TimesTalks The New York Times

A podcast is a form of broadcasting. The performances of print journalists forced into service as broadcasters harks to the uncomplimentary expression of yesteryear, "He has a face for radio." Many journalists make it painfully clear when put in the role of broadcaster they have a voice and demeanor for the printed page, but emphatically not in a forum where entertainment values -- regardless of the gravity of the subject matter -- must necessarily obtain to hold an audience rapt.
A guest is only as interesting as the interviewer is able to sustain and extract for the duration of the interview.

The phenomenon of expecting even the most talented writer or reporter to make a smooth transition to a staged interview to be recorded and replayed by a remote audience is not unlike the origins of filmed entertainment being little more than staged plays committed to film or early television being radio content with a TV camera and nominal movement added to the mix.

It's not just about content but about context, and when print journalists who don't journey well from page to stage are front and center, the content suffers from the audience point of view.

One consistent example throughout TimesTalk podcasts is the woman who introduces each. She sounds no more comfortable each time I hear her shaky reading of the notes she's given -- or writes herself -- which are likewise not written for the ear but for the eye. Their phrasing and her performance give this listener an uneasy feeling that she's not well suited to the task, and one has to wonder why she and whomever is in charge of the production, persist in taking her out of her comfort zone by keeping her in that role.

To make matters worse, she does not give evidence of preparing herself particularly well by familiarizing herself with the written introduction, struggling over parts and, in one rather annoy one example, introducing an iconic dramatist by grandly mispronouncing his name as Tom STOP-ARD!

I enjoy the talks and learning more about the featured guests, but Lynn Hirschberg is so ingratiating and a sychophant. She fawns over her guests and can't stop talking over herself. I wish it was less about her and more about the guest with some more interesting questions. Aargh, it's painful to listen to her if when she is the interviewer!

While I don't listen to every single episode, these are some of the most entertaining interviews that I've found as Podcasts. The questions are (almost) always intelligent and insightful, and the guests have been quite good. My only complaint on the structure of the shows is that they are not offered in Video formats, where we can see what is going on on-stage.

Also, I would love to know what happened with updating the series, as the most recent interview is with Russell Brand on 12/28 of last year: no more shows this year? If I'm over reacting, I apologize, but I do hope that they come soon!