Welcome to the Podcastosphere

I though I was being really creative when I came up with that word, Podcastosphere. However, when I did a Google search for it, I came up with about a billion hits.

In any case, I have become addicted to Podcasts. There are sooooo many out there and they cover soooooo many topics. Today, I am going to tell you about some of my favorites. They are all readily available through iTunes.

1. The NPR Podcast of "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me!". I realize that this is on my local public radio station every Saturday, but I really don't feel like sitting near a radio on Saturday afternoons. Plus, the podcast version cuts out the news and ads. WWDTM is basically a news quiz show with guests that make jokes alongside the host. Some of the more funny panelists are P.J. O'Rourque, Mo Rocca, and Paula Pundstone. I highly recommend it.

2. NPR Story of the Day. The NPR people choose a story from one of their shows for each day that they think is especially interesting. I listen to NPR a lot, so sometimes I skip these as I have already heard them. One of the better ones recently talked about a man that created an audio-journal of his last year of life before dying of cancer. They had his wife on talking about their experiences.

3. The Onion Radio News. From the writers of The Onion Newspaper, these are usually under a minute and are released just about every day. Basically, they are just like stories from The Onion, but spoken. The newsman, Doyle Redlund (sp?) has one of those cool 1950s radio voices. I wish I could get more of these.

4. New York Times front page. I don't really get much chance to read the newspaper, but the people at the NYT give a quick summary of the front page and some stories from the inside of the paper. And the best part is that they release them the night before so I can listen to today's headlines today!

5. World Soccer Daily. These guys do the Fox Football Friday show on Fox Soccer Channel and this 2-hour talk show is actually broadcast on Sirius radio. They are pretty knowledgeable, although a lot of the people I know don't respect their opinions. However, I just like to hear people talk about soccer.

6. Slate Explainer. The people from Slate do a Podcast that gives explanations to those questions that you always wanted to know the answer to, but were afraid to ask. Some recent examples: What is a Congressional earmark? Who cashes my tax check? How dangerous is hail? How United are the United Arab Emirates? Usually about 5 minutes.

7. Slate Magazine. These are usually pretty short (7-8 minutes), but can be as long as 20. They are not always about politics. My favorite of the recent past talked about the unadvertised size of drink at Starbucks: the short. Short is smaller than the tall, which is perfect for people who don't want so much. It is also cheaper. If you want a one-shot cappuccino, this is the size that gives you the appropriate proportion of espresso to milk. Other recent topics: Baseball stadiums getting rid of their cheap seats (that was today actually), cell phone plans, and the proper manners when you run into Scooter Libby after you trashed him in an article you wrote.

8. State Department Press Conferences. The Daily Press Conference given by the State Department about issues like national security, foreign relations, etc. is actually posted on the web every day. This may not be interesting to most, but I find it wildly entertaining. Lots of question-dodging, lots of anger, lots of being defensive of ridiculous policies created by the Bush Administration.

9. Wine for Newbies. This is a series of podcasts that teach you about the nuances of wine and the different types of wines. I just listened to the lesson about Reislings. As a teacher myself, I am very critical of his teaching style, which is basically monotoned talking, but I'm learning a lot about wine, which I enjoy.

There are so many more out there. Our governator has his own boring podcast, shows about sports, news, politics, the OC, American Idol, etc. Bill Frist just announced that he will be doing his own podcast. My iPod has 2 CDs on it, but about 60 hours of podcasts. I add maybe 7-8 hours a day and erase the ones that I already listened to. I listen in my classroom during lunch, I listen at home on some nights, I listen in my car while driving to/from work. Its like crack.