Podcasts: Entertainment For Cheapskates

[hblask 1]

I searched, and didn't find a thread like this. I am curious what people are finding in the podcasting world that is interesting. Here are my goals for this thread:1) Only list free material. I'm not sure if there is such a thing as "Pay-per-view podcast", but if there is, I don't want to hear about it.2) I would like to hear what the podcast is like, not just "I subscribed to xyz". Why do you like or dislike it? For example, if it's a music podcast, what other music do you like? What is it comparable to?3) More detail is better.4) I'm curious to hear about all types of podcasts -- news, music, comedy, etc.I'll be writing about a few of the ones I've sampled over the next few days, I hope others will do the same.

[hblask 1]

Podcast: Acoustic Long Island, found on ITunes Store. Each podcast is between 10 and 30 minutes long, usually right around 15 minutes.This is a video podcast, with videos of musicians performing at a small club, presumably on Long Island. They tend to be small acoustic acts, usually solo guitar or a singer with one or two backup musicians. If you like the singer/songwriter acoustic live music thing, this podcast is amazing. The amount of talent they have found is really quite impressive. A few of the artists were good enough that I immediately went to Itunes and bought a song or two. As with any music, it's not all home runs. There are a few singers that I wouldn't see if they were singing for free in my front yard, but overall they are exceptional. This is one of my favorite podcasts, to the point that I've downloaded all their back episodes (no small feat, there are lots of them). I'd give it a 10/10 for hitting their goal perfectly.Podcast: AtomFilmsToGo, on Itunes. Length variesIf you've been to www.atomfilms.com, you probably have an idea of what this is. Atom Films is a website for people who make independent films, and can post them there for free. The quality of the films varies widely at the website, from amazing to WTF. The podcast has slightly less variation, since they get to pick a few favorites from the massive number of films at the website. Overall, the quality of the films is pretty good, but not the kind of thing where I can't wait to show my friends/family. The good news is they are short, and you usually know within the first minute whether they will be good, so you don't waste a lot of time on these. I am subscribed, but I'd give it a 6/10 due to the high variation in quality.

[hblask 1]

Podcast: Coverville, on Itunes and at Coverville.com, podcast is usually around 30 minutes, 3 times per week.This is a music podcast devoted to covers of other songs. The covers range from the silly to the amazing. The host is pleasurably nerdy and unprofessional. His radio voice is terrible, which I think adds to the charm of this podcast. He makes mistakes, forgets where he was going with a sentence, etc. But this podcast is really about the music. If you like cover songs, he has a great selection, and really has pretty good taste in music. As with any music, not everything is amazing, but the host knows that and doesn't pretend that it's all great. Again, I've purchased a few songs off Itunes from this, and am looking for a few more (does anyone know where to get the MP3 for Opie Gone Bad's version of Sympathy for the Devil?). As with Acoustic Long Island (previous post), this one gets a 10/10 for hitting the mark. Covers are not for everyone, but if you like them like I do, this is a great podcast.

[bobbywithani 0]

MusicGaragepunk podcast- plenty of different shows that all come from the same server. Hit and miss but mostly good stuff, I don't have time to listen to everyone each week because there are so many but you are bound to find at least a couple of shows you like if you like garage/punk/rock'n'roll type stuffMaximum rock'n'roll radio-They started doing this show a few years ago for the first time since the early 90's I believe. One of the best places to find new punk/hardcore bands and they will still play a few classics from time to time too.Nocore- Plays lots of experimental noise/no-wave type music. Very good but only does a new show like once every other month or so.Mix-tape show- Decent hip-hop show, covers a wide variety of stuff so some weeks it is not so hot.TalkThis American Life- Most always interesting. If you know the radio show on NPR this is the exact same thing. One bad thing you cannot get older podcasts as they take them off the streamer after one week.Savage Lovecast-Dan Savage does a version of his weekly advice collumn except on air and with callers, always funny.

[grocery_mony 9]

I cant get HBO in Canada so I love the Real Time with Bill Maher podcast on I-tunes. Also like the Opies and Anthony video shorts from I-tunes. Both are very funny.

[Franchise632 0]

I am a huge Kevin Smith fan so I love SModcast with his trusty producer Scott Mosier. Usually a new one goes up every week and its ususally just a bunch of rambling, telling of stories, and general tomfoolery. I am a political nerd so i often watch Meet The Press from NBC on there. Nothing else is really an all the time sort of thing for me.

