Episode 50: Gossip

Do you remember the game telephone? The whole class would sit around in a big circle. Someone would start by whispering a phrase in their neighbor’s ear. Then that person would pass it along to the next, and the next, and around the circle it spread. Usually by the end of the game, the phrase had been totally distorted beyond recognition. On this edition of B-Side, which originally aired in January 2007, we’re talking about gossip and other ways we share information. We’re also playing a virtual game of telephone.

Liner Notes

Have You Heard About Jay?: Sabine Heinlein
Sabine Heinlein tells us about a guy who generates so many good stories, he’s taken on mythic proportions. We don’t actually meet “Jay” just the people who love to talk about him.

Myspace My Life: Ethan Lindsey
Lets be honest, most gossiping involves love — or at least love lives, right? Even Hollywood gossip revolves around which celebrity is dating which other celebrity. But for us non-celebrities, the gossip rags aren’t where you can find the inside scoop on which of your friends is recently single. There used to be one friend who was “in the know” and who you’d call for the dirt. But in this digital age, the gossip has been replaced by Myspace, as Ethan Lindsey reports.

The Luke Johnson Telephone Experiment: Rene Gutel
We’re talking today about the way words travel… how conversations begin, how they end, and what we actually have to say to each other. Our next story comes from B-Side’s Rene Gutel. She found a guy who talks on the phone CONSTANTLY. His name is Luke Johnson and he’s launched what he calls the Luke Johnson Phone Experiment. Here’s a link to his Youtube page.