2011 Podcasts

[stevew]

What is everyone listening to these days?

I've mainly been into top 50 chart stuff

Corrola + variations
Marc Maron WTF
BS Report w Simmons
The Nerdist
Most of the Kevin Smith ones
How stuff works
Freakonomics
"How did This get Made"-rips bad movies

I feel like I need a few more sports. LeBatard is ok.

Maybe a video game one or a hip-hop would be cool too. I spend a ton of time driving and it is a long time til MLB starts yet.

[sabotai]

My usual answer: The History of Rome

[mckerney]

WireTap (http://www.cbc.ca/wiretap/)
Jordan, Jesse GO! (http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/jordan-jesse-go)
The Sound of Young America (http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/sound-young-america)
Judge John Hodgman (http://www.maximumfun.org/shows/judge-john-hodgman)
The Pod F. Tompkast (http://paulftompkins.com/view_blog.php?id=20)
Radiolab (http://www.radiolab.org/)
This American Life (http://www.thisamericanlife.org/)

[RainMaker]

BS Report w/ Bill Simmons - He has gotten good with podcasting and gets some great guests. Had David Stern on the other day and it was fantastic.

Adam Carolla - I don't know why but I find him funny. It sort of comes down to the guest though sometimes. Gets a lot of good comedians and other figures that are enjoyable to listen to in a longer format.

Doug Loves Movies - Doug Benson's podcast that is shot in a theater in front of an audience. They talk movies and play a game at the end. Usually pretty entertaining and always seems to have good guests.

[Easy Mac]

simmons, this american life, radiolab, tony kornheiser, smodcast, slate political gabfest, and on the media are the only ones I listen to consistently. I have others I download that are sometimes listens. My ipod touch stoppped syncing w/my computer, and my palm pre doesn't do the 2x speed, so I listen to less things now.

[Comey]

The Tony Kornheiser Show is fantastic. Don't get the best of podcast...get the one that has the entire show. Well worth it.

I need to find some baseball-centric ones.

[MJ4H]

Regular rotation:

Bill Burr's Monday Morning Podcast
NPR: Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
2+2 Pokercast
Radio Free Nintendo
NPR: Car Talk

If I have time, Adam Corolla, Geek Speak (yawn)

[Neuqua]

Wall Street Journal
Carolla
Maron
Burr
BS Report
Kevin Smith's Hollywood Babble-on
Kevin Smith's "Jay and Silent Bob grow old"
How Stuff Works

So I guess SteveW and I are the same person.

[General Mike]

A bunch of ESPN ones for me

BS Report
Football Today
Fantasy Focus Baseball & Football

[Dodgerchick]

I miss The CT and Jivin Show :(

[Raiders Army]

Adam Carolla
The Atheist Experience
Comic Geek Speak
The Non Prophets
Raider Nation Podcast
Scam School
Stuff You Should Know
That's What She Said--The Office

[stevew]

How Did This Get Made? is brutally funny. Borderline tear inducing.

[terpkristin]

I'm listening to a fair few these days, though most of them are "just for noise" while I'm at work, so I may or may not be paying the best attention to them.

CAGCast (gaming, comes out weekly, I give it more attention than most)
Joystiq (gaming, since this comes out on Fridays, I typically listen to it while cooking or doing stuff around the house)
Judge John Hodgman (humor, every other week or so)
A Life Well Wasted (think This American Life but about games...unfortunately, new episodes rarely come out)
The Moth (comes out weekly but I don't always listen; I read the description and if it sounds interesting, I give it a whirl)
NPR's Car Talk (this is another that I listen to while doing chores around the house, or on Mondays at work)
NPR's Science Friday (this is a Monday listen, if I download at all--the topic has to be really interesting for me. It would be a TON better if they didn't take caller questions. Some people like to hear themselves talk too much)
NPR's Wait Wait Don't tell Me (since it comes out on the weekend, I listen to this while doing stuff around the house)
Sword and Laser (frequency depends on the motivation of the hosts, Tom Merritt and Veronica Belmont...this is the podcast for my online book club)
TBO Food Audio (every other week or so, only listen if the guest is interesting, mostly because the audio isn't done very well)
This American Life (I have a love/hate relationship with Ira Glass. At this point, I only download shows that sound interesting. It's a bit to pretentious for me)
This Week in Photography (sadly, this seems to have become more pro-focused in recent months)
This Week in Tech (only download if the guests are ones that I don't find grating. This podcast needs to be limited to an hour, or 75 minutes at most and needs to stop being all inside jokey. It used to be good. It's turned to crap and I blame Leo Laporte and his TWiT empire)
Top Chef Podcast (probably obvious what this one's about)
WYNC's Radiolab
1UP.com Active Time Babble (a gaming podcast devoted to RPG's. I don't always download, it comes out every other week or so)
20 Questions (entertaining podcast with web celebs/nerds)

