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.

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 varies

If 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.

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.

Music
Garagepunk 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 stuff

Maximum 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.


Talk
This 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.

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.

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.

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.

.

yeah this is a really good topic.

For me I like the espn stuff.

I have never dealt with podcasts, and I am technologically retarded for the most part.

Help me: advice, links, how-to's

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.

Poker Podcasts:

PokerRoad Radio - heir to the "original" Circuit throne
Big Poker Sundays - somewhat of a spin-off

http://www.pokerroad.com

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Stupid double posts....

There are no stupid double posts, only stupid double posters....



or something like that.

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.

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.

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

Hblask -- the more we cross paths, the more I adore you. Crazy libertarian, maybe, but damn smart.

I love podcasts, too. I have more of them than I do of music. I subscribe to:

American Shakespeare Center Podcast Central: this is the theatre I work for, very scholar-driven "original practices" Shakespeare. Every play in our repertory gets a "Dr. Ralph" lecture, about 30 minutes from our founder, a Shakespeare professor for thirty-plus years who has a passion and an infectious joy in his topic. Each lecture tells you what's special about each play, things to think about, what scholars have found, what Shakespeare might have been drawing from as he wrote, etc. Being Jewish, he's especially good on _The Merchant of Venice_, and his favorite play is _Antony and Cleopatra_, on which he's also excellent. If you want to learn about Shakespeare, there's no more pleasant way to do it. Skip the "This Week at the Blackfriars," which is just a schedule, and go for the "Dr. Ralph" and "Backstage Pass." The Backstage Pass is Ralph and three or four of our actors talking about the play from an actor's point of view.

Dharma Podcast: this is from Upaya Zen center in Santa Fe, New Mexico, featuring Roshi Joan Halifax, Natalie Goldberg, and others. Dharma talks (kind of the Buddhist version of sermons, teaching lessons that explain Buddhist concepts in theory and practice) that range from 25 minutes to one hour.

San Francisco Zen Center: also dharma talks. Thirty minutes to an hour, arranged by subject. Loooong list. Examples: "Difficult Conversations about Money," "Communication, Culture, Race, Politics, and Love," "Emotions, Judgment, and Perception," "Anxiety: Where It Comes From, What to Do About It," "Living in the Present Moment," etc.

Speaking of Faith: this is from American Public Media, which produces content for NPR. Length is always 51-52 minutes and topics include: "Autism and Being Human," "Theological Perspectives on Cloning," "Money and Moral Balance," "Living Voodoo," and "Truth and Reconciliation," about the commissions in South Africa.

TED Talks: these cover the gamut. They're from the TED Conference, which stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Development, or something like that. They invite the brightest people they can find and ask them to speak to an elite group of movers and shakers. Speakers include string theorists, Bono, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Malcolm Gladwell, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, etc. Subjects range from aiding Africa to venture capitalism to physics to medicine to architecture to art. The orientation is mostly futurist, i.e., what kind of future we're heading for and how we can make choices now to alter that future.

Unfettered Mind: another set of dharma talks.

WZEN.org: ditto.

All in all, I have days' worth of lectures. I wish I could say how good they all are, but since my commute is only ten minutes, on foot, I rarely actually get to listen to any of them.

On a related note, I also love iTunesU. It's where you can find the link to American Public Media, and also where a lot of colleges have guest lectures recorded and sometimes even full courses. I've downloaded courses on Ben Franklin and literature from Stanford. Yale, MIT, and others also offer full courses.

These two jump out for me as ones that I definitely have to try. So a couple of questions: are these available on iTunes? (I can check when I get home tonight, but if you know off the top of your head, that'd be great).

The second question is about the Speaking of Faith one. Is this heavy on preaching and converting, or is it more about the religious and moral perspectives on these issues?

The TED one sounds like a must-listen (along with the DiggNation one suggested by someone earlier). TED Talks sounds a lot like the Radio Lab one I reviewed, except more focused on a single speaker. Daniel Dennet? Man, I just started reading one of his books ("Darwin's Dangerous Idea") and had previously read "Consciousness Explained", the best explanation ever of the human mind.