[jeff_536 3]

I like the idea of this thread...i've recently become hooked on podcasts.A suggestion maybe to put the link for people who might want to give them a shot?The main ones I listen to are sports talk.I like Bill Simmons' The BS Report and Fantasy Focus Baseball, both on ESPN.The BS Report is a lot like his columns, talking to cool guests who have something to say and calling up his old friends and talking sports, just like we do with our friends. It goes about an hour.The Fantasy Focus Baseball show is a daily podcast with Matthew Berry and Nate Ravitz..funny, topical and good fantasy baseball talk.Both are available at espn.com or at itunes.

[strategy 4]

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[byaaatch 0]

yeah this is a really good topic. For me I like the espn stuff.

[FARGOpokerND 22]

I have never dealt with podcasts, and I am technologically retarded for the most part.Help me: advice, links, how-to's

[Franchise632 0]

If you have iTunes its pretty easy...just go to the podcast section and search around. Other wise you want to look around on sites that you go to. Like a sports talk radio station I used to work for... they have on demand stuff on there website that is linked. Most Clearchannel radio stations have this stuff. You can also just google podcasts and see what you find. Most of the time its just a point, click, download, listen bit. Not to much to it.

[CobaltBlue 662]

Poker Podcasts:PokerRoad Radio - heir to the "original" Circuit throneBig Poker Sundays - somewhat of a spin-offhttp://www.pokerroad.com

[jeff_536 3]

I have never dealt with podcasts, and I am technologically retarded for the most part.Help me: advice, links, how-to's

I was like you two months ago...barely even knew they existed. On itunes, there's s 'subscribe' button beside the list, click and your itunes will search for new entries everytime you log on. Itunes also allows you to search for podcasts they carry by category, etc. If there isn't a 'subscribe' option, on itunes, under 'Advanced' there's a 'subscribe to podcasts' option. Just cut and paste the address of the podcast you want to subscribe to. Same deal on updates.

[hblask 1]

A suggestion maybe to put the link for people who might want to give them a shot?

I like this idea too.... but if I found it on ITunes, how do I post a link to it? And would that even be useful? I just try to post the name exactly as it's listed on ITunes.

[hblask 1]

IndieFeed: Alternative and Modern Rock -- this is a podcast devoted to (as you may expect) independent modern and alternative music. Each episode has exactly one song, frequently introduced by the artist. They have an above-average selection of independent music, so if you want to expand your music selection, this is a good way to do it. I'll give this one a 7/10, mainly because it's not particularly unique -- there are lots of places to get free, new, independent music. This source is as good as any other. I do like the one-song-per-episode format more than being bombarded.Lynchland: The Liam Lynch Podcast -- Liam Lynch is a musician and producer with an apparently insatiable desire to create. He is most famous for his novelty song "United States of Whatever" (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz7_3n7xyDg). Now he produces a podcast as an outlet for his creative mania. The podcast is about a half hour, I think, and includes bizarre animated cartoons, wacky backgrounds, and interesting discussions. Lynch is one of those people who could talk about clipping his toenails and still be interesting. The show hops around randomly, and he frequently has shows devoted entirely to answering questions from viewers. If you are a fan of the bizarre and interesting, you may like this podcast. I'd give it an 8/10 for creativity. Having said that, I unsubscribed because it is just a little bit too random for me. There's a fine line between hilarious randomness and just plain random, and for me, this podcast is right on that line. If it were 10 minute episodes, I might've stuck with it, but 30 minutes is a bit much for that. So, for me, the 8/10 for creativity is offset by the 3/10 for hitting the mark. But if you are a fan of the weird, definitely give this one a try. Think PeeWee's playhouse gone punk podcast.

[hblask 1]

Mieete's Bedtime Story, on ITunes -- this is a woman with a sort of sexy voice and accent reading bedtime stories. It's basically a collection of short stories of varying length. I really like the idea of hearing short stories on podcasts, because my best time to listen is on my 25 minute drive home. So far, the stories on this one are too heavily written, too thick. I have a lot of trouble listening to them. I'm going to try a few more of these because anyone can put out a few bad shows, but of the one's I've heard, I'd give it a 2/10. Special note, don't bother downloading the old ones, they have serious audio problems, with volumes fading in and out and loud popping noises that hurt my ears. It was solved by 2007, so any after that are probably OK.NPR Story Corps, on ITunes -- the idea of this one is to document the normal lives of ordinary Americans by giving them a few minutes to tell a little story about their life or their history. The people they find usually have pretty interesting stories, but they only give them a couple of minutes, so it's hard to generate any real deep emotional appeal in that time. These are fun/interesting/touching in a superficial sort of way. So the length is both a plus and a minus. On the one hand, you don't waste more than a couple minutes on the episodes that are duds, on the other hand, it's hard to get too into it. It's popcorn for the mind. And there's nothing wrong with popcorn. 7/10.