Music Podcasts (these I always listen to)
CD Baby Music Discovery Podcast
Coverville
Podrunner: Workout Music

/tk

[JonInMiddleGA]

{somewhat rhetorically wondering if I'll ever actually figure out the whole podcast bidness, and whether I'd actually listen (watch?) anything even if I understood it}

[Ksyrup]

I've never listened to a podcast and don't even know how to. I assume it has something to do with an MP3 player, but I'm not sure my MP3 player has the capability to download one.

[Radii]

I've never listened to a podcast and don't even know how to. I assume it has something to do with an MP3 player, but I'm not sure my MP3 player has the capability to download one.

I subscribe to the few that I listen to on itunes and listen to them while I'm working or playing games where I don't need/want the sound on. If I still communted to work 30 minutes+ each way like I did in Atlanta I would absolutely have replaced crappy morning radio with podcasts on an ipod in the car by now.

BS Report is the only thing I listen to religiously. I add in Carolla and the Firewall and Iceberg Podcast (a horribly named podcast by Alan Sepinwall and Dan Fienberg, tv critics that have steered me right a number of times) as I have extra time.

There's one called the "Breaking Bad Insider Podcast" hosted by one of the editors, featuring the creator of the show (Vince Gilligan) and a director/actor that will hopefully be returning for season 4.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I assume it has something to do with an MP3 player, but I'm not sure my MP3 player has the capability to download one.

See, I used to think that, but now I think you can probably listen to them on your regular p.c. as well ... but damned if I've figured out how to any real extent.

[wade moore]

There's seriously few things easier than downloading/listening to a podcast.

[wade moore]

And on top of that, to Jon, it is a growing market for advertising too - so I'm surprised you're not trying to figure it out. I'm not saying it's overtaking radio/tv or anything, but it is growing.

[terpkristin]

yeah, I can't tell if you guys are being serious or sarcastic.

Podcasts can be grabbed in any number of ways. iTunes is convenient, but you can go to the website that has the file and save from there, use an RSS reader to capture new episodes and download from there, or use a dedicated podcast fetcher.

Once the episode is on your local drive, you can either put it onto the MP3 player of your choice, in whatever manner you add music to your MP3 player, or listen from your computer with any audio program (WinAmp, iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc). Never used anything but iTunes, but WMP or WinAmp may also have podcast catchers in them.

/tk

[JonInMiddleGA]

yeah, I can't tell if you guys are being serious or sarcastic.

I can't speak for ksyrup, but I'm 100% completely serious.

[JonInMiddleGA]

And on top of that, to Jon, it is a growing market for advertising too - so I'm surprised you're not trying to figure it out. I'm not saying it's overtaking radio/tv or anything, but it is growing.

It's just so far down the list at this point, I've had exactly zero mentions of it from clients that I'm still trying to convince that a budget of more than $0 might be useful in the larger social media platforms. And I don't believe I've ever worked with anyone with decision power or even influence at any client who knew what a podcast was.

And again here, I'm being completely serious. I can't think of a single person that I've made money from in the past decade that I'd put even a 1% chance of them knowing even a reasonably accurate definition of the word.

I'm not throwing dirt on the podcasts in the least, just explaining why they're so far below my professional radar at this point.

