Over the past year or so, several people have asked me what I listen to. When I tell them "podcasts", some of them are a bit confused, so I thought that I would take a few minutes and enumerate some of the specifics of what I actually have on my iPod. If you need the generic idea of what a podcast is, think of an audio blog, or go to wikipedia (I'm sure there's a great article).
The first big category of podcasts that I listen to is sports. I have several, most of them coming from ESPN.
PTI and Around the Horn are just audio versions of the television shows. If I had to choose one, I would go with PTI. It seems more entertaining, and they tend to cover more topics. Football Today and Fantasy Football are fun when my fantasy football team is playing. The Fantasy Football podcast kind of has the feel of a bunch of buddies sitting around and talking about football.
The next category is tech related podcasts.
Buzz Out Loud and TWIT are similar. TWIT is much longer, and in my opinion has the better staff. I am probably partial to TWIT because the members are mostly people who I used to watch on TechTV. I, Cringely is just a reading of the article of the same name. Nice and short. net@night is a kind of look around the web. It's fun if you're interested in finding a fun new site or service. FLOSS Weekly is one of my favorites. They have many prominent open source contributors and advocates to explain their positions, or how their projects are impacting people's lives.
Then I listen to some "general information" podcasts:
Stuff You Should Know takes a single topic and expands on it. It gives you a lot of interesting details on the topic, along with enjoyable banter. Stuff You Missed In History Class is another of my favorites. They take a historical person or event and go over it. I've enjoyed it because apparently my education was a bit lighter on history than I once thought that it was. Brain Stuff is one of my least favorite, but it still makes my list. It seems a bit light, but it's also very short. Basically, it's a bunch of 3-4 minute explanations of topics. Unfortunately, it's covered many things that I knew absolutely nothing about, so it has been kind of helpful. Grammar Girl is a wonderful podcast about the proper usage of the English language. Although it sounds pretty dry, it's actually a fun, upbeat podcast that has lots of good information. Mighty Mommy has parenting tips, which I can always use. I don't agree with everything she says, but it's always nice to have something to think about. Dealista is a podcast about couponing and saving money, and the get it done guy targets productivity.
Then I listen to a few political / historical podcasts.
This has become probably my very favorite category. It contains a few podcasts that I eagerly wait to download. Unfortunately, it also has some of the most infrequently released ones. Common Sense and Hardcore History are both done by a guy named Dan Carlin. I enjoy him because he seems to do a fair job of covering both sides of issues, or at least being fairly non-partisan for most things. Common Sense is his views on politics, and Hardcore History is a collection of incredibly well done treatises on historical topics. Stuff you missed in history class was covered above, but is included here since it also applies to the category. My History Can Beat Up Your Politics has recently become another of my favorites. He goes into historical topics, and tries to compare them in many cases to situations that we are going through in the present day. Again, he seems fairly non-partisan and is very enjoyable to listen to.
I also listen to a few fishing podcasts, since I get more time to listen than to fish.
Fly Fishing Weekly is a show that feels like a couple of buddies getting together to talk fly fishing. They have a nice format and it flows well. Fish Schtick is put together by the owners of Recycled Fish and Moldy Chum, if I remember correctly. It focuses a little bit more on conservation and how it affects the fisheries. It has very good production quality. The Orvis Fly Fishing Podcast is a very thorough explanation of a fly fishing topic. It's the type of show that would be great to have on your ipod when you were out camping and getting ready to go fishing, and wanted to brush up on some techniques. Ask About Fly Fishing is an interview type show where they interview famous fisherman. It's always good, and the interviews are wonderful, but the sound quality leaves a lot to be desired. Adventures in Fly Fishing and Fly Tying are done by the same people. The Fly Tying show is a video presentation on how to tie a specific fly. It's very well done, but also very targeted, and so does not have a very wide appeal.
I have a little "fun".
The Dilbert videos are short little 30 second clips that are funny, but seem to be repeating quite regularly. Wait Wait is a game show where they bring on famous people to play a "news quiz" type game. Also, they have several panelists which consist of some very good comedians and guests.
And some food.
I listened to Munchcast for a long time, and then it went off the air. Shortly after it went off the air, it received some podcasting awards. Soon after that, it reappeared. Funny how an award will do that to people. This is another show on the TWIT network. It's very well done. They take a food topic and approach it from all angles. It's very light and humorous. They cover lots of things that you don't think about, so you learn a lot from it.
I'm always looking for the next big thing to add to my podcast listening on my ipod, so if somebody thinks that they have something I should add to my list, please let me know.
