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Would "24 infotainment podcasts" be a better way of describing this list? Nothing wrong with infotainment. Maybe it will even make you seem more interesting a
by jlebar 9y ago
Would "24 infotainment podcasts" be a better way of describing this list?
Nothing wrong with infotainment. Maybe it will even make you seem more interesting at parties. Nothing wrong with that, either. But it's not the same thing as being smarter.
- Paul-ish 9y agoWhat makes something infotainment vs information?
- milkytron 9y agoFrom my computers dictionary: Infotainment - broadcast material that is intended both to entertain and to inform. Information - facts provided or learned about something or someone. From that, I believe infotainment is intended to be consumed as entertainment, while also being intended to inform. As opposed to just raw data or facts which aren't necessarily distributed with the purpose of entertaining.
- gramstrong 9y agoEh. Cognitive exercises don't hurt, even if the knowledge gained isn't particularly useful. Just because something is entertaining doesn't mean it won't stretch your critical thinking muscles. I guess define "smart".
- jlebar 9y agoI would actually have no problem saying that a podcast that stretches your critical thinking muscles makes you "smarter". But do any of the listed podcasts do that? To work a muscle or your brain, you have to actively...well, work. I haven't tried all of the podcasts they listed, but of the ones that I have tried, they're all passive entertainment. (And again, nothing wrong with that.)
- thesmallestcat 9y agoI saw a great TED talk about that, let me tell you about it.
- gertef 9y agodo you know any podcasts better at making you smarter?
- Chathamization 9y agoI listen to a lot of history podcasts, and though they vary a good deal in quality, the ones by experts in the field (people with a PhD in History focusing on the subject) like The Fall of Rome podcast, the Ottoman History podcast, or the Religions of the Ancient Mediterranean podcast are an excellent source of information. If you look for them, though, keep in mind that a lot of history podcasts have similar names. For example, the aforementioned Ottoman History podcast is different from The History of the Ottoman Empire podcast. The one by amateurs vary a lot in quality. Some - like the History of England podcast - seem to be done by amateurs who are extremely well informed (though skip the first 20 episodes of the History of England podcast if you give it a go). Others seem to be about the same quality as someone giving to you a synopsis of a Wikipedia page they just read. When in doubt I'd stick to the ones by experts in the field.