My Podcast Lineup

My listening habits have changed a bit so I thought I’d share what I’ve been listening too lately. Having iTunes and my iPhone has helped increase the variety of listening options.

A few months ago I stopped listening to Preston & Steve. Every once in a while I run out of things to listen to and will listen to a part of a show. I probably went two years listening everyday. For whatever reason I just grew tired of it. I’d heard the same things enough and some of the people on the show started to bother me. Everyday was too much. I enjoy my short bits that I listen every once in a while.

For a few weeks I listened to Stern. I really wish there was some sort of podcast. I’d even be willing to pay something. I want to be able to pause. I also want to be able to listen to the whole thing. Something might come up during the day and I’d miss a chunk of the show. I’d have to try and time it on one of the replays to catch it.

For a while I listened to Around the Horn and Pardon the Interruption first thing each morning. These got old as well. The same thing would happen when I used to watch these shows on TV. I’d go a few weeks on and then a few off. So they may be coming back around again soon.

The Adam Carolla Show – Feed
Carolla’s show isn’t on in my market. It’s only available on the west coast. I had heard him somewhere and remembered he had a radio show. I decided to see if it was streamed. The first time I tuned in he was involved in a lengthy debate on the merits of cake vs pie. I was hooked. It turns out the entire show is podcasted! The only issue I have is that each segment of the show is its own file. I’ve seen shows do either the whole 2+ hour show as one file or broken up by the hour. On the other hand, it’s handy to just share that segment with someone instead of telling them to find a certain time in a larger file. My request would be that their site have a page generated for each clip. Its a lot easier to save a link to a page rather than an mp3.

The BS Report – Feed
The Sports Guy Podcast. You probably already know about this one. Giving hope to anyone that they can just have a show where you talk to your friends (and not just about sports, even though its an ESPN podcast) and people will listen. Well, I’ll listen.

NPR: Story of the Day
There are so many shows from NPR. This feed has one clip per day, usually 5-10 minutes. I’ve found lots of cool little things on these. After I listen to the short clip I can go out and find out more about the topic. They aren’t all great but when I do find one I like its worth skipping through the ones I don’t care as much about.

This American Life – Feed
The most depressing show on the list. Seems like most weeks have at least one incredibly depressing story. Each week its a few stories on one theme. Some of them are really enjoyable. Even the not so good ones I enjoy listening to their style. I don’t know how you do it, but I want to get a story on the air. There is a TV version of the show now that is on Showtime. The second season ran a few months ago. Each season is only six episodes. Note: Only the current week’s show is available for free. Not a big deal. You can purchase most shows from the archive if you’d like.

Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me – Feed
This is a weekly show that I think airs on Saturdays. I just know Monday or Tuesday it pops up in my iTunes. Its a funny look at news items from the week. It includes a lot of the really oddball stories that you might have gotten forwarded in emails from friends. Many stories are so ridiculous I find it hard to believe that I had not heard about them so I become the one emailing the story to friends.

Fresh Air – Feed
Talk of the Nation – Feed
Two more NPR shows. The show descriptions come in very handy with these so I can just delete them if I don’t see anything interesting. I listen to Fresh Air much more often. There are lots of actors interviewed and usually the interview reveals a different side of the person.

Dave Dameshek Show – Feed
This is the latest addition. I’d heard him on the Sports Guy Podcast. At the time he had a show on ESPNRadio in LA. I listened once but it was too long for me to fit into my schedule. Apparently they moved some things around and gave him some new partners. Now they’ve dropped him from the air and he is podcast-only and by himself. Each day the show is about an hour, about the maximum that I have to spare. While it’s done in LA, the topics are national. Well, national with a Pittsburgh slant. I don’t really need entire shows about his fantasy football team but I enjoy his commentary. He also gives hope that anyone who can talk for an hour straight can have a show. One other interesting thing, at one point he was a co-host on Carolla’s show.

A lot more here than I had realized. I only actually listen to Carolla, Damashek, and NPR’s Story of the Day every day (and the SOTD is only a few minutes). Some are weekly and some I only listen to when I see something interesting is on. I also signed up for an Audible trial account. So add audiobooks into the mix. I’ll talk about that soon.

Seeing my tastes, any recommendations that might knock something off the list?