Slashdot Asks: Your Favorite Podcasts? And Why?

Are podcasts finally starting to go mainstream? Are they the future of radio? Who knows. Over the weekend, a reader asked us if we listen to podcasts -- and if yes, which ones? I started listening to podcasts five years ago, and I try to listen to one podcast every day. Here are some of the podcasts I have subscribed to (though I rarely manage to listen to all of them, each week): The New York Times' new podcast The Daily, Bloomberg's Decrypted, WSJ's Media Mix, The Information's 411, The Economist's The Week Ahead, The Economist's Babbage, Financial Times' Tech Tonic, NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, The New Yorker's Radio Hour, The Accidental Tech Podcast, John Gruber's The Talk Show, Slate's Audio Book Club, and Kara Swisher's Recode Decode. What are your favorite podcasts and why? Also, when do you listen to them -- at work /during commute / before bed / weekend or some other time?

Comments

It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[Anonymous Coward]

In the early 2000s it was blogs. Now we have Youtube videos and Soundcloud podcasts. The under-20 set treat these as their new TV shows and obsess over them and their stars just like we used to care about bloggers.

Re:It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't think blogs are totally dead yet. For learning something technical, they're probably the best way to do a long-form explanation.

YouTube videos are nice, and full-time YouTubers really do put a lot of production work in. But, things like blogs are much easier to maintain and keep up with. I have a couple of ideas for technical teaching kinds of stuff, but I just don't have the energy to maintain a full social media presence on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube 24/7. A blog is a good way to put information out there -- videos are good for how-to summaries.

Re:It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[geekmux]

In the early 2000s it was blogs. Now we have Youtube videos and Soundcloud podcasts. The under-20 set treat these as their new TV shows and obsess over them and their stars just like we used to care about bloggers.

Blogging didn't go away.

The format merely changed, and seemingly right under your nose.

It's now called Vlogging, and the main stage is obviously YouTube.

Re:It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[Oswald McWeany]

Much prefer a blog to a vlog. I hate video or audio for getting information. It takes so much longer than just reading.

Re:It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[Hognoxious]

Some things lend themselves to videos. Often these are things where it involves moving your body (sport, martial arts, dancing) or part of it (arts & crafts, DIY, using tools). Some mathematical things work well too.

Some things are awful on video. Anything that involves making settings on a computer is an utter PITA as you miss what you're doing, rewind back, try to jump forward, jump forward too far, rewind back again. That'd be better served by text. Even screenshots aren't absolutely necessary, though I quite like them.

Horses for courses, innit? The start of being a craftsman is knowing what tool to use - and which *not* to use.

Re:It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[cayenne8]

Yeah, I would have thought that the audio only podcast type things were pretty much dead by now...and that video-casts were the main form of that type "broadcast"....

Re: It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[Anonymous Coward]

So *thats* why newspapers are dying and everyone gets their news from cable TV. Thanks for clearing that up.

Re:It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[ripvlan]

I agree - I think this rise in popularity is what allowed Gimlet Media to get running & look good to investors. Plus the spin offs (like Serial from TAL...and is now its own "thing" like Gimlet) This podcast "craze" can been seen in a few ways - Dangerous narrow-focus on "media I like" (akin to the web portal dangers predicted years ago) and Enriching myself through learning & entertainment. It is a "new" stream of "radio" content - a shift like how Netflix & Amazon has replaced cable TV in our house. Other than Live News I rarely turn on the radio. Even music is streamed or mp3 (ad free world - gotta love it).

I've been listening for about 8 years now - I used to treat it as a "DVR" for radio and listen when I missed a show But that quickly became "listen on demand according to my schedule" -- like Netflix. My car (2008) has an iPod connector so I would load up and go, either the morning commute or Sunday drive. Now that I have kids my morning commute is the music of Rock'in Ron the Friendly Pirate.

Since I started podcast listening through NPR a few shows have stayed with me. But my media playing time has to compete with other stuff these days - such as Netflix, reading books, and playing with the kids (which is my personal top priority). To this end I no longer listen to Every Single Episode like I used to. Even my list of podcasts has gotten shorter.

DotNetRocks (used to listen to them all - now just the ones I have time & interest)
RunAs Radio (again - used to listen to them all)
This American Life (skip the reruns)
Reply All
RadioLab (skip the reruns)
Startup Podcast
Serial
99% Invisible

As time permits & a single episode looks interesting/helpful:
Planet Money, Freakonomics, Marketplace Money

Used to listen: (all good - just lacking time)
Bill Burr Monday Morning podcast
Lake Wobegon
Wait Wait...don't tell me
Whad'ya Know (not much..you?! - sorry couldn't help it - used to listen to the full 2 hour on the radio years ago)

Re:It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[Reteo Varala]

The problem with video or audio is that such information is not easily referenced; you have to go from beginning to end, and then, if you want to go back to a specific step later on, you need to keep clicking on the timeline until you reach something that looks like what you want. And then hope you found the right spot. This is as opposed to blogs and other forms of written content, which are usually separated be headings, and are easily skimmed through until you find what you want.

What all this means is that anything requiring the person to perfectly follow all steps from A to Z will benefit from the video treatment. However, anything that can be modified as appropriate should be presented in a text-based way, so that the person can skim through and find the salient parts of the post.

An example of something that benefits from video would be a video game walkthrough; by showing the action on-screen, the viewer will be able to see the sequence of events, both the actions of the player, and the reaction of the game engine and AIs.

An example of something that benefits from a text-based blog would be a tutorial for a program like Photoshop, or the GIMP. These programs are complex, and no video can possibly cover everything, and often people desire things on these programs that require a collection of different actions. Sometimes, all the actions are required, sometimes, they want to get to a point, and then diverge. Or maybe they simply want to refer to step 5, because it might be something that would work with their current project. For whatever reason, trying to find that step in a 30- to 50-minute YouTube video is downright frustrating.

Re:It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[Anonymous Coward]

You Are Not So Smart

On the Media

Re: It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[war4peace]

What does one have top do with the other?
Newspapers are dying because they are SLOW information bearers. By the time it lands in your courtyard, most stuff in it is already watched and obsolete.
Some paper zines would last for a lot longer, though. There is one in my city which would translate as "the phone ad". If you want to sell something (be it a service, an item, etc) you call a number and dictate your ad, then hang up. It's around 2 bucks or so and it gets printed in the next edition. It goes out every Monday, Wednesday and Friday and costs roughly a quarter.

Blogs are totally different animals, they have no resemblance to newspapers.

Re: It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[Oswald McWeany]

So *thats* why newspapers are dying and everyone gets their news from cable TV. Thanks for clearing that up.

Actually, most newspapers are being killed off by internet media, not cable TV. One print medium for the other. People who have difficulty reading still have, and will always have video based media to fall back on.

Re:It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[Anonymous Coward]

and Slashdot never moved on. Tried with Geeks in Space....

https://news.slashdot.org/story/99/08/04/145209/geeks-in-space-episode-4

But thats OK. We love you anyway ./

Re:It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[vux984]

An example of something that benefits from video would be a video game walkthrough; by showing the action on-screen, the viewer will be able to see the sequence of events, both the actions of the player, and the reaction of the game engine and AIs.

That's also an example of something that is horrific on video.

If am interested in finding the secrets as I play through a game the one thing I absolutely do not want is to watch someone else play the level from start to finish, every monster shown, every cutscene revealed, every puzzle solved. Might as well not play the game now.

I VASTLY prefer a simple list, "as you enter the subway station, first door on your left, behind the plant in the blue pot". After you kill the boss, jump down into the sewers and follow the wall to the right past the waterfall, its behind the stack of 4 boxes. That's ALL I want. Maybe links to screenshots that i can click on if I still just can't find it. Because i still want to 'find' it. And a couple sentences of description is a bit like orienteering... i have the information needed to get there without having the whole experience completely ruined by watching someone else do it from start to finish before I play.

Walkthrus also benefit from the seek and index features of text.
If I played the game through and found most of the secrets, and am doing a 2nd playthrough to be completionist; and i know i am missing the '4th secret' on the 3rd level then again I can quickly jump to the list of secrets for the 3rd level, and then to the 4th secret, without clicking around trying to find it in a big long video stream.

Same with boss fights; if im having serious trouble with a fight-- e.g. after 30 minutes in a single battle the boss has only revealed its vulnerable spot to me once and I can't figure out how to trigger it... i might look up the fight. I don't want a play by play every attack it can make, every counter to the attacks, and to watch some one do it. I just want to know that I need to shoot the eggs to get it angry enough to charge, and that after it charges while its recovering if you hit it with an explosive it'll scream in rage and expose its vulnerable spot so you can damage it. That one sentence is usually ALL i want.

Re:It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[Hognoxious]

Some formats support chapters/sections.

Re:It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[Anonymous Coward]

Totally agree about the reference-ability of video. I did see an elegant solution for this recently, though: a video with a text transcript beneath, where clicking on a bit of text makes the video jump to the same point.

Re:It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[Reteo Varala]

Actually, by "Walkthrough," I meant "Longplay." Some people (like yours truly) just don't have the coordination to play some games, but are still curious to know how they turn out.

Re:It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[SQLGuru]

What I like about listening / watching podcasts is that I can do that WHILE doing something else. I listen to over 130 podcasts (meaning I've heard every episode and catch the newest before the next episode comes out). I use it as background while doing other things (driving, exercise, even coding). Sure, I'm not absorbing 100% of the content, but I catch the main points and can recognize when the podcast requires a little more attention than I've been giving it.

Favorite podcast app: Pocketcast
Audio speed: 2.5x
Video speed: 2.0x

An abbreviated list of podcasts I listen to:

• 99% Invisible
• Adam Ruins Everything
• Anna Faris is Unqualified
• AskPat
• Beyond the Todo List
• Chubby Wizard
• Critical Hit
• Cryptid Creatures
• D&D Is For Nerds
• Drunks & Dragons
• Dungeon Master's Block
• Dynamic Banter
• TekThing
• Eventual Millionaire
• Film Riot
• Grammar Girl
• Hak5
• Hero Movie Podcast
• Heroes and Villains
• Hidden Brain
• How I Built This
• Improve Photography
• Jay & Miles X-Plain the X-Men
• Marketing Over Coffee
• Money Girl's Quick and Dirty Tips
• Myths and Legends
• Amy Porterfield's Online Marketing Made Easy
• Only Stupid Answers
• Saturday Morning Rewind
• Scam School
• Side Hustle School
• Skeptoid
• Smart Passive Income TV
• SourceFed
• SourceFed Nerd
• Steal The Show
• Stuff They Don't Want You To Know
• Stuff You Missed In History Class
• Stuff You Should Know
• The Allusionist
• The Art of Photography
• The Cliff Ravenscraft Show
• The Feed: The Official Libsyn Podcast
• The Heroes, Villains and Sidekicks Show
• The Math Dude Quick and Dirty Tips
• The Memory Palace
• The Philip DeFranco Show
• The RPG Academy
• Smart Passive Income
• Twenty Thousand Hertz
• Universe Today Video
• Unsolved Murders: True Crime Stories
• Welcome To Nightvale
• Women of Marvel Podcast
• Youpreneur FM

There are more, but I skipped the ones that don't update as regularly [I might purge some of them soon].

Re: It's dramatic how quickly the shift happened

[Anonymous Coward]

I don't listen to podcasts very often, but when I do it tends to be Defensive Security, because a) it's funny and b) it's what I do for a living.

Podcasts

[Phusion]

I walk around a lot, so I've started listening to podcasts a little bit more. I've been listening to Leo Laporte for the last decade or so, TWiT and his various podcasts like Security Now with Steve Gibson are sometimes educational and entertaining. Outside of the tech genre I've been listening to a lot of Harmontown, the podcast by Community and Rick + Morty creator Dan Harmon. It's a feel good kind of show, which I definitely need these days. I'd like to listen to more tech/security oriented podcasts, but having to subscribe to them is a pain in the ass and eats away at my limited space on the iPhone 6S.

Re:Podcasts

[93 Escort Wagon]

I've been listening to Leo Laporte for the last decade or so, TWiT and his various podcasts like Security Now with Steve Gibson are sometimes educational and entertaining.

I have an 1.5 hour commute (each way) 4 days a week, so I listen to a lot of podcasts.

I like TWIT most of the time... but there are a few guests that will cause me to just preemptively delete the podcast because I find them so annoying (Robert Scoville and Jason Callicanis are two who come to mind). I don't really find it educational because they're just tech writers, and sometimes their deeper tech ignorance ends up on display - but occasionally they'll bring up a story I'm unaware of, and in general it's entertaining enough to keep me distracted during a train ride.