[jeff_536 3]

agreed that itunes is the address in itself. I believe there's a decent search function there.I also like a couple football-themed podcasts. There's one called NFL Rants and Raves with Steven Miranda and Jeff Ellis that's pretty interesting. And now that I think about it, i have NO idea how I subscribed to it.oh well, thank god for google, i guess.

[Speed Limit 0]

The podcasts I subscribe to and look forward to each week or so are:The Melrose Line: Barry Melrose and all hockey glory in this weekly updated cast tracking the week in hockey, good humor and jokes.NPR: All Songs Considered/Live Concert Series. Good stuff here, sometimes All Songs has some sweet guests a la Thom Yorke, members of Portishead, Ray Davies etc.IGN: Three Red Lights/Nintendo Voice Chat. Updates on Xbox360 and Nintendo news respectively.

[rocketpoker828 0]

Poker Podcasts:PokerRoad Radio - heir to the "original" Circuit throneBig Poker Sundays - somewhat of a spin-offhttp://www.pokerroad.com

Along with this, Two Jacks in the Hole is hilarious. It's hosted by the former hosts of The Circuit and PokerWire Radio. It airs live at 11pm EST on Wednesdays.

[hblask 1]

Good job on the suggestions everyone. Remember, more detail is better, so we can judge for ourselves. Also, don't necessarily list only the ones you like, it might be interesting to hear about ones you expected to like, but didn't, and why. I'm a fanatic about finding great news ones, so if there are some I can skip, that'd be nice to know.I've been going through the ones I've tried in the order they show up on my IPod, but I'm going to skip ahead with this one:The Moth, on ITunes. This is, by far, my favorite podcast. It is individuals telling a story about their life, live in front of an audience. The story is between 10 and 15 minutes. The people they get are generally fascinating. Some of them are funny, some are touching, some are just interesting. (As with any podcast, a few are bleh). The reason I am doing this one out of order is because they only keep a few on ITunes at a time, and the one on there now, named "LOL", is my favorite so far. Maybe it's just because I have an 11 y/o at that stage, but this one sort of sums up what this podcast is about -- humor, family, love, real life. Another one to look for, if it's still on there, is Alan Rabinowitz "Man and Beast", also very nice. 'The Moth' obviously gets a 10/10 for me; I think this is what podcasting was made for.

[hblask 1]

Stupid double posts....

[jeff_536 3]

Stupid double posts....

There are no stupid double posts, only stupid double posters....or something like that.

[hblask 1]

PRI: Selected Shorts Podcast (on ITunes) -- This is a podcast dedicated to the short story. Unlike Miette's short stories (see a few posts above), these stories are very accessible, and are read by people who know how to read fiction. Overall, the stories are pretty good. Each podcast is one hour long, and may include multiple stories. Short stories, by their nature, tend to be hit and miss, but on average these are pretty good. I give this one a 7/10.The Romeo Theater (on Itunes) -- this is a video podcast devoted to short films. The podcaster (John (?) Romeo) is an amateur film maker who apparently wanted an outlet for all the films he made, so he started a podcast. Since nobody is prolific enough to make a film a week, he has invited others to submit films. Romeo's films are, for the most part, pretty horrid. He's just not that good at it. But once he starts getting films from other people, this podcast becomes pretty watchable. Again, it's hit and miss, but it's always interesting in that "experimental art" sort of way. If you are interested, just skip the older ones. Somewhere around the Chad Vader episode this podcast starts becoming watchable. I'll give it a 6/10, but they are pretty short, so if you have an extra 5 minutes per week to find a hidden gem, it may be worth it.

[hblask 1]

OK, apparently I'm the only one addicted to these things, so here's a couple more:Stories To Go -- on Itunes: This is another short story podcast. Unlike Miette's stories (see above), these stories are accessible. Unfortunately, there are two parts to a good story podcast. First is the story, second is the reading. And there is something about this guy's voice that makes me want to think about anything rather than listen to the stories. When I force myself to listen, they are OK stories, but the effort to not have my mind wander is too great. I'll give this one a 2/10. A new narrator could get it to a 7/10.WNYC's Radio Lab -- on Itunes: This is my second favorite podcast, after The Moth (also reviewed previously). This is a podcast about... well, pretty much anything. They pick a different topic for each episode, and cover it from a variety of points of view. Some of the topics I've listened to include Time, Sleep, Death, and Zoos. This podcast is about the intersection of science, the arts, storytelling, history, and society. They get experts in the field to talk about the details, and they get regular people to discuss relevant stories about the topic from their own life. It's all presented in a low-key, professional tone. This is a great podcast for anyone who is curious about the world and science. 10/10, obviously. Episodes are 1 hour.

[jeff_536 3]

I'm working my way through the Kevin Smith SMODcasts...very entertaining.