Top 5 People Who Should Podcast
There seems to be an inverse relationship between one’s willingness to podcast one’s life and the general merit of that individual’s life. No offense to the creative and productive vlogger’s out there, but it is a terrifyingly self-indulgent sea you’re swimming in. The fact that Perez Hilton’s “video blog” on YouTube, which is nothing more than advertisements for his VH1 show, continuously occupies multiple spots in YouTube’s “most viewed” section triggers my snobbish elitism the way that icanhascheezburger’s meteoric rise makes me simultaneously cringe and chuckle. Cruckle? Chinge? Now who’s the portmanteau authority?
Still, there is no use fighting the public’s thirst for sensational gossip. But let’s say we took a different approach to this vlogging phenomenon — what if we connected interesting, articulate, and well-informed people with videocast technology? It is inevitable that more celebrities and dignitaries will jump into the increasingly media-rich blogosphere; what follows is purely an academic thought experiment. After the jump are the top five people I’d like to see vlogging.
Bill Nye the Science Guy — As a child raised on PBS, I worry about where today’s web-enhanced youth is going to get its quality children’s entertainment. Who will be the Jim Henson of the digital age? Looking back to PBS for inspiration, television personality and science guy Bill Nye is a perfect fit for online video. His PBS show was made up of short segments strung together along a theme. Nye would talk to the audience directly and had no problem ad-libbing. In fact, it could have been Bill Nye who brought the miracle of Diet Coke and Mentos to the interwebs. Nye’s web site says that he currently has patents pending on a “ballet toe show and a ball-throwing technique training device.” Nye has also been busy teaching at his alma mater Cornell, writing a column for MSN Encarta, contributing to a number of science television shows, and coming out in favor of Pluto’s downgrade to dwarf planet.
The President of the United States — In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge, a.k.a. “Silent Cal,” delivered the nation’s first Presidential Radio Address. To this day, the President continues to broadcast a weekly address from the Oval Office. What if this was made into a vodcast? Perhaps I’ve been spending too much time in front of The West Wing, but I did watch Fred Thompson’s announcement about his announcement on his presidential intentions and maybe it is time for the President’s Radio Address to step into the 21st century.
Quentin Tarantino — While he is a painfully obvious choice from a young, male film-major blogger, Tarantino’s spitfire dialog coupled with his tendency for tightly crafted vignettes would make for some compelling and compact videos. What happens when Tarantino needs to go to the butcher counter at the grocery store? I’m sure Tarantino doing his laundry is far less mind-numbing than Paris Hilton doing…well, anything.
James Carville and Mary Matalin — The bipartisan pundits, bound by political disagreement and holy matrimony, are no strangers to sharing the spotlight. The two have appeared together on numerous television shows, have co-written a book, and worked together in Carville’s “Topics in American Politics” class. The idea of a more informal venue for the two to debate, discuss, and dissect the other’s political leanings could make for the political equivalent of Jerry Springer. Just go NetFlix “The War Room” to observe the Ragin’ Cajun and you’ll see what I mean.
Ari Emanuel — The inspiration for Entourage’s rabid and ranting Ari Gold, Emanuel is one of Hollywood’s biggest superagents. As Jeremy Piven struggles to pull Entourage back from jumping the shark, my attention has wandered and now wonders what the actual Ari is like. No stranger to the blogosphere, Emanuel has been blogging at The Hugginton Post for more than two years. I’m sure Arianna has an extra Xacti lying around that she can lend him so he can add the dynamism of wild gesticulation that his current political posts lack.
These are simply the hopes and dreams of one petulant blogger. Who would you like to see start talking into an uncomfortably close camera?
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‘Evil’ Al Davis of the Oakland Raiders - huffing from a tank of nitrous oxide and making a series of increasingly bizarre predictions about a Raiders rennaissence.
Alberto Gonzalez - Making that “difficult” transitionback to civilian life, and alternately a-little-too-cheery, then filming dark monologues about his intention to have his own children replaced for lack of loyalty to his household administration.
Whoever is responsible for Britney Spears keeping her pants on in public - again, optimistic in the face of all the evidence, then prone to fits of dark, mouth foaming rage.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsome - a.k.a. “Gavin Gone Wild” … you “accidentally ordered” the first video and now they won’t stop coming.
Osama bin Laden - Oh, wait….
Mark Day on September 11th, 2007 at 8:06 am - Permalink
I wanted to give a shout out to J Smooth who over at his Ill Doctrine video blog is attempting to fill the longstanding void Ze Frank has left. This is the type of video bogging I want to see. Smart, snappy, and short.
On the other end of the spectrum there are a huge number of individuals who should have their cameras and laptops forcibly confiscated. First to come to mind is the nightmarish pedomorphic drivel of ADHD poster child Dax Flame and identity-crisis man-child Chris Crocker. “Won’t somebody please think of the children!”
