Our Week In The Web: December 12, 2014

We're here today to talk about engagement, and not in the buzzy tech way, and not in the 'the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge engaged in a witty repartee with the reigning King and Queen of American Pop / Hip Hip / Life, Beyoncé and Jay-Z" — rather, we mean, "talking to you when you talk to us online." We don't do it all the time and we don't do it everywhere (sometimes, we sleep) but we think it's important to indicate to listeners of all stripes and kinds that we're paying attention, we hear you and we're glad you want to talk. Sometimes, your thoughts can influence future programming or guest choices, and many times, your comments and questions make it onto our air during a live broadcast. We bring it up this week more than ever because we (and by "we," we mean "digital producer Nick Andersen, hello all") had some lengthy back and forths with listeners on Facebook and Twitter this week over guesting and topic choices, to a point where a few users wondered why we even bothered. We bother because we don't want your comments to vanish into a vacuum, and we care about what you think. There's a limit to response time and volume, of course, but we hope to show you that, even if you don't agree with a guest's opinion or care about the topic at hand, your thoughts on that and everything else are just as important as the ones we hear on air. We're glad to have your voice here, and hope you'll continue to chat with us on our different platforms both on and off air.

1. Drunk, But Not Alcoholic: A New Look At Excessive Drinking (December 09. 2014)

2. Week In The News: Eric Garner, Immigration Action And Free Speech Online (December 5, 2014)

3. What We Talk About When We Talk About Race In America (December 9, 2014)

4. What The Senate 'Torture Report' Means (December 10, 2014)

5. ISIS: The Richest Terrorists In History? (December 8, 2014)

"Anything you can do to help the blues, you can call me anytime." — Buddy Guy

"I don't think I'm a terribly morose person, but those book titles make it sound like it." — Peter Toohey

"I am a mason jar addict." — Lauren Singer

"Most African Americans don't want a conversation. They want change." --Paul Butler 

"The egg is a model organism that was pioneered by dinosaurs long before chickens." — Andrew Lawler

"If Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj can survive on the moon of Mars for 20+ years, before being thrown here, anything's possible." (@MansoorFL)

"No matter how young he was, he's got the blues in him. Everyone has something they can pull from to truly feel the blues." (Andrew Schermerhorn)

"There are some people I would pay their ticket [to Mars]." (Sandra Dodd)

"you guys are really...on point...with your movie music for your shows the last couple days. #chickenrun" (@dasphotog)

This totally perfect British news segment detailing the story of Benjamin, an orphaned baby pygmy goat. (YouTube)