Podcasts

i would like some good podcasts, too, though.

Of course, I'm looking for suggestions for other podcasts as well.

The Rock n Roll Geek show.
Plays mostly the kind of rock that's not fashionabl;e at the moment plus some punk stuff but mostly talks. He's a really genuine guy and the honesty of it, the lack of shiny gloss bullshit makes it great.

This is a friend of my roommate, i haven't listened to a lot of it but what I heard was terrifically hilarious, fun and vulgar.

Anybody find anything interesting_

I can't go a single day without someone saying "podcasting" but I can't find a single podcast worth listening to.

Hopefully he'll keep it up.

Listening to podcasts at work is better than listening to the same twenty prerecorded CDs our college radio station broadcasts over summer break.

Firesign Theater is GREAT - they're a classic surreal stoner baby boomer comedy troupe

Simulacrum - v funny fake interviews with celebrities

Slate Magazine is hit or miss

my friend and i have been trying to get a radio show for ages but it's not working out

A copy of Audacity: http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

With the lame mp3 encoder: http://lame.sourceforge.net/ (probably comes with the Audacity download, I don't remember)

$5 a month mp3 hosting from LibSyn: http://www.libsyn.com

That's about it.

haha

This week's podcast is DJ Jonny Sender of Konk from March 2005. Track list below.

Podcast: http://www.alldisco.net/podcast.xml

war - galaxy
fantastic aleems - hooked on your lovin'
instant funk - got my mind made up
positive force - we got the funk
happy song (bootleg edit)
eurythmics - sweet dreams
chic - good times
incredible bongo band - apache
first choice - love thang
Moody Boys
falco - machine brennt
electric mind - zwei (dub)
jago - i'm gonna go
billy frazier & friends - billy who?
Brenda and the Tabulations - Let's Go All the Way Down

Listen to them... in the car? On the subway? It's basically surrogate radio for an iPod. Not so exciting, but still useful.

Also Probe ministries ( http://www.probe.org/ ) does a pretty good and informative talk show about various topics in Christianity or society.

There some okay science ones like "Science and Society"

I've also found a few language ones. Depending on which language you want to learn you can search through itunes store directory. I got one called "HESS Chinese survial guide."

how about good podcasts in french???

I've decided to utilise the full functional capacity of mypod. At the momment only listening to those available via itunes. Currently sampling:

Radio4's Best of Today
Amnesty International
NPR's It's All Politics
Newsweek
New York Times Op-Ed
Slate
Rob Da Bank's Sunday Best
The Onion
Ricky Gervais

These all fairly obvious. Can anyone offer me anything a bit more off-beat and esoteric? Not that I am either of those things but i might like to be.

Is Tom Ravenscroft's Channel 4 one still going?

fuck! that was good, that. and i've forgotten all about it. arse.

The Sound of Young America
Jordan, Jesse Go!
Never Not Funny

R U Sirius has a show with interesting guests sometimes

i gasped when the former member of act up's treatment action group were trying to block the accelerated release of the protease inhibitor triple cocktail. really interesting on the sociology of activism/science/medical ethics. i was largely ignorant of this history so a lot of it was major twists. fav episode probably the bath houses one tho

veg is thereany season you would recommend listening to next? should i start with slow burn?

The Iran Contra season of Fiasco is really good. Slow Burn is great too though, you really cant go wrong with either

I will second Slow Burn -- although I stick to the seasons rather than the "decoder" eps. the season about Clarence Thomas told me everything I didn't know about that guy and explained everything

Mailchimp is apparently refusing to collaborate with, or even advertise on, podcasts that employ unionized staff (even though they are denying it)

https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/14/24002001/mailchimp-pineapple-street-union-podcast-canceled

Sign a letter to Inuit (who owns Mailchimp) here:
https://actionnetwork.org/letters/tell-intuit-mailchimp-no-monkey-business-quit-union-busting

Intuit, though.

ha whoops

Intuit are the people who own TurboTax right? fuck that company forever. they absolutely don't give a shit about that letter though

yep they are evil

A good friend of mine worked for Mailchimp for a while, they like to cosplay as a "progressive" company but they will cut you without hesitation.

I'm pretty certain that I heard of the Castro podcast app here on ilx, but can't find the thread where it was mentioned. Anyway, it's done; they are out of business and their domain seems to be unregistered. Does anybody have a good podcast app to recommend that has similar features?

i dont know of any others that sideload so answer may be no?

i have used Overcast for years. it gives me no problems & is v good to use.

I use Podcast Addict and it's fine.

There is no good replacement if you’re used to Castro’s inbox/queue system. I was able to sort of mimic it in Pocketcasts using filters, but it’s not the same.

I discovered Tooth & Claw: True Stories of Animal Attacks over winter break and have been ear-hoovering up as many episodes as I can. Led by a Yellowstone wildlife biologist who specializes in bears, it goes into detail about dangerous wild animal encounters, while providing a respectful context for why these things occur, as well as a slew of biological and behavioral facts about the animals. Warning that it can get sad at times, because by the very nature of the stories they're engaging with, the humans and animals don't always survive. It's co-hosted by the biologist's brother, who provides a dorky kind of comic relief, and a mutual friend of theirs. The brother's voice reminds me a lot of Matt Stone's character from Cannibal: The Musical, but he's more of an affable dork than an annoying one. Highly recommend.

new season of Blindspot is covering lesser-known stories & people from the early days of the AIDS Crisis & it is so good
This season hosted by Kai Wright of WNYC

3 episodes out so far, second episode on the Harlem Hospital Pediatric Ward is quietly incredible

Similarites might be drawn to the Slow Burn season on AIDS but this is a much much deeper dive, much more focused on marginalized groups whose stories were less likely to be told

5-4 pod's rhiannon hamam arrested at the UT Austin protests, two days after the new republic called her a "political influencer to watch" and a "notewprthy political voice"

(she's tweeting so i assume she's out again)

57 arrests, all charges dropped

I’m interviewed in the audio here:https://t.co/4OtrJONi8z

— Rhiannon (@AywaRhiannon) April 27, 2024

This week I learned that Paul Giamatti has a podcast “Chinwag” and has had so for over a year!