[wade moore]

It's just so far down the list at this point, I've had exactly zero mentions of it from clients that I'm still trying to convince that a budget of more than $0 might be useful in the larger social media platforms. And I don't believe I've ever worked with anyone with decision power or even influence at any client who knew what a podcast was.

And again here, I'm being completely serious. I can't think of a single person that I've made money from in the past decade that I'd put even a 1% chance of them knowing even a reasonably accurate definition of the word.

I'm not throwing dirt on the podcasts in the least, just explaining why they're so far below my professional radar at this point.

I don't doubt any of what you say, I'm just saying that for something that is so incredibly easy I would think you'd want to be ahead of the game for when someone asked you so that you could address it - even if it's 2 years from now.

[JonInMiddleGA]

yeah, I can't tell if you guys are being serious or sarcastic.

Podcasts can be grabbed in any number of ways. iTunes is convenient, but you can go to the website that has the file and save from there, use an RSS reader to capture new episodes and download from there, or use a dedicated podcast fetcher.

Once the episode is on your local drive, you can either put it onto the MP3 player of your choice, in whatever manner you add music to your MP3 player, or listen from your computer with any audio program (WinAmp, iTunes, Windows Media Player, etc). Never used anything but iTunes, but WMP or WinAmp may also have podcast catchers in them.

/tk

I think you might have done much to explain the disconnect from them for me.

-- I have never understood the RSS stuff beyond the vaguest conceptual level. Anything more than a rough "it notifies someone about the presence/updating of something" is greek to me.

-- iTunes I understand at least, but it's also something I (personally) use exclusively on the desktop. Never had a portable mp3 device of any type, so my relationship with iTunes overall is probably pretty abnormal.

-- I did experiment with a couple of podcast downloads on iTunes at some point (FOFC-related/recommended ones IIRC), but managed to successfully d'load a grand total of two of them (one was apparently a blank file, the other was an interminable d'load time) before relegating them to the forget-that pile.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I don't doubt any of what you say, I'm just saying that for something that is so incredibly easy I would think you'd want to be ahead of the game for when someone asked you so that you could address it - even if it's 2 years from now.

That's just it -- when RSS & most everything beyond "d'load a file & subsequently click file to play" doesn't fall into the category of "easy" then it's different ball game.

At this point, I'm honestly quite a bit more adept at creating content than I am watching/listening to it.

Of course, not being (or feeling) hamstrung by aging computers that are struggling to even run Zynga games without constant crashing might help too. Sadly, the budget for replacement/updating isn't likely to have a line item any time soon :(

[wade moore]

Seriously.

You go to the itunes store, search for the podcast, and subscribe. You go to the podcast tab in itunes and play.

It could not be easier.

For as much as you look down on the stupidity of the general populace, you not being able to grasp this is amusing to me.

:shurg:

I'm sure I sound insulting, but not liking podcasts is one thing - thinking it's some sort of magical mystery is baffling.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Seriously. You go to the itunes store, search for the podcast, and subscribe. You go to the podcast tab in itunes and play.
It could not be easier.

Yep, I've done that part. Got one blank file & one that took over a half hour to d'load, thus ending the experiment. That's been a while back, maybe the quality of available content is up since then but it was extremely easy to dismiss.

For as much as you look down on the stupidity of the general populace, you not being able to grasp this is amusing to me.

Gotta remember, we're not the general populace around here. Plus, it's never been something that I've had a need for professional nor any real interest in personally, so the motivation to spend any time figuring it out has been awfully limited.

Honestly, the only reason I commented here today was that the broad topic of podcasting and/or video blogging was on my mind last week as something that I might be able to use with the student webcast kids I work with in order to get them in the habit of thinking of content being something that you're perpetually/constantly generating rather than it being "oh crap, what can we do to fill that 10 minutes tomorrow night".

[MJ4H]

Yep, I've done that part. Got one blank file & one that took over a half hour to d'load, thus ending the experiment.

The blank file sounds like someone screwed up on their end. The slow download speed thing happens anywhere on the internet. Neither are indicative of what podcasting is like. The podcast downloads should happen in the background while you are doing other things in itunes, so the download speeds shouldn't be an issue. There is enough great content out there that it would be worth the two click effort it would take to give it another shot.

