Alex Blumberg

Just curious he feels about all of the events (i.e. beloved shows getting canceled one after another) post Spotify acquisition. Is it more of "if I can do it all over again, I would have done it differently" or just simply "business needs won over artistic pursue."

Can't believe Crime Show is canceled. Just when I thought I've found a replacement for Reply All and I was actually willing to use Spotify just to listen to the show ...

I know that Matt Lieber is a song stuck you head that you finally discover the name of. I know that Alex Goldman is a king among men. Hell, P.J. Vote is so cool that he did LSD at work and then told his boss and the world.

But after a binge of the first season of Start Up (which followed a binge of Reply All), Alex - doesn't understand Twitter - Blumberg is my hero.

Edit: So apparently there's union conflict at Gimlet. I'm sure its complicated and full of corporate BS -- I hope there's a fair resolution. That's not what this post is about though; and this is not the place to vent your frustration. I just discovered cool seeming people with an awesome story making content I love. Cheers.

Full disclosure, I think Alex is a great host. I can listen to the man all day, no worries. But isn't the move to have him in a more prominent hosting role again is a long term bad move for Gimlet?

Gimlet has other folks who can host, and if they need more of those, they can hire them - they can't hire more Alex Blumbergs. It's like if a great athlete went back to playing instead of focusing on coaching or managing a team. Sure, you're great at what you do, but you've done all that and now you are best positioned to share and multiply your knowledge and experience in order to create the next wave of amazing players.

Serious question? I justed watched the new trailer for Alex Inc with Zach Braff. And the story seems oddly familiar to the first season on Startup Podcast.

I can't stop thinking about this and had to find somewhere to share.

"The Tragedy Expert" is long time special master of victims funds and distribution of settlement funds, Kenneth Feinberg.

Feinberg's first major special master role was for the Agent Orange settlement case in which he mediated between 250,000 Vietnam veterans and the 8 chemical companies who were responsible for manufacturing the herbicide known as Agent Orange.

Fast forward to September 11th, 2001 and Feinberg more or less volunteered to be Special Master of the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund. After an interview and approval by John Ashcroft, Feinberg offered to to do this job pro bono and did so for 33 months.

In the interview with Without Fail's host, Feinberg recounts how he came to be a renowned special master and speaks of an extremely unique experience in the almost 3 years he was special master for the September 11th victims and their families. His recollection of the first payee he sat with one on one with left me in tears. He also speaks of how he would try to decompress and balance himself at the end of each day and also how the experience changed his outlook on life.

We all remember what we were doing, where we were, what we did following that infamous moment, but this was unlike anything I've ever considered someone having to do.

I can't recommend this episode enough.

Alex Blumberg of This American Life and NPR's Planet Money has created this fantastic podcast on his personal experience on starting a startup.

It's a very interesting listen. Check it out!