I listen to the typical NPR podcasts like Car Talk (yes, still), Wait Wait, and Stardate. I also like to listen to the FanGraphs baseball podcast, and are local sports radio's "hot stove" show during the baseball off season. Oh, and Alton Brown's podcasts are usually entertaining.

Re:Podcasts

[Anonymous Coward]

Is Steve Gibson the guy peddling Spinrite?

He lost me when he said how Ad blockers are bad because that's how he makes money.

Re:Podcasts

[The-Ixian]

I like TWIT most of the time... but there are a few guests that will cause me to just preemptively delete the podcast because I find them so annoying (Robert Scoville and Jason Callicanis are two who come to mind)

I do the same thing. I agree with your off-the-cuff choices. I would go further and add that I WILL absolutely listen to any episode with JJ Stone or Dvorak (I heard that Dvorak was banned from the show now... which really makes me sad. He challenged Leo and guests and their techno-bubble lives). Also, if Leo expounds on AR vs VR one more time, I think I am dropping TWiT from my weekly lineup... he just won't shut up about it. I will, however, always keep Windows Weekly and Security Now going no matter what.

I also listened to Car Talk for so many years but, obviously, they are all re-runs now, so I don't bother downloading them every week. I also used to WWDTM pretty religiously, but it has just become a bit too formulaic.

Re:Podcasts

[dslauson]

I commute on bicycle whenever I can, which is when most of my podcast listening happens (it's mostly trails and low-traffic neighborhoods, and I use earbuds that let a lot of ambient noise through). I also usually listen to them at about 1.3x speed, to pack a little more in. Unless my wife is listening with me, because she can't stand the sped-up talking. She says it makes her feel like bugs are crawling on her. Some kind of weird synesthesia thing, I guess.

Anyway, most of my podcasts are comedy:

• Comedy Bang Bang - Comedy and improv from mostly L.A. based comedians, hosted by Scott Awkerman
• Doug Loves Movies - Comedian Doug Benson has friends from comedy and film at a live taped discussion where they play movie-based games and generally joke around.
• Stop Podcasting Yourself - Conversational comedy podcast with a couple really funny guys from Vancouver, Canada
• My Brother, My Brother, and Me - Three brothers give fake advice and discuss dumb or funny Yahoo Answers questions
• Never Not Funny - Another conversational comedy podcast hosted by Jimmy Pardo
• The Flop House - A bad movie podcast, but with lots of amusing digressions and very funny hosts
• The Beef and Dairy Network - Dry British humor: a fake beef and dairy podcast
• The Dollop - a couple comedians pick a topic in US history and tell the story while riffing jokes about it.

I also like these non-comedy ones:

• Stuff You Should Know - Educational, but fun, a new topic every time.
• Slate's Culture and Political Gabfests - Panel discussions of the week's cultural and political happenings
• Planet Money and Freakonomics - Two smart and interesting economics podcasts.
• Radiolab - Mostly science stuff, but with storytelling elements and really good production

Re:Podcasts

[elrous0]

TWiT is great. Leo is still the man. I would also add some other personal favs:

Cord-Killers (formerly Cord Cutters on the TWiT network)
TekThing (from another former TWiT/TechTV alum Patrick Norton)
Anything from Kinda Funny Games (Colin isn't ALWAYS right, though)
Elder Scrolls Off the Record (a must-watch for fans of the Elder Scrolls games)

Re:Podcasts

[freeze128]

Erm, SPINRITE is how he makes money. He says this all the time on his podcast. I don't think I have seen an ad on his website EVER (in over 15 years).

What DOES annoy me about his podcast is his stuttering and tendency to repeat words 3 or 4 times when he is thinking about what to say. It's cute at first, but becomes annoying REALLY fast, as his podcast is already really long. I hate to point out the man's speech impediment, but it becomes clear that he is an engineer first, and not really top notch at public speaking.

Re:Podcasts

[93 Escort Wagon]

Oh Doctah is hilarious! And I was wondering where Dvorak had gone to... he could be grating at times, but I completely agree with you - the discussions tend to turn into a bit of an echo chamber at times, and he was good at preventing that. It's too bad if he's really banned nowadays.

Also, it looks like the guy's name isn't "Scoville" - it's Robert Scoble. He was on this most recent show, and after about seven minutes I just couldn't take it anymore... away it went...

Re:Podcasts

[The-Ixian]

I don't recall him ever saying that.

I do know that he does tend to take a moderate and reasoned approach to things though.

The reason I know he probably didn't say specifically that adblockers are bad is that he fully endorses uBlock Origin and NoScript (both of which will tend to block some ads).

Anyway, even if he did say that, I think you are throwing the baby out with the bath water.

Re:Podcasts

[bazmail]

Yeah Robert Scoble is an irritating douchebag. Eminently punchable face. Talks an enormous amount of shit in that annoying voice that makes me want to smash my phone.

Re:Podcasts

[Anonymous Coward]

Dvorak is doing his own *excellent* podcast with Adam Curry of former MTV fame. Title is No Agenda. They do 2 shows a week, at roughly 3 hours each, so that's a lot of material. But it's very entertaining, and very informative.

Consider it an alternative to news. They review current events and how they're covered (or not) by mainstream media, and expose just how corrupt they are and how they avoid topics they don't like.

Incidentally, Leo Laporte banned Dvorak after he (Dvorak, that is) insisted that the story behind the bomb-clock kid in Texas was a sham, which turned out to be the case (and the mainstream media didn't bother to correct any of that).

Re:Podcasts

[Anonymous Coward]

I would say Gibson's "speech impediment", if you want to call it that, is not a stutter as much as it is a stammer. I suspect this has more to do with him trying to find the right words and phrasing to explain complex topics using simple language. That's really hard to do on the fly. He's got notes, but he's not reading a pre-written script.

> it becomes clear that he is an engineer first, and not really top notch at public speaking

As a fellow software developer, that's exactly why I like him a lot more than any public speaker who might do better. I found it annoying at first too, but I got over it rather quickly and would rather listen to him.

Re:Podcasts

[Anonymous Coward]

Erm, SPINRITE is how he makes money. He says this all the time on his podcast. I don't think I have seen an ad on his website EVER (in over 15 years).

What DOES annoy me about his podcast is his stuttering and tendency to repeat words 3 or 4 times when he is thinking about what to say. It's cute at first, but becomes annoying REALLY fast, as his podcast is already really long. I hate to point out the man's speech impediment, but it becomes clear that he is an engineer first, and not really top notch at public speaking.

Speech impediments are not something you can just turn off.

When I worked on the Help Desk, there was one person that called in who would stutter. They prefaced sentences with "Yes" instead of starting out with something that may cause a stutter, like "My", as in "Yes, my computer is showing an error when I boot up". I was damn happy to help them whenever I could, because they did not let the stuttering problem hold them back. They could have pressed someone else to make the call for them, but they did it themselves. That takes real courage.

Re:Podcasts

[Bratch]

I'll need to try Security Now. I have been listening to the Risky Business weekly pod cast, usually near the start or end of a work day. Patrick Gray seems to cover a good amount of current security issues. He's Australian, so be prepared for the accent Americans.

Re:Podcasts

[coastwalker]

I do not have time to listen to them all, but I have a good bank of techy podcasts downloaded for long journeys. See also the YouTube stuff below.

BacterioFiles, Binge Thinking HIstory, Cheap Astronomy Podcasts, Chemistry World Podcast, Diffusion Science radio, Distillations, FQXi Podcast, The Jodcast, London School of Economics Public lectures and events, More or Less: Behind the Stats, Nature Podcast, omega tau >> podcast (en), Planetary Radio: Space, Exploration, Astronomy and Science, Public Lecture Podcast university of Bath, Quirks and Quarks Complete Show from CBC Radio, RRR FM (Einsten A Go Go), SALT - Seminars About Long Term Thinking, Science and the City, Science Magazine Podcast, The Science Show - Full program podcast, Science Weekly, The Silicon Valley Astronomy Lectures Podcasts, SpaceTime with Stuart Gary, Spectrum, This week in Evolution, This Week in Microbiology, This Week in Parasitism, Tox Talk.

These days I mostly watch YouTube lectures and have curated lists here https://www.youtube.com/channe...

YouTube subscriptions are to 200 Universities and institutions, I cant be bothered to type them in.

From which I have created playlists of lectures, take a look if any subject interests you and you can see where the content is from and you can subscribe.

Antimatter, Art, Astronomy, Biology, Black Holes, Chemistry, Climate, CMB, Computers, Cosmic Rays, Cosmology, Current affairs, Dark Matter and Energy, Engineering, Events, Fast Radio Bursts, Food, Fusion, General Relativity, Geology, Gravitational waves, History, Human Genomics, Humor, Humor, Maths, Medicine, Meteorites, microscopy, Neutrinos, Outdoors, Particle Physics, Plants, Quantum computation, Quantum Mechanics, Quasicrystals, Seti and Exoplanets, Solar System, Solar Terrestrial Physics, Spacetime, Superconductivity, Telescopes, Ultradiffuse Galaxies, Vacuum, Video of the Week, Visual Astronomy.

I have watched about half of the lectures in the playlists, the rest I have listened to at least some of it to ensure that the content is not completely off the deep end.

The most recently updated playlist comes first, unfortunately I do not know how to fix YouTube so that the playlists are in alphabetical order so you have to hunt through them for the topic of interest. If anyone was interested I would probably put this all up on a web site and format it for re-consumption but as I only have 5 subscribers I doubt there is much interested in "Curated playlists of public and graduate level Physics and Science lectures from great universities in English. Updated daily." lol indeed.

The content of these lectures is unbelievably good and is worth hundreds of millions of dollars. So it is spectacular that anyone on the planet can watch them for free at the moment. Another good thing is that they do not have any commercials except at the start of a few and there is no deafening music or morons from the TV industry dumbing down and ruining the content. Oh and you need a serious attention span as most are edging an hour long. Absolutely fantastic! I threw my TV away.

Re:Podcasts

[The-Ixian]

No Agenda has been added to my list. Thank you AC!

Re:Podcasts

[Anonymous Coward]

I have an hour commute and I love gaming so I enjoy listening to the gaming podcast https://soundcloud.com/where-do-we-game

ISC Stormcast

[mwsmith824]

It's a quick 5-8 minutes usually, but it's a quick hit on the way into work for anything big going around that might have been missed in the last 24 hours.

Podcasts are annoying, please give me a blog

[Anonymous Coward]

Podcats are too annoying, I have to listen to them at the speed of whomever is talking. And I am *not* they TL;DR type, if you give me the podcast contents as a blog post (with pictures if it were a "videocast"), I will fast-read it in about 10-30s to know whether it is worth the time/interesting to *me*, and then read it *carefully* if so.

I don't have the time to listen to someone at their own speed, unless it is someone I am actually meeting in real life.

Re:Podcasts are annoying, please give me a blog

[Sebby]

Podcats are too annoying, I have to listen to them at the speed of whomever is talking.

So speed it up. There's plenty of podcast app that do a good job of speeding up the playback, even cutting down on the silence within the podcast. For most podcasts I don't even notice the speedup in people's voices/speech (the app I use usually does a variable speedup to about 1.4x speed.)

Re:Podcasts are annoying, please give me a blog

[Anonymous Coward]

It is not so easy to "speed it up" when you are not a native speaker. This is hardly a problem with text, which one can usually speed-read no matter the language as long as he is at least "medium level". Might not hold for CJK, though.

Re:Podcasts are annoying, please give me a blog

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a damn shame that nobody else speaks the same language as you.

Re:Podcasts are annoying, please give me a blog

[Anonymous Coward]

What I often do with a lot of content (text, audio, video) is:
- skip to the end
- look at the conclusion they draw
- decide whether it's worth reading/listening to the entire thing to see how they arrived at that conclusion.

This helps avoid wasting time on:
- flimsy conclusions
- cliches
- having someone explain something you already know or is self-evident

Personal Improvement

[Elvenbane]

I've been trying to improve my self in various aspects. One of the many podcasts I listen to is the Miracle Morning. Hal Elrod interviews various successful people each podcast to learn their personal secrets for success. I've enjoyed them. http://halelrod.com/podcast/

Re:Personal Improvement

[Luthair]

Something to be careful of, people rarely know the reason they had success and will often give too much credit to themselves.