Craig Rubens on September 11th, 2007 at 2:01 pm - Permalink
You say that “In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge, a.k.a. “Silent Cal,” delivered the nation’s first Presidential Radio Address.” This is incorrect. It was President Warren G. Harding, who made the first radio broadcast at the dedication of the Lincoln Memorial on May 30, 1922. (Others claim that his first broadcast was at the dedication of the Francis Scott Key Memorial in Batlimore, MD, on June 14, 1922.) President Harding was also the first President to install a radio in the White House in February 1922. He died in early Aug. 1923, and Calvin Coolidge was called to the Presidency. Coolidge did in fact become the first radio president, making pioneering use of the new medium which grew into a major industry during years in office (1923-29). Most importantly, his Administration also oversaw the development of the policies and regulatory format that governs radio and television to this day.
Jerry Wallace on September 11th, 2007 at 2:35 pm - Permalink
Re: Jerry Wallace
Thank you for the clarification and correction on the history between the Office of the President and the beginning years of radio. You are right that Harding was the first President to give an address on the radio.
It was President Coolidge’s repeated and novel use of radio that I hope would inspire the current President to employ video blogging technology in a similar way to engage the public by all means at his disposal. And if not this President, looking at the ‘08 candidates’ presence in online video, it seems almost certain that the next White House Press Secretary will have to be good with YouTube.
Craig Rubens on September 11th, 2007 at 4:23 pm - Permalink
The beauty of teh internets is that no one is making anyone watch most of it. Or, indeed, any of it. If Perez Hilton and/or Chris Crocker and/or Dax Flame are clogging up all the “most viewed” spots on YouTube, then dig a little deeper.
I’ve never watched a single Perez Hilton video (I find the the “Fred Flintstone has a makeover” look a tad disturbing…) and I am uncompelled to click on any of Chris Crocker’s ongoing aggrandizement but…
shoot down Dax Flame? Seriously?
My first reaction to the Dax was “WTF?” (as were my 2nd, 3rd & 4th…). After a while, and with some co-worker arm twisting, I’ve come to appreciate that there’s something going on there, if only a level of complete character immersion that would do Andy Kaufman proud.
The full range of character ticks, some sort of garbled back story that isn’t conspicuously front and center, and the complete lack of self-consciousness in the spazzy acting out?
The kid has some of the biggest balls on YouTube.
I don’t watch everything he does, but I’m happy to know he’s there…
mark day on September 11th, 2007 at 4:49 pm - Permalink
Points well put, though I am glad to hear it took at least until your fifth Dax Flame viewing to have him stick. I like the Andy Kaufman comparison.
As for Perez Hilton, I like sxephil’s take:
“This guy looks like the Joker from Batman. But only if the Joker, after falling into the vat of acid, fell into a vat a pudding and (inaudible?). That’s Perez Hilton. He’s like an awkward teenage Joker going through puberty.”
Not sure what he says after “vat of pudding,” but you get the idea.
Craig Rubens on September 11th, 2007 at 11:43 pm - Permalink
RE: Craig Rubens
You wish to inspire our current or future President to use contemporary video blogging technology. Perhaps it might help to know why Calvin Coolidge, a politician not known for his daring, came to make such pioneering and skillful use of the new radio technology. First, his close advisors urged him to do so. They were intelligent men in tune with their times. One of these individuals was Bruce Barton, an advertising man, who helped to make modern America; the other was C. Bascom Slemp, the Karl Rove of his day. However, what really turned Coolidge to radio was that it suited him to a tee; that is, it fitted his personality and his style of speaking. Moreover, when he spoke on the radio, he came across very well. (The New York Times wrote an editorial praising his radio speaking voice. While, on the other hand, most of the politicians of the 1929s, because of their 19th century oratorical style, had a difficult time adjusting to the new medium.) Coolidge commented to a friend that he was lucky to have come into office with radio. He was so taken with it that he had a radio technician come to the White House to give him lessons in “radio manners.” The White House staff made so many requests for national broadcast time, involving the use of AT&T’s long distance lines, that AT&T’s CEO had to urge restraint. President Coolidge found that radio allow him to bypass the newspaper reporters and the Washington political establishment, which did not like him, and go directly to the American people. Thus, he made full use of radio. The result was that he became increasingly popular with the American people. He could have been easily re-elected in 1928 if he had chosen to run again. In sum, what you had with Calvin Coolidge was a politician, normally opposed to innovation, who found a new technology that suited perfectly his personality and political needs. He was clever enough to put aside his conservatism and to employ radio to its maximum degree, and in the process became our first radio President.
Jerry Wallace on September 12th, 2007 at 2:31 pm - Permalink