Sorry for the late answer, but I'm trying to be good and not log on while I'm at work. Yep, they're both on iTunes. Speaking of Faith is under iTunesU, then on the right side of the screen, American Public Media. Just search for "TED Talks," as I'm not sure where they're "filed."

Speaking of Faith is a product of NPR, so it's an intellectual discussion -- no preaching. What turned me on to Daniel Dennett was some articles in magazines, and if I'm remembering right, I think I saw Bill Moyers interview him on PBS (I might be thinking of Colin McGinn).

Also, this is something you have to pay for, but it strikes me as being up your alley: have you ever heard of The Teaching Company? They offer recorded (or downloadable) college courses -- 16 to 24 lectures, so a pretty complete course, on all the major subjects. A history professor introduced me to them. Initial prices look high, but everything goes on sale regularly, so the quoted prices are much higher than you'd really pay. Their website is: http://www.teach12.com/teach12.asp?ai=16281

The Seventh Son -- this is a podcast that is a free audiobook (since this is Entertainment For Cheapskates, only free books count for this thread. The regular ones are too expensive). It is available at iTunes and also at podiobooks.com The Seventh Son is actually a trilogy by JC Hutchins. The story is that seven people a nabbed from their normal lives and taken to a secret location, only to find out that they are all clones of the same person. It turns out they've been called together to find a murderer -- someone they should be able to relate to.

This book has some good and some bad:

The bad: At the beginning of the story, Hutchins throws out bad metaphors like a Siamese cat that is overdue to the groomers and climbed up on your table during the dinner party sheds hair on your fruit tray. The first half of the first book is littered with this garbage, and it's hard to take the story seriously when we keep running into these literary brick walls. The other bad thing about the story is it is narrated by the author, and he does voices. Again, this is very annoying for much of the first book, especially the "gruff authority figures" who populate the book. As the story goes on, this gets less annoying, and actually helps give life to the characters at times. By the end I appreciated the voices, but I think this book could've been improved by hiring a reader.

The good: As far as techno-thrillers go, this one is pretty good. Some of the plot twists are extremely interesting, and very satisfying. The characters are pretty well drawn for the genre. As with any action-type story, there are huge leaps of logic that you need to ignore, but not as bad as a typical Hollywood action flick. Once I got about halfway through the first book of the trilogy, I was hooked and listened to the rest of the story in every free minute I could find. That's pretty impressive considering the sloppy beginning to the story. This author makes money on a "give what you think it's worth" basis, and I liked it enough to donate a few bucks to the author (via podiobooks.com).

If you like techno-thrillers, this is a good one, very compelling, with great plot twists and a satisfying final act. Apparently it was successful enough that it is going into print. When it does, hopefully an editor will fix the first half of the first book.

In response to this, I gave it a try, and here's my review:

Diggnation, on I-tunes, a podcast in which the two hosts discuss the top stories on Digg.

Review for young people: Do you know how you have those friends who are really smart and interesting and funny, and know how to party, and always seem to be in on the latest thing? Well, they are making a show, and it's called "Diggnation".

Review for old people: Have you ever been forced to sit around a couple of young people who think, just because they are 1 day ahead of their friends, that they know everything, and they really think they're funny so they try to make a joke at every opportunity and think that being loud and drunk is entertainment enough for the people around them? Well, they are making a show, and it's called "Diggnation".

Combined review: As you can guess, I have mixed feelings about this show. This is a great idea for a show -- all the things that "the internet" finds interesting. And overall, these guys are quite entertaining. But they are just a little bit too loud for me, and they think they are *hilarious*, when really they are *amusing*. So do I like this or not? I'm going to give a few more episodes a try. I hope that I will learn to overlook the hosts, um, attitude(?). This is a show I should like, that I want to like, but dudes, you are just a couple of loud-mouthed kids. Know what your place is, stop trying to be funny or knowledgeable. If you are, we'll figure it out. If not, we'll figure that out, too, whether you try to show us or not. Just do the discussion without the "hey I'm podcasting I'd better be entertaining" act. So, based on a limited sample, I'll give it a 5/10, but that number could go in either direction as I listen to more of them.