Twit.tv

[JacobLeclerc]

Tech news today, and hardware weekly. Covers everything important in tech, and anything new in computer hardware.

sysadministrivia

[Victor_0x53h]

sysadministrivia.com it's weird

Re:sysadministrivia

[Victor_0x53h]

I skipped the link to get the top-post and still missed the deadline. Sysadministrivia is great, they sit around drinking beer to discuss the latest news and best-practices for system admins. I've picked up a few tricks listening in.

Tell em Steve-Dave!

[Luthair]

For me they've pretty consistently brought the funny for years.

Re:Tell em Steve-Dave!

[Minion of Eris]

Anything that comes out of Mr. Smith's studio is worth a listen

Podcasts?

[Anonymous Coward]

Absolutely and positively none!

Matt & Mattingly's Ice Cream Social

[Anonymous Coward]

Best Comedy podcast of 2016: heyscoops.com

Here's two good ones

[Orgasmatron]

These two are unlikely to get much love here:

http://issuesetc.org/
http://www.thesurvivalpodcast....

Also:

http://podcastone.com/the-milo...

Re: Here's two good ones

[Anonymous Coward]

That's an excellent list for people who love rational arguments from diverse perspectives.

Re: Here's two good ones

[Anonymous Coward]

Thumbs up on issuesetc.org, I'll have to try the second. John Batchelor Show is on my daily must listen list as well.

A few of mine

[John Jorsett]

Embedded, Space Welders, The Ezra Klein Show, Federalist Radio Hour, Internet of Things Podcast, The Amp Hour Electronics Podcast, O' Reilly [Bots | Data | Design | Hardware | Radar] Podcast, Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Vox's The Weeds. The why is because they're interesting and introduce me to developments and topics that I haven't previously encountered.

The Joe Rogan Experience

[TheCastro1689]

Train by day, Joe Rogan podcast by night, all day!

Re:The Joe Rogan Experience

[dadelbunts]

The recent one with Alex Jones was pretty great. Those two need to team up for a weekly.

Re:The Joe Rogan Experience

[Anonymous Coward]

Alex Jones would be an amazing comedian. Everything he says is #AlternativeFacts

Re:The Joe Rogan Experience

[OneoFamillion]

Joe Rogan for me as well, because the man usually lets his guests talk, there's a healthy male attitude with a reasonable amount of common sense about it all, and he also covers some topics that other people might not touch with a ten foot pole.

My Personal Favorites

[shadowknot]

I very much enjoy the podcast genre even though it is a rather broad spectrum. Here are my faves:-

• The Adam Buxton Podcast
• Penn's Sunday School
• The Infinite Monkey Cage
• The Skeptics Guide to the Universe
• StarTalk Radio

Re:My Personal Favorites

[Anonymous Coward]

I used to like listening to what Penn Gillette has to say, but I quit his podcast after I realized he talks a lot but ultimately says very little (if that makes sense). I just don't have the time to kill.

As far as StarTalk goes, I hang on to every word coming out of Neil deGrasse Tyson's mouth, but I find the shows that don't feature him are intolerable. And Bill Nye irritates me to no end.

Re:My Personal Favorites

[The-Ixian]

I used to listen to StarTalk, but I really don't like the pre-recorded interview format. It also seems like they always talk about the same stuff that we have heard a million times already.

As for Penn Gillette... I think he is basically Donald Trump. Just likes to hear himself talk and loves the spotlight. I don't even think he believes half the stuff he espouses.

The Dick Show!

[Anonymous Coward]

Because it's hilarious, fantastic, and just plain entertaining.

Drunk Physicists were pretty good

[RandySmith6424]

http://www.thedrunkphysicists.... They only did it for a short period. But it was an interesting listen.

Podcasts are too much like Advertisements

[Anonymous Coward]

They steal my time. Time I would rather be doing something else.

I've burned out on Podcasts and moved on.

Short form Blogs and Short form YouTube is more what I tune into.. but nothing Serial

I just feel so oppressed with the comittment to "Keep up" with a Facebook group or something like that.. too much emotional drama over "committment".

Re:Podcasts are too much like Advertisements

[drummerboybac]

Short Form Blogs and YouTube aren't very practical while doing other things, as you have to be looking at them. I think of podcasts as something you listen to while doing something else, like driving, shoveling snow, mowing the lawn (so you can tell people to get off of it later), and so on.

A short list

[WillAffleckUW]

A bunch of local news podcasts: Mayberry with Highrises, The Analysts, The Overcast, Blabbermouth, Weather with Cliff Mass, Week in Review
An international podcast: The Phileas Club (started by a gamer)
Some energy and enviro podcasts: Warm Regards, Direct Current, KEXP Mind over Matters
A gaming podcast: The Instance
Music podcasts: KEXP Live Performances, KEXP Song of the Day, KEXP Music that Matters, Alt.Latino,
More news: some of The New Yorker, Washington Week, The Economist, PBS Newshour, CBC News: World Report
Techno bloody techno: RA Podcast
Our fave statisticians: Five Thirty Eight

I'd recommend the music podcasts and the more news ones to anyone

JOE ROGAN!

[Karganeth]

Rogan is funny and good, he has many interesting guests: recently had a former scientologist. Also, sam harris's waking up (philosophy) and very bad wizards (philosophy)

I like

[The-Ixian]

I listen to the following every week:

Security Now
Windows Weekly
This week in Tech
This American Life
99% Invisible
Radiolab
On the Media
BrainStuff
TED Radio Hour
The Bugle

Re:I like

[whoever57]

This American Life is great. And now, it's so easy to access via Pandora.

But if you like this, you have to (if you haven't already) watch the spoof that SNL did of Serial.

Re:I like

[The-Ixian]

As for when I listen. I walk a lot and I ride public transportation. So I listen during the commute or when I am just walking around or at lunch.

I am definitely looking for more podcasts to listen to as well. I have already written down some that I have seen in here today.

Thanks guys.

Re:I like

[chispito]

I listen to the following every week:

Security Now

I'll have to give that a shot. I really like Risky Business http://risky.biz/. The caster, Patrick Gray, brings in a lot of interesting guests, and really seems to have a good handle on what kinds of stories and things matter, and what is just smoke and mirrors.

Re:I like

[Anonymous Coward]

Astronomy Cast - I find it great on nights I cant get to sleep - listening to a couple people chat about science with out hype.

Re:I like

[The-Ixian]

That one is, by far, the best quality podcast on the TWiT network.

3 Steve Gibson

Re:I like

[Pasquina]

99% Invisible should be heard by everyone. The host Roman Mars is interesting, interested, and always positive. He makes me feel informed and happy.

Re:I like

[Anonymous Coward]

Astronomy Cast is the only internet radio show I listen to.

Re:I like

[Anubis IV]

+1 for Radiolab. The best explanation I've come up with for it so far is that it's a variety series of incredibly well-produced audio micro-documentaries. I listened to one on a whim (Bigger than Bacon, which was about the mystery of a crackling sound one of their reporters used to hear at boat dock near their house) and was immediately hooked. It finds the perfect balance between being educational and entertaining.

I also love their More Perfect podcast. It's worth a listen for anyone who wishes they knew more about the US Supreme Court but doesn't actually want to devote any time to the subject. They manage to find the human interest side to each story and present them in a way that keeps you on the edge of your seat, despite the fact that in most of the cases I knew how the cases would turn out.

As for my complete list and why I like them, it's pretty short:
- Accidental Tech Podcast - Three guys talking about tech and cars. They play well off each other and, between the three, usually have some decent insight into the tech community and how it interacts with a mostly inscrutable company (i.e. Apple).

- Radiolab - See above

- Radiolab Presents: More Perfect - See above

- Serial - Everyone and their grandma listens to this one, so it needs no explanation

- Under the Radar - Two guys talking iOS development. I'm not in the space, but it's always under 30 minutes, they stay on topic, and they frequently provide a veteran's perspective that runs contrary to what an outsider like me might think makes sense, so I find it to be a decent listen. Others will likely find it boring.

I'm also going to give the just-begun The Important Thing a shot in the next few days, since the guy doing it writes a frequently-insightful blog that I really enjoy reading and is typically really good on the other podcasts I've heard him on. I expect it'll become part of my usual group of podcasts, but I can't yet offer that recommendation.

Re:I like

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd add a somewhat affiliated podcast to that: 365 Days of Astronomy. There is an episode almost every day, with a wide variety of podcasters contributing.

Re:I like

[bigfinger76]

Just checked out that spoof. Pretty good!

No Agenda

[Anonymous Coward]

No Agenda

Re:No Agenda

[paratek]

ITM!

Re:No Agenda

[Anonymous Coward]

That used to be "the crackpot and buzzkill" podcast. Now it is "the crackpot and the crackpot" podcast. Those idiots are repulsive with their ignorance and misinformation.

Re:No Agenda

[Rich_Lather]

I hear No Agenda is the best podcast in the universe.

Re:No Agenda

[Incadenza]

Adam Curry is also the ‘podfather’, he's the guy that invented podcasting as we know it. Good to hear he is still around.

Re:No Agenda

[Anonymous Coward]

ITM to all ships at sea, boots on the ground, feet in the air, subs in the water and all the dames and knights out there!

Re:No Agenda

[turbotalon]

http://www.noagendashow.com/ Adam Curry and John C Dvorak. They take no advertising so no paid biases. Deconstruction of the spin from MSM. In the morning!

LOVE NoAgenda. Genius.

Not a huge NPR fan but...

[zerofoo]

Freakonomics podcast is awesome:

http://freakonomics.com/archiv...

Wait Wait Don't Tell Me is also quite funny (although the Trump jokes are getting old at this point):

http://www.npr.org/podcasts/34...

Re:Not a huge NPR fan but...

[grep -v '.*' *]

On NPR I listened to Says You! at Sat noon all of the time -- a nice game of wordplay. Right after that Wait Wait Don't Tell Me came on. On the former, very occasionally one of the panelists would make a snarky political remark but that was extremely few and always had a funny bent related to the topic at hand. On the latter ....

I was lazy and listened to the next show on (WWDTM) and came to greatly dislike that show -- they always had political jokes on "both" sides of the isle. The D ones were always funny / nice (Obama was feeding a rescued dove and it grabbed the entire cracker and flew away leaving Obama forlorn) while the R ones weren't quite the same (Trump was feeding a dove by stuffing an entire box of crackers down it's throat, but when the poor weak migrant bird lifted it's wing to protest he bit it's head off and ate its dripping raw corpse while accidentally eating some feathers as well.)

Yes of course I'm making that bit up; I haven't listened to the show in years. But that's how it always seemed to me -- soft funny jokes for the ones they like, hard mean ones for the ones they don't. I guess that's life, clans, and showbiz/politics.

I also found it interesting: both had a find-the-truth game. SY had a word with 3 definitions, only 1 correct, find it. I liked that game. WW had a similar one: 3 news articles, 1 correct, find it. I didn't like that one but couldn't figure out why. I finally decided you'd either learn a new unused word and vocabulary definition and ignore the false definitions (or forget about the entire thing completely) but while you might remember the correct news article, you might also remember the IN-correct news article, forgetting that it was incorrect.

Re:WhiteSupremacyDaily

[mrthoughtful]

I think this was meant to be funny.

Marketplace and NPR News

[Rob Riggs]

The two I listen to most are Marketplace and NPR News. Following that: Science Friday; Wait, Wait... Don't Tell Me; BBC News; Planet Money. I've been listening to some of these podcasts for 6 or more years now. I'm also subscribed to a bunch of Youtube channels. My favorite at the moment is EEVblog.

Re:Marketplace and NPR News

[dohzer]

Dave-from-EEVblog's podcast he does with Chris is alright: The Amp Hour.

Re:Marketplace and NPR News

[Rob Riggs]

I listened to the Amp Hour a few times. I didn't really get much out of it. I'll need to give it a try again.

The No Agenda Show

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.noagendashow.com/

Re:The No Agenda Show

[Walter White]

Best podcast in the universe!

Re:The No Agenda Show

[Anonymous Coward]

yeah i like the way they ring the bell to let me know when to get mad or laugh, or both. i am a fuckin moron.

Re: The No Agenda Show

[Anonymous Coward]

Agreed

In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg

[GolemK6]

Once a week BBC4 panel discussion with multiple academics on ludicrously wide-ranging topics, aimed at a literate lay audience. One week you're learning about gravity, the next week the Han Dynasty, and the next week a classic 17th century painting. Smart and fast.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programme...

