What A Predicament

Don’t shoot the messenger - it’s the sound effect you can’t unhear!
Alex talks to Brian Nimens, CEO of the largest library of sound effects in the world, in search of the origin of a particularly pervasive sound effect. What a predicament!

sound-ideas.com

Who were Deja Voodoo and whom did they rock more than?
Alex catches up with band members and behind-the-scenes Svengalis to find out what happened to New Zealand’s grunge rock media darlings.

Alex almost runs out of the creative steam required to write a description for this episode after using it up on such a brilliant title. What a predicament!
This week he looks into the curious predicament of why the New Zealand Government has criminalised one particular plant used in the textile and medical industries.

Who really controls the media? Who is the proverbial “Man”?

From busy newsrooms to the halls of government Alex leaves no stone unturned in his search.

Faced with the predicament of some stiff podcasting competition, Alex talks to a Foley artist about how to spice things up sonically.

From grassy knolls to magic bullets, conspiracy theories surrounding the assassination of JFK have persisted since the day of the tragedy. But how has the humble pacific nation of New Zealand been implicated? Alex pokes around the half-century old murder mystery and discovers the truth might be closer to home than he had feared.

From forearms to Pinterest pages — when did tattoos go mainstream? Alex puts tattoo culture under the gun and talks to a couple of tattooists to try to figure out how and when everything changed.

Thanks to Capilli Tupou and Benjamin Raddatz.

How hard Cannes it be?

Alex ponders the podcast revolution and approaches some podcast pros to learn some podcast pros and cons, but is it too little too late? Plus a big announcement!

Thanks to guests Daniel J. Lewis from The Audacity to Podcast and Bill Conway from Edgeland and The Hard Times.

What A Predicament is back! Following last season’s cliffhanger Alex continues to try and improve his podcast and grow his audience by jumping on the true crime bandwagon. He talks to some intellectual types about our fascination with murder and why we’re so entertained by something so gruesome, then tries his hand at hosting his own true crime podcast.

To just do it or not to just do it, that is the question Alex seeks to answer this episode. He presents an interesting marketing case study, even if he does say so himself.

Is the morning paper done for, or are rumours of it’s death greatly exaggerated? Are podcasts like What A Predicament to blame?

How did art go from beautiful to basic? This week on the podcast Alex tries to figure out what the big ideas are behind abstract art and asks an expert about how a few four sided shapes could change the world forever…

The cause of and solution to all of life's problems. In this all-star episode Alex and a couple of guinea pig guests discover drinking’s detrimental effect on the body, the community and the podcast. Parental guidance is advised.

Alex and his guest, filmmaker and artist William Keddell, tell the surprisingly little known tale of Aotearoa’s one and only suicide bombing.
The Maintenance of Silence (1985): https://vimeo.com/49734077

Alex incites his fellow left-handers to revolt against their right-hand overlords and talks to Dr. Gillian Forrester about the science of handedness in an effort to get to the bottom of which hand is indeed the upper one.
gillianforrester.com

Alex speaks to a stand-up comedian about stand-up comedy and a stand-up comedy club owner about his stand-up comedy club, then takes the stage at said stand-up comedy club to attempt stand-up comedy.

In his most desperate ploy for ratings yet Alex becomes the first podcaster to propose via podcast, but will all go according to plan? He asks a legal expert exactly what are you signing up for when you sign that nuptial agreement, then pops the question.

Moko was a beloved friendly dolphin too good for this world. To come to terms with what happened to Moko, Alex talks to a vet about the solitary dolphin predicament.