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brightknightie) wrote2023-12-02 10:12 am
brightknightie) wrote2023-12-02 10:12 am
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"Hark!" podcast is back for Advent '23
One of my favorite podcasts, Hark! The stories behind our favorite Christmas carols, is back for its third mini-season (four episodes a year; one weekly for Advent). Check it out on its own site. Or find it wherever you like to get your podcasts! (Here it is on Google Podcasts, where I get mine, until the migration to YouTube Podcasts next year.)
Each episode deep-dives a single carol though history, music theory, literary analysis, sociology, and theology. If that sounds heavy, it's not! The engaging researcher/reporter questions her expert sources on our behalf, teasing out the wonder, delight, sophistication, coincidences, and -- occasionally -- horror and tragedy, behind each composition. So far, across all their seasons to date, they've done: "O! Holy Night," "Joy to the World," "In the Bleak Midwinter," "The Huron Carol (Twas in the Moon of Wintertime)," "Silent Night," "Adeste Fideles (O Come, All Ye Faithful)," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," "Good King Wenceslas," "Carol of the Bells," and the premiere episode devoted to the history of carols in general.
If you're interested in Christmassy podcasts, you might also be interested in Christmas Past, which puts out many more episodes per season, starting right after Halloween and increasing its rate as Christmas approaches. As they describe themselves: "Behind every Christmas tradition is a story, often a forgotten one. ... Think: NPR meets Clement Clarke Moore." It's now in its eighth season, so a great back catalogue if you're looking for something specific.
Each episode deep-dives a single carol though history, music theory, literary analysis, sociology, and theology. If that sounds heavy, it's not! The engaging researcher/reporter questions her expert sources on our behalf, teasing out the wonder, delight, sophistication, coincidences, and -- occasionally -- horror and tragedy, behind each composition. So far, across all their seasons to date, they've done: "O! Holy Night," "Joy to the World," "In the Bleak Midwinter," "The Huron Carol (Twas in the Moon of Wintertime)," "Silent Night," "Adeste Fideles (O Come, All Ye Faithful)," "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing," "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel," "Good King Wenceslas," "Carol of the Bells," and the premiere episode devoted to the history of carols in general.
If you're interested in Christmassy podcasts, you might also be interested in Christmas Past, which puts out many more episodes per season, starting right after Halloween and increasing its rate as Christmas approaches. As they describe themselves: "Behind every Christmas tradition is a story, often a forgotten one. ... Think: NPR meets Clement Clarke Moore." It's now in its eighth season, so a great back catalogue if you're looking for something specific.
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I wish I could say that they have transcripts to read instead -- most of the big operations do, now -- but these folks don't seem to (they are fairly small).
Fwiw, another scenario that I find podcasts can fit in, at least for me, is when I'm doing chores: cleaning, folding laundry, that kind of thing.