[709]

I was looking for the Podcast thread, and we didn't have a current Podcast thread, so this is the Podcast thread. K.

Really, I just wanted to point out that This American Life has a new offshoot called Serial. Instead of the weekly stories that TAL brings us, Serial will focus on one story over 12 weeks. Same producers, same everything as far as I can tell, so you know this is going to be really fucking good.


So other than that bit, what are some of your favorite podcasts? Myself, I get overwhelmed sometimes and just follow what/who my online friends are talking about, and I end up with a shit-ton of unlistened-to royal blue dots in iTunes.

It's all subjective, of course, but I feel like we all have a roundly similar taste, and we still like the outliers as well. So maybe give a hint at what it's about before I snuggle up with more blue dots?

[Wrao]

Been enjoying Neil Tyson's Star Talk Radio lately. Cosmic Queries specifically. I don't love the way it is produced, the bumper music and there are a lot of ads, but the content is still fun and it kind of affirms that NdgT is no poser.

Another one I've been enjoying a lot in the past few months is the Cracked podcast, specifically the episodes with David Wong. They go over pretty cool stuff.

[Bryson]

My list has expanded somewhat since getting my new job. 45 minutes each way means I chew through a lot of Podcasts.

List:

Accidental Tech Podcast
The Talk Show (I'm sure you know what those are about)
Kermode and Mayo Film Reviews (Really great UK film review show from the BBC. Highly recommended.)
BBC Radio 4 Friday Comedy (might not make so much sense if you're not British)
Turning This Car Around (for dads. Getting a lot better since the hosts loosened up a bit.)
Hello Internet (CGP Grey of informative YouTube vids fame)
Just The Tip (comedy with, of all people, John Grubers wife. She was a bit annoying at first but it's growing on me.)
The Incomparable (Nerd media analyses and frequently mocked.)
The Bugle (Jon Oliver of the Daily Show/Last Week Tonight and his friend Andy)
No Such Thing As A Fish (Facts and pedantry from the people who write the questions for QI)

And you should go and get the entire back catalogue of You Look Nice Today, too. (It's..comedy. But very weird and fucking amazing. Sadly now finished.)

I do also like The Biggest Problem In The Universe, but you need to be in the right mood for that one. (Maddox getting really angry about trivia.)

[Yontsey]

I just Instacast because of the sync feature between all of my OS X and iOS devices. Works great but you have to pay for it.

List:
Waiting For Next Year - Cleveland Sports podcast
Kentucky Sports Radio - University of Kentucky athletics (basketball and football, mainly, with humor mixed in)
Big Head, Red Head - Alexi Lalas and Taylor Twellman Soccer/MLS
Men In Blazers - Soccer/EPL
ESPNU College Basketball - Andy Katz and Seth Greenburg weekly college basketball
The A to Z Podcast - Cleveland Sports
Freakonomics
The Walkons Podcast - College basketball
Tom Leach - University of Kentucky athletics
StarTalk
The Brody Jenner & Dr. Mike Dow Podcast
The Dr. Drew Podcast
The Adam (Carolla) & Dr. Drew Podcast
The B.S. Report - Bill Simmons
Sklarbro Country
MusclePharm MP Nation Podcast - Workout tips

I drive a lot for work so I keep a longer then normal list of podcasts to listen to. In a given week, I listen to 4-5 of those regularly and then if I see one of the others that interests me, I'll give it a spin.

[Robo]

Of the ones Bryson listed, I listen to The Talk Show, ATP, Just The Tip, and The Incomparable if the topic interests me.

I also always listen to /filmcast, a general film/tv news and reviews podcast, and Isometric, "a gaming podcast with a different perspective" (it features not one, not two, but three women!).

[kieran]

Right now, I've got:

Accidental Tech Podcast
Amplified (growing old of this one though)
Analog(ue)
Clockwise
Connected
Debug
Exponent
The Incomparable
Just the Tip
The MMQB Podcast
MVP
The Rebound
Systematic
The Talk Show
Upgrade

I don't listen to all of them (besides ATP, TTS, Clockwise & Upgrade) every week, but if the others have interesting topics, I'll listen.

I switched over to Overcast when it came out. Instacast was nice as well, but I don't really need the syncing and I like the way Overcast looks.

[chinesebear]

99 Percent Invisible.
A really well done design-focused podcast. I figured it'd be one of the first mentioned here, and I was surprised it was not.

[turtle]

I listen to The Dave Ramsey Show podcast when I'm in my truck. Pretty much all the time. I pay for the premium version so I don't have commercials like this free one does.

[Bryson]

I doubt anyone here will be interested in the subject matter, but I just launched a podcast all of my very own:

www.headsetfm.com

It's in iTunes. For some reason it doesn't show up on searches for my keywords, just the name "Headset". Might need to work out why that is....

[Robo]

Nice! Congrats on the podcast launch

I sometimes listen to 99% Invisible too, chinesebear. Not every episode, though.

I do listen to every episode of Scriptnotes, a podcast about screenwriting by John August and Craig Mazin. It's great no-bullshit discussion of all aspects of the trade from people who actually know what they're talking about. One of two podcasts I pay for a premium subscription for (the other is /filmcast).

Also The X Files Files are great if you still like the show half as much as I do.