[fantom1979]

My list:

ESPN Football Today/Baseball Today
ESPN Fantasy Focus Football/Baseball
ESPN Around the Horn
ESPN PTI
Frogpants Filmsack
Frogpants The Instance
Frogpants Final Score
PC Gamer
The Dan Patrick Show
NBC Nightly News

Some of the Twit Podcasts used to be on my list (TWIT, Windows Weekly, Google, Mac, etc), but I have become bored with them. Just seems like the quality is down over the last year or so.

I work midnights, so some of these are shows that I missed during the day. I use RSS and download them to my MP3 player using Winamp.

[fantom1979]

Jon -

I definitely don't think podcasts are for everyone. If I didn't work midnights at a job that let me use my MP3 player, I doubt I would listed to podcasts very often. There are some big name companies advertising on some of these podcasts though. For example, Home Depot advertises on the Around the Horn podcast.

This link should take you automatically to the ESPN Around the Horn podcast. It will play in ESPN's built in webplayer.
ESPN Radio (http://espn.go.com/espnradio/player?rd=1#/podcenter/?callsign=ESPNRADIO&autoplay=1&id=6145359)

[JonInMiddleGA]

There are some big name companies advertising on some of these podcasts though. For example, Home Depot advertises on the Around the Horn podcast.

That one would almost certainly be one of the many freebies they get for ponying up the mega-bucks for Game Day sponsorship. (nothing to do with whether people are paying for pod spots, they are I'm sure, just seeing the Depot reference made me think about how much stuff I see them run that's bonused).

ESPN is one of the more aggressive networks when it comes to throwing tons of value-added stuff at advertisers. Like for every spot I'd buy in a weekday morning SportsCenter, they'd bonus us multiple spots on ESPNews.

[stevew]

Most of the ads I hear are of the classic adam & eve/goto my PC/pro flowers/gotomeeting/barracuda Sirius type shit. Click the Radio Icon... I'm guessing the show only makes a commission on these that spawn orders? Otherwise they make no money, right?

[AgustusM]

Podcasts have replaced 99.999% of the need for radio for me - arguments against remind me of previous ones I have heard against HDTV, MP3 players, DVR's to mention a few modern marvels that far outpace the previous choices.

I listen in the car, at the gym, on a walk, working around the house.


My top choices:

1. BS report - usually quite amusing, I never miss it
2. NPR Planet Money - so good I spent a whole day downloading over 200 past episodes and am now in the process of listening to everyone since the first.
3. NPR Fresh Air -biggest issue with this is it frequently adds too many books to my want to read list
4. Security Now - another I have listened to every episode
5. TWIT - I do agree they are too long, use to be better
6. This American Life - I like the unique look they take at things.
7. Dan Patrick Show - best sports podcast
8. Carolla - can only do in small doses and depends on the guest but can be funny
9. Windows Weekly
10. Freakonomics - some repetition from the books, but still very good
11. Stuff you should know- depends on topic
12. Stuff you missed in History - depends on topic
13. Just Vocabulary
14. The Economist
15. FM Podcast - although they only come out sporadically, take forever to download and are not very good quality - I still enjoy them most of the time.

[stevew]

May just be me, but I like this stuff and I doubt I would shell out .99 for any show.

I was pretty much like Jon and didn't want to deal with downloading/transferring but now I just DL straight to my iPad and play them in the car. Was thinking about reupping sirius after a long break before I figured these existed, but now there is no way I'd ever subscribe again.

And someone said winamp. LOL.

[fantom1979]

And someone said winamp. LOL.

Whats wrong with Winamp? :eek:

I have tried quite a few other media programs, but none have managed my 5000+ mp3s and podcasts as well as Winamp. I have never tried Itunes mainly due to my dislike of Quicktime souring my appetite for Apple software.

I have tried:
Foobar
Jaangle
Exaile
VLC
WMP

Is there a really good one that I haven't tried?

[Ksyrup]

Seriously.

