While I'm clearly lying about one part of that, it is something that interests me. I'm pretty much constantly wired in and listen to a whole range of podcasts, audiobooks, and music. When I start looking into something new, one of the first things I do is find some podcasts relevant to that field. But I know that not everyone is such a fan of any or all of those.
So, two things for this post: first—DISCUSSION TOPIC! What do you listen to and when? Walking, working, doing chores; are you into podcasts, audiobooks, just straight-up music? The sweet sound of silence(/the deafening drone of the vacuum cleaner while the cat tries to climb the nearest wall to escape the Evil Beast)? Furthermore: what, specifically? Sound off below.
Second, here are a couple of my favourite podcasts, in no particular order:
TWiT (This Week in Tech)
This is the podcast that basically got me into tech. They have a whole host of shows on the network to suit just about any specific tech-based interest, and I dip in and out of them week to week, but I'm a long-time, habitual listener of their flagship show with the same name as the network. A great roundup and analysis of the week's tech news.
Friday Night Comedy Podcast (BBC Radio 4)
This is the podcast that got me into podcasts (and probably the one that was most decisive in my stopping listening to the radio). I don't think I've missed an episode in...I don't know how long. Six years? Maybe more. It repeats the 1830 comedy slot from BBC Radio 4 (nearly always either The Now Show or The News Quiz, with a few intermittent others) in podcast form.
The Bugle
John Oliver's been getting a lot more attention thanks to his run hosting The Daily Show and now his own HBO show, Last Week Tonight (rightly so—it's bloody fantastic), but The Bugle his long-running podcast with Andy Zaltzman, dispensing a weekly dose of hilarious political satire with a healthy(?) amount of fatuous bullshit on top. Their schedule has been a little patchy over the last six months or so, but can't recommend this one enough.
Värvet International
This is a fairly recent discovery. I don't normally go for interviews in a big way (at least not more than a one-off, or for some very specific people), but what I've heard of this series has been really great so far. Two highlights: Caitlin Moran and David Fincher.
There are more I listen to each week, but these are mostly long-running favourites. The one problem I have with podcasts is I currently subscribe to too many, leaving very little time some weeks to make progress with audiobooks...
As I'm sure you know, podcasts baffle me. They're better than radio, I'll give them that, but if I have the spare time to listen to talk about a topic, I'd probably rather spend it reading. Of course, if I drove more often, that would probably change...not a good idea to use a Kindle (tm) at the wheel!
ReplyDeleteHmm, on the spare time thing, that doesn't quite work for me. Yes, if I have sit-down or even stand-around spare time, that's probably spent reading something. But there a lot of the time that's not possible, but you're doing something that doesn't engage all that much of my brain. Housework, walking around (some times/places, I /could/ walk around holding a book, but not all, and for me, it's not very effective).
ReplyDeleteThere's also a different...tone, maybe? to podcasts. Sometimes, the entertainment or the information comes out differently because it's being presented, discussed, or meandered around by two or more people, rather than being in a more 'constructed' written format. Not that that holds true entirely for both, but I think there is a difference in the content presentation that makes them not entirely equivalent.
Mooon—I keep meaning to check out Welcome to Nightvale. I hadn't heard of Qt3 before, but that looks really interesting, so thanks! (though again, another distraction from audiobooks, darn).