Podcasts
 

I recently discovered Podcasts. If you haven't heard of them, they are like the coming together of the blog world, radio programs, and MP3 players. In essence the programs consist of people yakking about various things and posting those yakkings on the internet for other people to download. This may seem ripe for abuse by very bored people, and I am sure there are some horrible podcasts out there but so far I have been excited about what I have found. I get tired of listening to music and angry opinionated people on radio talk shows on my long drives for work and some days I get tired of listening to music during my morning jogs, so the podcast world adds a lot to my daily routines.

To explore this world of Podcasts the first step is getting a program to harvest the podcasts you want. I use Ipodder. Then it is all about finding programs you want to listen to. I have only tried a few, but so far have found some I will continue to be going back to. For movie reviews, try ReelReviews, for talk about wine try Graperadio.com, for science and tech news try GeekNewsCentral, for the ramblings of an ex-MTV VJ and a good introduction the podcasting world, try Adam Curry's Daily Source Code, for well known songs being covered by independant (and other more well known artists), try Coverville, for a list of a bunch of other podcasts you may be interested in try Podcast Alley. The options are pretty endless and varied. My favorite so far is a well produced show, Digital Flotsam, about various topics including the guy's wife, beer, feeling foolish, etc, with great stories and an eclectic collection of music.

You copy the xml or rss feed link from the webpage of the podcast you want (the link should be pretty obvious on most pages) and paste the link to the feed in you podcast client (ipodder or whatever). You can listen to the podcasts on your computer or transfer them to an MP3 player and listen to them there. I do both.

Anybody else out there enjoying podcasts? Anybody else have any podcasts or programs for podcasting to recommend? Does the TFP have any podcasters amongst its ranks?

I heard of them.
Being a reader of engadget.com since the beginning, I was there when they launched their podCasts. Eh, it's just like listening to the radio, but anybody can do it, and you get the exposure of the internet.

Also, does anyone know where I can get podCasts of Loveline? I love the program, but I'm never around to hear it.

Wow, I can't believe there is so little response. I would think that this community would be more into things like pod casts. I am just scratching the surface on the world of podcasts, but it seems that there has to be a pod cast for anything and everything out there. Hope this shameless bump gets the attention of others with stories and info to share on podcasting.

I missed the first round of this thread, thanks for bumping it. The only podcast I get is Coverville, which is about a half hour, 3 times a week, all cover versions of songs. I've heard lots of interesting stuff on there.

i'm still sorting out the content. right now i'm mostly interested in professionally produced stuff...this makes it like a radio Tivo. unfortunately most radio/TV stations haven't caught the fever yet.

here are podcasts for kcrw. le Show is pretty funny, harry shearer's weekly take on the news.
http://www.kcrw.org/podcast/

it would be cool if other stations would make it easier to listen to existing archived programs like this...i guess i'll just keep looking.

This is the first I've heard of this, but it seems like a great idea. I do get bored with the same stuff on my MP3 player, this'll be good to give me some more variety.

coverville is quite cool and has some good music on it - but it's a 35 minute broadcast, that 1/4 of it is the guy talking to hear himself talk... (I waste precious battery life skipping ahead to get to the songs..) It's a novel idea but eh-- i stopped listening to the radio because I got sick of people talking just to hear themselves talk...

I agree with not listening to the radio for that reason maleficent, but I have never minded Brain Ibet's (the guy behind coverville) commentary. Though I do agree that a lot of pod casters do waste a lot of breath talking about themselves. In any case, you can find pure music pod casts out there. Love that this is getting more of a response. Hope more people have something to say.

Does anyone know of any podcast featuring book reviews?

After trying out several of these, I can say I think they are pretty cool. It seems really hit or miss with some of these... right now I'm listening to a self-described "queen" talk about how I don't have to be sad just because he is. Now he is singing "this little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine." He also makes comments of the people driving by with loud mufflers. I feel like shutting him off, but I can't...