Re: In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg

[Anonymous Coward]

Can't stand this because of Melvyn's a friggin' lightweight compared to his guests, propped up by obviously pre-prepared questions to 'move the show on' which often just highlight his deficiency. ie. Path A: ask a reasonably enlightened follow up question, or B sabotage the flow by butting in with a pre-prepared one? Needless to say 'Morvyn' will go for B no matter how sweetly the guest sets up for an A, because he doesn't actually seem to be listening to his guests at all.

RadioLab

[pr0t0]

For sure RadioLab. I listen to The Daily Tech News Show for some extended commentary on the day's tech news. I'm a board gamer and listen to The Dice Tower and The Secret Cabal Gaming Podcast. If you're interested in hearing about the business of board games, Board Games Insider is a great resource.

Honorable mention to This American Life. If you haven't listened to the "Squirrel Cop" episode, here ya go, and you're welcome!
https://www.thisamericanlife.o...

Nope, don't listen to podcasts or radio

[Nyder]

Nothing against them, just prefer to read what people have to say. And I don't listen to radio because by 48 I own all the good music I need and not exactly sure current events are worth keeping up with constantly.

Re:Nope, don't listen to podcasts or radio

[whoever57]

Do you commute by car? That provides a great opportunity to listen to some podcasts.

Re:Nope, don't listen to podcasts or radio

[Anonymous Coward]

My car radio doesn't even have stations programmed into it as the CD changer reads MP3s and has played nothing but my own music collection non-stop for 6 years.

Also I just dislike the stupid term "podcast". Slightly more than I dislike "blog".

I prefer to read as well, then I control the pace of the info. This is the same reason why I skip over voice acting dialog in most RPGs when I can, I've already read the subtitles in less than half the time it takes for the audio to play.

Re:Nope, don't listen to podcasts or radio

[freeze128]

Do modern cars have audio systems that support/encourage podcast use? I have a 2012 Honda Civic without NAV, and the radio function seems like it was an afterthought. I can listen to MP3s from a USB thumb drive, but I have thousands of songs on it, and can really only advance to the next song. Forget trying to find a particular song from a particular album by a particular artist.

I listen to podcasts from my android phone via bluetooth while in the car. The steering wheel controls can advance though the podcast by small steps, but switching to another requires pulling out the phone and using its touchscreen.

Re:Nope, don't listen to podcasts or radio

[The-Ixian]

Also I just dislike the stupid term "podcast". Slightly more than I dislike "blog".

Definitely agree with you there. I think podcast is the dumbest term yet. If it is anything, it is a broadcast. If you absolutely insist that it has to have its own name, then I prefer netcast or webcast.

Also with you on the blog thing.

Re:Nope, don't listen to podcasts or radio

[whoever57]

With my car's audio system, and an app on my cellphone, I can communicate with and control the Pandora app (to a limited degree, and rather unreliably) on my cellphone, via bluetooth.

This American Life is on Pandora now.

Re:Nope, don't listen to podcasts or radio

[sleepy_weasel]

1. BT pair phone to car
2. download doggcatcher for Android
3. listen to podcasts in car

Welcome to Night Vale!

[Ann O'Nymous-Coward]

Wonderfully weird, amazingly inventive storytelling, been going strong for years now.

Re:Welcome to Night Vale!

[perotbot]

I stopped 18 months ago during the book hype and never got back to it. and now the pile is SOOOO large that I can't commit the time to it

Re:Welcome to Night Vale!

[Kierthos]

The City Council announces the opening of a new Dog Park at the corner of Earl and Somerset, near the Ralphâ(TM)s. They would like to remind everyone that dogs are not allowed in the Dog Park. People are not allowed in the Dog Park. It is possible you will see Hooded Figures in the Dog Park. Do not approach them. Do not approach the Dog Park. The fence is electrified and highly dangerous. Try not to look at the Dog Park, and especially do not look for any period of time at the Hooded Figures. The Dog Park will not harm you.

Re:Welcome to Night Vale!

[internerdj]

I'm behind but still enjoying it. Along the same lines: For parody radio shows, I loved Thrilling Adventure Hour. For spooky/weird, Limetown was really good. I'm a season in to The Black Tapes Podcast. that one leans a little too much on Serial's tropes but I've gotten past that to actually enjoying it.

WTF with Marc Maron

[Anonymous Coward]

Surprised I haven't seen anyone mention Marc Maron's WTF podcast yet. (I almost typo'd that as "podCATS," which, I suppose, would be somewhat appropriate in Maron's case.)

Re:WhiteSupremacyDaily

[darkain]

Wait, the ultimate victory of the Master Race? So the entire podcast is about how PC gaming absolutely dominates those infidels who only know how to use a controller, and cannot fathom using the masterful weaponry that which is a keyboard and mouse!?

Podcasts are magic

[Anonymous Coward]

I am in my forties and have had severe insomnia since childhood. I have tried every solution.
In early 2015 I started listening to podcasts in bed at night, and within a few weeks my sleepless nights were down by more than 90%. Sometimes I fall asleep listening, but often I don't. I just fall asleep really quickly afterward.
I tend not to listen to episodes that are being currently released, but I'll come upon an old series and binge listen.

I started with Radio Free Burrito (Thanks, Wil!) but I've added a lot more since then.
Some of my favorites include Nerdist, Working, X-Files Files, You Don't Know Flack, Clash of the Type-ins, Mission Log, Watch Out for Fireballs, and the Quantum Leap Podcast.
I also just started listening to a new one that seems promising: Eaten by a Grue.

Re:Podcasts are magic

[Hognoxious]

This may sound stupid, but I find listening to things helps me sleep - even if they're things I find interesting. Occasionally it doesn't work, but then if I'm awake I might as well listen to it.

Re:Podcasts are magic

[Anonymous Coward]

I do that from time to time as well, hoping that some of what I learn while drifting to sleep will 'stick'. :)

just a few

[scoticus]

my brother, my brother, and me adventure zone neebscast radiolab wtf joe rogan hello from the magic tavern judge john hodgman or i just tool around on Stitcher until i find something i like

Re:just a few

[scoticus]

oh goddammit i forgot about the stupid formating.

Amiga Action

[Anonymous Coward]

I love the Amigos- Everything Amiga podcast and Retro Asylum...great for that retro fix!

Re:Amiga Action

[necronom426]

Yep, I listen to those, too. And "The Retro Hour".

Favourites

[Anonymous Coward]

The Bugle (political comedy and ridiculous bullshit), No Such Thing as a Fish (well-researched and entertaining facts), Hardcore History (basically long, fascinating, heavily-researched and engagingly-delivered history lectures), The Greatest Generation (hilarious Star Trek: TNG podcast), Judge John Hodgman (fake internet court with an entertaining and surprisingly insightful host), and some hockey podcasts.

Science!

[RyanFenton]

This is more on the entertainment side, but also feature some of the deeper discussions on important topics than you'd find almost anywhere:

This Week in Science (TWIS) - going for over a decade, and still just as energetic, and honestly hilarious as ever. Just the right mix of solid detail and genuine humor.

Skeptics Guide to the Universe - has also been going for over a decade, and has some of the warmest, funniest folks out there. Lots and lots of science too - since at the heart of modern skepticism is the drive to understand why we can know things more than others.

Data Skeptic - relatively new, but really good, deep dives into what makes meaningful data, in a very entertaining manner.

As with most all podcasts, just make sure whatever you're listening through has a handy 30-second skip to jump past any sponsor bits, they're usually quite well-labelled in those podcasts.

Re:Science!

[CanadianMacFan]

I like The Science Show from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and it's been running on radio for many decades.

PS I love you XOXO - Playstation podcast

[Anonymous Coward]

kindafunny.com has a few shows I like and they youtube and podcast most of them.

Re:PS I love you XOXO - Playstation podcast

[alpha17]

A bakers dozen!

Comics, radio drama, role playing, etc.

[Dr. Jest]

I've had to pare down my podcast listening since I don't drive as much as I used to and usually don't get into listening at home. I have a few categories that I listen to a couple of podcasts each in. These should all be easily found in any podcast directory.
Comics:
War Rocket Ajax
Jay and Miles X-plain the X-Men
I also used to listen to Life Leave Me Alone but their feed address changed and I haven't gotten around to catching back up yet.

Drama:
Welcome to Night Vale
Thrilling Adventure Hour

Role Playing:
Campaign (Getting into this last year is the reason I'm behind on everything else except for WRA and Jay and Miles)
One-shot
Adventure Zone (just starting this one, seems good and I hear it gets better)

Making (I'm way behind on both of these, hopefully they're still updating):
Making It
Darbin Orvar

Misc: My Brother, My Brother, and Me

Podcasts suck

[Anonymous Coward]

I have no favorites.

Comedy

[nsmeby]

Check out The Greatest Generation at http://feeds.feedburner.com/Th... for some Trek TNG humor.

Manager Tools

[edx93]

I find that their advice is often spot-on and very useful / practical, especially when it comes to things like office politics and social interactions (something I'm terrible at). I know of other successful people who also follow(ed) their advice, so there must be something to it... Just my $0.02.

The Gadget Spot

[Anonymous Coward]

I like the gadget spot- they're funny and informative, and it's just something nice to listen to listen to
Link: http://thegadgetspot.podbean.com/?source=pb

Phil Hendrie Show Podcast

[natsmith9]

The Phil Hendrie Show podcast is by far my favorite. I've been a Backstage Pass (paid subscription) for a few years now, but there's a free option. Some may remember Phil Hendrie from his nationally syndicated show back in 2006. The laughs continue today in the digital world. Hilarious podcast with all of the character voices performed by him.

Just two

[Anonymous Coward]

Me personally, I love Liar City, a fantastic smaller podcast about lies and liars, and The Nerd Crew, a podcast about things I recognize.

Echo Screen Live

[Anonymous Coward]

It's a casual hobby podcast that covers a variety of topics.

Also:
The Completely Unnecessary Podcast - video game focused.
Hardcore Gaming 101 podcasts of which there are several: Game Club 199X (GC9X; on their website), First Strike, and Top 47,858 video games (https://itunes.apple.com/uz/podcast/hardcore-gaming-101/id594376523).

No Agenda

[Anonymous Coward]

No Agenda is a podcast by Adam Curry and John C. Dvorak that deconstructs how the media covers issues. Adam's a bit of a self-confessed crackpot, and he draws a lot of criticism from listeners for his personal beliefs, but they can say things that no news outlet can because they directly appeal to listeners from donations (and seem to take in a decent amount of money to keep doing it) without advertisers.

Roderick on the Line

[Anonymous Coward]

Funny, informative, interesting and unpredictable. Start from the beginning, it's great.

Not many, but a few

[ObscureCoder]

I don't listen to many any more. I used to listen to ~20 when I had a long commute and a boring job. These days it is just:
Tech:
http://www.rce-cast.com/ because supercomputers and clusters are my job.
http://www.jupiterbroadcasting... I wasn't a fan of the old hosts, but this year they have new hosts and I am giving them a shot. So far it's been good.
http://www.programmingthrowdow... has good ones every now and then.

News:
http://www.jupiterbroadcasting... I really like how in depth they research even if I have issues with the host and I don't always agree with them.

Fun:
http://www.writingexcuses.com/ I enjoy /reading/ sci-fi and fantasy. These authors actually do the writing and I like getting the behind-the-scenes stories of their creative process.
http://delightyourmarriage.com... this is aimed more toward the wives, but it has been very helpful at times for us. Every marriage goes through a few rough times especially with intimacy. The wife likes it and that is enough for me to enjoy it as well. :-)

Re:Not many, but a few

[ObscureCoder]

Forgot about Hak5's ThreatWire. https://www.patreon.com/Threat...

