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Jack into Podcasts

Podcasts, for all their potential, are really not all that popular. That probably has something to do with the fact that there’s far too many of them, for the simple reason that anybody can make and post a Podcast.

Podcasts, for all their potential, are really not all that popular. That probably has something to do with the fact that there’s far too many of them, for the simple reason that anybody can make and post a Podcast. The fact that audio quality can differ immensely from one ’cast to the next hasn’t helped their case all that much.

Separating wheat from chaff can be a long and frustrating experience.

If you’re not familiar with the term, a Podcast is a kind of do-it-yourself radio program that is shared as an audio file rather than broadcast live. When a Podcast is good it can be educational and entertaining, and easily better than the most commercial radio. But when a Podcast is bad — and most of them are — they just feel like a waste of time and space.

Still, there are a lot of good reasons to download iTunes or another Podcast player and start subscribing to shows. Last week MetaFilter created a forum for “most intellectually stimulating podcasts” and came up with this list:

 

CBC Radio: Quirks and Quarks — www.cbc.ca/quirks/ — This CBC radio program, hosted by Bob McDonald, is another good reason to be proud to be Canadian. It’s funny, relevant, irreverent and regularly does the impossible by making science interesting and accessible.

 

The Naked Scientists — www.thenakedscientists.com — The naked thing is just to get people’s attention, kind of like the Naked Chef — nobody actually has their clothes off, and if even if they did you wouldn’t be able to tell by listening to the Podcast. This British BBC radio show features a group of outgoing scientists from Cambridge University and has become a huge hit in that country. Like Quirks and Quarks, the goal is to make science fun and interesting for the masses.

 

The Writer’s Almanac — http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/podcast/ — Garrison Keillor is one of the most respected humour writers of today, combining a perfect blend of folksy wit with a razor-sharp sense of humour.

 

Intelligence Squared — www.intelligencesquared.com — Modern media tries to achieve balance by getting loudmouths from both sides of an issue into the studio and letting them battle it out, and it fails every time. Intelligence Squared takes the debate format to a higher plane, hosting debates on real issues that feature two or three intellectuals on either side and a mediator that keeps the proceedings on track.

 

How Stuff Works — www.howstuffworks.com — This website is crucial for any do-it-yourselfer, and the daily Podcast is a must. Topics from the past few weeks include Jake Brakes, digital cellphones, deep cycle batteries, cotton absorption, dynamite, and dry cleaning.

 

Hardcore History — www.dancarlin.com — Unvarnished Podcasts on history, by historian Dan Carlin. He also publishes a Podcast called Common Sense that looks at current events through a historical lens.

 

The Word Nerds — www.thewordnerds.org — This Podcast looks at the origin and usage of words and phrases, and the evolution of language in general. The most recent show looked at the use of religious phrases in common and sometimes off-colour language, such as “holy crap”.

 

Still, for all their intellectual potential one of the main appeals of Podcasting is music. Finding a Podcaster with musical tastes you enjoy is like striking gold. With mainstream radio and music television, and our limited selection of options in Whistler, Podcasts are a good way to find out about new music and bands.

CBC 3 puts out a semi-regular Podcast at http://radio3.cbc.ca that’s always worth a listen. The Canadian content is high, but for my tastes that’s usually a good thing.

Indie music fans can turn to Air Gods (www.airspun.com/podcasts/airgods.xml) to get a weekly playlist of new music from around the world. There is also an interactive portion where listeners vote on their favourite songs from the previous week.

The Northvoice Indie Podcast is also quite popular, at http://feeds.feedburner.com/NorthVoicePodcast.

There are Podcasts for everything from classic rock to electronica, all organized in terms of popularity at the music podcast directory of Podcasting News (www.podcastingnews.com/forum/link_19.htm).

Apple also showcases a variety of proven Podcasts in the iTunes Music Store.

Most Podcasts are in MP3 format at a bitrate of 128 kbps. That’s about average on the audio scale, with some extra compression to shave down the file sizes. Podcasts can be 100 MB or more in size, and could take you about 20 minutes to download at high speeds. Some will stream while you listen to them on your computer, but if you want to load them onto a portable player you’ll have to be patient.

By the way, Podcasts are obviously named after iPods, and have become a commercial term like Kleenex or Rollerblades. That’s something that hasn’t been lost on competing companies like Microsoft — believe it or not you can also download “Zunecasts” on various topics which are the same thing as Podcasts. The generic term for do-it-yourself broadcasting is “audio blogging”.