the piece, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat. The piece was well organized, starting off with some history about the Coca-Cola formula but I did feel like there was a bit too much information being thrown at the listeners (perhaps it would have been easier to follow if the text was printed). The climax of the piece was when Glass decided to make a batch of Coke using the old recipe. I felt like some of the background info at the beginning could have been trimmed but it was interesting to listen to. I don't think the article is worth all the hype because they claim to have a recipe of Coke that was never brought to market or a recipe that is outdated.
I definitely enjoyed this piece, but I was not blown away. I think Glass did a great job in terms of investigative journalism, and this is just my personal opinion, but I found myself becoming relatively bored after all of the factual information about the different ingredients and the way they are combined. I would have been satisfied with just the list of ingredients, and less time spent on the explanation. There are, however, many parts of this piece that I did enjoy. I liked the additional information that Glass added in unrelated to Coke, such as the widow’s comment about Northerners winning the war, because it added an upbeat feel to the piece and kept it from being purely informative and factual. I think Glass did a wonderful job, as Kyle said, at extracting information from everyone he interviewed, and obtaining great quotes such as “they’ll come running back to Coke”. Overall I would say that this is a thought provoking and well-organized piece, and the only dilemma I have is that certain parts became too dull and factual (family histories, ingredients, etc.)
No More Mr. (or Ms.) Nice Guy:
I think the quote that best describes my reaction to the article is "whatever, dude." In the business world and other professions, employes refer to their employers as Mr. and Ms. (and occasionally call each other that as well). However, out on the field or in the gym, athletes refer to each other and their coaches by their last names. I think the titles should not be used when covering a sports event but should be used in other situations. I think it is a bit over the top to say "Mr. James passed the ball to Mr. Wade who missed a 3 pt. shot to end the quarter." I think it is respectful to continue to use this norm for both athletes and non athletes. I think Jason Gay's tone in the piece starts of really sarcastic and his humor definitely come across in the piece. At the end of the article, I liked how he discussed how this could be a "new Coke" moment and just a sign of changing times.
I like that Ira Glass started out with the bold statement about how he had the original recipe for Coca Cola, but then took a step back and told the story, at a slow and descriptive pace. I could follow the story really well and it had all the right pieces of information. I'm a little baffled as to how the information in the old article didn't get out before this time, but I guess Glass is just that great of a journalist. I also think that he did a good job of remaining impartial, and is skeptical of his own discovery's legitimacy. It makes me believe that this is actually the recipe just because Glass doesn't swear it is, but analyzes the argument. I think that this topic is really significant because Coke's secret recipe is a huge deal, and Coke is such an internationally famous brand. I felt like everything was significant in this piece and nothing really needs to be taken out; everything is needed to explain the journey of the ingredient.
I think that courtesy titles are stupid. They seem like a kind of douchey way of saying someone's name. When I think of people being refered to as 'Mr.' and 'Ms.', it gives off a Harvard type of tone, and is way to formal for a newspaper, especially for the sports section. I agree with the author that using courtesy titles is too awkward. When situations where someone is mentioned multiple times in once sentence it is way to much to have to constantly put Mr. or Ms. before their name. I think that it is a good move to remove the titles and make writing have a better flow, although I do see his point that some people are so iconic that a 'Mr.' seems necessary. These cases are too few, though. I like how Jason Gay uses phrases like "whatever, dude" and "a chill guy like Tim Lincecum". While describing a type of writing (using courtesy titles) that is very stuck up and formal, he remains 'chill' and talks like a teenager, which offers a good contrast.
P.S. I posted late because I forgot February only had 28 days
No More Mr. (Or Ms.) Nice Guy:
I found this article quite humorous. It completely makes sense for the Mr. and Ms. to be taken away from the names of athletes. It sounds quite awkward for athletes to be called by Mr. and Ms., and I think it interferes with the pace of the writing. Gay's tone in this article is sarcastic and harsh, but also funny. He brought a lot of good points to light in the article. I do believe that other newspapers will catch onto the trend of athletes being referred to solely by their last names.
Original Recipe:
This podcast was so fascinating. I found it really funny at times when when humor was unintentional. The fact that only two people at one given time knew the recipe, and that they would never travel on the same plane, in case it crashed was so odd. Ira Glass talks quite quickly in the podcast, which is understandable because he has to deliver information in a timely fashion, but I wish he gave the listener a little more time to process since he gave so many facts about Coke. Personally, I think the topic of the secret formula is too hyped up, but I don't like Coke, so I can't really relate to the adoration of its flavors. I really liked how Glass used background information about Coke. For example, how it was invented by a pharmacist, and was even sold at pharmacy soda fountains! I found that incredible. I thought the phone call with the widow was a little redundant when she said who it passed to and from, but I enjoyed her descriptions of the old book they had.
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