Comments on: Ladies and Gentlemen, Jonathan Goldstein!

Ladies and Gentlemen, Jonathan Goldstein!

l33tpolicywonk — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 10:59:04 -0800

If you enjoy Jonathan Goldstein's contributions to This American Life or his recent book Ladies and Gentlemen, The Bible! you'll probably enjoy the quirky, self-depricating comedy of his newly podcast (previously) CBC show WireTap, now in its sixth season.

Downloadable highlights (all MP3) include: Visiting Hours (featuring Jordan Jesse Go!'s Jordan Morris), My Impostor (in which Goldstein confronts someone twittering as a funnier version of him), Radical Honesty (featuring frequent TAL contributor Starlee Kine's visit to a cult), Fake It Until You Make It (in which a magazine fact checker tries to sex up Goldstein's vanilla personality), The Answering Machine (in which Goldstein's friend Howard replaces Goldstein with a soundboard), We Are Not Supermen (in which Rob Cordry reads Goldstein's story about Lois Lane's next boyfriend) and 26 Minutes 30 Seconds (in which Goldstein hires one Rap Master Maurice to shame those who have hurt him, in rap form).

By: threetoed

threetoed — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:10:55 -0800

I <3 Wiretap and I <3 Jonathan Goldstein. There are a couple bits in this post that I haven't heard yet, so I also <3 this post.

By: Auden

Auden — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:16:22 -0800

Thanks for this; Goldstein's stories at TAL are my favorites - his Superman and Batman stories are so poignant and moving (I don't really want to hear Cordry read the Superman tale, Goldstein's voice was so perfect for it). One of my favorite stories of his was about his adult friendship with his childhood tormentor "Jackie Cohen" (Allure of the Mean Friend). He is awesome.

By: Slarty Bartfast

Slarty Bartfast — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:16:48 -0800

Rad. I've been waiting for this. Thanks for the heads up. Seinfeld for the radio.

By: docgonzo

docgonzo — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:22:05 -0800

Jon's okay but Howie's taste in dogs is superior.

By: l33tpolicywonk

l33tpolicywonk — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:35:45 -0800

Auden: I thought the same thing about Goldstein's voice, but Cordry's interpretation is really worth the 20 minutes. When Goldstein was on Jordan Jesse Go!, he talked about being really impressed and intrigued by the differences in their interpretations of the subject's voice. I'd urge you to give it a try, even if its not your favorite.

By: l33tpolicywonk

l33tpolicywonk — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:36:53 -0800

Another link I should have included: Apparently, Rap Master Maurice actually exists.

By: crazylegs

crazylegs — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 11:45:42 -0800

Go here and search "Help Me, Doctor" to hear a correspondence between Gregor Samsa and Dr. Seuss. One of my favourites.

By: maudlin

maudlin — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:08:02 -0800

The National Post is one of the moribund Canadian newspapers that has been plying me with weeks of free newspapers, no obligation, please, God, please subscribe or we'll kill this seal ... ... anyway, while I find the NP mostly unreadable (and I should call and cancel the paper dump), Wednesdays bring Goldstein's bite size column, which you can find here. So if you want a taste of what he does without firing up a podcast, or want an extra fix every week, there you go. It also includes Ben Dugas' account of his Twitter impersonation.

By: ThatCanadianGirl

ThatCanadianGirl — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:13:32 -0800

Some weeks I think Wire Tap is hilarious, other weeks I can't get to the radio off switch fast enough. (The Twitter on was funny.)

By: Decimask

Decimask — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:18:49 -0800

The only time I haven't scrambled to shut off WireTap was the one episode at least two years ago when he was telling some story about Moses. Is there an emoticon for rabid, visceral loathing?

By: EatTheWeak

EatTheWeak — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:38:58 -0800

Delighted. I adore Wiretap. Thanks for sharing all of this!

By: jewzilla

jewzilla — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:51:33 -0800

Your favorite podcast sucks. I like him on TAL, but wow does wiretap tug on my hate strings. Just had to share.

By: Pomo

Pomo — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:52:03 -0800

Yes, Decimask, yes! I normally loathe Wire Tap, the only show on CBC Radio 1 that I simply can't stand...yet the biblical stories are strangely absorbing and very well done.

By: Thorzdad

Thorzdad — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 12:56:36 -0800

My local NPR affiliate started carrying Wiretap a year or two ago. As hard as I try, though, I just can't find a way to like the show. Sometimes Wiretap reminds me of the worst aspects of SNL, where they just keep trying a character week-after-week-after-week, despite the fact that the damn thing just isn't funny or entertaining. Except Wiretap is an entire show full of such character floggings. I know the show has fans, and I'm genuinely happy you like it. If only I could see in it what you do...

By: Mid

Mid — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 14:30:49 -0800

Gregor fan club, here.

By: ph00dz

ph00dz — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:14:09 -0800

Haha... Jewzilla, I'm sorry dude... you're gonna have to turn in your Tribe membership card. :) Anyway, I'm a Goldstein / Wiretap fan... and actually really dug his bible stories book as well. I didn't know about his column, but it's good that it finally explains the whole two twitter accounts thing. As a side note, I had Rap Master Maurice deliver a post-IronMan race revenge call to my ex-girlfriend. (She beat me.) The results were terrifyingly bad... in the best way, especially since she wasn't expecting that shit at all. I mean, imagine getting one of those raps on your voicemail with no context to put it in. Maybe the best $7 I've ever spent.

By: beepbeepboopboop

beepbeepboopboop — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 15:58:06 -0800

I love Wiretap and I love Jonathan Goldstein. Thanks for posting this!

By: ChurchHatesTucker

ChurchHatesTucker — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 17:27:45 -0800

Wait, what? My RSS feed for Wiretap has been languishing since last summer. I figured he just moved on to TAL.

By: namasaya

namasaya — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 21:20:52 -0800

Sorry... Wiretap is pretty much the only show on CBC Radio I can't bear to listen to. It's painfully mean, trivial, self-loathing and unfunny.

By: !Jim

!Jim — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 00:07:33 -0800

Man, count me in with those who can't stand the show. I'm glad you all do though, 'cause the world needs all different kinds of people. Plus, when I call my moms on the weekend in the car, we always gripe about how much we hate it, which is fun. (except those kind. You know the ones I mean)

By: sharkfu

sharkfu — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 18:18:52 -0800

Has anyone been able to find the text of "We Are Not Supermen"? I enjoyed Rob Cordry's reading of it but would also like to just read the short story on its own too.

By: Mid

Mid — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 10:42:20 -0800

By the way, Goldstein was recently on (Metafilter's own) Jordan, Jesse, Go. I just listened to the episode and it was pretty funny.

By: Mid

Mid — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 10:42:49 -0800

Oh, duh, that was mentioned upthread.