Radiolab: your favorite episodes?

June 6, 2012 6:26 PM

Radiolabfilter: I'm rolling up my sleeves to take a deep dive into Radiolab: your favorite episodes, Must hears, don't bothers. Mefite favorite episodes and top 5's requested.

With so much content, I'd like some recommendations on where to start.

any suggestions?

posted by djdrue to media & arts (35 answers total)

Parasites.
posted by minervous at 6:27 PM on June 6, 2012 [3 favorites]

Words.
posted by Garm at 6:33 PM on June 6, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oops.
posted by Superplin at 6:34 PM on June 6, 2012

Musical Language
posted by princelyfox at 6:34 PM on June 6, 2012

Start at the beginning and listen to the end. They're all good. ;)

I loved "The Code of Life".
posted by purephase at 6:37 PM on June 6, 2012 [3 favorites]

After Life.
Sleep.
Limits.
Guts.
The Bad Show.


You're going to want to hear most of these. I skip the ones that are obviously the result of Jad's experimental music interests (though I did like the Zoe Keating one) and Robert's Biblical stuff.
posted by Kitty Stardust at 6:37 PM on June 6, 2012

I really enjoyed Colors, which was maybe in the last month or so.
posted by bcwinters at 6:42 PM on June 6, 2012 [2 favorites]

The only episodes I've skipped have been the aforementioned "Jad's Experimental Music Interests" installments. Everything else has ranged from interesting to fantastic and the quality is very consistent.

If the topic sounds interesting to you, then the episode will probably also be interesting.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 6:50 PM on June 6, 2012

Colors is the only one I've listened to so far, on the recommendation of a friend last week, and it was fantastic. I plan on checking out the rest, but for me it was a great place to start.
posted by vytae at 6:50 PM on June 6, 2012

The one on Race was fascinating, as was Lucy.
posted by Nickel Pickle at 6:54 PM on June 6, 2012 [1 favorite]

The Good Show
Limits
Parasites
Deception
Oops
posted by maudlin at 6:55 PM on June 6, 2012

Animal Minds
Placebo
Stochasticity
Lucy
Numbers

... there's more, but I'll stop here.
posted by maudlin at 6:58 PM on June 6, 2012

I am a faithful Radiolab listener and I have enjoyed most episodes so far, but here are my absolute favourites:

Detective Stories (especially the segment "Goat on a Cow"--this was my intro to Radiolab and I was hooked)

Parasites

Musical Language

Stress

Where Am I? (especially "The Butcher's Assistant")

Memory and Forgetting (especially "Clive")

posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 7:14 PM on June 6, 2012 [2 favorites]

The episode Oops, which has an amazing ending to a tragic geese/toxic lake story, is one of the greatest things I have ever heard. It will make you cry tears of the "omg the world is full of wonder" variety.

But I have never heard an episode of Radiolab that wasn't worth listening to. Even the weird music ones, they're all good.
posted by thehmsbeagle at 7:17 PM on June 6, 2012 [1 favorite]

Does The Ring and I count as a weird musical one? Either way, it's fascinating. My favorite episode.
posted by estlin at 7:42 PM on June 6, 2012 [3 favorites]

Memory and Forgetting and Lucy are also great. Listen to all of them, but make doubly certain to listen to those :)
posted by estlin at 7:43 PM on June 6, 2012

The Space episode makes me cry every time. nthing everyone on listening to every single episode. I love to start at the beginning and listen to them all over again.
posted by ruhroh at 9:26 PM on June 6, 2012

Yeah, just listen to all of 'em. In order. Why not!
posted by stray at 9:54 PM on June 6, 2012

Everything is great, but my absolute favorite is the "Finding Emilie" segment in the episode "Lost & Found". (Season 9, episode 2.)
posted by applesurf at 12:28 AM on June 7, 2012 [1 favorite]

Mix and Match

Nthing Musical Language
posted by Serene Empress Dork at 5:38 AM on June 7, 2012

Laughter!
posted by Acton at 6:11 AM on June 7, 2012

Time
posted by smich at 7:53 AM on June 7, 2012

Oops also made me cry. I have forced several friends to listen to it too.

And I really liked the recent episode about Robert Johnson, Crossroads.
posted by lily_bart at 8:05 AM on June 7, 2012

The final segment of "Lost & Found" made me cry. Listen to it without reading anything about it beforehand; totally worth it.
posted by Turkey Glue at 8:11 AM on June 7, 2012

Numbers
posted by klpage at 8:12 AM on June 7, 2012

The Ring and I. I've listened to it three times, and I can't recall listening to any other podcast more than once.
posted by zoetrope at 8:25 AM on June 7, 2012

Emergence
posted by Heart_on_Sleeve at 8:26 AM on June 7, 2012

Convergence was probably my favorite. Stochasticity. But really? All of them. Every single one is worth listening to at least once.
posted by slogger at 9:23 AM on June 7, 2012 [1 favorite]

Animal Minds. I sat in the car in the driveway, unable to turn the engine off and go inside... and cried. Then I played it for my family, and they sat in the car and cried, too.
posted by sarling at 7:25 PM on June 7, 2012

Limits and Deception.

Just got my coworker into Radiolab via these two. He listened to both, then started from episode 1 and is working his way up.
posted by ariela at 6:44 AM on June 8, 2012

A 4-Track Mind
posted by cnc at 1:18 PM on June 8, 2012

I loved The Rind and I. Sleep was also a great one, and I made my husband sit down and listen to the Parasites one, because it was so fascinating.
posted by sarcasticah at 1:30 PM on June 8, 2012

Argh. The RinG and I. No rinds involved.
posted by sarcasticah at 1:31 PM on June 8, 2012

Detective Stories! Especially the part about the ancient Roman(?) erotica.
posted by exceptinsects at 2:27 PM on June 8, 2012

And I really liked the recent episode about Robert Johnson, Crossroads.

Ah, I listened to that one this morning and was just coming here to recommend it.
posted by We had a deal, Kyle at 2:42 PM on June 8, 2012