Do you have any lesser-known podcast-ings to share with us all? Mine are below the fold. (And just in case you don’t go there...Sam Seder is back!)
Since Clear Channel turned U.S. radio into the Republican Talking Points Machine, I think most of us have just turned off our radios.
(Yes, I know Rachel has called Limbaugh and Beck "great entertainers." But she is wrong. If you have a measurable IQ, their rantings are only slightly less predictable than the sound of my turn signal, and about as interesting. And I don’t need the constant reminder that America is occupied territory, forced to listen to our conquering overlords’ versions of Tokyo Rose and Axis Sally.)
If you want something to listen to in your car, download podcasts to your MP3 player—as I do every day.
What to download? Get the free iTunes app and check out its podcast page for which podcasts are most downloaded. (I assume other podcast subscription apps have similar pages.)
(HOW TO: Intuitive, iTunes is not. To get to the podcast page from the home page of the app: Click "iTunes Store" in the left margin > On the store page, click the "Podcasts" pulldown menu at the top of the page > Select "Audio Podcats." Then see "Top Charts" on the right. To subscribe to a podcast, click it’s "subscribe" button. Then it will go to your Podcasts page in the iTunes app ["Podcasts" in the left column], where you can drag and drop podcasts onto your desktop, and then drag and drop them to your MP3 player—any type, not just an iPod/Pad. New podcasts pop up regularly, but if your PC has been off, select one or more podcasts and right click to choose "Update Podcast." Remember to delete used podcasts from desktop and from your podcast page, to save memory.)
Not surprisingly, the big podcast favorites are from NPR and PRI: "Wait Wait Don’t Tell me," "Radio Lab," "This American Life" and "Fresh Air" are "must subscribes."
Also regularly among the favorites are Rachel, Keith, and Bill Maher...you need never miss another show.
Other regular "tops" are podcast-only’s, including "Grammar Girl," "WTF with Mark Maron," several "How Stuff Works" shows, and "Adam Carolla."
But some of my favorite podcasts have not yet shown up on the "tops" list (that I know of), and here they are.
The David Feldman Comedy Podcast. Mr. Feldman has written for Bill Maher and Jon Stewart, and his podcasts are MUCH funnier that Adam Carollas’ (IMHO). Don’t judge them by the most recent episode (with Kevin Rooney), which was more interesting than ha-ha. CAUTION: If you are a political correctness fan, back away, verrry slowly!
Majority Report with Sam Seder. You may have seen him guest-hosting Keith Olbermann, or remember him from Air America. And HE’S BACK!!! His show just started in November. When I found it, I could have wept! Quick! More exclamation marks!!! Someone do a dairy on this alone! Listen to it. Your brain will thank you! (Catch his recent podcast with a CNN clip explaining his part of the "War on Christmas," including getting intelligence by torturing elves.)
Dr. Karl at TripleJ. – I used to think Australians were just like us...only even worse. But from listening to this show, they seem a lot more interesting and considerably less stupid. They call in with really good science questions, such as "Can you get vitamin A from the sun through your car window glass," and Dr. Karl answers, and goes off on marvelous scientific tangents, like the time his eardrum burst and the guy he met with just one memory, and quantum mechanics, and it’s great! An inordinant number of the questions deal with sex and beer—yet another reason to move to Australia!
Answer Me This. – It’s a call in question show, with a British accent. Questions range from "why does Axl Rose’s bride die in the in the video for ‘November Rain’? It makes no fuckin sense.." to "why don’t they make scratch’n'sniff porn, and what smells do you think would be fitting?" And the answers are even better. Warning: You may soon find yourself using British-isms, such as "that’s a wee bit twee" and "what a git!".
Two podcasts you can’t subscribe to, so you must make an extra effort to get. But they are both worth it.
Thom Hartmann. IMHO, if you don’t listen to Thom Hartmann, you shouldn’t call yourself a progressive. (Are you listening, White House?) The smartest guy on radio, and the best explainer of the progressive agenda. You can’t subscribe, but you can download him, one podcast at a time.
Stephanie Miller. I’m frugal (my friends say "cheap"). But this is the one podcast I pay to download. My nomination for the single best program on radio—which is not carried on ANY station in Ohio.