Mostly Tech/Geek

[perotbot]

Daily Tech News Show, This Week in Tech, Cordkillers, Security Now, Current Geek, NPR ( Ask me another and wait wait ), Sword and Laser, The Morning Stream, MacBreak Weeky, Polyamory Weekly, Strange Love seem to all rotate fairly rapidly, I keep promising myself to get back to Welcome to Nightvale, but after 18months it is a bit intimidating

Best RPG podcast

[Anonymous Coward]

My Favorite:

The Glass Cannon Podcast

http://www.glasscannonpodcast.com

Honorable Mentions:

Godsfall

Board with Life

Rusty Quill

Campaign Podcast

Fiction Podcasts

[Anonymous Coward]

I love fiction podcasts / audio dramas

The Bright Sessions
http://www.thebrightsessions.com/
The lives of people with atypical abilities seen through recordings of sessions with their therapist
32 episodes and counting. Most are 15-20 minutes

Tracks by BBC Radio 4
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b07nsf2x/episodes/guide
Mystery / conspiracy drama with medical themes
9 45 minute episodes

The Message (listed underneath the episodes of life after)
http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-message
Cryptographers try to decipher an old recording that has recently been declassified
8 12 minute episodes

Limetown
http://www.limetownstories.com/
A journalist tries to uncover the story of a town that vanished overnight
6 30 minute episodes

Production style is important to me

[wirelessjb]

I listen to podcasts daily, mostly in the car. I find that the key criteria for me is whether the podcast is scripted. The shows that are interview style, or discussion style, get removed from my play list. I believe this is mostly because the information density, or the amount of new stuff I can learn in the least amount of time, is much higher in well-produced, scripted shows. Of course that means I mostly listen to professional podcasts from podcast "groups" like Panoply, Radiotopia, and Gimlet. And their ad content has gotten higher over the last year, which is a necessary evil, but it's still better than commercial radio (or, frankly, NPR with a high ratio of traffic, weather reports, underwriting spots, and self-promotion that I could do without). So on to the list, in desert island order: 99% Invisible, This American Life, Radio Lab, Criminal, Planet Money, The Moth, The Rule Book, Invisibilia. Honorable mentions: Science VS, Below the Ten, Serial, Neighbors, Theory of Everything, Us & Them, Love & Radio (can be risque), The Memory Palace, The Gist (daily, highly timely and topical, but smart and funny).

My favorites so far

[Anonymous Coward]

Brakeing down security
http://www.brakeingsecurity.com/
Risky biz
http://risky.biz/

are what I've found and liked so far. Great way to make use of ~2 hours a day spent walking with dogs.

Nope & nope

[Anonymous Coward]

Nope, don't listen to podcasts; don't listen to radio either.

Favorite Podcast: Goes2eleven.org

[Anonymous Coward]

I love guitar and http://goes2eleven.org is a really awesome podcast (used to be weekly) about the "world" of the guitar. Tons of history, tips, samples, and each week is a really different take on the same instrument that we all enjoy every day.

Re:Favorite Podcast: Goes2eleven.org

[PalletBoy]

Tons of history, tips, samples

That's true - G2E is a fantastic podcast. (you didn't link) I wish he was still making them weekly!

No Agenda

[FrankDrebin]

http://www.noagendashow.com/
Adam Curry and John C Dvorak. They take no advertising so no paid biases. Deconstruction of the spin from MSM.
In the morning!

Dan Carlin

[Anonymous Coward]

Hardcore History is one of the most entertaining podcasts around (but there is usually a 5 month gap between episodes). His 6 part series on WW1, Blueprint for Armageddon is a masterpiece.

Common Sense is also pretty good. Dan is the master of context so he takes the current social policital environment and places it in a historical context.

Re:Dan Carlin

[Hognoxious]

Was going to suggest him, so I'll second the above and add the url.

http://www.dancarlin.com/

Dan Carlin's two podcasts

[iamcadaver]

Dan Carlin's Hardcore History is just awesome.

Dan Carlin's Common Sense suffers for the amount of effort that goes into Hardcore History. It takes him months to research and put out HH.

I keep up with EconTalk, ContraKrugman, Freakanomics and Security Now every week.

If you like Freakanomics give EconTalk a try.

I have a list of podcasts called 'On The Road' which is for when I have guests / gf in the car. This has:
Selected Shorts
Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
This American Life
Serial

Random others:
The Dice Tower
Test and Code
Talk Python to Me
Podcast.__init__
Science Friday
StarTalk Tadio

Re:Dan Carlin's two podcasts

[Anonymous Coward]

Yes damn it. Hardcore History is just wonderful. Dan is a god.

History of Rome

[hey!]

Seriously, Westeros has nothing on the Eternal City.

And knowledge of Roman history is something all Americans should have. After considering the history of Rome the notion that small-r republican traditions and constitutional arrangements can restrain a tyrant or preserve individual liberty seems naive.

Re:History of Rome

[NumberCruncher5]

I'm also a big fan of Mike Duncan's follow up series Revolutions.

My K-12 education was severely lacking in this department (with the exception of the American Revolution of course). The English, French, Haitian and South American revolutions were all very fascinating and hold knowledge that's very useful today.

Once you've listened to these and a few others you can watch history repeat itself!

Re:History of Rome

[JustNiz]

I totally agree and find it highly interesting how in their last days, most empires all do the same things just before they implode.
We are now seeing MANY of the same things in the US that Rome went through during its last days, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Preference data I don't mind sharing

[paratek]

In no particular order:

The Dollop
Motorcycles & Misfits
No Agenda
Wheel Nerds
Daily Tech News Show
Mission Log
This Week in Enterprise Tech
Security Now
ICQ Podcast
HarmonCast
Sword & Laser
QSO Today
How Did This Get Made
Ham Radio Now
Stuff You Should Know
The Twin Peaks Podcast
Welcome to Night Vale
The Documentary
Ham Nation
ARNewsline
SolderSmoke
BBC World Football


The "Why?" is not very complicated. I'm interested in the subject matter, have a long daily commute and would rather listen to content targeting some of my exact interests than the same 10 songs over and over on the radio.
This way, all of that drive time is at least entertaining and often informative.

Hardcore History

[Anonymous Coward]

Hardcore History is a really engaging and often different take on historical story telling. The podcasts are often 3+ hours per episode. They are very well researched topics and well presented! Can't recommend this one enough. http://www.dancarlin.com/hardcore-history-series/

On a more whimsical topic, I also enjoy Mysterious Universe. It covers alien sightings (with a sort of cynical/comedic take on it), cryptozoology, and other fringe stories. Good for having a beer around a campfire. http://mysteriousuniverse.org/

Worth mentioning that both of these podcasts are also available on Google Play Music streaming. https://play.google.com/music/listen

My Daily Rituals of Podcasts

[pagen]

Daily as I make and eat breakfast, workout and shower:

1. NPR Hourly News Summary

2. Marketplace Tech by American Public Media (APM)

3. The Writer’s Almanac

4. NPR Story of the Day

Weekly on my 30 plus minute commute each way:

1. The Moth Podcast

2. StoryCorps

3. Two Guys On Your Head

4. RadioLab

5. This American Life

6. Risk!

7. Improv Nerd

8. On Being

When they have shows:

1. Serial

2. Codebreakers

2. NPR Technology Podcast

Brakeing Down Security (was Re:My favorites so far

[sleepy_weasel]

+1 on the Brakeing Down Security. As a CISSP, I use podcasts for CPEs. Bryan and his co-hosts Brian Boettcher and Amanda Berlin do a great job of explaining topics dealing with information security. Anything from malware analysis to PCI guidelines...

Favorite podcast...

[Obfuscant]

What: The Archers

Why: I fantasize about Pip. Her accent is hot. Plus she knows how to drive a tractor.

Re:Favorite podcast...

[Col. Bloodnok]

Odd. I find Pip's voice (and character) wildly irritating. The Australian question intonation, the inability to pronounce 'cattle' (cattoo), the insufferable smugness etc. - ghastly.

Not as irriating as her mother though...

Re:Favorite podcast...

[Obfuscant]

Odd. I find Pip's voice (and character) wildly irritating.

The only downside to Pip is her shacking up with that Fairbrother lad just to piss her gran off.

Seriously, there's also Global News Podcast; World Update Daily Commute; Friday Comedy from BBC 4; Larry Miller Show; and Uncontrolled Airspace.

Adam Carolla & Dr. Drew

[Anonymous Coward]

Honestly Adam isn't even all that funny about something about his podcast has kept me listening daily since like 2008. It's like crack. I got hooked on Dr. Drew through him too. I even got a black lab because of all the Philly Cheesesteak stories though my dog is too lazy to do anything funny.

Weird Mix

[Anonymous Coward]

Bret Eastin Ellis podcast - Good interviews with interesting media-type people
Cord Killers - Good media roundup
No Agenda - Media analysis for weirdos
Planet Money - 'Cause I like economics, brilliant stuff if you're even a little bit interested
Retrocomputing Roundtable - 'Cause I like old computers
Spycast - Awesome interviews with actual spies
The Conspiracy Skeptic - Balances out the other pro-conspiracy podcasts
The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe - Interesting science-y podcast
The Stuff They Don't Want You To Know - Crazy conspiracy theories and interesting misc. stuff
This American Life - Great storytelling, though the political stories get a bit boring
This Week In Law - skip through bits, good analysis of law stories in the news
This Week In Windows - Have to skip through bits, but some good info on what's coming down the pipe

I used to listen to This Week In Tech religiously, but they've moved away from tech and focus mostly on social media and phones now. Boring.

Anything on CowboyNeal's playlist

[Anonymous Coward]

Because Slashdot.

All hail Lima Time Time

[steak]

The best Astros podcast

On The Media

[Anonymous Coward]

I used to listen to On The Media all the time, but got fed up when, after constantly lambasting the media for it's constant "speed over accuracy" problems, they spent an entire episode on how right wing radio may have caused the Gabrielle Giffords shooting, based, pretty much, on an offhand comment by a sheriff at the time. What the hell?

Mostly for info

[sumsguy]

NPR (most stations) | Listen Money Matters | Stuff You Should Know | Ben Greenfield | Optimal Life Daily | Optimal Finance Daily | Optimal Health Daily | Brain Stuff | Psychiatry Today | Physics World Data-hungry, so these are on my list. I just added some from here now: Security Now | Freakonomics | O'Reilly (Data and Security) I'm afraid to ask for suggestions, but please do share.

The Doughboys!

[flarb936]

These guys are doing gods work, eating at chain restaurants and reviewing them on a weekly podcast. The highlight being an entire month where they ate nothing but Red Lobster. http://www.feralaudio.com/show...

Nutcrunch MD!!

[Anonymous Coward]

I like to listen to Nutcrunch MD. Great Canadian podcast about a variety of topics!

http://www.nutcrunchmd.com/

Video Games Hot Dog

[Quirkz]

I like Video Games Hot Dog. They play and then talk about computer games, new and old. Humor, nostalgia, news, and of course video games. No actual hot dogs.

Several

[AdamD1]

Nerdist
Under The Influence
Radiolab
Serial (when it's back)
My Favorite Murder
Reply All
Crimetown
Talk Nerdy To Me
99% Invisible
Science Vs.
Oh No Ross and Carrie
Here's The Thing
Spark

I still routinely check out a few more every few months. Behind the Liner Notes, Song Exploder, BBC's The Inquiry, the Allusionist, etc. etc. etc.

An actual list

[Anonymous Coward]

I walk lots. And listen lots.

BBC The Infinite Monkey Cage : Brian Cox and Robin Ince talk physics with a comic slant.

Joe Rogan : Once you get past his embarrassment at reading the ads, he has the most fascinating guests, and lets them speak.

BBC More Or Less : Short check of popular stats by statisticians.How many people really were at Obama vs Trump's rallies ?

Sam Harris : Waking Up. Philosophy.

Learning Machines 101 : Quirky, but machine Learning in detail.

BBC In Our Time : Pick a subject, and listen to the world's leading experts talking about it. Animal Farm ? Photography ? The Muses ?

Re:WhiteSupremacyDaily

[Tyler Durden]

I hope this was meant to be funny.

Open Source Security Podcast

[Fehson]

It's a silly podcast about various security topics http://www.opensourcesecurityp...

My list

[cmiller173]

Current:
AMPed New Music Weekly - currently on hiatus
Android Central
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History
Scott Sigler - serialized episodes of his novels, most of his earlier stuff is on podiobooks
Serial
Whistlestop - presidential politics history
The Way I Heard It - Mike Rowe

Used to listen to but either got bored with or the show canceled:
How to brew it - Homebrewing
The Jamiel Show - Homebrewing
TWiT
The Dog Watch Social Club - Cigar reviews
Whiskey cast

I am almost entirely caught up on my current list, except for "The Way I Heard It" which I just added last week. I'll use this slashdot article to select some new ones.

