Archive for the 'podcasts' Category
March 13th, 2008 - Podcatching: Great Lives
Great Lives is another BBC production. Each episode asks a famous (or somewhat famous) person to talk about someone they believe led a great life, widely defined. The most recent one was a mountaineer talking about another mountaineer who tackled very dangerous climbs back in the early part of the century. I, of course, found this one fascinating.
Shoot, it’s over until April. I wonder if I can get the past episodes–there’s Katherine Mansfield and Groucho Marx!
March 11th, 2008 - Podcatching: This American Life
This American Life is one that probably doesn’t fit the focus of this blog, but I’ll write about it anyway since I listen to it. It’s a weird mix of a show. The typical format is to select a topic then have 2-4 “chapters” each of which is an interview or monologue or something with someone different. Some are from past shows repurposed for a new topic. Sometimes I love the topics, sometimes I hate them. I really didn’t like the Love episode for Valentine’s Day. The first was a long monologue by a guy that said it was a letter to his wife he’d written late at night on his 70th (or such) birthday. I kept listening because I figured it had to get better–they guy was a jerk and didn’t even like his wife very much anymore. In the end, it turns out the speaker is an author and I was led to believe this wasn’t real! I kind of wondered–what 70 year old man writes a letter that takes 30 minutes to read aloud? And I never got the idea that he loved his wife anyway.
But then there was the fascinating one about supers (the guys who run apartment buildings in NY), and my brilliant Plan, which included a guy who became a physicist and is figuring out time travel all because his Dad died when he was a kid and he wanted to be with his Dad again.
March 10th, 2008 - Podcatching: Fresh Air
Fresh Air is a daily NPR show of interviews. Usually each day has one topic, with 1-6 parts, but sometimes it range widely. Since there are 5 hours a week, I usually listen to only the most interesting ones. And they are very wide ranging on every topic–movies, the environment, politics, war, new books, human suffering and God.
Here’s part of the website description: “Though Fresh Air has been categorized as a “talk show,” it hardly fits the mold. Its 1994 Peabody Award citation credits Fresh Air with ‘probing questions, revelatory interviews and unusual insights.’ And a variety of top publications count Gross among the country’s leading interviewers. The show gives interviews as much time as needed, and complements them with comments from well-known critics and commentators.”
March 7th, 2008 - Podcatching: A Way with Words
I adore A Way with Words. I used to rarely get to hear it because it’s on Sunday mornings. Eric got me hooked on it–he was often listening to it when I got home from church! It’s all about language–where it comes from, why we say things the way we do, history, pronunciation, regional slang, grammar, and all sorts of other things! The hosts don’t always agree with each other, which is fun. They have tons of knowledge in their head and at their fingertips.
I’ve been sick for a week. That’s why nothing’s been posted. A horrible cough. Eric has it too, but worse. The codeine cough syrup has really helped me.
February 29th, 2008 - Podcatching: Excess Baggage
Excess Baggage is a travel show from the BBC. I suppose it could fit with the “adventures” part of this blog. Topics in the past month have ranged from the experiences of being a Black British traveler overseas, a visit to the National Railway Museum, and a man who has visited over 100 of the islands of Scotland. Usually under 30 minutes.
I’m enjoying a number of BBC podcasts; I like getting a wider perspective on the world.
February 28th, 2008 - Podcatching: You and Yours - Environment
You and Yours - Environment is another BBC radio show. Some of the issues they address are the same ones we all talk about here in the US. But then there are interesting ones that are very local or regional, like a recent episode about a land dispute alongside canals or an island that is getting electricity for the first time to everyone (via solar and wind generation). Again, I really enjoy getting a different perspective on the environmental issues in the world.
Oooh–two interesting ones are in my list: biofuel buses stopped running due to cold weather and something about local milk. (Um, isn’t ALL milk local in England? All of the UK is only twice the size of WI.)
February 28th, 2008 - Podcatching: The Splendid Table
The Splendid Table is a food show. Sometimes I love the topics. Sometimes they talk about wine for 15 minutes (I don’t drink and have no interest in alcohol). It’s an hour long show. My favorite parts are the road food section (every week, two folks who travel the US and stop at diners, local restaurants, etc., and share best places to eat. I’ve read their book, too.) and the call-in section at the end. She sometimes does a neat feature where a caller lists five foods in their fridge and she has to come up with a recipe that only uses them plus 3 generic items (like olive oil, garlic, and salt).
February 19th, 2008 - Podcatching: NPR Environment
NPR Environment is a great way to listen to my favorite news stories from NPR without listening to the radio all day long. It gathers environment stories from Morning Edition, All Things Considered and other NPR programs. I think each episode is about 30 minutes long (I don’t have any in my directory right now, since I’ve already listened to this week’s).
The NPR Environment website has links to more stories and stories in more depth. I haven’t explored the site, so I don’t know if the audio versions are longer or more varied or just link to the stories individually that are collected in the podcast. The individual story pages link to other related stories–some of which are in the podcast some of which aren’t.
I’m quite impressed with NPR’s website. It’s not just whole shows but those shows chopped up into individual stories. I wouldn’t have expected that.
I rarely listen to the radio. At work, I could listen online, but I quickly figured out that I can’t pay attention to news stories and work at the same time. I’m rarely in the car. If running errands in the afternoon, we do often play WPR IDEAS Network, but it’s a call-in show at that time usually. On the weekends, I do listen to morning shows like Calling All Pets, Zorba Pasteur On Your Heath, Whaddya Know, and Car Talk. But usually only parts while running errands or baking. (I would also listen to music in the kitchen, but our radio gets one station clearly–WPR from the campus transmitter 1/3 mile from our house.)
