5 ms·

I've heard that when TV started spreading people thought it would never overtake radio. "Who has time to just sit and watch something?" You can listen to audio

by netcan 12y ago

I've heard that when TV started spreading people thought it would never overtake radio. "Who has time to just sit and watch something?" You can listen to audio while you do other things. Podcasting is probably my main "media" for the last 5 or so years. I listen to 15-20 hours per week as I commute, exercise, wash dishes… Right now. As a marginal, unprofitable, poorly understood medium podcasts are amazingly "free." At least some of that stems from podcasting being broken. Anyway, if anyone is looking for some fertile space to innovate, podcasting is it. Discovery is completely and utterly broken. Even just getting a podcast that you know the name of can be borderline impossible for less savvy users. Podcasting apps kind of suck too. Podcasts struggle to get interaction, which is important for discovery.

danschuller 12y ago
Any recommendations? I'm loving Serial, I listened to nearly all of it today. Occasionally I listen to Startups For the Rest of Us (http://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/ http://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/) but it's hit and miss if the content is relevant for me. Hardcore History is excellent. It'd be nice to discover some more.
- adriand 12y ago
  This American Life, the show that created (I think more or less), Serial, is a great show. 99% Invisible is a great show about design. Radio Diaries is interesting. If you're into super thoughtful discussions about religion, science, meditation, and so on, On Being is fantastic. Other ones worth checking out: * Radiolab * Stuff You Should Know * Studio 360 But - Serial is definitely my favourite podcast of all time. I'm not sure there's anything better out there.
  - logn 12y ago
    Here are links that go to MP3 files (versus their webapp players)... This American Life bookmarklet: javascript:var i = prompt("TAL episode number:");window.location=i?"http://audio.thisamericanlife.org/jomamashouse/ismymamashouse/"+i+".mp3":"http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives"; Radiolab: http://feeds.wnyc.org/radiolab http://feeds.wnyc.org/radiolab
  - HelloMcFly 12y ago
    Others: * Hardcore History with Dan Carlin - only 2-3 episodes per year, but all very long and well-researched. Very entertaining. * Planet Money - quick, short episodes of interesting money/economics/markets-related things. * The Lowe Post - if you like basketball. Zach Lowe, from Grantland, interviews various people if note related to the NBA.
    - cmdrfred 12y ago
      Let me double recommend Hardcore History, Dan Carlin is a genius.
  - skrause 12y ago
    Does anyone else feel that Radiolab is incredibly over-produced? I've tried to get into it several times, but the fast cuts (after pretty much every sentence it cuts to another speaker) somehow make me nervous. I guess I'm just more into longer talk shows.
    - netcan 12y ago
      That's the experiment :) Radiolab is really an experimental way of doing audio. Jad is a composer and they break all the traditional rules to make it very immersive. Personally, I like it. But, I also like the virtually no production, talk podcasts too.
- skywhopper 12y ago
  Slate's "Working" podcast is pretty new but has been excellent so far. 20-40 minutes each week covering the basics of various people's working day. You'd probably like "Criminal" which is short crime-related stories. Only a few have been produced, but they've been picked up by the Radiotopia folks to do more and more often. "WTF with Marc Maron" has some amazing interviews with people from the comedy and music worlds, along with short monologues from Marc's twisted mind. The (pay-for) archives are where the best episodes are (Judd Apatow, Louis CK, Ira Glass, Ken Jeong, Ed Helms, Dick Van Dyke, Mel Brooks, Dave Foley, Dave Grohl, Aubrey Plaza, Bryan Cranston, the list is endless) but the most recent 50 are always free. His interview of Robin Williams was incredible, and he just reposted it in the free stream recently. Also on my playlist: 99% Invisible (stories about the design of things (more interesting than that sounds)), Good Job Brain! (pubquiz-themed trivia show), Ask Me Another (live trivia show), The Memory Palace (extremely rare, but fantastically interesting episodes), Born Yesterday (interesting tidbits from history), The Bugle (John Oliver riffs with a comic colleague from England), StartUp (Alex Blumberg recounts starting his own podcasting company after leaving This American Life), and of course This American Life and Radiolab (if you can stand the style). Also, check out the big list of podcasts the new label Wolfpop just put out. Lots of good pop-culture stuff: Nate Corddry Reading Aloud, Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period, The Canon (histrionic arguments about movies), and Maltin on Movies (calm discussions about movies) are the ones I'm trying at the moment. Podcasts my family enjoys but I've had to cut mainly just for time: Planet Money (NPR/TAL-style explainers about the economy) and the Sporkful (good-natured arguments about the minutiae of various foods). NPR has a ton of great, well-produced podcasts and radio-shows-made-into-podcasts: Pop Culture Happy Hour, Dinner Party Download, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Fresh Air. Hope that gives you a good starting point. EDIT: some other podcasts I've listened to but given up for various reasons, but which are definitely worth checking out: The Moth, RISK, Snap Judgment, On Being, Life of the Law (I think).
- dmoo 12y ago
  Lots from the BBC I enjoy In our Time http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/iot http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/iot From our own Correspondent http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/fooc http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/fooc More Lighthearted Stuff Infinite Monkey Cage http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/timc http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/timc and From the qi people http://qi.com/podcast/ http://qi.com/podcast/
- grimtrigger 12y ago
  If you like (American) politics, Political Junkie and the Political Gabfest are both awesome.
- MaBu 12y ago
  I like University of Cambridge Naked scientists: http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/ http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/ It's a podcast about weekly new science stuff from new papers nature etc. Usually they call the author or someone who knows his stuff. Podcast is made with PhD students for general public.
- georgehdf 12y ago
  Econtalk podcast is excellent if you are interested in economics. http://www.econtalk.org/ http://www.econtalk.org/
- mojoe 12y ago
  The Cracked podcast is really good (http://www.earwolf.com/show/the-cracked-podcast/ http://www.earwolf.com/show/the-cracked-podcast/) -- it's both super interesting and extremely funny. Techzing is also one of my favorites (http://techzinglive.com/ http://techzinglive.com/) because the two guys who record it have great personalities and banter.
- alanfalcon 12y ago
  Podcasts are awesome for the long tail effect. What sorts of things are you in to? Do a little google searching (don't try to find these using your podcatcher's search) for podcasts related to those hobbies and try a couple. They likely exist, and there's probably one that's worth listening to (sometimes these amateur efforts take a couple episodes to grow on you.) I really like Spider-Man: I really like the Amazing Spider-Talk podcast. I like Dave Ramsay: I really like The Dave Ramsay Show (okay, it's just an hour of his daily radio show, but hey, it's also a podcast if I can listen on demand on my iPhone.) I've come to be interested in the hobby of buying and restoring (and occasionally playing) classic (80s, usually) arcade games: I really like the Arcade Outsiders podcast. I'm sometimes into World of Warcraft, sometimes into League of Legends, and I have Podcasts for both those games I'll dive in and out of. I like to write and think about stories, as well as watch movies: I really like the Scriptnotes podcast. I enjoy the candor and outside-my-tribe perspective that Penn Jillette has: I really like Penn's Sunday School. (Podcasts are a great way to dip your toes outside your tribe, a habit I highly suggest everyone try to develop.)
smackfu 12y ago
>You can listen to audio while you do other things My biggest problem with podcasts is that I can only listen to audio while I do other things. Running, cleaning the kitchen, driving. If I don't have something to occupy my hands and eyes, then unconsciously I find something, and tune out the podcast.
- goatforce5 12y ago
  I'm the same. If I can hear words (talking or lyrics) I tune in to them and totally blank on whatever i'm doing. Podcasts are for when i'm pottering about in the morning making coffee and having breakfast, or the increasingly rare times i'm at the gym. Luckily I like listening to more obscure forms of techno/electronic music which rarely have vocals in them. Even then i'll get distracted by trying to work out what a particular track was and who it was by. And gosh darn if there's a vocal sample in there I have to go work out where it's from.
- mjklin 12y ago
  That's what 2048 is for!
  - netcan 12y ago
    That's my commuting routine! Problem is, I play a close to perfect game now and it's boring. Any suggestions?
    - dangerlibrary 12y ago
      Threes?
mojoe 12y ago
I've been using "Pocket Casts" on Android and really like it. It's got a ton of great features, nice design, and OK discovery. It did cost $4, but I use it a lot.
- ubertaco 12y ago
  PlayerFM is also nice, and fits my $0 budget.

