Things to which people should be listening
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008On Sex — My favorite podcast by a mile these days is Dan Savage’s Savage Lovecast (iTunes link). It is joyfully vulgar, funny, honest, sometimes heart-breaking and generally eye-opening. It answers questions I’d never even thought to ask and routinely makes me laugh out loud on my way to work. Of course it also reminds me of all the fun I’m missing out on right now, what with my relatively ascetic lifestyle [ascetic means "not getting any"].
On Skepticism — There seem to be a lot of skeptically themed podcasts around these days, but my favourite is still Skeptic’s Guide to the Universe (iTunes link), for its humourous and mostly geeky banter, and for great mix of personalities headed up by Steven Novella, president of the New England Skeptical Society. A great complement to SGU is Skeptoid (iTunes link) a tightly focused show with each short episode devoted to a straight talking dissection of a pseudoscience or other supernatural phenomena. Listening to both of these podcasts is probably more than enough to shock you on a regular basis at the amount of bullshit even intelligent people will tend to swallow.
On [American] Life — Although it’s still more a radio show than a podcast, This American Life (iTunes link) continues to be my favourite source of stories. About people, place, politics, anything. It’s the sort of show that makes neo-conservatives puke, and so it should, being a celebration of everything that makes us human.
On History — Ok, in truth this is about the only historical podcast I listen to, but if you remember that senile old movie star who used to be president, I recommend listening to his speech at the Berlin Wall via Great Speeches in History (iTunes link). Everyone thought Reagan was an idiot didn’t they? Compare his speech with anything delivered by GWB and suddenly he seems like Abraham Lincoln. (only updated every month or so)
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I’m currently interested in finding some new podcasts to listen to, so if anyone has any suggestions please leave them in the comments. As long as they are not religious, because I’ve sampled a few of these and found them exactly as boring and pointless as attending church. Atheist offerings can be a little boring too, as they tend to comprise people feeling pressed to explain for the ten millionth time that yes, atheists have morals too, and yes they are openly discriminated against like no other minority.
I must admit I have pondered the idea of having a podcast, but have yet to come up with a suitable theme or source of material for it. A panel/discussion type of thing would probably be fun, but so easy to stuff up and requiring of so much organization that it will probably never happen. Also, 90% of podcasts aren’t really worth the time it takes to listen to them. Just as it’s probably better that every person doesn’t get to go on the radio and say what they think, it’s probably best that most people not bother producing podcasts (a nightmare scenario many evangelists seemed to think was the medium’s future). You can skim a blog entry in seconds, but you can’t skim 5 minutes of someone breathing into a mic going ummm and complaining about the media.
February 6th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
There’s a good US one called Quirks and Quarks which is about sciencey stuff.
more info:
February 6th, 2008 at 11:36 pm
radio lab
itpc://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/rss
February 7th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
I think I shall write today’s blog about the same thing, so come visit later.
February 7th, 2008 at 11:07 pm
Don’t you know that every time you refer to an entry as a blog, somewhere a fairy has its wings pulled off…
February 8th, 2008 at 5:12 am
Stupid fairies!
February 8th, 2008 at 8:51 am
As Mr.Edam has yet to suggest it, I shall: The Sound Of Young America.
February 8th, 2008 at 8:54 am
And don’t forget Aunty!
February 8th, 2008 at 4:22 pm
yes, especially, Science Show, Late Night live, Background Briefing…
and Denton (enough Rope) has a podcast too which can be insightful
February 8th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
Hmmm I tried The SOYA but the constant ids drive me crazy - usually 5 or 6 in one 40 minute podcast. I mean it’s not like you’re going to forget what you’re listening to is it? And real milk is much better.
Phiiosopher’s Zone on Aunty is fun too.
February 9th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
i tried Skeptic’s Guide but lost track with all the mono banter. Is there a standout episode you recommend mark?
it’s really hard to find decent podcasts, so with a bit lof luck, this page will become a googled repository with decent podcast recommendations.
February 9th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
hey floobydust, what is “real milk”?
February 9th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Actually that’s how SGU goes I’m afraid, it’s acquired taste and you learn to love Steve’s endless droning and the good-natured cluelessness of Jay (+ it lags when Rebecca is not on the show)
SoYA I have to agree is too much perky radio style… not to my taste. Musical intros and constant IDs are indeed really irritating in a podcast.
February 9th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Yup SGU is something that takes a few listens to get the format and lingo under control. The main thing I enjoy about it is Steve’s good natured pedantry.
The focus they have on logical fallacies and scientific method has given me a lot to think about.
I reckon it’s worth the effort because once you get the banter and style sorted you get some pretty interesting analysis of inportant issues.
February 9th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
I’ll have to join the chorus of those who are not willing to spend the time aquiring a taste for SGU… tried some old and some new eps, and they don’t seem to have learned too much about making exciting radio. I’ll give Skeptoid a go and see if that’s more my cup of tea.
I agree with most of the other recommendations above, and also suggest:
StoryCorps (if you feel like crying in public, but only have 5 mins to spare), Sunday Night Safran (good one to have in the background if your brain is partially occupied elsewhere), All Songs Considered (if you want to know what the mainstreamish hipsters are listening to), Onion News Network (if you’re partial to a sprinkling of video amongst your audio). Another slightly guilty pleasure is Jonathan Ross’s weekly show… strangely compelling despite the fact I know none of the guests.
February 9th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Mammalian milk mmmm…
February 9th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
check out this lot too - http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/podcasts/directory/station/radio4/
Lots of good stuff. I like Start the Week, In Our Time with the lovely Melvyn Bragg and all the cute fluffy animal ones.