ARTS
- The Moth Podcast: The Moth features people telling true, engaging, funny, touching and eye-opening stories from their lives. Hailed as "New York's hottest and hippest literary ticket" by the Wall Street Journal, The Moth has been producing sold-out storytelling shows for over ten years. Stories are told without notes to a live audience by a wide range of people. The best have been captured here. [consistently good.]
[I've given up on all of my business, personal finance, and investment podcasts. None of them worked. I did like the APM: Marketplace Conversations from the Corner Office Podcast at one point.]
COMEDY
- Comedy Factory from CBC Radio: CBC Radio knows that if a joke's worth telling, it's worth repeating. The Comedy Factory collects our favourite skits, commentaries and funny bits that appeared on CBC Radio over the past week. It's an assembly line of humor, safety-tested and priced to move!
- Flight of the Conchords: Jemaine Clement and Bret McKenzie - a.k.a. Flight of the Conchords - are New Zealand's 4th Most Popular Folk Parody Duo. Now, they're ready to conquer America. Join them as they move to New York's East Village, getting one new fan at a time! An HBO Video Podcast.
- Real Time with Bill Maher: Bill Maher and his peerless panelists are back to take on the contenders, and pretenders, all year long! Download complete episodes including Overtime, where Bill and his guests answer fan questions. [love him or hate him]
- The Adam Carolla Podcast: The new home for the rantings and ravings of Adam Carolla. Check it out Adam hangs out with some his pals, like: Larry Miller, David Allen Grier, Dr. Drew Pinksy, Dana Gould, Doug Benson, and many, many more. [Some episodes are excruciatingly funny. I woke people up on the airplane with my laughter recently.]
- The Onion Radio News: Daily podcast featuring a short news clip from The Onion's award-winning 24-hour radio news network. [Big fun in a small package.]
- gdgt weekly: You may know Peter Rojas and Ryan Block as the guys behind Engadget and Gizmodo, but they're back with gdgt - the ultimate online destination for all things gadgety and electronic. Tune in weekly as Peter and Ryan discuss the latest goings on in the world of gadgets.
GENERAL
- Editor's Choice from CBC Radio: Daily podcast of the highlight of our broadcast day. A special treat for the ears plucked from the airwaves for your listening pleasure.
- Chill Meditation: [No description necessary. I don't think that I have ever made it more than two minutes through this podcast without falling asleep with my headphones on. Warning: Do NOT listen to this in the car!]
- Great Speeches in History: A podcast devoted to the great thinkers, statesman and other public orators that have graced us throughout history with their words. [One of my all-time favorites is "Television is Vast Wasteland, by FCC Chairman Newton Minnow on May 9, 1961 to the National Association of Broadcasters. Also, if you have never actually listened to it all the way through, take the time to listen to MLK's "I Have a Dream Speech" on your headphones. It is extrordinarily powerful.]
- Bob Dylan Podcast: Patti Smith hosts music and conversation about Bob Dylan. His friends, early influences and collaborators discuss their close relationships with Dylan, the stories behind his greatest songs and other memorable moments of his career. Journalists and biographers add critical insights and provide historical contexts. A few of today's singer-songwriters also detail how Dylan's art influenced their own lives and careers. We also hear comments from Dylan, himself, from interviews recorded throughout the last 45 years.
- Bopod Luaka Cast: David Byrne's (of Talking Heads fame) world music-oriented record label. Note - Byrne took the phrase "Luaka Bop" for his record label from the inner packaging of a specialty tea which is sold in England. (Luaka is the name of a tea importer. Luaka's "Broken Orange Pekoe" is packaged in a silver foil block; when the sleeve is removed, it reveals a white label stuck to the foil, reading "Luaka BOP".)
- Endless Boundaries Jam Radio: The premier radio show and podcast from Jambands to Reggae. These podcasts are archived segments from the live EB radio broadcast every Saturday night in the Philadelphia and South Jersey area on Z88.9, 95.1, and 100.7FM.
- Future Rock [podcast]: Live and studio recordings from Future Rock. [Future Rock's music is classified as electronica, but fuses elements of progressive house and dance rock. Each of the musicians sample and layer themselves throughout live performances.]
- KCRW's Today's Top Tune: A free song a day, from KCRW's all Music Channel, the represents a cross section of KCRW's eclectic music format.
- KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic; and Tuned in with KCRW's Nic Harcourt: Few people are as in-the-know when it comes to great music as Nic Harcourt. For years his Morning Becomes Eclectic radio program has made KCRW synonymous with fantastic, cutting-edge music. Combining independent artists with well-established superstars, and rock and roll with world and soul, Nic's picks have consistently raised the bar for music shows around the world. Now, from Nic's expertise as "the most influential DJ in America" comes 60Frames' newest series, "TUNED IN WITH KCRW'S NIC HARCOURT", a daring new program that puts a face to the legendary voice, and images to so many great songs. In each episode, Nic serves us his freshest picks for the week, from the latest Coldplay chart-topper to the newest European hip-hop and rock, from the panoramic sounds of Death Cab for Cutie to the explosive rhythms of Latin and world music.
- KEXP Live Performances Podcast: Every week KEXP hosts live performances from our studios and now you can take them with you. With roughly 200 performances each year, KEXP boasts an impressive line-up of guests.
