Pick-A-Day

June 2005
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Podcasting

I promised a couple days ago to write about Podcasting.

Podcasting are audio programs produced by people and posted to the web. As previously noted, the first Podcast I listened to was the incredibly boring Gay Sexcapades. Gay Sexcapades so put me off Podcasting that I ignored it for a spell, but since returning from the States, Podcasts have become my evening sanity savior. I get home, I put on the iPod and listen.

My favorite show is UFN: Urban Family Night. Listening to the team talk makes me wish that I had a clique of friends like Nathan, Patrick, Todd, Jessie and Jason. A gay married couple, a straight married couple, and a single gay virgin get together once or twice a week and shoot the shit, and it’s incredibly entertaining. The Boston based team isn’t shy about taking on sex and whatever else comes up. What I particularly enjoy about this show is that it is urban-I couldn’t imagine these kinds of conversations taking place in suburbia, where grass is perfectly manicured and everybody has 2.4 kids. The program understands that urban families are dynamic and changing and that we have a different definition of family today from that of twenty years ago. (And happily, I have an all new episode to listen to tonight! Sweet!)

The second best show Podcast I’ve found is the TartanPodcast. I’m not sure which aspect of the show I enjoy more, host Mark’s fabulous Scottish accent that makes me melt or the selection of cutting edge music, usually Scottish in origin, although I remember hearing at least one Canadian singer-song writer included. This show is particularly dangerous because I already feel myself wanting to buy music from the bands he features, and that could become expensive. For now I am enjoying the Podcasts.

Fly With Me is a nifty little show that is sporadically put out by Joe d’Eon, a pilot with a major US airline (I’m fairly certain that it’s Delta, but he never specifically states which one). It has strong production values and is interesting to listen to. In the most recent edition (number 5), he talks about the problems for airline employees as pension plans, fuel costs, and whatnot. There are, of course, the dreadful customer stories that entertaining.

Next up is the daily Feast of Fools with Fausto and his boyfriend Marc from Chicago. These two are a bit uneven in their quality: when they’re off, I skip listening to the show, and when they’re on, I find myself laughing out loud. An excellent, but atypical good episode was on Tuesday, 21 June 05. It includes an amusing interview with film director John Waters. I want to get a copy of his newest film on DVD if just to see Johnny Knoxville blow himself.

Also from Chicago is Yeast Radio with Madge Weinstein, a Jewish lesbian who spends some time rambling and ranting about random things. Unlike most of the other solo queer Podcasters, she’s actually interesting. I’ve listened to a number of them, and lonely queers babbling into a microphone are often rather boring, even if they seem to have large audiences. (Should I name which ones I think are boring, other than the previously mentioned one?)

I have a couple more Podcasts that I am sampling right now. You can tell which Podcasts I’m listening to by looking at “Podcast Stuff” in the links list. I also include a link to iPodder, a podcast aggregator which will download podcasts and insert them into your iTunes library for download to your iPod.

2 comments to Podcasting

  • koko

    i wish i could get several episodes of this american life on my ipod…that would be sweet.

  • Hey! Thanks for your kind words regarding the UFN Show…
    We have a blast recording the show and are thrilled that people actually enjoy it!
    Patrick