Yep, SpaceX again. If you’ve ever seen a SpaceX first stage return to land on a barge in the middle of the ocean, then you’re aware of the unsung heroes of the SpaceX fleet. Here’s a bit more about these fancy (enormous) barges.

This podcast is utterly charming and illuminating. Episodes are generally not long – 10-15 minutes on average – but the narration, writing, and production bring each story of history to vivid life. This story, “Hercules” about one of George Washington’s slaves, struck me as quietly spectacular. It’s no secret that George Washington had slaves, but there’s the popular narrative that he treated them well, and maybe he just had them for the sake of southern tradition, yada, yada, yada. George Washington had slaves, full stop. How much the fact that he owned human beings detracts from the god-like visage we hold him in is up to you individually, but this story shows some of Washington’s warts in a way that leaves judgment aside and just presents a fascinating moment.

A second podcast recommendation, but this comes with a caveat. I’ve been a loyal listener to All Songs Considered for well over a decade now, and though I have been introduced to a tremendous amount of fantastic music over the years there has been one issue that has irked me for some time – the music they play, for the most part, is still a month or more from being released. That’s great if I want to prep my music calendar for the next quarter, but come on? It’s a tease! Clearly they’re aware of this because a few weeks ago they started “New Music Fridays” where they highlight music that is being released that day. For me, that’s enough. I do appreciate the long All Songs Considered with its music that I might remember a month from now now that it’s balanced with instant gratification music on Fridays.

Maybe you’ve heard the prognostications about the imminent demise of the ubiquitous Cavendish banana, but this single banana that solely dominates grocery stores (aside from the rare plantain, of course) hasn’t always been the heavy hitter we know it to be now. No, it wrested that crown from the Gros Michel back in the early 60’s when that banana’s production was nearly completely wiped out by a fungus. This is a lovely piece of narrative journalism trying to find a Gros Michel in the “wild” of New York City. How does a Gros Michel taste compared to a Cavendish? You’ll have to find out..

“Weird Al” Yankovik

In lieu of releasing a second “Hamilton Mixtape” Lin-Manuel Miranda announced late last year that he’d be making “HamilDrops” throughout this year with Hamilton-inspired songs by prominent artists. He started the series last year with the wonderful (and profane) “Ben Franklin’s Song” where the indie band The Decemberists took his lyrics from a song about Ben Franklin that never made the show and turned it into, well, a very enjoyable Decemberist’s song. And now this…. Miranda and Yankovik are mutual admirers of each other, so perhaps we should have expected something like this: a polka-fied montage of the most memorable tracks from the Hamilton soundtrack. If you enjoyed the songs from Hamilton, it’s well worth checking out!

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