Podcasts: The Second Coming

So last year I tried to get my Contemporary Literature students to record short memoir podcasts and it was largely a failure.  Only one recording (out of students) turned out reasonably well, and that student was very self-conscious about her own voice and did not want to share it with anyone.  *sigh*

I'm still plugging away, though, and this year might be different.  Like last year, the kids get horrified looks on their faces when I suggest that we may be putting some of their voices up on the Internet, but their initial written versions have turned out better.  We spent more time working on them during class, with the bulk of that time spent brainstorming and drafting.  We read and listened to more examples of memoirs before and while writing, so they had more quality models.  I'm also going to try to prep them a bit better before the recording, and have them all do two takes.

If the recordings turn out better and the kids are into it, I'll see about the legalities of posting some of them here.

Spook Country by William Gibson

I do love a book with multiple story lines that seem totally unconnected until the last two or so chapters.  I love books like that a lot.  Gibson pulls his complicated plot off well.  I'm not convinced that future generations will connect as strongly to the explicitly 'oughties' technology references as I did, but Spook Country will make a heck of a period piece in a few decades.  Good stuff!

Also, dude is a friggin' tweeting machine.  I had to stop following him because he fully dominated my feed every single evening.  Check him out if you dare!  @GreatDismal