Oh, and Harry Shearer is awesome.

Hmm... I haven't heard of Harry Shearer before and I am a NPR fan and podcast fan. In any case I have added "Le Show" to my list of subscriptions and am looking forward to seeing what he has to offer. I assume this is the guy you were talking about anleja as I doubt that is a very common name and it is the only one I could find when searching for that name.

Oh, and I am guessing that you were listening to Madge Weinstein on Yeast Radio? I haven't ever heard that podcast but have heard plenty about it and that sounds about right.

you will recognize his voice if you've ever seen the simpsons. he was also in spinal tap. his sunday news show is funny...as long as you don't mind a few jokes at the expense of the current administration. luckily, the podcasts omit most of his yuppitastic musical selections.

the kcrw book review podcasts are on the show "bookworm," (http://kcrw.org/show/bw)
although i haven't listened to it much. i know the host has an unique delivery, though. too bad cspan doesn't have their book shows in this format.

Yes, Le Show is the one. He is a really interesting person to hear speak, especially as himself. I'm sure you know who Harry Shearer is. Here is a copied and pasted list of some characters he voices on the Simpsons: Mr. Burns, Smithers, Dr. Marvin Monroe, Ned Flanders, Prin. Skinner, Otto, Kent Brockman, Dr. Hibert, Lenny, Rev. Lovejoy, Rainer "McBain" Wolfcastle, Scratchy... he was also in This Is Spinal Tap.

The other one I was referring to is a program called "Lucky Bitch Radio."

Yeah, I agree with you earlier comment about getting tired of the typical angry yellers on standard talk radio. And... no commercials!

Wow, awesome, two new exciting podcasts to add to my podcatcher. Thanks trickyy and anleja.

I definitley have heard that guy's voice before, and I am pretty certain I remember him from Spinal Tap. When you started listing off those names, the guys face flashed in my mind from Spinal Tap and the other improv movies those guys did.

I'd love to listen to podcasts. I just don't wanna pay $300 for an ipod.

You certainly don't need to Hardknock. They are called podcasts but can easily be put into any mp3 player. In fact I would think they would be perfect for some of the cheaper flash drive based mp3 players as you can fill those things with podcasts and get hours of enjoyment. You can also play the mp3s on your computer perhaps while at work if you have that luxory.

...or, burn the mp3s to a CD or CDRW and listen in your car...

(BTW, I beieve that the term 'podcast' was created because it rhymes with 'broadcast')

here are more radio links

kpcc http://www.scpr.org/help/podcasthelp.html

the show "pacific drift" features a recent talk with brian eno about the future of mankind. that particular episode may only be available as streaming audio, but perhaps current installments are interesting as well.

cbc -- http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/

bbc -- http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio/downloadtrial/

haven't checked any of these shows out yet...any suggestions?

One question. How do you set up your own ...? Forgive me if it has already been said, I am still drowsy from the medicine.

Having not set one up myself I am not the best person to speak up on this matter, but seeing as practically every podcaster talks about what they are using to podcast, I have a little knowledge. There are basically two things you need to podcast, a microphone and a computer. The computer needs to have some sort of recording and compressing software, it sounds like a favorite is Apple's Garage Band and I have heard Audacity is good for Windows. You then just need to send your podcast out into the world. This is done with some sort of RSS or Atom feed ( you can just post MP3s on a website, but then it isn't technically a podcast), that subscribers (or more specifically the subscriber's pod-catching software) use to be directed to and download your shows.

Those are the basic steps anyway, there are much better and more detailed guides out there, I am sure a little google-foo will find you a better tutorial if you are really interested in creating one. There is also a book by Todd Cochrane that has been released on podcasting as well as some more books on the way. If you do decide to podcast a show add a link to your show here for us to listen to!

