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Sources of Intelligent Audio for Commute?

Posted by timothy on from the car-talk-via-radio-shark dept.

confusus writes "Trapped in the daily routine of commuting for 1-2 hours every day, I started to ponder different ways of recycling commute-time waste. I tried listening to the radio, but 9.9/10, it ends up being just 'duh-whatever.' Then, I tried listening to audio books: it is really hard to find audio books that are tailored toward nerds. Thus I decided to find audio of interesting/geeky/nerdy/sciency interviews, talks, lectures. What would be the websites which provide such content?" I'd really like to find more informative downloadable audio content, too. Perhaps informed commentary and self-guided tours of historical and other sites, like national parks and significant buildings in the U.S. and elsewhere, basically self-guided audio walking (or driving) tours. Can anyone recommend a source?

11 of 550 comments (clear)

  1. podcasts by fishdan · · Score: 5, Informative
    Here's everything you need to know about podcasting

    Here's a good source of podcasts

    If you look around, you'll find plenty of what interests you available as a podcast. Should you not find what you're looking for, with any luck we'll see YOUR podcast up there soon too.

    --
    Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm
    1. Re:podcasts by barnaclebarnes · · Score: 5, Informative

      Exactly...So here a couple that I like:

      • Lug radio. This is good linux news mixed with humor. Some good interviews and views.
      • It Conversations. Just started listening to these a couple of days ago. Seems like good interviews with high profile people.
      • On The MediaWell I can't get NPR in New Zealand so I download OTM which is pretty good commment on the media industry.
      --
      [Please type your sig here.]
  2. GNU Lectures by lunk · · Score: 5, Informative

    There are lots of informative and geeky lectures available at:
    http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/audio/audio.html

    --
    http://tf2.digitaljedi.com
  3. Public Radio International's lineup of shows by The+I+Shing · · Score: 5, Informative

    Check out the offerings distributed by Public Radio International. The archives of many of their shows are available to listen to for free. Specifically, check out This American Life , To the Best of Our Knowledge , and Sound & Spirit . If you're able to record these shows from the archives (using some sort of scheduled stream-ripper like iRecordMusic or WireTap Pro), or purchase them (through Audible or ITMS), they can make an hour-long commute feel like mere minutes.

    And for your Monday morning commute, make sure you've got the latest installment of Wait Wait -- Don't Tell Me! , the NPR news quiz.

    --
    You are in error. No-one is screaming. Thank you for your cooperation.
    1. Re:Public Radio International's lineup of shows by maird · · Score: 5, Informative

      Add to that the BBC (along with NPR, a member of PRI). All of the BBC radio stations have content available for 'Net re-broadcast (I believe you have to record them while playing as well). Radio 4 has excellent speech content with some fine comedy alongside in-depth art, science, current affairs and analysis (e.g. political interviews with members of both sides of an issue in the same studio at the same time).

      Some of the BBC music stations are pretty good too. Many of them are segmented by market the way that US radio is but none of them have the sort of motivations that make much of the US radio I have heard just crap (IMO). Long live NPR!

  4. Well, in the UK... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

    BBC Radio 4 is pretty much my staple diet of commute audio. Most days it's the Today Programme, intelligent, topical, and responsible for breaking a lot of big stories, such as the David Kelly Iraq WMD story.

    The last edition is always posted online at the above address as a 'Listen Again' stream - worth checking out.

  5. IT Conversations and Podcasts by billnapier · · Score: 5, Informative

    Check out the content available from IT Conversations. Lots of geeky stuff from lots of geeky people (People like Cory Doctorow, Steve Wozniak, Bruce Schneier, etc.).

    You may also want to try listening to podcasts. Check out ipodder.org to see a directory of them. There is more than enough content there to keep you occupied on a daily basis. Oh, I guess I'm also assuming you can listen to MP3 in your car...

  6. Quirks and Quarks by yo303 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Quirks and Quarks is a Canadian science radio show from CBC. Endless hours of content can be downloaded from the past shows archive here.

    As a bonus, you can even get it in Ogg.

    yo.

  7. Re:How about just paying attention to the traffic? by Delta2.0 · · Score: 5, Funny
    If it's something that makes you think, then it's reducing the bandwidth you have to be putting towards the road.

    Only on slashdot will you see your level of concentration refered to as "bandwidth."

  8. Re:podcasts - what they are... by djhalon · · Score: 5, Informative

    Podcasting is made up of two parts. Part one is the show itself. This show is recorded in MP3 format and then posted on a site. This site then has an RSS feed that points to the MP3 file and has details about the current show. The second part is the client app. Some of the current apps are ipodder, ipodderX, doppler, jpodder, etc.

    The client users makes the app subscribe to the RSS feed. The client app then checks the subscribed feeds on a regular basis and then if the RSS changes it will automatically download the new show. The client user can then setup the app to create a playlist and then import it into iTunes or onto your iPod (or any MP3 player).

    Because the show is just an MP3 you don't have to get the client, you can just download the MP3 from the podcast site and listen to it or burn it if you want to.

    Since this post does seem like a opp to pimp podcasting, I have to pimp mine...

    http://www.fakescience.com/labreport.htm

    The Lab Report covers the new digital music industry and highlights new underground and unsigned music. This week we have Rick Carr, formely of NPR, and he is talking about his new show TechnoPop and also about Sandy Pearlman's $0.05 song economy. Check it out!

    -halon-

  9. Richard Feynman - Deifnitely worth your time by timcrews · · Score: 5, Informative

    Richard Feynman, prominent physicist, Nobel laureate, and general renaissance man, was also a prolific and entertaining author, and many of his books are available as unabridged audio books. I find it hard to imagine that any geek would not find these interesting, insightful, and humorous (+5 on all scales, of course!)

    Audible.com has them.

    "The Pleasure of Finding Things Out"

    "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!"

    "What Do You Care What Other People Think?"