And now that I can listen to shows on the iPod, I rarely listen to the kitchen radio, either! Just explaining why I don’t listen to my favorite news stories actually on the radio itself.
February 18th, 2008 - Podcatching: The Environment Report
The Environment Report podcast, from NPR, “is a news service committed to revealing the relationship between the natural world and the everyday lives of people. The Report is based at Michigan Radio in Ann Arbor.” There’s one a week, and I think the reports are produced specifically for TER (unlike some others that simply collate reports from other shows of the week). Each one is about 20-30 minutes long, which I appreciate. (The hour long shows seem to always end up with a 15-20 minute segment I’m not interested in. Since I listen on the way to/from work, and it’s winter and quite cold/windy/snowy these days, I hate taking off my mittens to fast forward.)
The Environment Report website is also available. At the website, you can listen to longer stories focused on one topic. They also provide links to additional information about those stories. I can’t figure out how to subscribe to any of the other stories via podcasts.
February 15th, 2008 - Podcatching: National Geographic World Talk
National Geographic World Talk is my most FAVORITE podcast. When I first subscribed, every single episode (about 3/month for 3 years) downloaded. I was overwhelmed and deleted anything that didn’t sound REALLY interesting. After listening to the first few, I was hooked. When I’m done with the ones I saved, I’ll unsubscribe and re-subscribe so that I can listen to all the ones I missed.
Each episode is an interview with someone who’s been featured in National Geographic Adventure (at least, I think they are always in Adventure, that’s the one I remember, maybe other magazines from NG as well). So we hear from mountain climbers, arctic explorers, wildlife photographers (okay, I deleted some of these because I thought it would be pretty boring to listed to someone talk about taking pictures. I kept one about someone who photographed mountain climbers. It was so interesting!), elephant vocalization researcher, journalists, philanthropists….and the list goes on. I think I saved 20 of them and have found every single one fascinating. I listed to all my other podcasts each week just so that I can savor these and make them last as long as possible.
The only drawback is that each is only 15-25 minutes, far too short!
Their blurb says it all: “Take an electrifying journey around our planet, exploring the latest discoveries and embark on the world’s greatest adventures with some of the most fascinating people on earth. Get back in touch with the explorer in you.” And explains why I love it so much!
February 14th, 2008 - Podcatching: Escape Adulthood
Ooops, I forgot that I listen to another personally produced podcast. This one’s also a husband-wife team: Escape Adulthood podcast with Kim and Jason in Madison WI. She’s a former kindergarten teacher and he’s a cartoonist. They focus on things that help you continue to be childlike–the Feb podcast was an interview with a man who makes up candy for Willy Wonka! That was so much fun to listen to, even though WW is owned by Nestle, which I boycott (for failing to stop using child slave labor for chocolate production even though they promised, and for pushing formula on poor women in Africa who could not safely use it outside the hospital due to poor water while if they had been taught to breastfeed they could have easily continued to feed their babies).
Anyway, their whole thrust–they also have a blog, website, store, and go around the country giving talks–is that we need to stop being such serious adults and escape adulthood. And they are making a living off doing this!!!! I think that’s so cool. They cover topics like eating candy, dressing up for Halloween, favorite stories from childhood, making your favorite childhood foods, and so much more.
Sometimes, I don’t like the podcast, like the Halloween one, simply because that’s not a favorite holiday of mine and they kind of put down anyone who didn’t like Halloween. They also always have an ad for something in their store, poorly hidden as “cool thing of the month.” On the other hand, they often do feature neat, silly things. And it’s far better than the real ads of podcasts that are supported by companies–those I really hate. They always have a fun trivia question (Jason asks Kim the question at the beginning of the podcast, she takes a guess, and then you get to think about it for the rest of the house and they reveal it at the end. Did you know the largest snowflake on record was 15 inches in diameter!!!!)
They also had a fun escape adulthood challenge a few years back. I followed this one on their blog–I don’t think they did a podcast back then. They and 10 friends and family each did the challenge every day and reported back on it. They might have had to go buy their favorite candy or write a letter to a teacher they still remember or go do nothing for an hour or buy some Silly String or other fun things to shake loose from the regular routines of being an adult. It was lots of fun to read, even though I didn’t follow along myself.
February 5th, 2008 - Podcatching: Geek Farm Life
I’m going to try to share some of the podcasts I like to listen to. I rarely listen to music on my iPod–I listen to podcasts. Most of them are from the radio (NPR and PRI) while a few others…okay, just one of them, is just a few folks doing it on their own. The rest–I’m not sure if they appear on the radio or are just done, but they come from big names (National Geographic, for instance). I’m going to start with the two folks doing it on their own:
Geek Farm Life is Andrew and Misty, two geeks who gave up life in Silicon Valley (or somewhere in CA) and bought a hobby farm in Indiana. They both have computer jobs in town, but the podcast is about their adventures in farming. So much of it is relevant even to those of us who don’t live in the country or on farms! They have a garden, dehydrate fruits and vegetables, spin wool, and all sorts of other things. They also encourage listeners to call the Farm Phone (216-292-GOAT. I’ve memorized it, even though I only called once) with advice, questions, ideas for them and other listeners. They enhance the show with video and pictures on the website blog, but I rarely check it out. I also find it interesting to hear about things I think I’d like to do but probably never will, like raise chickens and goats. (Eric would have to die and I retire and find a place in the country to buy that I could afford on SS benefits. Hardly likely! He’s so not into this. But after listening to Andrew and Misty I’m not exactly sure I’d really enjoy it either. So I can just live vicariously through them instead.)
I would like to find other similar podcasts to listen to–frugality, simply living, sustainable small scale farming/living, etc. If anyone has any leads let me know!