TED Talks (audio): iTunes

Review: I mentioned that I subscribe to these, with the caveat that I hadn't had a chance to listen to any yet. Well, I spent the weekend folding and stuffing 2,500 envelopes for a mailing at work, and played about 20 podcasts while I did it.

The American Shakespeare Center: it's where I work, so I'm biased. My boss is a genius, and as a result his podcasts can be a little scattershot, because as soon as he's talking about one idea, another one leaps to his mind and he's so delighted by it he interrupts himself to throw it in. However, listening to a forty-minute lecture, ostensibly on a single play, can reveal things about 17th-century London architecture, Ben Jonson's personal life and professional rivalries, an account that includes actors (likely including Shakespeare himself) thrown into jail, a bit about the Spanish armada, and Italian names for birds of prey. If you keep up with him, the "Dr. Ralph" lectures are a delight. Well, they're a delight to me, but I can see the man delivering them. The Backstage Pass features Ralph and three or four of our actors talking about the play, how they went about staging it, what they think of the characters, and deliveries and explanations of their favorite lines and speeches. It's all pretty loose, but if you want to really appreciate Shakespeare, not just learn dry this-is-on-the-quiz factoids, I really don't know of a better podcast than ours.

TED Talks: I listened to a lot more of these over the weekend. While ASC's are forty minutes to an hour, TED Talks tend to be 15 minutes on average -- some less than ten minutes, very few longer than thirty. My favorites were "A Journey to the Center of Your Mind," by brain scientist Vilayanur Ramachandran on his work with phantom-limb syndrome, synaesthesia, and a "???" delusion, in which patients wake up saying that their family members look just like who they are, but they're really all imposters -- one of his patients even insisted that his pet poodle had been replaced by a lookalike, as well as his mother, wife, etc. He explains the causes of all this problems and describes how he has managed, with a three-dollar mirror in a cardboard box, to cure patients of their phantom limbs.

Another favorite was "An Atheist's Call to Arms" by Richard Dawkins. Much vilified by the religious right, he's actually a funny, warm, relaxed, and engaging speaker, and his arguments are deeply persuasive.

A very brief eight-minute talk by philosopher Daniel Dennett, titled "Can We Know Our Own Minds?" is about the nature of consciousness, and it is thought-provoking. In the first minute, he earns six good loud laughs -- he's a delight to listen to. He points out that we are composed of 100 trillion cells, not one of which actually has consciousness or knows your name. So how exactly are we conscious and aware of our names? On the downside, he sounds like he ran several blocks to the microphone.

In "Rolling Along," Segway inventor Dean Kamen talks about his latest invention, a $1,000 machine that can, without any technological or industrial infrastructure, be used to provide clean drinking water for up to 100 people. He's quiet and soft-spoken, but deeply passionate about the idea.

Bjorn Lomberg is a controversial guy, a conservative economist who has ranked the problems on which the world should focus strictly by their economic payoff (his conclusions are mostly health-based). His is an interesting talk. It made me ask questions back to the computer, which his talk didn't answer, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

Dan Gilbert, a psych professor, delivers an excellent talk on "Why Are We Happy? Why Aren't We Happy?" It's a field he's studied and published in for several years now. He opens by asking whether you would rather win the lottery or become a paraplegic. Then he notes that studies and interviews with both groups actually show that they score their happiness one year after the life-changing event almost exactly equally to each other.

Some I'd really expected to like, like Bob Thurman's talk on Buddhism, were actually disappointing, but I liked nearly all the talks a lot. I'm leaving out talks by the founders of Google, Amazon, and Wikipedia, as well as some speculation on how technology might merge with our bodies over the next thirty years. Those were all good as well. The topics are so broad and random, you're bound to find something you enjoy.