A lot of NPR stuff

[Anonymous Coward]

Cppcast
538 politics
Nerdist
Freakonomics
NYT The Daily
Travel With Rick Steves
Coffee Sprudgecast
Sporkful
Serious Eats Special Sauce
Nerdette Game of Thrones Recaps

My Faves

[dead_user]

Well, I quit listening to radio ages ago, and have moved on to the following podcasts for my daily commute and listening throughout the day:

Stuff You Should Know
99% invisible
Aks Me Another
Common Sense with Dan Carlin
Hardcore History also with Dan Carlin
Judge John Hodgman
Stuff They Don't Want You to Kow
You Are Not So Smart
Criminal
Good Job, Brain
Hidden Brain
Invisibilia
Radiolab
Surprisingly Awesome
The Sporkful
Stuff You Missed in History Class


Podcasts to me are like a DVR for my radio. I can listen when and where I want and pause when I need to divert my attention elsewhere without missing anything.

Re:My Faves

[drkoemans]

Mine is almost identical to yours except I also have How Did This Get Made? and The Flophouse, bad movie podcasts that are hilarious.

Re:My Faves

[dead_user]

And now those two have been added to my list as well.

Thanks!

Nerdist, Planet Money, 99 Percent Invisible

[enjar]

I generally listen to podcasts on my commute.

My top 3:
Nerdist - long format interviews with celebrities. Not one to listen to with the kids.
Planet Money - "pop economics". Generally entertainment and informative. Generally OK with the kids in the car.
99 Percent Invisible - Roman Mars has such a smooth radio voice I could listen to him talk about making a bowl of cereal. Podcast concentrates on architecture and design.

Other mentions have already been listed:
Mike Duncan's History of Rome and Revolutions podcasts are very good.
Dan Carlin's Hardcore HIstory and Common Sense make you think.
Gretchen Rubin's Happier has some interesting ideas about happiness.
Freakonomics continues where the books leave off.
The Way I Heard It by Mike Rowe is a homage to "The Rest of the Story". Another great voice to listen to talk about just about anything.

Re:Nerdist, Planet Money, 99 Percent Invisible

[jxander]

I do love me some Nerdist Podcast. It's genuinely interesting to hear these celebrities carry on a fairly normal conversation. No audience (at the time of recording), no major plugs (though they might mention upcoming work), just a couple people talking about life. It gets weird though, when you find out that some beloved actor simply cannot carry on a normal conversation. Gary Oldman was one that caught me a bit off guard. It wasn't terrible, just felt kinda awkward and "meh." Meanwhile, others can far surpass expectations: Melissa Rauch was absolutely hilarious.

Re:Nerdist, Planet Money, 99 Percent Invisible

[enjar]

My wife and I have also seen Chris Hardwick live, if you like the Nerdist his standup is worth the price of admission.

I agree that some of the celebrities just can't get out of "promo mode", but those that do really come out great. I've enjoyed Mark Hamill's appearances, Max Brooks, Daniel Radcliffe, Patrick Stewart and Bruce Campbell. Even his self-deprecating interview of Harrison Ford wasn't nearly as terrible as Hardwick made it out to be. Ford isn't an easy interview, and it wasn't the best Nerdist ever, but I also didn't feel an hour of my life had been wasted or anything.

In addition, for the grand total of $0 I shelled out for the podcast, it's pretty darn good entertainment. I have no need for stamps dot com or squarespace so I don't mind a few seconds of my time being taken away for what generally turns out to be a pretty consistently good hour during my commute.

Re:Nerdist, Planet Money, 99 Percent Invisible

[Anonymous Coward]

Gary Oldman talking about the deep loss he felt around the death of one of his best friends, David Bowie, was one of the more touching moments ever on the Nerdist podcast.

THE BEST SHOW

[Anonymous Meoward]

The Number One podcast in all of Newbridge!

Raw dump - includes audio books

[Anonymous Coward]

"99% Invisible" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://feeds.99percentinvisible.org/99percentinvisible" htmlUrl="http://99percentinvisible.org"
"A Different Point of View" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://www.winginitarchives.com/category/adpov-shows/feed/" htmlUrl="http://www.winginitarchives.com/category/adpov-shows/"
"Air Out My Shorts" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://feeds.feedburner.com/AirOutMyShorts" htmlUrl="http://www.theitspot.com"
"Alice Isn't Dead" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://aliceisntdead.libsyn.com/rss" htmlUrl="http://www.nightvalepresents.com"
"CGP Grey" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://cgpgrey.libsyn.com/rss" htmlUrl="http://www.cgpgrey.com"
"Comedy of the Week" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02pc9x6/episodes/downloads.rss" htmlUrl="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02pc9x6"
"Common Sense with Dan Carlin" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://feeds.feedburner.com/dancarlin/commonsense" htmlUrl="http://www.dancarlin.com"
"Cortex" type="rss" xmlUrl="https://www.relay.fm/cortex/feed" htmlUrl="http://www.relay.fm/cortex"
"Dan Carlin's Hardcore History" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://feeds.feedburner.com/dancarlin/history" htmlUrl="http://www.dancarlin.com"
"Dear Hank and John" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://feeds.soundcloud.com/users/soundcloud:users:156542883/sounds.rss" htmlUrl="http://soundcloud.com/dearhankandjohn"
"Drabblecast" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheDrabblecast" htmlUrl="http://www.drabblecast.org"
"Dreams and Wings (A Searcher and Stallion story)" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://SSDreamsAndWings.podiobooks.libsynpro.com/rss" htmlUrl="http://podiobooks.com/title/searcher-and-stallion-dreams-and-wings"
"Escape Pod" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://escapepod.org/feed/" htmlUrl="http://escapepod.org"
"Floris UMC (Media Library)" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://www.florisumc.org/webservices/media/libraryRSS.aspx?page_id=184022" htmlUrl="http://www.florisumc.org"
"Freakonomics Radio" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://feeds.feedburner.com/freakonomicsradio" htmlUrl="http://www.wnyc.org/articles/freakonomics-podcast/"
"Ghost Fancy" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://ghostfancy.com/feed/podcast/" htmlUrl="http://ghostfancy.com"
"Hello Internet" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://www.hellointernet.fm/podcast?format=rss" htmlUrl="http://www.hellointernet.fm/"
"How to Succeed in Evil" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://succeedinevil.com/?feed=podcast" htmlUrl="http://succeedinevil.com"
"MCMP – History of Philosophy" type="rss" xmlUrl="https://deimos.apple.com/WebObjects/Core.woa/GetRSS/lmu.de-dz.24539135761.024539135763?U=https%3A%2F%2Fcast.itunes.uni-muenchen.de%2Fvod%2Fplaylists%2Fn4RRfrSCcS%2Fquicktime.rss" htmlUrl="https://cast.itunes.uni-muenchen.de/vod/playlists/n4RRfrSCcS.html"
"MSNBC Rachel Maddow (audio)" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://podcastfeeds.nbcnews.com/audio/podcast/MSNBC-MADDOW-NETCAST-MP3.xml?__utma=238145375.1895425935.1342372397.1342372397.1342372397.1&__utmb=238145375.1.10.1342372397&__utmc=238145375&__utmx=-&__utmz=238145375.1342372397.1.1.utmcsr=(direct)%7Cutmccn=(" htmlUrl="http://rachel.msnbc.com/"
"Open All Night and Other Tales" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://openallnightandothertales.podiobooks.libsynpro.com/rss" htmlUrl="http://openallnightandothertales.podiobooks.libsynpro.com/podcast"
"Our Fake History" type="rss" xmlUrl="http://ourfakehistory.libsyn.com/rss" htmlUrl="http://ourfakehistory.podbean.com"
"PodCastle" type="rss" xmlUrl="ht

House music all night long

[murderdeathkill]

The only webcast I listen to regularly is DJ Dan presents Stereo Damage https://soundcloud.com/djdanmu... Why? West Coast raver for life. Good house DJs. Little to no talking.

YouTube - Eli The Computer Guy

[__aaclcg7560]

I love listening to Eli The Computer Guy on YouTube. One of my favorite videos was about being an asshole as a technology professional. At the end of the day, you need to get the job done and that's the only thing that matters. If that makes you an asshole, so be it.

Being An "Asshole" As A Technology Professional
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_YaNGzplbE

Re:YouTube - Eli The Computer Guy

[Anonymous Coward]

And then everyone stops coming to you, and stops calling the Help Desk, and an entire invisible, unmanaged, uncoordinated shadow IT group self-assembles and everything starts to suck even more because now not only are IT just trying to "get the job done" so are all the undocumented shadow IT workers and no one is doing it the same way.

Congratulation, asshole.

Re:YouTube - Eli The Computer Guy

[__aaclcg7560]

And then everyone stops coming to you [...]

If you have a reputation of getting the job done, people will come to you or ask for you by name.

[...] entire invisible, unmanaged, uncoordinated shadow IT group self-assembles [...]

I did a PC refresh project where the software engineers got new workstations but many of them wanted to keep their old workstations after the data transfer. But they only had one network port for a workstation. So they brought in home routers to connect both old and new workstations to the network port. Unfortunately, they forgot to turn off DHCP and every workstation in the immediate area wasn't able to connect to the corporate network. An IT tech spent the day chasing down a half-dozen rogue routers on the network.

Congratulation, asshole.

Thank you!

I'm a boring gamer geek

[Daetrin]

I pretty much listen to all gaming podcasts. My first and favorite, way back in 2006ish, was "Endgame Radio" (looks like even the archives are gone now.) It was an interesting combination of video game news and discussion alternated with an eclectic mix of techno, goth/industrial, and video game soundtrack music.

When the schedule for that got erratic i started listening to the various 1UP and GameSpot podcasts. When those were killed off/died off for various reasons i picked up Rebel FM and Weekend Confirmed. I then picked up RPGFan's "Random Encounter", the somewhat short-lived GamePro "Roleplayer's Realm", and the very short-lived "A Life Well Wasted".

I kept trying to get into the Joystiq podcast (when that was around) and Giant Bombcast, but they kept falling out of rotation because i just didn't have enough time to listen to everything.

There were numerous other little podcasts i tried out for awhile but either the podcast or my interest in it didn't survive in the long run. (The one non-gaming podcast in that category was the now defunct "ReadMoreSciFi")

Now days when i have the time (which hasn't been often for the last year or two) i listen to 5by5 DLC, Rebel FM, RPGFan, and the occasional Giant Bombcast (assuming none of those have been cancelled in the couple months since i last checked =P)

I tried looking for a FF14 podcast for awhile, but it's difficult since i got a late start on that game and i'm _still_ not up to date. I also spent a little while a couple years back trying to find a decent anime podcast or a second decent SF/F book podcast but didn't have any luck at the time. Perhaps if podcasts are really experiencing an explosion in popularity i ought to try looking again. (Not that i have time to keep up to date even with just my "current" podcasts.)

Re:I'm a boring gamer geek

[chispito]

Try Retronauts http://www.retronauts.com/

Re:I'm a boring gamer geek

[Daetrin]

!!! I used to listen to that when it was under the 1UP umbrella, but i had no idea they'd activated the escape pod and gone independent! Thank you!

My podcast playlist right now

[supremebob]

Crimetown
Dan Carlin's Hardcore History -- This one is good for long car trips, as the podcasts are huge
Freaknomics
Heavyweight
Homecoming
How I Built This -- NPR's version of Startup
Planet Money
Reply All
Serial
StartUp
Surprisingly Awesome
TED Radio Hour
This American Life -- Ira Glass probably introduced me to half of the other podcasts on this list
and This Week In Computer Hardware

Bowery Boys New York City history

[Billsabub]

This is a well researched, well presented and entertaining look at many aspects of the history of New York City, from the Dutch settlement to the present.

Conversations, Richard Fidler

[labnet]

Conversations, Richard Fidler, Radio National (ABC Australia0
Not tech specific; but very well done long form interviews on a diverse range of subjects.
http://www.abc.net.au/radio/pr...

My podcasts? Oh wow...

[Reteo Varala]

I am a big fan of audio drama, which means that the podcasting format is great for my kind of entertainment.

Here are my audio drama podcasts:

• Ars Paradoxica
• Edict Zero: FIS
• Hadron Gospel Hour
• Our Fair City
• The Centauri Express (the podcast of the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company)
• The Bright Sessions
• Radio Drama Revival

I also listen to Dan Carlin's podcasts (Common Sense and Hardcore History) for a pretty balanced view on history and politics.

Also, as I'm studying and training to do voice work, I also subscribe to a number of voice-over feeds.

• Voice Acting Mastery
• Voice Over Cafe
• Voice Over Marketing Podcast
• Voice Over Weekly Podcast

In addition to the general voice-over stuff, I find that podcasts about podcasting (meta, anyone?) are also useful sources of knowledge.

