Time Crisis with Ezra Koenig
| Genre | News, pop culture, political analysis, Public Affairs, variety |
|---|---|
| Running time | 2 hours |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Language | English |
| Home station | Apple Music 1 |
| Hosted by | Ezra Koenig Jake Longstreth |
| Created by | Ezra Koenig |
| Produced by | Jason Richards Nick Weidenfeld |
| Recording studio | Apple Music 1 Studio, Culver City, California |
| Original release | July 12, 2015 |
| No. of seasons | 12 |
| No. of episodes | 249 |
| Opening theme | "One of Us" by ABBA |
| Website | music |
Time Crisis (referred to as Time Crisis with Ezra Koenig) is a fortnightly internet radio show hosted by Ezra Koenig and Jake Longstreth. The show began airing on July 12, 2015 on Apple Music's radio service, Beats 1 (now known as Apple Music 1).[1] The show covers a variety of topics, such as politics, corporate food history, 1970s rock music, city living, as well as frequently analyzing the latest in contemporary pop music by contrasting it with music released in another era. In addition to Koenig, a variety of guest hosts have appeared over the show's history, including Jonah Hill, Rashida Jones and Jamie Foxx.[2] Since 2017, Koenig is accompanied by co-host Jake Longstreth, who regularly describes his love for the "tasteful palette" of early 1970s classic rock, plus music from the Grateful Dead, Ween and Guided by Voices.[3]
Time Crisis premiered airing every other Sunday at 12pm (PST). In March 2020, it briefly switched to a weekly schedule due to the rise of remote workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The bi-weekly schedule resumed in June. On April 16, 2022, the show’s time slot was permanently moved to every other Saturday at 3pm (PST). So far, over 200 episodes have been broadcast, and the show is currently in its eleventh season.[4]
Format and segments
The show follows a general format each episode during its two-hour runtime, usually with listener emails and other discussions in the first half of the show and the Top Five on iTunes at the episode's conclusion.
News discussions
The most common segment on the call, in which Koenig and his co-hosts discuss the most relevant and obscure news topics of the week, generally relating to politics or current happenings in the world of entertainment.[5][6]
The Time Crisis Mail Bag
This has been a regular segment since the show's third season. Initially, the segment began after a fan located Jake Longstreth's personal email. The segment now utilizes the email with ID "8minutecapecod" - a reference to an episode aired in July 2017 where they joked about the prospect of an 8 minute "Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa" to be played on the next Vampire Weekend tour.[7]
Fans generally send in questions regarding 1970s music and suggest artists to the hosts that they believe are "tasteful" and fit Longstreth's ideal palette. Another popular topic submitted by fans relates to the corporate food history segment of the show.
Corporate food history discussions
Frequently, Koenig and guests analyse the current landscape of the corporate food industry, as well as looking back on the history of snack foods across the world. In 2016, Jennifer Saenz, chief marketing executive of the Frito-Lay corporation appeared.[8] Additionally, the show has discussed Subway on multiple episodes and their obscure promotions, such as the Five Dollar Footlong deal. In 2018, the show highly criticised the Lady Dorito proposition by hosting a Lady Dorito's Town Hall,[9] featuring Rashida Jones and Longstreth's wife and filmmaker, Hannah Fidell.
Time Crisis Hotline
Koenig regularly takes phone calls and has intimate discussions with notable journalists, political commentators, corporate food professionals and celebrities. Notable calls have included Seinfeld theme composer Jonathan Wolff, Reading Rainbow composer Steve Horelick,[10] and more.
Jake's Takes
A recurring segment in which Longstreth recommends or discusses music, with notable recommendations such as the Grateful Dead, Guided by Voices, Ween, Phish, Neil Young, Small Faces and more. Occasionally, Longstreth compiles playlists for Apple Music, notably The Tasteful Palette of Seventies Rock[11] and more recently, Jake's Old Wisdom Playlist.[12]
Sweet Chili Heat World Premiere
A segment in which the crew premiere fan generated music. The music is often inspired by events that take place on previous episodes of the show.
Top Five on iTunes
Koenig and Longstreth regularly compare and contrast the iTunes chart from the current week with another music chart from the same week in another year. Notably, the show has regularly jokingly criticized the music of Ed Sheeran, such as his 2017 hit, Shape of You.[13] Koenig and Longstreth commonly refer to the song as Bed Sheets, in reference to one of the song's lines.
Other segments
Other segments have included New York News.
Cast
Core Crisis Crew
- Ezra Koenig - Host
- Jake Longstreth - Co-host
- Jason Richards (a.k.a. Seinfeld2000) - Notable internet pseudonym. Also producer of the show.
- Nick Weidenfeld - Producer.[14]
- Despot
- Asher Sarlin (a.k.a. Cousin Asher) - New York-based graphic designer, and Ezra's second cousin.
Merchandising
There have been a few pieces of official Time Crisis merchandise, which have been available through various giveaways on Twitter. The most common have been T-shirts bearing the phrase, '8 Minute Cape Cod' on the front, with various designs and colors.
Time Crisis Honorary Membership cards have also been given away, which mention the Core Values.
On November 3, 2019, Seinfeld2000 coined the term, 'Popcorn and Raisins' and promoted a line of merchandise based upon this phrase. Shirts were made available the following week.
See also
References
- ↑ "Listen to the first episode of Ezra Koenig's Time Crisis radio show". Consequence of Sound. July 13, 2015.
- ↑ "Ezra Koenig and Jamie Foxx Talk Politics and Pop Music on Beats 1's "Time Crisis" | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. August 24, 2015.
- ↑ "Hear Ezra Koenig & Azealia Banks Talk Summer Jams On Beats 1 Radio". Stereogum. August 10, 2015.
- ↑ "Time Crisis on Apple Music". Apple Music.
- ↑ "Listen to Ezra Koenig Impersonate Alex Jones on "Time Crisis" | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. August 27, 2017.
- ↑ "Ezra Koenig Discusses His Love of Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'": Listen | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. October 9, 2017.
- ↑ @timecrisis2000 (March 1, 2018). "CRISIS CREW BULLETIN" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ↑ @arze (November 6, 2016). "today on Time Crisis we have Jennifer Saenz, Chief Marketing Officer of Frito-Lay + @ByYourLogic Chief Marketing Officer of Chapo Trap House" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ↑ "Connecting to the iTunes Store". iTunes.
- ↑ "Vampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig Interviews "Reading Rainbow" Composer and Kid Rock's Son: Listen | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. July 31, 2017.
- ↑ "The Tasteful Palette of Seventies Rock, 1959 - 2016 on Apple Music". Apple Music.
- ↑ "Jake's Old Wisdom Playlist".
- ↑ "Listen to Ezra Koenig Impersonate Alex Jones on "Time Crisis" | Pitchfork". pitchfork.com. August 27, 2017.
- ↑ @timecrisis2000 (January 26, 2019). "v4 updated to include Tim hortons, starbucks, cheetos.. and our dear friends @Pluckers" (Tweet) – via Twitter.