You go to the itunes store

Well, there's the first problem. I don't have itunes, nor do I want it. I didn't realize they even had free things.

I'm sure if I made the effort, I could do it, but I didn't even know until I read this thread that these weren't some sort of straight-to-MP3-player files. I had never even attempted to click on a podcast from a website because I assumed the whole process was geared toward transferring it onto an MP3 player.

I guess it mainly boils down to free time (or lack thereof) to listen to this kind of stuff - can't do it at work, can't do it at home, and I don't use my MP3 player enough (maybe 5 or 6 times a year, tops) to be worth the effort. The car is the only place I really even listen to music anymore, and that's why I still stick with CDs if at all possible, because MP3 players sound terrible at the volume I like to listen to music.

At least I learned a little something, though, so I won't sound like a complete idiot when my kids start asking about podcasts.

[wade moore]

As for what I listen to:

1. The Big O and Dukes Show
2. The Mike O'Meara Show
3. Geekshow Podcast
4. The Tony Kornheiser Show
5. The Sports Junkies

Something I notice with the podcasts I like is they are all either re-broadcasts of on-air shows or have someone on the cast that is/was in radio. I have a real hard time listening to podcasts by guys that don't know radio, even stuff like Bill Burr where they have performed for an audience before, but not radio.

I almost exclusively listen to podcasts on my radio during the commute. I bought an after-market radio for my car a couple of years ago for like $250 that has an ipod cable and the audio is really quite good in my opinion.

[Ksyrup]

I've made the decision that I'm not going to ruin my car to add an aftermarket radio (feels like something a college kid would do), or pay to have it wired like I used to have my old portable CD player hooked up. I'm sure the sound is better directly wired, much better than the tape deck thingy I have now. I have considered taking the plunge a couple of times, but the laack of market for the kind of MP3 player I want and the difficulties/costs associated with making it work with my car have forced me to put it off until I get a new car, most likely.

I also don't feel very comfortable messing with the MP3 controls while driving.

Plus, I mostly listen to music in the car. I'm just not in the car enough to justify it. I have a 20 minute commute. I'll listen to ESPN, MLB Network, or Raw Dog if I want non-music.

I guess all of this would explain why I don't know the first thing about podcasts.

[wade moore]

I've made the decision that I'm not going to ruin my car to add an aftermarket radio (feels like something a college kid would do), or pay to have it wired like I used to have my old portable CD player hooked up. I'm sure the sound is better directly wired, much better than the tape deck thingy I have now. I have considered taking the plunge a couple of times, but the laack of market for the kind of MP3 player I want and the difficulties/costs associated with making it work with my car have forced me to put it off until I get a new car, most likely.

"Ruin" your car?

Seriously? You have a "tape deck thingy" and you think that an aftermarket radio "ruins" your car?

I just don't live on the same planet as you.

As for the commute - you're WAY more into music than I am. I listen to a lot of talk radio and I hate ESPN Radio or any of the other options around me.

[Ksyrup]

Yeah, I don't like ruining the factory dash by putting in an aftermarket radio. Lesson the value of the car and just doesn't look all that great, IMO.

The tape deck was standard with my 2005 Acura TL - I assume they included it specifically as an optional MP3 hook-up. My model was probably a year or 3 before the easy-access direct connection became standard on most cars.

http://static.howstuffworks.com/gif/vehicle-pictures/2005/acura/tl/2811-057-radio-unit-closeup-480.jpg

[wade moore]

:shurg:

FWIW, you can get a direct-wired FM Tuner (that really just directly links to your antennae and isn't a traditional FM tuner) for about $100 that only requires installing a small switch with an 1/8" cable somewhere.

Not towards the point of podcasting, but for your general music listening might make sense.

[Logan]

You're trying to sell the virtues of podcasts on two people who 1) don't own an MP3 player and 2) use one 5-6 times a year. Might want to save the keystrokes.

[Raiders Army]

Podcasts are "free" entertainment.

Anyhow, I have bought a couple of bottles of Jeremiah Weed from Adam Carolla's podcast as well as gotten flowers last Valentine's Day (2010) for my wife from his advertisements. The former was to try it out because he made it sound good, and the latter was to support his podcast.