• The Cliff Ravenscraft Show (originally called "The Podcast Answer Man)
• The School of Podcasting
• The Podcasters Studio
• The Audacity to Podcast

I know there's a lot here, so I hope you find something of interest.

Big fan of Slate podcasts...

[klubar]

I'm a consistent listener to Slates podcasts.. usually while at the gym or walking the dog. Particular favorites are:

Slate Political Gabfest (informed, interesting political discussion about three topics)

Slate Cultural Gabfest

Slate The Gist

Slate Money

Also listen to Wait Wait from NPR

The Dad Bros Show!

[frission]

mostly listen to The Dad Bros Show. it's about 2 brothers, that are dads. one with 2 girls, the other with 3 boys. just talk about every day dad stuff, with a mix of current events, and current favorite alcoholic beverages, they try a new one every show. http://dadbrosshow.com/

Hour of the Time - William Cooper

[Anonymous Coward]

Not technically a podcast - but definitely the best program you can possibly listen to for factual information still pertinent today.

Hour of the time: www.hourofthetime.com

RIP William Cooper.

Nutcrunch MD!!

[Anonymous Coward]

I like Nutcrunch MD. Interesting topics and a lot of fun.

www.nutcrunchmd.com

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Does this list make me look obsessed?

[Orion]

My "listen to every episode ASAP" list:
Opening Arguments
Scathing Atheist
God Awful Movies
Skepticrat
Cognative Dissonance
Skeptics with a K
Be Reasonable
Inkredulous

My backup list:
Dogma Debate
Naked Mormonism
What's the Point
Monster Talk

I have this habit of wanting to hear people talk about truth and evidence, and exploring how that goes wrong...

The Dollop

[Anonymous Coward]

The Dollop - american history/comedy podcast

It's true, funny, and intelligent (mostly).

Well...

[Halster]

I listened to one of the first ever TWiT podcasts back in the day (and have listened ever since) and thought it was the future then, so glad to hear it's taking off properly.

Apart from TWiT network podcasts I like to listen to:

Stuff You Should Know - So awesome, I'm a late convert to this from a few years ago. Chuck and Josh are the best!
DTNS - Tom Merritt is great, really insightful. Some of his guests leave a little to be desired (Patrick Beja is great though).
The Packet Pushers - Awesome in-depth networking knowledge.
Dr. Karl on TripleJ - Only the best science explainer in the world, ever.

That'll do! :)

The ones I listen to

[esperto]

I've been listening to podcasts for over ten years now, these are my current ones:
In english:
- The sckeptics guide to the universe (seen a few time listed here, I think was the first one I subscribed to, going strong for over ten years with missing a single week due to one of the host dying, that's commitment!)
- In our time (from BBC radio 4, very deep subjects)
- Scientific American Podcast
- Skepticality (going just as long as SGU, but not as near as regular)
- StarTalk (Niel deGrasse Tyson radio show, very good, altough I HATE the ads with all of my being, don't know why)
- The Infinite Monkey Cage (Brian Cox and Robin Ince, funny as fuck! one of the best)
- The naked scientists
- Nerdist
- The RSA (some are boring, some are really awesome)
- Hello Internet (CGPGrey and Brady, two dudes talking, literally)

In portuguese:
- NerdCast (most famous in Brazil, one of the best I listen to, definitely the funniest)
- Xadrez Verbal (foreign politics but very lax, really good)

In Norwegian (I'm trying to learn the language):
- Nerdeprat
- Rad Crew: NEON

My Podcast list

[hajile78]

60-Second Science, Android App Addicts, Brain Stuff, ReCode Decode, Serial(when avaliable), Stuff They don't want you to know, The Moth, This American Life, Stuff you missed in History Class, TedTalks

I HAM therefore I am..

[Anonymous Coward]

WIA Weekly Broadcast Podcasts.

I don't always get the chance to listen to it.

Also the VK2 and VK6 (NewsWest) regional additional podcasts.

Always nice!

Dependa On My Mood

[da_Den_man]

If I am looking for News or a Deconstruction of News Stories: No Agenda Show (http://noagendashow.com) I have my own which deals with Cannabis: http://hotcoffee.org/na_page/P... I also Listen to : Joe Rogan, Dan Carlin, Duncan Trussell, Sam Harris, Joey "Coco" Diaz....and a few randoms...

Re:Dependa On My Mood

[turbotalon]

Ditto on NoAgenda. Love their humor and insight into the daily workings of the news cycle.

Good stuff in podcasts

[omnichad]

I mostly listen to:

For entertainment:
Wait Wait Don't Tell Me
Nerdist
The Nosh Show

For computer/IT business:
Podnutz/Podnutz Daily
Mike Tech Show
Tech Vets
Computer Business Podcast

lore

[Anonymous Coward]

is pretty good.

Quite fond of...

[Anonymous Coward]

Marc Maron's WTF. Great guests and great interview style.

Podcasts are still a thing?

[Anonymous Coward]

Who wants to listen to some wanker rabbit on and on about their favorite food ?

econtalk

[chekovma]

No one has yet mentioned my favorite podcast, econtalk:
http://econtalk.org/
It's an hour a week and while it can get a bit wonky it's almost always really interesting. I highly recommend the episode on the life of a potato chip:
http://www.econtalk.org/archiv...

-alan

No Agenda Show

[Anonymous Coward]

John C. Dvorak and Adam Curry cut through the horrible bias in the media. NoAgendaShow.com

Not really

[SuiteSisterMary]

Not really, but I do make a point to listen to new episodes of the Adam Ruins Everything podcast; I enjoy the show, and the podcasts are usually interesting as all hell.

Also, Freakonomics Radio.

Favorite Podcast

[Anonymous Coward]

Freakonmics Radio.

Gamers With Jobs

[Anonymous Coward]

Gamers With Jobs
Nerdist
The Fantasy Footballers
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
Marketplace Tech
Skeptoid
My Brother, My Brother And Me

Older (finally had my fill after many years):
Adam Carolla
Adam & Dr. Drew

History

[Anonymous Coward]

I like these History podcasts..

http://www.revolutionspodcast.com/

https://thehistoryofbyzantium.com/

http://civilwarpodcast.org/

These are your grandfather's podcasts.

[pkornman]

The Old Time Radio Researchers (otrr.org) maintains a Library (otrrlibrary.org) of over 70,000 freely available public-domain radio shows from the Golden Age of Radio. There's even a streaming service (otrrpedia.net/hotrod.html) (I should know - I built it). Of particular interest to Slashdot readers may be the Science Fiction series Dimension X (https://archive.org/details/OTRR_Certified_Dimension_X) and X Minus One (https://archive.org/details/OTRR_X_Minus_One_Singles) featuring adaptations of some of the classics of science fiction by Asimov, Heinlein, Bradbury and others.

Jupiter Broadcasting

[Anonymous Coward]

Linux Action Show

Detroit Arcade Club Podcast

[Anonymous Coward]

Detroit Arcade Club Podcast

It's fantastic. They are really funny.

http://detroitarcadeclub.com/#podcast

AstronomyCast

[Anonymous Coward]

AstronomyCast. Best podcast on astronomy, period. The interaction between Dr. Pamela Gay and Fraser Cain is excellent.

Plus Dr. Pamela Gay has the sexiest voice, period.

Stuff You Should Know

[Anonymous Coward]

I started listening to podcasts a few years ago. Amongst my favorites are Star Talk and Stuff You Should Know. I especially like SYSK because the topics are quite varied and many have been on things I typically wouldn't have look up information on myself.

More questions from 10 years ago...

[GreyLurk]

And now that we know how you feel about podcasts, have you heard of this "Twitter" thing? or "Facebook"? I keep hearing people talk about them, and I'm thinking it might be a big new thing...

Jupiter Broadcasting

[Anonymous Coward]

I really like the Jupiter Broadcasting network (Linux Action Show, Unfilter are my favorites)
Bad Voltage podcast
Ben Greenfield Fitness podcast

I'll never be caught up on all of them

[Anonymous Coward]

The Doug Stanhope Podcast (humor)

Very Bad Wizards (moral philosophy/psychology, but mostly movies)

Oh No! Ross and Carrie (instead of debunking questionable things, they sign up and experience them)

When Diplomacy Fails (history w/in-depth, multi-episode coverage of military conflicts)

The Bone Zone Podcast (humor - Brendon Walsh & Randy Liedtke)

A whole bunch of atheist podcasts

Small List but effective

[Anonymous Coward]

I've got a small list due to my job and commute, but it keeps me company:

Mysterious Universe (Plus member so 3-5 hrs a week)
Corbett Report
Media Monarchy
The Joe Rogan Experience
CarTalk

At home, I've got NPR/PRI/APR going constantly so it's whatever is playing at the time.

Keeps me going if nothing else.

Bitcoin Uncensored

[Anonymous Coward]

Bitcoin Uncensored.
It's the only bitcoin podcast I know of that doesn't try to bullshit you with pumps and dumps.
They're critical of everybody, and have a lot of fun at the same time

Chapo trap house

[Anonymous Coward]

if you only listen to one, make it Chapo.

It's dramatic how much less info is in podcasts

[fyngyrz]

My favorite podcasts and/or video channels: None. Because I prefer to read. So far, the written word, often combined with still images, is better than any non-static information source such as a podcast or a video at getting complex information across.

This is because the written word allows for any degree of pause-and-contempate and/or immediate re-start / reference back. It is information I am primarily interested in, as opposed to entertainment. At best, even when video is called for, for instance a visual of a dynamic process or event, it should be an adjunct to the written word, not a replacement for it.

Yes, videos can be pretty, and you can do other things when you listen to a podcast as opposed to reading something... but I like to learn, and my entertainment is more about what I do than anything involving a passive listener / watcher role. Learning, I have found, is best done with the written word.

Then we get into issues where responding to a presentation that is written, where you can easily, even trivially, quote any portion of the presentation you need to in your response, whereas with a video or a podcast... much more difficult. That, by the way, is why I have always argued that if one posts a video which carries speech or links to a podcast, ideally one should also post a transcript of same. This raises these presentations from poor cousins of the written word to full peers.

Consider data rate: If the information is trivial, as it is in almost all podcasts and videos, I can almost certainly read it faster than it can be said. If it isn't trivial, then it needs to be written anyway consequent to the ability to review and retrench as I mentioned above.

Lastly, even moderate care when writing results in an agreeable lack of uh, eh, ah, er, pregnant pauses, stuttering, laughter, and so forth, other than as intentional emphasis. Which I find most pleasing. I don't want to be crowbarred into thinking about what a lousy speaker a person is. I just want to learn.

Anyone who disagrees, by all means, feel free to quote the parts of this post you disagree with in your response. :)

Re:It's dramatic how much less info is in podcasts

[mcswell]

Dunno why you attracted such nasty replies. I'm with you for the most part, but I listen to podcasts as I'm driving my daily commute. I might do that if I took the DC Metro, too, since I tend to get carsick reading while the train goes around curves. The podcast I just finished (the History of Rome) was quite different in audio than it would have been in print; the author (right term?) was asked whether he was going to come out with a book of the episodes, and he pointed out that what works in speech doesn't necessarily work in print--jokes and other turns of phrase don't come across the same, nor do pauses. All in all, I think I preferred listening.

Re:It's dramatic how much less info is in podcasts

[fyngyrz]

I'm with you for the most part, but I listen to podcasts as I'm driving my daily commute

Yes, of course you're absolutely spot-on here; this is a perfectly reasonable use case for anyone. If you look back, you'll see I specifically called out the benefit that "you can do other things when you listen to a podcast as opposed to reading something."

I only meant to address circumstances where the option to read can reasonably exist. Driving is not such a case; nor is any circumstance where you become ill if you attempt to read.

he pointed out that what works in speech doesn't necessarily work in print--jokes and other turns of phrase don't come across the same, nor do pauses.

Agreed. Where I differ is as to whether this a benefit or a detriment. Either way, I maintain it is still worthy to provide a transcript. One can always annotate the transcript to bring across some of the points made with body language, etc. Parenthetically or otherwise.

Linux Voice

[itismike]

Have to put in my two cents for this very entertaining Linux-centric podcast out of the UK. Nicely produced and always topical.

Nobody cares about my preferences.

[JThundley]

I like Destiny's debates and Joe Rogan.

Poly Weekly

[Anonymous Coward]

Poly Weekly
http://polyweekly.com/

My Current Podcasts

[kwalker]

I've been listening to various podcasts for almost eight years now. A lot have come and gone, but my two long-time favorites are:

Escape Pod - Weekly short-form science fiction. These guys have been around since almost the beginning of podcasting. This is their sci-fi show. They also have horror (Pseudopod) and fantasy (Podcastle) among others.

