Current Podcast Subscriptions

Which podcast next?

While I was down in München, I had pause to look at another person’s list of podcasts—which he said was a bit embarrassing because I could learn a lot about him through his list.

I immediately knew what he meant—but I’ve decided to be brave and list everything that I subscribe to—so that you can see what interests me, warts and all.

I’ll even list them in alphabetical order—thus ensuring that my geekiness and oddities are fully displayed to people who only read the top four or five podcasts and miss out on the rest.

Adam and Joe – A weekly podcast featuring Adam and Joe’s banter from their weekly show on BBC 6 radio. It’s distilled from the actual radio show and it can, at times, drag, but the real gem is when they have song wars—where each of them have their own take on a musical challenge.

Airplane Geeks Podcast – This weekly podcast features a trio of airplane geeks who discuss the week’s aviation news along with a guest who’s big in the aviation world. It’s usually an interesting take on the world of aviation. The show can run a bit on the long side, like the last one that was 1 hour and 40 minutes in length.

Answer Me This! – Straight from Britain, this show attempts to answer listener questions on a broad range of questions. Sometimes the answers are spot on, sometimes it’s nothing but malarkey. Either way, it’s usually quite humorous.

APM: The Story – One of Weimar’s newest American expatriates recommended this program to me. It features interviews with people from across the US who have interesting life stories to share. It’s daily with two or three interviews per show. I’ve been listening to it for just over a week and I’m already addicted.

aussieBum Video Podcasting – Coming out sporadically, this video podcast features hot Aussie men wearing aussieBum underwear, all in an effort to get one to buy aussieBum undies. I don’t actually wear the undies but I do like the videos. >>iTunes Feed<<

Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase! – Roughly once a month Betty, who is a flight attendant with a major US carrier, shares stories about her experiences in the skies. She brings a tape recorder along with her and records her coworkers’ stories and presents them. It always entertaining and I wish she would put shows out more frequently. (And if you’re curious, I’m 99% certain that the airline she works for is the world’s largest airline.)

CBC News: World at Six – I found a newscast that works for me. It’s a 30-minute newscast from CBC Radio—and since I download it in the mornings, I get the 9pm Eastern version. The Canadian perspective on news is interesting, and I have to confess that I’m occasionally surprised at how US-Centric it seems to be. >>Feed<<

Comedy Factory from CBC Radio – This is an assemblage of audio humor that’s aired on CBC radio over the previous week. Sometimes it’s excellent, sometimes it’s not. It’s helpful to be aware of current Canadian news—something I achieve by listening to CBC’s World at Six. >>Feed<<

Fox and the City – This show comes out infrequently and features the poetry of Regan Fox, an American poet based out of West Hollywood. His shows often include interesting political rants. When he’s hot, he’s hot. Sometimes though, at least as far as I am concerned, he misfires. You can usually tell within the first minute or two whether or not the episode will appeal to you.

Friday Night Comedy from BBC 4 – Every Friday night BBC4 puts out a comedy podcast based on current events in Britain. The specific show rotates with the strongest entry being the News Quiz. The other shows are ok. Again it helps to be current on British news—since I read both the BBC and the Guardian, I am.

Langsam gesprochene Nachrichten from Deutche Welle – This program comes out daily and features news, in German, spoken slowly. Since I don’t know all the vocabulary, I only understand the broad topics, however I am picking up additional vocabulary. That said, the speed of the news reading varies between slow and super-slow. When it’s super-slow I get irritated—it doesn’t increase my comprehension when its super-slow, it just bores me to sleep.

Media Talk USA – This is a once a month program put out by The Guardian, but focused on media in the United States. It’s hosted by Jeff Jarvis who is an associate professor at CUNY and all around slightly arrogant guy. He and his guests often go overboard in their meta-media discussions. However using bullshit detecting skills, one can separate the wheat from the chaff.

NPR: Planet Money Podcast – This podcast gets at explaining the world of economics, finance, and all things money in creative ways that are understandable. It comes out three times a week, which is probably about one time too many—but features excellent and creative radio journalists. Well worth the time.

On The Media – Once a week this program tackles meta-media issues in the United States, probing how journalism is done. Sometimes it is excellent and does a great job—say its investigation into how journalists are ranked by the US Military. However sometimes they go off in esoteric directions of interest to nobody, and sometimes they are guilty of short-shifting news about the media—like when they covered the closure of Denver’s Rocky Mountain News in less than five minutes.

Onion News Network (video) – Satire of real television news. It comes out a couple times a week and is usually brilliant. My favorite clips are usually based on “Today Now”, the satire of morning news programs.

Facebook, Twitter Revolutionizing How Parents Stalk Their College-Aged Kids

Onion Radio News – Satire of radio news. Coming out daily and lasting about a minute, it’s brilliant about a fifth of the time; funny 60% of the time, and misfires the rest of the time.

Open Spaces – This is a Wyoming Public Radio podcast version of a weekly radio program. It’s not always updated consistently—but when it is, the content is excellent with superb reporting on issues that often miss America’s national media, looking at federal lands issues, and other concerns that are of interest to people in the Rocky Mountains.

Radio Clash Podcast – A somewhat regular music podcast featuring mashups, mixes, and bootlegs. When it comes out, it’s usually excellent.

Savage Love Podcast – Dan Savage gives relationship advice. Sometimes the problems are bizarre and sometimes not, but regardless, the advice offered up is blunt, honest, and to the point.

Shake Down – Regular trance and progressive music mixes—usually lasting over an hour and enough to make you dance while listening.

This American Life – The best radio program on the air today. Each week the same drill: one topic with one to three or four takes on the subject by different writers.

Tom Robinson Introducing… – This music program comes from BBC 6 Radio and features unsigned music. It’s not always great, but its usually interesting.

WNYC’s Radio Lab – Science explained in amazing audio. The hosts have a way of taking things would normally be dry and boring and making them intrinsically interesting. As much attention is paid to the science as to figuring out ways of making it understandable.

Wyoming Features – I just subscribed to this. It’s from Wyoming Public Radio and as far as I can tell, most things coming across this feed are also included in the Open Spaces podcast. If this proves true, I will stop subscribing to it. That said, I need more data!