I have just got into this and recommended listening to triple J, the best and most varied radio station in Australia.

http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/listen/podcast.htm

Especially Dr Karl's segment on Science:
It's roughly an hour devoted to the collective exploration of some of the great mysteries of life, such as "why does the water in the shower slow down just when it gets hot?". Most packages are between 40-50mins long and are without music.

http://www.abc.net.au/science/k2/podcast/drk_rss.xml

Hack, which is a current affairs show; but may be less relevant ot people outside of Australia: http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/hack/podcast/podcast.xml

And Also John Safran who always has an interesting and humours look at religion, politics: http://triplej.net.au/safran/podcast/safran.xml

Thaks for the other links - i'll have a looksee :D

Just started listening to Dr Karl's segment on science Sleepyjack and am loving it. Somewhat like Dr. Dean Edell's radio show I listen to on AM radio every once in awhile. Thanks for the links! I also put John Safran's cast in my catcher, but haven't listened to a cast yet.

ITunes 4.9 (not sure when it came out, but it asked me to upgrade today, and it didn't 3 days ago) now has podcasting downloads - and ITunes has a bunch of free ones that are available for subscription in a pretty decent easy to figure out format...

I just found the CBC RADIO 3 weekly podcast (available for free download). It's 100% independent Canadian music, with the CBC's full resources and quality behind it. Good stuff.

http://www.cbcradio3.com

i picked up an interesting video podcast from iTunes, but here are some direct links if you are interested. the series is a low budget chronicle of a "tiki bar."

http://libsyn.org/media/tiki/TikiBarTV_01.mov
http://libsyn.org/media/tiki/TikiBarTV_02.mov
http://libsyn.org/media/tiki/TikiBarTV_03.mov
http://libsyn.org/media/tiki/TikiBarTV_04.mov
http://libsyn.org/media/tiki/TikiBarTV_05.mov
http://libsyn.org/media/tiki/TikiBarTV_06.mov
http://libsyn.org/media/tiki/TikiBarTV_07.mov
http://libsyn.org/media/tiki/TikiBarTV_08.mov
http://libsyn.org/media/tiki/TikiBarTV_09.mov

new episode is supposedly coming out friday, perhaps this will be the link at that point:

http://libsyn.org/media/tiki/TikiBarTV_10.mov

TikiBarTV rocks... That show is hillarious.

Another great video podcast is www.rocketboom.com . Sort of a news show for the young liberal with lots of great zany things thrown in.

take a class at harvard university...
http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~cscie1/?...st&type=static

Welcome to Computer Science E-1

I love ChinesePod (learn Chinese from a podcast....brilliant!)

website: http://www.chinesepod.com

My dad has a podcast. This might be getting out of hand.

I listened to my first podcast the other night. It was
Ricky (The Office) Gervais and his co-writer with their
producer just mucking about really but it was pretty funny.
They do a 30min show per week.

I found it at rickygervais.com

This is a great thread! I love the idea of podcasts if for no
other reason than not having to put up with adverts.

Great find Sliperry Slope, I am going to check out the podcast now.

Are you serious willravel? If so, what is it about? And if you are so inclined, post a link, I would love to check it out.

Bruce Wayne has to protect his identity, so i can't give you a link (even though there are pics of me floating around these parts). I can tell you he's a pastor, and he's spreading the word digitally. (If you do come across him, don't mind the rambling, his points always show up by the end.)

Podcasts are great, in my opinion. It's a medium that the FCC can't control, so anything goes. It's the best example of "if you don't like it, don't listen." Of course there is the fact that some Podcasts are not meant for kids, and there is nothing stopping a 12 year old from downloading a Podcast of any nature. But I think Podcasting, in general, is great. And I appreciate the links. Happy New Year All!

You can however, always count on King Bush to find a way to put a stop to this maddness called freedom of expression.......

You Will Respect The Bush Regime! (Kidding of course, I have absolutely no respect for the current "leadership" of the USA. Also, I appologize for taking this thread into any kind of controversy.)

BTW...If anyone liked the Ricky Gervais Show, you can
listen again to their 3hr New Years Eve show at bbc.co.uk/radio2