Podcast: NPR: Culturetopia

I am a huge fan of NPR, and I believe that listening to their programming on the radio provides only half the story. NPR's website houses all their current programming, as well as archives of all their past programs and specials. As soon as I saw the podcast assignment I knew I would end up on the NPR Podcast Directory in order to find my podcast. I really enjoy listening to the Culturetopia series and I think the possibilities are endless for its use in the English Language Arts classroom. Each Culturetopia podcast covers the best arts, movies, books and culture events from that week and combines news coverage with interviews and commentary.

I chose the Culturetopia episode that aired on August 11th, 2010. I thought that this episode provided a great glimpse into exactly what this program has to offer; a weekly roundup of all the big news in the arts. I believe that students rarely get the chance, or take advantage of the opportunity, to find out about all the amazing things that are going on in the world of media and the arts. I do not think I would have my students listen to the entire episode each week, but I do like the idea of using specific stories as stepping stones for discussion points in the ELA classroom. The story from this episode that I really felt would hold value in the classroom was about a new movie La Mission , which centers around a latino gang member who finds out his son is gay. The popular actor Benjamin Bratt stars in the movie as the father who discovers his son is gay. He comes on the episode to speak about why he and his brother decided to make this film. He talks about the issue of homosexuality in the Latino community and how it often sparks abuse, both verbal and physical, against the homosexual child. A classroom discussion on acceptance and power in society could easily be facilitated after listening to this part of the podcast. I thought that this provided a great way for these types of podcasts to be utilized in the ELA classroom.