[kieran]

Congrats Bryson. Really hope it works out even better than you expected.

Of course, I've also been listening to Serial over the past few weeks. Highly addicting.

[turtle]

That's awesome Bryson! I hope it takes off for you and that you enjoy it no matter what it does.

[psmith2.0]

Apologies for the bump, but I saw no point in creating a new thread for something this related/connected...

For those of you who are part of that whole podcast/tech/Twitterati scene (and follow way more podcasts and sites/blogs than I ever do), can someone here please explain exactly WTF Merlin Mann does or contributes? To anything? He appears on various podcasts I listen to, and he's truly unlistenable.

Is he some sort of Phil Hendrie-esque "in-joke" type of character among this crowd, who (purposely) exhibits all the worst traits/stereotypes of techies (nasally, neurotic first-world whining about gadgets, self-obsessed, oversharing, spastic and all-over-the-place, talks all lofty and "deep" but never actually says anything of any real substance or value, etc.), and simply appears on various shows as "comic relief" or a gag? Or is he just really that way? Is he supposed to be funny? Or particularly insightful?

What's the joke here? What am I not in on? What's the story with him? My Googling isn't making any of it clear (or answering my questions), as he appears to be "legit" (not a spoof, etc.).

[Brave Ulysses]

Originally Posted by pscates2.0 Apologies for the bump, but I saw no point in creating a new thread for something this related/connected... For those of you who are part of that whole podcast/tech/Twitterati scene (and follow way more podcasts and sites/blogs than I ever do), can someone here please explain exactly WTF Merlin Mann does or contributes? To anything? He appears on various podcasts I listen to, and he's truly unlistenable. Is he some sort of Phil Hendrie-esque "in-joke" type of character among this crowd, who (purposely) exhibits all the worst traits/stereotypes of techies (nasally, neurotic first-world whining about gadgets, self-obsessed, oversharing, spastic and all-over-the-place, talks all lofty and "deep" but never actually says anything of any real substance or value, etc.), and simply appears on various shows as "comic relief" or a gag? Or is he just really that way? Is he supposed to be funny? Or particularly insightful? What's the joke here? What am I not in on? What's the story with him? My Googling isn't making any of it clear (or answering my questions), as he appears to be "legit" (not a spoof, etc.).

I find Guy English pretty unlistenable too.

Well, the reality is all of them would be considered unlistenable on traditional radio. The tech world puts up with a lot of mediocre voices in the podcast world.

I listen to Gruber every week, but my god.... sometimes he is so unfocused or just saying nothing of substance that it's just painful..... I've also realized that he is often very very misinformed and lacks perspective on so many topics that he has strong opinions about.

[kieran]

I don't even bother listening to anything Merlin Mann is one anymore. I just don't get it. Pretty much the only time I hear Guy English is when he's with Gruber, so he's not ht worst.

Right now, the podcasts that I"m listening to are:

- Talk Show with Gruber
- ATP with Marco Arment, John Siracusa, & Casey Liss
- The Rebound with Lex Friedman, Dan Moren, & John Moltz
- Analog(ue) with Casey Liss & Myke Hurley (I skip this one a lot thought)
- Turning this Car Around with Lex Friedman, John Moltz & Jon Armstrong
- Clockwise with Jason Snell & Dan Moren (with two guest each week. Only 30 mins so not a bad little one to listen to)
- Upgrade with Jason Snell & Myke Hurley.

Those keep Overcast pretty full for me on a regular basis. I have some other ones that I listen to, but those are the ones that get listened to the most.

[Bryson]

Merlin Mann makes sense on You Look Nice Today.

Aside from that, I agree. He's supposed to be some kind of "productivity" expert but I don't really see what it is that he actually produces.

[psmith2.0]

Glad I'm not the only one who doesn't get his deal.

I read that he kinda blew/fail two pending book deals because he couldn't..."produce"?

And he's some sort of jackball Internet-age "productivity guru"?



Yeah...

Just sounds like digital snake-oil to me, that stuff.

I had my fill of Guy English a while back on a Talk Show episode where he would not STFU up and constantly interrupted Gruber the entire two-plus hours. That was bad enough, but the stuff he was interrupting to say was just pointless, inane jabber. If you're going to be a constantly-interrupting ass, then at least make it worthwhile and lay out some mind-blowing points or insight.

I listen to the Talk Show depending solely on the guest (I like John Moltz, Joanna Stern and Serenity Caldwell). If the guest is Guy English or (God help us) M.G. Siegler, I don't even go near the website.

Other than, it's Phil Hendrie and a few of the shows under The Incomparable roof (any time they do a Star Wars-related episode with John Siracusa and Serenity Caldwell, I'm there).

And, yeah...sometimes I wonder if Gruber records drunk. He takes forever to say something and often sounds like he's watching something more interesting out his window and simply isn't fully present for his show.

[iBrowse]

I found one called Gastropod that I initially liked, but after listening to a couple they lost my interest. It was all food science related stuff. My two main ones right now are Marc Maron's WTF and Stuff You Should Know. I wish podcasts were as popular, as good, and as accessible as they are now back when I had a 40 minute commute. Right now it takes me 15 minutes or less to get to work so I listen to them it parts.