- KEXP Song of the Day: KEXP's Song of the Day podcast features exclusive in-studio performances, unreleased songs, and recordings from independent musicians that KEXP thinks listeners should hear along with songs from more well-known artists. [Where else would I have heard of Larkin Grimm's "Ride that Cyclone"?]
- MPR: The Current Song of the Day: Music lovers from 89.3 The Current [Minnesota Public Radio] comb through mountians of music to choose the best new, independent, and unreleased songs to share each weekday. [Consistently good]
- NPR: Live Concerts from All Songs Considered: A unique podcast. Entire concerts from artists like Radiohead, Tom Waits, Fleet Foxes, Bon Iver and many more in the archives, and more to come. Some concerts include interviews with the bands. Quality recordings from NPR's All Songs Considered. [I especially liked the show by The Raconteurs.]
- Sounds of the Caribbean with Keith Rowe: Featuring the best in Reggae, Roots, Soca, Dancehall and Dub. [One good thing about music, when it hits you, you feel no pain. - Bob Marley]
- WFMU's Radio Freetown with DJ Franc O: West African Pop music from the 1970's. [I think that this is off the air. But excellent archives are available for download.]
- President Obama's Weekly Radio Address: [I liked his recent address about food and drug safety and the FDA]
- 92nd Street Y Podcasts: The 92nd Street Y is about people. The people of New York City and the surrounding area. The people of the United States and of the world. It's about people who entertain and challenge, inform and educate. It's about people who learn and discover, observe and participate.
- This American Life: Official free, weekly podcast of the award-winning radio show "This American Life." First-person stories and short fiction pieces that are touching, funny and surprising. Hosted by Ira Glass, from WBEZ Chicago Public Radio.
- CBC Radio: The Best of Ideas: Ideas is all about ideas - programs that expose everything from culture and the arts to science and technology to social issues. [Listen to "Climate Wars, Parts 1-3"]
- Ethicist: Randy Cohen, New York Times Magazine columnist, answers readers' questions on ethical issues each week.
- iTunes: Meet the Author: iTunes and the Apple Store in New York's SoHo district have teamed up to bring you the hottest authors talking about the season's biggest books. [Of note: Chuck Palahnuiuk, Augusten Burroughs, Stephen Colbert]
- NPR: Driveway Moments Podcast: Listeners' NPR favorites. Riveting stories from Morning Edition, All Things Considered and other award-winning NPR programs. [Personal favorites include: 'Mesmerized' By the Words, Music of Wynton Marsalis;
Heartbreaking Reports from a Devastated City, re: Melissa Block's coverage of the Chinese earthquake.]
- NPR: StoryCorps Podcast: At recording booths across America, everyday people interview one another about their lives. StoryCorps creator Dave Isay showcases these first-person stories in this weekly podcast. [Listen to my favorite episode by clicking on A Victim Treats His Mugger Right]
- NPR This I Believe Podcast: [A couple of my recent favorites are Health is a Human Right and Caring Makes us Human.]
- This American Life: Official free, weekly podcast of the award-winning radio show "This American Life." First-person stories and short fiction pieces that are touching, funny, and surprising. Hosted by Ira Glass, from WBEZ Chicago Public Radio. [I only wish that I had the time to keep up with them every week. A recent favorite of mine - 355: The Giant Pool of Money.]
- NYT: Science Times: David Corcoran, a science editor, explores the topics addressed in this week's Science Times.
- The North Face Expeditions
- Filmspotting: A weekly podcast from Chicago featuring reviews, interviews, top 5 lists and insightful film talk with Adam Kempenaar and Matty Robinson. Also featured on Chicago Public Radio.
- KCRW's The Treatment: A treatment in Hollywood parlance is a concise overview of a screenplay. On The Treatment film critic Elvis Mitchell turns the tables and gives the treatment to some of the most influential and innovative forces creating movies and popular art and entertainment. Each week Elvis speaks with an amazing array of guests discussing everything from their inner conflicts to their interior design. With a straightforward style that understates his vast knowledge Elvis is able to extract insights issues and inspirations from even the most introverted guests. Conversations on The Treatment are mostly comfortable sometimes contentious but always fascinating.
- Movies You Should See: The "off topic" movie review show. [Funny...and British.]
- Slate Spoiler Specials: Slate's Spoiler Specials are not reviews of current movies, but "postviews" -- audio critiques meant to be played AFTER you've seen the film. Our movie critic Dana Stevens leads discussions of twist endings, plot holes, and other secrets you won't read in the reviews. It's the kind of discussion you have with friends as you're leaving the theater. WARNING: Listening to these podcasts before you've seen a film could be hazardous to your suspension of disbelief! [I rarely agree with Dana and her guest's criticism, and sometimes feel that they 'don't get it.' However, I still listen to all the episodes for movies that I have seen and sometimes find intersting insights cultural references.]
- Spoutblog >> FilmCouch: Daily coverage of what is truly interesting in the film world. [Sadly, this highly interesting film criticism podcast just recorded its last episode. It's worth checking out some of the recent archived shows though.]
- Darwin Distinguished Lecture Series: From ASU School of Life Sciences. ASU celebrates Darwin's 200th brithday and commemorates the 150th anniversary of the publication of On the Origin of Species with Darwinfest - a creative scientific enterprise.