Anybody want more ammo to make fun of me with?:


Mugglecast-for the Harry Potter dorks in you. This podcast is pretty entertaining. It is hosted by Andrew Sims, who is a college student and co-hosted by a couple of other 20 something year olds. They discuss Harry Potter news (like things about the new movie, developments with the case of JK Rowling vs. RDR books, and other stuff), they answer fans voicemail questions, and they go into depth about certain chapters. It is targeted for kids, but I find it entertaining to listen to while I'm not doing anything important-like right now.

After further review, I'm giving them a 7/10. They are more funny than obnoxious, and are very interesting. I just wish they'd swear less and quit trying so hard. But overall, a thumbs up.

On the strength of this suggestion, I tried it, and would also recommend this. The speakers are scientists, dreamers, entertainers, performers, and, inexplicably, one bloviating politician who thinks the truth is inconvenient. They are not always the greatest speakers, but they are *smart*. One of my surprise favorites was a child prodigy violinist performing a few pieces. The subjects are all over the map. I still prefer Radio Lab for my dose of esoteric world knowledge, but the TED Talks are good stuff, I'd say 8/10.

It's my day to bump old threads. Two podcasts I've really been enjoying a lot:

Backstory with the American History Guys
Three historians, specializing in 18th Century, 19th Century, and 20th Century, talk about how various issues have been shaped through time. They're loose and very comfortable with each other and also very knowledgeable. Not all the subjects are political. There was a very good show on how we've regarded states' rights throughout our history, but also shows on how attitudes toward death have changed. Other titles:




The History of Rome, hosted by Mike Duncan
This is what is says it is, a history of Rome. But the host makes it. He's a great storyteller with a wonderful mellifluous voice, and he knows his stuff. It's relaxed and teaches a ton of information painlessly. He quotes Tiberius on tax policy: "The point is to shear the sheep, not skin them." And while he offers his own opinion very rarely, when he does it's deeply insightful. One thing he said I not only wrote down in my collection of great quotes, but I knew when I heard that I had to post it on here for the sake of Hblask. Duncan is talking about how Rome rather suddenly became a death-dealing machine under Nero. A city that had only inflicted the death penalty relatively rarely suddenly had roads lined for miles with crucified criminals and hour after hour of criminals put to death in the arena. Tiny infractions earned the death penalty and the bureaucracy of order swept up thousands of people in its nets. However, Rome had wanted a strong ruler, because the lack of one had so often led to years of civil war and chaos. Duncan trenchantly observes:



I am genuinely thrilled whenever I see new episodes of either of these being downloaded.

I listened to one of these at SB's suggestion, and it was fascinating. I haven't subscribed yet because I've got about 3 months worth of podcasts to listen to, but if you like history you'll love this, and if you are just curious about the world, you'll like it, too.

People who love the History of Rome podcast also often subscribe to Twelve Byzantine Rulers, by Lars Brownworth. Brownworth also has a new series just starting up, called Norman Centuries. I like it. I'd give History of Rome a 10 out of 10, because of the detail, the perfect host, and sound quality, and the general flawlessness of the whole thing. I'd give Brownsworth's efforts probably a 7 or 8 out of 10. He's not quite as wonderful to listen to as the Mike Duncan of History of Rome, but he's very good.

I actually just discovered WNYC's Radio Lab myself, and love it. It's another winner.

If you like movies, Creative Screenwriting Magazine (the titles in italics are how they are listed on iTunes) devotes each episode of its podcasts to an interview with the writer of one movie. I don't subscribe, I just pick movies I liked and download those interviews.

I listen to the following podcasts:


The Dan Le Batard Show.

based in Miami, this sports show will be national in a matter of years. Probably on ESPN or something. Very funny, but also pretty Miamicentric.


PTI.

Two sports guys yell at each other for about 22 minutes.


Crossway Community Church online.