StarShipSofa - Also weekly short-form sci-fi but more than just stories. This is an audio magazine with regular articles about science news (Delivered by a biology professor), genre history (Delivered by a history professor), interviews and more. It's part of the District of Wonders (Which also has horror, fantasy, and used to have pulp and crime before those shows withered away).

More recently I've been listening to these and getting a lot of interesting thought topics out of them.

The Skeptic's Guide to the Universe - Skeptical thinking, science news of all types (Astro physics, biology, technology, etc), interviews, and more. This one usually runs a bit long.

You Are Not So Smart - Psychology deep dives into various topics (logical fallacies, changing people's minds, detecting bullshit, etc).

Kind of an odd mix...

[Anonymous Coward]

Writing Excuses (writingexcuses.com)
The Rachel Maddow Show
Real Time with Bill Maher
Scoutmaster Podcast (scoutmastercg.com)

IT Conversations was also a favorite, but sadly it ended a few years ago.

As to when I listen -- the daily commute is pretty much the only time.

The Bugle

[hodagacz]

An Audio Newspaper for a Visual World.

Re: It's dramatic how much less info is in podcast

[Anonymous Coward]

Eat shit fucker. You look at titty magazines all day. Stop trying to be a snob. Here Are some written words: common tongue. Look it up. Then look at your audience. You are welcome ass licker.

Later Gator

[Anonymous Coward]

Ctrl+F 'd right away, and didn't see Lexicon Valley. It's a Slate Podcast about Language that I've really enjoyed, and I don't typically listen to podcasts. They cover everything from word origins to modern linguistic trends. The hosts are great and funny. Bob Garfield brings witty commentary with a more conservative viewpoint, and has great on-air chemistry with the younger, more left leaning, Mike Vuolo. They never fail to bring unique viewpoints, and have entertaining back and forths.

I would recommend their episodes on the origin of the word "dude," as well as their episode on the "Brief History of Swearing" with a special guest who authored a book on the subject.

a few choice offerings

[mr.dreadful]

Surprised these haven't been mentioned:
WTF w/ Marc Maron: Think Studs Turkel with a dash of Woody Allen. Interviews mainly comics, but has had some really huge guests (like Obama!)
Doug Loves Movies: Movie gameshow with stoner Doug Benson and his panel of guests, in front of a live audience.
Slate's The Gist: Mike Pesca and guests dish up a nice 30 minutes of news commentary.
CrimeTown: Who knew Rhode Island was so mob friendly?

Gaming stuff, ex-EGM & Giant Bomb

[HalAtWork]

Giant Bombcast and Giant Beastcast.... these are some of the first people who ever did it before podcasts and youtube were a thing, they're up front about their affiliations in that they try not to have any and have full disclosure about who/what they are involved with and I appreciate their forthrightedness, also they are close to my age so I can relate, and have an appreciation for retro stuff

Geekbox, Retronauts, Player One Podcast - I enjoy following those who have been through Electronic Gaming Monthly magazine and 1UP the companion website, now defunct.

The Comedy Button - same kind of people as above but for when you really want your brain to turn off (stress etc)

Podcast not mentioned

[fadethepolice]

The "History of english" podcast is very informative. I like it a lot better than Hardcore History as it comes from a completely different data set.

Unattended Consequences

[Anonymous Coward]

Unattended Consequences

A weekly conversation between Patrick Rothfuss (Name of the Wind) and Max Temkin (Cards Against Humanity).

They are both smart and funny, and they provide a lot of word density.

FWIW

[Anonymous Coward]

From CBC:
      Quirks and Quarks
      Because News
      Irrelevant show
      Comedy factory
      Laugh out Loud
From Harvard:
      Improbable Research - done by the ig Nobel people.
When I listen: teleworking.
Why? Because they are funny ('cept Quirks)

The Glass Cannon podcast

[Anonymous Coward]

They play the pathfinder rpg and have such great chemistry and are hilarious. They manage to crank out a quality show with real drama and emotion. I highly recommend checking them out.

Kent Bye's Voices of VR

[monkease]

I find VR wildly interesting, and a lot of the people already in it are pretty revolutionary thinkers. Voices of VR is a pretty interesting project historically too; the host, Kent Bye, sees himself as a sort of historian of what he feels is a real Gutenberg moment. I personally tend to steer away from the low-level graphics and equipment episodes, but he's interviewed a number of artists and performers, educators, etc., and has a staggeringly large perspective on the scene himself.

My Fav non-tech (music) ones

[Anonymous Coward]

Defected, Above & Beyond Group Therapy ,Above & Beyond Trance Around the World, A State of Trance

Tieto's Club Life,Paul van Dyk ,Robin Schulz' Sugar Radio,Chicane ,Pete Tong's Classic House,Ferry Corsten's Countdown

The Bob Sinclar Show, Oliver Heldens Heldeep Radio ,Eric Prydz Epic Radio ,Roger Shah Magic Island ,Cosmic Gate Wake Your Mind Radio ,Afrojack's Jacked Radio ,Sam Feldt's Heartfeldt Radio ,Sander van Doorn Radio

Dada Land Radio,Andrew Rayel Find Your Harmony Radioshow, Martin Solveig's My House, Markus Schulz's Global DJ Broadcast, John Digweed's Transitions

Solarstone Pure Trance Radio, Dash Berlin Radio ,ATB ,Paul Oakenfold's Planet Perfecto ,Gareth Emery's Electric for life ,Avicii Levels ,W&W Mainstage ,Aly & Fila's Future Sound of Egypt ,R3Hab's I need R3Hab podcast ,Hardwell On Air ,Party Favorz (Funk)

Spinnin' Sessions ,The Anjunadeep Edition ,Anjunabeats Worldwide ,UKF Podcast ,Song Exploder ,Switched on pop
Also some good podcast directories here:

Podcast Chart, podbay chart

some of my favorites...

[joshuaos]

Democracy Now!
Economic Update with Richard Wolff
Counterspin
Real Time with Bill Maher (though he does rather piss me off sometimes) ...

Re: It's dramatic how much less info is in podcast

[Anonymous Coward]

Eat turd you douche licker!

Go stare at your cave drawings!

Nobody ask for you irrelevant fuck head opinions

Re: It's dramatic how much less info is in podcast

[Anonymous Coward]

Fuck of dick head

Mod me down all you want, but no down kid's gonna change the fact that you are a dog fucker.

Extension 720/Milt Rosenberg

[Parker51]

Extension 720 was a 40-year running talk show on WGN radio in Chicago, effectively a podcast before there were podcasts, from a clear-channel AM radio station covering most of the continental U.S. at night. The host was Milt Rosenberg, a psychology professor at the University of Chicago. The show featured many interesting guests from all walks of life, ranging from Barack Obama to the Amazing Randi. The show on radio ended in 2012, but Dr. Rosenberg continued on-line. Both current and archive material in podcast format are available here and here.

Oddly Specific

[Anonymous Coward]

History of Rome

Not for everyone, but gotta love it when Gibbon is only a subset.

My Top Three

[Mr. Gus]

* Astonishing Legends - Basically the "Unsolved Mysteries" of podcasts, and it's amaz... er, astonishing!
* The Eastern Border - Latvian Journalist's perspective on living in the baltic states in the soviet era
* The Dangerous History Podcast - An anarchist/libertarian college history professor's take on various historical events.

I found out about Astonishing Legends when I was reading up on Tamam Shud, and one podcast led to the other, which led to the other...

Astonishing Legends is both great and pretty universal. I think everybody should listen to it. The other two are great too, but probably appeal to more specific audiences. I will say, though, that if you're not particularly libertarian (I'm not), you might still give Dangerous History a chance. It's very good about calling out all the actors in any given event on what they've done, without slipping into a mythological "this was the good guy, this was the bad guy" simplified narrative.

Only AMerican podcasts ?

[Anonymous Coward]

How sad that you remained so self centered and never thought about trying non american sourced and themed podcasts.

If you want to learn a bit more about the world, try the many bbc podcasts.

My favourite Podcasts

[BarryHaworth]

I can see that this discussion is is one I'm going to have to go through in detail. I listen to a lot of podcasts, mostly on my daily commute (~ an hour each way). My current list is:

Science/Math:

Radiolab (WNYC)

Freakanomics

More or Less

Cheap Astronomy

Math Mutation

TEDTalks (Audio)

Audio Fiction:

All the Escape Artists podcasts: Escape Pod (science fiction),

Pseudopod (Horror),

Podcastle (Fantasy),

Cast of Wonders (Young Adult)

Welcome to Night Vale

19 Noucturne Boulevard (though no longer updating this has huge backlog)

ARTC

Decoder Ring Theatre

The Dunesteef

The Truth

Comedy:

The Irrelevant Show

Ask Me Another

Misc:

99% Invisible

The Allusionist

Imaginary Worlds

Old Time Radio

[BarryHaworth]

The other thing that is worth remembering is that there is a lot out there as well as podcasts. Over the years I have discovered and enjoyed many Radio serials. Though not currently updating these can have huge backlogs of old programs which can be found on the likes of Archive.org or elsewhere.

My favourite OTR shows are:

Comedy:

The Goon Show

I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue

I'm Sorry I'll Read That Again

Just A Minute

The Unbelievable Truth

Audio Drama (SF & fantasy):

Dimension X

X Minus One

The Mysterious Traveller

Mind Webs

Lights Out

I am deaf

[Anonymous Coward]

you, insensitive clod!

The Dick Show

[Anonymous Coward]

A weekly science and rage based podcast where everything is a contest and there ams no rules--especially grammar rules. Chock-full of Dick Tips and the answers to questions like, "Are you a rage?" and "What even is a libertarian?"

Hosted by Dick Masterson, the New York Times best-selling author of "Men are Better Than Women" and the "troll" who shot a red-hot chili pepper up Dr. Phil's ass.

http://dick.show/

Peace Revolution

[Anonymous Coward]

Is one of the best I've listened to. Completely changed my perspective on history and the world in general. Also Dan Carlin's Hardcore History is great if you're into a good story and a less conspiratorial view of history than peace revolution. Be warned though, both of these suggestions have 4-6 hour episodes

How do you do it?

[hackel]

Maybe I'm just bad at multi-tasking, but as a software engineer, I simply can't listen to podcasts and get any work done at the same time. Typically this means I just stop listening to the podcast entirely and it's over before I even realise I've stopped listening. If the podcast is particularly good, then I don't get any work done. I still feel antsy while listening if I'm not doing anything else at the same time, though. How do you all manage to listen and work at the same time?

Re:How do you do it?

[iampiti]

I can't do it either. I don't even listen to music if I'm doing anything that requires concentration because I can only pay attention to one of the things.
Personally I listen to podcasts on my commute. I use public transportation so I can't concentrate fully on the audio. If you skim the comments you'll see many people also listen when commuting.

Best webcast

[Anonymous Coward]

The Skeptics Guide to the Universe http://www.theskepticsguide.org/

How not to answer this question

[Anonymous Coward]

How not to answer this question (or any question like it, ever):

A list of things, with no explanation whatsoever about why you chose them and why I might also want to.

TSP

[PortHaven]

Jack Spirko's "The Survival Podcast"....
http://www.thesurvivalpodcast....

Helping you live a better life if times get rough, or even if they don't. Sensible living and life application.

Different sorts for different situations

[ubrgeek]

I have a two-hour drive to drop the kids off at school and with the exception of during Friday's commute when what my six-year-old calls "the guessing game" is on (NPR's "Ask Me Another") we have podcasts on. I spent some time finding kid-friendly ones and settled on a few:

* The Video Game Generations
* Geek-to-Geek
* Citizens of Tech
* Super Best Friends Video Game Sleepover

Note, by kid-friendly I mean free of profanity and that reference things that the kids recognize (primarily video games we all play together).

After I drop them off I have others:
* Echo Screen Live
* DLC
* Current Geek
* About half-a-dozen others

I agree with other posters: The medium should really depend on the intended goal. I don't know if sites like I Fix It have videos because I've never looked. The illustrated walk through's are perfect. If I want to get an idea of how a board game plays, I'm not interested in reading a review, I check out Wil Wheaton's Tabletop. I tried an audio book once, for Les Miserables. Couldn't stand it. Got off my lazy butt and read the book.

Again, the situation (usually) dictates the medium. At least for me. YMMV.