Also, I tried How Did This Get Made and I like it as much as any other podcast. I rarely get to the end of any podcast episode though because I either get home or to work or I lose interest.

[General Mike]

A bunch of ESPN ones for me

BS Report
Football Today
Fantasy Focus Baseball & Football

Add NBA Today to my list too. I don't like basketball that much, but the host, Ryen Russillo is really good.

[Ragone]

Pretty much what has been said.. +

Critical hit (a d&d 4e live game podcast.. quite quite funny)
Sarcastic gamer
Various World of warcraft podcasts(instance.. raidcast.. ventchat..outlandish(my favorite)

I also record and listen to opie and anthony's xm show on my ipod.. that usually gets me through my 10 hour day.

[digamma]

Planet Money from NPR
WSJ this Morning
Poker Road Radio
Huff & Stapes
The Paul Johnson Show
Running Times

Then a bunch of things I don't listen to regularly, but will download occasionally...
BS Report
My Brother, My Brother and Me
Some of the Kevin Smith stuff
Freakanomics

[Ronnie Dobbs2]

Comedy Death Ray Radio is fantastic for comedy nerds (DLM, Carrollo, PFTomcast fans).

[Ksyrup]

:shurg:

FWIW, you can get a direct-wired FM Tuner (that really just directly links to your antennae and isn't a traditional FM tuner) for about $100 that only requires installing a small switch with an 1/8" cable somewhere.

Not towards the point of podcasting, but for your general music listening might make sense.

Have you ever tried this method? I know the typical FM method is horrible - way too much static. The problem with any of these is not knowing what it sounds like until you've invested the money. I'll have to do some checking around.

[Ksyrup]

You're trying to sell the virtues of podcasts on two people who 1) don't own an MP3 player and 2) use one 5-6 times a year. Might want to save the keystrokes.

True, I probably still wouldn't be interested in podcasts even if I switched 100% ot MP3, but I'd like to have an MP3 player that I can put my entire music collection on. It's just that MP3 players tend to be going away from large hard drives, which I want, and the in-car sound quality is not up to par. If I could alleviate those issues, I'd probably make the jump.

[stevew]

Plug for Rocco Demaro's Life of Leisure. Should be found under sports and recreation. He used to do the Pirates postgame but I guess he got let go.

[Comey]

True, I probably still wouldn't be interested in podcasts even if I switched 100% ot MP3, but I'd like to have an MP3 player that I can put my entire music collection on. It's just that MP3 players tend to be going away from large hard drives, which I want, and the in-car sound quality is not up to par. If I could alleviate those issues, I'd probably make the jump.

How big do you want? It wouldn't be the most idealistic of situations, but you could get a Cowon player, which plays FLAC files, and put your music on SD cards that you can interchange whenever you want. Or you could get an Archos 5, which has a 250GB HD and plays just about anything (though it's a little funky, lot of proprietary nonsense...the player itself is great).

I play a lot of FLAC stuff, but I also use Trader's Little Helper to encode them into high-level MP3s. The difference in quality is negligible.

[Comey]

I finally have been turned onto The Nerdist. I think the wit consistently displayed is the best I've heard in a show. Chris Hardwick (Web Soup, Singled Out in the 90s) is downright fantastic, as are Jonah and Matt. And the guest list, for my tastes, are top-notch. I totally recommend the live podcasts (John Oliver, Zach Galiniafakis) to take them out for a test drive...they're simply fantastic.

[mckerney]

Mike and Tom Eat Snacks (http://soundcloud.com/matescast)

Former Ed costars Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanagh get together to eat snacks and talk about eating snacks.

[wade moore]

Mike and Tom Eat Snacks (http://soundcloud.com/matescast)

Former Ed costars Michael Ian Black and Tom Cavanagh get together to eat snacks and talk about eating snacks.

Too bad they stole the idea from http://www.bigoanddukes.com (http://www.bigoanddukes.com/)

[stevew]

This Week with Larry Miller is pretty awesome.