by netcan 12y ago

danschuller 12y ago

Any recommendations? I'm loving Serial, I listened to nearly all of it today. Occasionally I listen to Startups For the Rest of Us (http://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/ http://www.startupsfortherestofus.com/) but it's hit and miss if the content is relevant for me. Hardcore History is excellent. It'd be nice to discover some more.

adriand 12y ago
This American Life, the show that created (I think more or less), Serial, is a great show. 99% Invisible is a great show about design. Radio Diaries is interesting. If you're into super thoughtful discussions about religion, science, meditation, and so on, On Being is fantastic. Other ones worth checking out: * Radiolab * Stuff You Should Know * Studio 360 But - Serial is definitely my favourite podcast of all time. I'm not sure there's anything better out there.
- logn 12y ago
  Here are links that go to MP3 files (versus their webapp players)... This American Life bookmarklet: javascript:var i = prompt("TAL episode number:");window.location=i?"http://audio.thisamericanlife.org/jomamashouse/ismymamashouse/"+i+".mp3":"http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives"; Radiolab: http://feeds.wnyc.org/radiolab http://feeds.wnyc.org/radiolab
- HelloMcFly 12y ago
  Others: * Hardcore History with Dan Carlin - only 2-3 episodes per year, but all very long and well-researched. Very entertaining. * Planet Money - quick, short episodes of interesting money/economics/markets-related things. * The Lowe Post - if you like basketball. Zach Lowe, from Grantland, interviews various people if note related to the NBA.
  - cmdrfred 12y ago
    Let me double recommend Hardcore History, Dan Carlin is a genius.
- skrause 12y ago
  Does anyone else feel that Radiolab is incredibly over-produced? I've tried to get into it several times, but the fast cuts (after pretty much every sentence it cuts to another speaker) somehow make me nervous. I guess I'm just more into longer talk shows.
  - netcan 12y ago
    That's the experiment :) Radiolab is really an experimental way of doing audio. Jad is a composer and they break all the traditional rules to make it very immersive. Personally, I like it. But, I also like the virtually no production, talk podcasts too.
skywhopper 12y ago
Slate's "Working" podcast is pretty new but has been excellent so far. 20-40 minutes each week covering the basics of various people's working day. You'd probably like "Criminal" which is short crime-related stories. Only a few have been produced, but they've been picked up by the Radiotopia folks to do more and more often. "WTF with Marc Maron" has some amazing interviews with people from the comedy and music worlds, along with short monologues from Marc's twisted mind. The (pay-for) archives are where the best episodes are (Judd Apatow, Louis CK, Ira Glass, Ken Jeong, Ed Helms, Dick Van Dyke, Mel Brooks, Dave Foley, Dave Grohl, Aubrey Plaza, Bryan Cranston, the list is endless) but the most recent 50 are always free. His interview of Robin Williams was incredible, and he just reposted it in the free stream recently. Also on my playlist: 99% Invisible (stories about the design of things (more interesting than that sounds)), Good Job Brain! (pubquiz-themed trivia show), Ask Me Another (live trivia show), The Memory Palace (extremely rare, but fantastically interesting episodes), Born Yesterday (interesting tidbits from history), The Bugle (John Oliver riffs with a comic colleague from England), StartUp (Alex Blumberg recounts starting his own podcasting company after leaving This American Life), and of course This American Life and Radiolab (if you can stand the style). Also, check out the big list of podcasts the new label Wolfpop just put out. Lots of good pop-culture stuff: Nate Corddry Reading Aloud, Denzel Washington is the Greatest Actor of All Time Period, The Canon (histrionic arguments about movies), and Maltin on Movies (calm discussions about movies) are the ones I'm trying at the moment. Podcasts my family enjoys but I've had to cut mainly just for time: Planet Money (NPR/TAL-style explainers about the economy) and the Sporkful (good-natured arguments about the minutiae of various foods). NPR has a ton of great, well-produced podcasts and radio-shows-made-into-podcasts: Pop Culture Happy Hour, Dinner Party Download, Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Fresh Air. Hope that gives you a good starting point. EDIT: some other podcasts I've listened to but given up for various reasons, but which are definitely worth checking out: The Moth, RISK, Snap Judgment, On Being, Life of the Law (I think).
