Podcasts

I am a podcast junkie. Whether I'm cooking, riding the bus, or analyzing EEG data-- I'm probably listening to a podcast. Podcasts are free, but they do take an enormous amount of start-up time finding good ones and a moderate level of effort to maintain. Preferences are extremely individual, so while recommendations should supposedly decrease the large start-up cost of finding podcasts you like, most of the time I've found myself holding on to recommended podcasts for a period of time and later realizing I've stopped listening to them.

Anyway, if not for helping you find stuff you like, then maybe just a glimpse into my psyche... here's my list of podcasts:

#1 PTI, daily, 30 minutes
Pardon the Interruption-- This show along with around the horn is my ultimate source of sports info. It's commentary, not news (something I've decided I greatly prefer-- Economist over Time, OpEd before main pages), and more importantly, the hosts are funny as hell.

#2 Slate Magazine Daily Podcast, almost daily, ranges from 6 minute articles to 30 minute gabfest, to 1.5 hour bookclubs
The gabfest is my absolute favorite thing to listen to, which comes out every late Thursday night. It's two of slate's editors/writers and John Dickerson, slate's chief political writer. For 30 minutes I get the most insightful look at politics in a banter that's hilarious. The rest of this podcast is a slate article being read aloud. Great orators, and interesting articles-- but I've stopped listening to those because I prefer reading he articles myself.

#3 The Bugle, weekly, 30 minutes
“Audio newspaper for a visual word”
John Oliver (from the Daily Show) and another Brit discussing current events. Zany, goofy, silly, and makes me laugh out loud even when I'm trying not to-- like when Jess is next to me trying to study.

#4 Scene Unseen, weekly, 1 hour
Two guys in LA review 1 movie and it takes them about 45 minutes to swerve through all their tangents and random discussions. One guys has seen it, the other has only seen the hype.

#5 Meet The Press, weekly, 1 hour
Tim Russert's the man. Best interviews and follow-up discussions anywhere outside of the Daily Show.

#6 This Week with George Snufflelffagous, weekly, 1 hour
I appreciate his attempt to be as good as MTP. He tries hard, and he produces a decent show. Always #2 to Russert. If he has on Edwards, that's because Russert's got Obama.

#7 Veracifier, varies, usually 3-10 minutes
Often feels propagandist, and is. It's very left wing-- They gather an immense amount of video and play interesting clips, but nothing can whole-heartedly be believed. More unfortunate for me is that it's video only, so my G1 nano doesn't accept this show. Nonetheless, when a new veracifier comes out it's worth a look because every once and a while they're insanely insightful.

#8 Real Time with Bill Maher, weekly when on, 1 hour
This deserves to be much higher, but the shows only come in spurts, so you can't count on it. *Something to keep in mind while shopping for podcasts is look at when the most recent episode was put out. If the last one was in october 2006, don't subscribe because I doubt any updates are coming. *Also look at the frequency the episodes come out. Daily's are fun, so are weekly's, but anything that's sporatic can be a real drag not knowing if it'll be there for you.

#9 On the Media, weekly, 1 hour
A fascinating approach to the news. A news podcast that not only discusses interesting segments in depth, but does so with a curious eye to the inherent biases of the media.


#10 NewsPod, daily, 30 minutes
A daily podcast each epp. is about 30 minutes long (so it gets huge props in those departments-- *shows that are too short suck because you end up spending more time selecting what to listen to that doing your main activity. 30 minutes to 1 hour for me is ideal). This show is produced by the BBC and gives the news through opinions and in depth reporting.

#11 The McLaughlin Group, weekly (though they often fall behind-- I think still catching on to the internet), 30 minutes.
Listen to only AFTER Meet the Press and This Week (Unless you are very, very old).

#12 Ask A Ninja, weekly? (varies), several minutes
HILARIOUS. video.

#13 Best of YouTube, weekly? (varies), several minutes
HILARIOUS. video.

#14 NPR Intelligence Squared, sporatic, 1 hour
1 hour. It's a debate. There's a motion such as “Is Aid to Africa Doing More Harm Than Good?” 3 experts in favor and 3 experts opposed duke it out-- each person gives an 8 minute speech, then they all answer questions at the end-- NPR edits it down to less than an hour. Super duper interesting, but I usually end up feeling much much much less knowledgeable than when I started. *But it's more just fascinating to hear the discussion than to become educated on a topic. I think this may be a golden rule of podcasts

#15 NEJM, weekly, 5-15 minutes
New England Journal of Medicine Interviews with PDF
Weekly provides one of their articles in pdf and interviews and discussions with the author. Probably the most rewarding podcast-- though to be honest I'v only used it a couple times. Obviously, this one no longer is for multitasking. They cover topics such as “The Battle over the SCHIP” “Childhood Obesity” “Comparing Physicians on Efficiency”...

$16 Science Times, weekly, 10-20 minutes
The less advanced equivalent to the NEJM podcast, while still providing a great deal of insight. The problem with this one is that they only put up the interviews with the author-- it's sort of up to you to read the science times before hand.---------A GREAT alternative to this podcast, which I used to listen to, is Science Friday from NPR.

Some others that I subscribe to:
Larry King-- video interviews. Only watched a couple
America Votes 2008-- 3 minutes or so daily. Not insightful, but keeps you up on the horse race of the election
The Economist-- Used to be one of my favorite podcasts. Less so now, and I'm not sure if they changed or I did.
People.com-- Did you know Jessica Alba's pregnant.
Around the Horn-- great extension to PTI.
Pittsburgh: Hear and Now
Political Points: On The Presidential Campaign
Slate Explainer podcast
Slate V podcast
UCSF Science Cafe
Video: Arts/ Movies (AO Scott)

And I'm trying out a new batch... that's how it's worked for me. Every so often I'll shop around for new ones, try a bunch out and end up keeping a couple. Here's what I'm testing out:
60/20 Sports with James Carville and Luke Russert....Yeah James Carville doing sports!
Bellissimo Coffee Podcast
Coffee Convo
NBC today show (audio)
NPR: Kitchen Window