{"id":9887,"date":"2013-02-08T19:35:59","date_gmt":"2013-02-09T00:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/aforgrave.ca\/detritus\/?p=9887"},"modified":"2013-02-08T19:35:59","modified_gmt":"2013-02-09T00:35:59","slug":"manufacturing-radio-this-is-that","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/aforgrave.ca\/detritus\/2013\/02\/08\/manufacturing-radio-this-is-that\/","title":{"rendered":"Manufacturing Radio: This is That"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"CBC's

CBC’s This is That, (CC BY-SA 3.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

I’ve long been a fan of This is That<\/a>, a radio program produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). If you have not yet heard it, or heard of it, I highly recommend it to your attention.<\/p>\n

My introduction to the show (on two separate occasions) came while driving in the car — and in each instance, I didn’t hear the full 30-minute broadcast, but rather only one or two items from each episode. \u00a0Speaking to me from the \u00a0car radio, on my usual CBC station, and sounding like a typical news\/feature radio program, I was lulled to accept what I was hearing, by context, was truthful. I do remember after the fact, however, shaking my head a lot.<\/p>\n

SPOILER:<\/strong><\/span> This is That<\/em> is manufactured. It’s satire. It’s hyperbole. It’s parody. And it’s funny!<\/p>\n

If you know The Onion<\/a>, it’s like that, but for radio<\/em>.<\/p>\n

One of the often-promoted characteristics of Canadians is that we’re not afraid of a little self-depricating humour. For the CBC to continue to support the work of Pat Kelly and Peter Oldring — the two Canucks who make This is That<\/em> (now in it’s fourth season) is a testament to how successfully the show “sounds like the CBC,” while serving up completely tounge-in-cheek bits of manufactured news, mock documentaries, and ridiculous feature articles.<\/p>\n

While the topics have their genesis in real-life type events and issues (close enough to reality to be plausible), the pieces themselves are completely fabricated.<\/p>\n

In support of the current ds106radio focus on audio as a tool for storytelling, I’ve taken* one of the This is That mockumentaries and done a little commentary using the comment functionality of SoundCloud. \u00a0It’s a perfect tool for sharing your analysis of a piece of audio. And letting others chime in. Listen, and then think about the questions below:<\/p>\n