links: week 4, podcast recommendations

A few days a friend asked me for my favorite radio shows and got me thinking about my current radio consumption. When I was growing up, I listened to my the NPR station in Boston for hours every day, yet I rarely listen to FM radio anymore. My "radio" listening these days is almost entirely confined to what I can get as a podcast. They're just more convenient. Who wants to be tethered to a radio? And my dissatisfaction with the program schedule of the local NPR-affiliate here in Durham hasn't helped either. For example, they've given the wonderful On The Media (WNYC) a 6:00 AM time slot on Saturday. While it would be nice if the station could find some middle ground between Northeastern and North Carolinian radio preferences, I'm pretty happy with my podcast diet these days. Here's a sample:

• On The Media—from WNYC in New York (feed).
• In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg— from the BBC (feed).
• Fresh Air with Terry Gross—from WHYY in Philadelphia (feed).
• Behind the News with Doug Henwood— from WBAI in New York (feed).
• Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!— news quiz show from WBEZ (feed).
• L'esprit public with Philippe Meyer— from France Culture (feed).
• Chaos Radio Express — from the Chaos Computer Club (in German) (feed).

I'm only starting to explore the world of German radio, and I'd love to find an analog of L'esprit publique (or something along the lines of NPR's Talk of the Nation, I suppose). I really shouldn't be starting from zero, but I am. Somehow I managed only to listen to Radio France Internationale when I was living in Berlin.

This describes my “radio” listening patterns almost exactly - I’m all podcast these days, helped by the fact that my cellphone can play MP3s, and its speaker is loud enough that I can be listening to a podcast while it’s in my pocket while I’m doing something else.

I’m also an “On the Media” and “In Our Time” listener. Other ones I listen to a lot (and recommend) are “IT Conversations”, PRI’s “The World” and “The World: Global Hit”, Leonard Lopate, and of course Car Talk. The New Yorker magazine also has some podcasts now, with article authors expanding on things they’ve written.

Enjoy…

I haven’t heard of IT Conversations. I’ll check it out. Thanks!