This pastor, Mike Bullmore, is one of the best Christian pastors in America, that no one has ever heard of. He's cut from the same cloth as John Piper, an author and pastor from Minneapolis. His church is in Bristol, WI, and if you want to understand what it is to be a Christian, you need to go no further.


The Bible Answer Man

Hosted by author and Christian Apologist, Hank Hanegraaff. It's pretty fascinating stuff for Christians. It mainly deals with the many different denominations within the Christian religion, and the Bible's stance of topics like premarital sex, abortion, death penalty, etc, and the different views on those subjects within the church itself. It's not (normally) a "here is why evolution is bad and this is how to convince your friends" type thing.

LeBatard won't be national. They've had offers but I think he prefers to keep it local, the place he's lived his whole life.

I've tivoed PTI since the day it came on. I have a sickness. Coincidentally, the only real sub host I like on PTI is LeBatard.

A podcast that I started listening to lately is called 'Risk'. Their idea is "stories you never thought you'd tell." It's people telling embarrassing, odd, and funny stories from their past. It frequently has me laughing out loud. I'd give it a 9 out of 10, taking the point off because the host is a bit obnoxious for my tastes. But the stories are good enough that it's worth sitting through his introductions.

EDIT: So far there have been stories about anonymous gay sex with midgets, a man with his tennis shoes dangling from his testicles, religious conversions, and killing kangaroos for meat. Yeah, it's like something right out of OT.

I just downloaded this a bout 2 weeks ago or so, and consumed all the episodes. So, so good. My one complaint is, the episodes are a little short, so it seems like not enough content, after waiting a week.


I have a great Recommendation for Basically everyone. It's Dan Carlin's Hardcore History. Carlin is an ex-radio call in talk show host, who also has a politcal podcast called "Common Sense" which really isn't my cup of tea, as I don't have a lot of interest in politics. ( I do like the general view point of it, which is a cynical one that distrusts both parties equally, and views the world in a real politic sort of way)

But the hard core history series is brilliant. Particularlly the 3 part series on the punic wars, and best of all, the 4 part series on the Eastern Front of World War 2. In the west, we often don't understand the scope of the horror of the eastern front, the depth and breadth of it. If the eastern front was taken out of World War 2, and considered an independent war, it would be, on it's own, the biggest war of all time, in terms of casualties. The podcast is just riveting and chilling. He releases episodes approcimately once every 6 weeks, and they are about 90 minutes long, and are just riveting. He also has had an episode speculating on the effect of substances on history ( like drugs, alcohol) and the way children have been treated historically. It's a really entertaining and informantive series.

I subscribe to Hardcore History, too. I don't absolutely love love every episode, but the one on which leaders he'd like to drug test was great and in general, it is very good.

The first thing I thought of when I read this was this:

I had a friend call into Coast to Coast AM, I'm sure you heard of it, and he basically just made up a story about aliens and monsters and actually started to fake cry. He had the Coast to Coast host riveted and was actually taking calls from people to ask him questions.


Since then, I never believe this stuff. I always just figure it's super smart people like SB or someone just screwing with everyone.

I also subscribe to this nice once a week podcast called "Sunday Night Safran" by John Safran, Australian TV personality from such things as John Safran vs God and John Safran race relations. He interviews all kinds of odd people, religious folk, political folk, entertainment folk, but not really from the mainstream. bUT The real gold of it, is in between the interviews, he has these conversations with "Father Bob McGuire", this rogue liberal priest from melbourne

I forgot to mention that I'm also subscribed to Filmspotting. I have been for more than a year now. Two douchebags review movies that are pretty low-key. I think BigD got me hooked on that one.


I just subscribed to Hardcore History and History of Rome. I'm sure I'll like them.

God they are douchey too.

Yes, very. I often imagine them sipping wine while doing their podcast.

Holy shit, there's Kevin Smith podcasts?

I started listening to the Kevin Smith podcasts, starting with the first one in 2007, I believe. He's a phenomenal story-teller. I almost don't want to listen to these just so I know I have about 100 hours of Kevin Smith stories just sitting there waiting for me.