No such thing as a mistake

I’m losing a bit of faith in the QI podcast “No Such Thing as a Fish” lately. In nearly every episode in recent months, I’ve noted at least one mistake, sometimes as many as three when subjects on which I know a fair amount come up. They’re mostly small mistakes, but they’re bothersome since Quite Interesting is noted for its high accuracy, with only a handful of mistakes that I can recall in the fifteen years of the television series. I have much enthusiasm for high quality – see my site name – so I have a lot of respect for QI.

As an example, the most recent podcast claimed that the falcon feather/hammer Galileo demonstration Commander Dave Scott gave during Apollo 15 was done during Apollo 12. A small mistake, but that’s pretty sloppy by QI standards. Such mistakes make me wonder about the accuracy of the things they discuss that I’m not familiar with, and if the television show is also going to be somewhat untrustworthy next series since the podcast crew work there.

I think the problems may have started when the podcast co-presenters started going on tour, publishing books, &c a year or so ago. It’s likely they rely on each other to be careful with their research, but with their busy schedule, they’re slipping substantially and don’t yet know it. Some cross fact-checking would be prudent if they’re going to continue travelling a lot. Don’t make me come over there.

Podcasts I like

This is my current BeyondPod subscription list. I listen – mostly in the car over Bluetooth – to every episode from about two-thirds of these and selected episodes from the rest.

99% Invisible

Food Programme

Fresh Air

From Our Own Correspondent

Futility Closet

Invisibilia

Kitchen Cabinet

More or Less: Behind the Stats

NPR: Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

NPR: Car Talk

NPR: Planet Money

NPR: Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!

Radio Diaries

Radiolab

Reply All

Science Weekly

The Allusionist

The Bugle

The Gist

The Infinite Monkey Cage

the memory palace

The Mountain Stage

The News Quiz Extra There is no podcast for the Extra version, so I record this from iPlayer with Cool Edit when it’s published Mondays at about 8pm ET.

This American Life

Witness

You folks must know some great ones I’m not aware of, so feel free to note them in the comments.