dmoo 12y ago
Lots from the BBC I enjoy In our Time http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/iot http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/iot From our own Correspondent http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/fooc http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/fooc More Lighthearted Stuff Infinite Monkey Cage http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/timc http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/timc and From the qi people http://qi.com/podcast/ http://qi.com/podcast/
grimtrigger 12y ago
If you like (American) politics, Political Junkie and the Political Gabfest are both awesome.
MaBu 12y ago
I like University of Cambridge Naked scientists: http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/ http://www.thenakedscientists.com/HTML/podcasts/ It's a podcast about weekly new science stuff from new papers nature etc. Usually they call the author or someone who knows his stuff. Podcast is made with PhD students for general public.
georgehdf 12y ago
Econtalk podcast is excellent if you are interested in economics. http://www.econtalk.org/ http://www.econtalk.org/
mojoe 12y ago
The Cracked podcast is really good (http://www.earwolf.com/show/the-cracked-podcast/ http://www.earwolf.com/show/the-cracked-podcast/) -- it's both super interesting and extremely funny. Techzing is also one of my favorites (http://techzinglive.com/ http://techzinglive.com/) because the two guys who record it have great personalities and banter.
alanfalcon 12y ago
Podcasts are awesome for the long tail effect. What sorts of things are you in to? Do a little google searching (don't try to find these using your podcatcher's search) for podcasts related to those hobbies and try a couple. They likely exist, and there's probably one that's worth listening to (sometimes these amateur efforts take a couple episodes to grow on you.) I really like Spider-Man: I really like the Amazing Spider-Talk podcast. I like Dave Ramsay: I really like The Dave Ramsay Show (okay, it's just an hour of his daily radio show, but hey, it's also a podcast if I can listen on demand on my iPhone.) I've come to be interested in the hobby of buying and restoring (and occasionally playing) classic (80s, usually) arcade games: I really like the Arcade Outsiders podcast. I'm sometimes into World of Warcraft, sometimes into League of Legends, and I have Podcasts for both those games I'll dive in and out of. I like to write and think about stories, as well as watch movies: I really like the Scriptnotes podcast. I enjoy the candor and outside-my-tribe perspective that Penn Jillette has: I really like Penn's Sunday School. (Podcasts are a great way to dip your toes outside your tribe, a habit I highly suggest everyone try to develop.)

smackfu 12y ago

>You can listen to audio while you do other things My biggest problem with podcasts is that I can only listen to audio while I do other things. Running, cleaning the kitchen, driving. If I don't have something to occupy my hands and eyes, then unconsciously I find something, and tune out the podcast.

goatforce5 12y ago
I'm the same. If I can hear words (talking or lyrics) I tune in to them and totally blank on whatever i'm doing. Podcasts are for when i'm pottering about in the morning making coffee and having breakfast, or the increasingly rare times i'm at the gym. Luckily I like listening to more obscure forms of techno/electronic music which rarely have vocals in them. Even then i'll get distracted by trying to work out what a particular track was and who it was by. And gosh darn if there's a vocal sample in there I have to go work out where it's from.
mjklin 12y ago
That's what 2048 is for!
- netcan 12y ago
  That's my commuting routine! Problem is, I play a close to perfect game now and it's boring. Any suggestions?
  - dangerlibrary 12y ago
    Threes?

mojoe 12y ago

I've been using "Pocket Casts" on Android and really like it. It's got a ton of great features, nice design, and OK discovery. It did cost $4, but I use it a lot.

ubertaco 12y ago
PlayerFM is also nice, and fits my $0 budget.