It’s fucking great: he’s an absolute dork for aliens, crytpids, monsters, ~the unexplained~

i’ve listened to some truly great episodes already

the episode on Starseeds is a must-listen: it’s live from some convention in denver & the 15 minute q&a at the end is predictably awesome & Giamatti takes every question like the true gentleman & mensch that he is

every UFO ep is great

the Cryptozoology episode is great bc it’s mostly just Giamatti reading v funny local stories about Spectre Moose & Melonheads to name a few

highly recommend

if you ever read the Fortean Times, this should be your lighthearted but serious-leaning jam

I learned that from presumably the same source as you and was amazed! It's like, why wouldn't he have that? Elvis Telecom should be a guest and talk about early 20th century LA cults.

Anyone find the Queue broken in new Overcast?

xpost Elvis should totally be a guest! Giamatti and Elvis would def vibe

my bff was on an early Chinwag and Giamatti himself deep-dived so far on them that he asked questions about personal lyf stuff from essays that aren't even linked on their own portfolio

wait which ep?!

not here to doxx, just affirming Giamatti's deep enthusiasm for the project

Can I just say that when i am in the right mood, Backlisted is sometimes my platonic ideal of a perfect podcast

I have gone on to read many enjoyable books from their discussions

OMG VEG I've never heard of Backlisted but the NEW ep is about Absolute Beginners! I have a lot of affection for that little book but I've never discussed it with anyone and I'm very excited to listen!

i never knew it was a book til i heard that ep. how lame am i? i only ever saw the bad VERY bad movie as a teen lmao

Oh no! The book is cute, charming, earnest but also resolute. It gave me so much context for the emergence of teenage-hood and post-war youth culture/subculture when I was first learning about that whole era. As a 20-something mod also living in straitened circumstances in a metropolis and, to some extent, needing to put a romantic sheen on my life, I took it quite to heart. The aspect where his dad just doesn't understand that the world has changed, and how it has changed, and is a simpler and brutish life form who can only criticize what he doesn't understand, it's like the eternal teenage anthem and also a very specific commentary. Crepe Suzette is a great character too. Will listen on my commute home.

I was Crepe Suzette on all the dating apps for years lol. No one ever got the reference as far as I know.

i’m def going to read it now

I’m going to disappoint everyone. I bailed out of Chinwag months ago. While I love Paul G and would totally get along with him, his co-host is a big boat anchor that kills the flow. Whenever he says “explain to the audience who may not be familiar” is usually when I stop listening. The guests don’t really add anything either. For every Mark Mothersbaugh and Ian Simmons there’s Lesley Kean (ugh), Neil Gaiman (barf), and Ken Burns? Give me a fucking break…

i have binged a ton of episodes & I can def see that

Giamatti can’t stay on topic to the point where it’s like he’s allergic to one-subject conversation, his mind darts all over the place lol
And neither are very good at interviews in terms of drawing people out further on whatever topic

but i do like the kooky stuff they talk about & Giamatti’s boundless enthusiasm
so i’m still on board

The mention of Backlisted reminds me - since Caroline Crampton was a recent guest on that - to recommend Shedunnit, Crampton's own pod about the golden age of detective fiction. I've learned a lot from it, and the episodes are just the right duration.

Ooooh. Another add.

I jumped into some Backlisted and I'm enjoying it, but slightly disappointed because, of course since they want to encourage people to READ the books in question, they don't want to spoil or explain anything, and I was hoping it was more of, like, a "book club" where they'd discuss it. But they said LOVELY absolutely adoring things about ABSOLUTE BEGINNERS so I'll forgive them (and listen to some more eps).

highly recommend the Beowulf & Sir Gawain eps w Dr Laura Varnham - she’s an awesome guest & SO fascinating

i know one of the producers pretty well and i always feel vaguely guilty that i don’t listen ;_;

look i’m too busy listening to episode 5,882,912,364 of uhh yeah dude okay

<3 also v important

highly recommend the Beowulf & Sir Gawain eps w Dr Laura Varnham - she’s an awesome guest & SO fascinating

Hey what about our episodes on both of those at By-the-Bywater? Admittedly we're less expert. :-D

those were fun too!
sheesh you’re so needy lol

Friend recommended If Books Could Kill to me, really wanted to like it based on the concept but I find the hosts extremely irritating, smug, and anxious to the point it stresses me out.

haha -- some episodes are better than others. they are def smug. the episodes keep getting longer though and more full of jokes and tangents, which i am not there for.

I tried to make it through the Haidt: Anxious Generation ep because a lot of local parents are talking about that book and the issues in it generally. One of the hosts (Michael?) is extremely all over the place and just constantly throwing everything at the wall to the point that it gets hard to follow his points and what he actually thinks is or isn't valid. I'm sure Haidt is wrong about some things and draws bad conclusions, but I also felt like I was listening to someone who didn't have kids (not sure if that's actually true) and maybe didn't understand certain things that are just obvious to parents observing their kids with phones. There were some moments where good points were made, but overall they got buried.

Some of the other eps I've listened to bothered me for a different reason, like the target they picked just seemed way too easy, whereas here at least they were looking at something that has a patina of rigor.

yeah -- that ep was waaaaay too long. the one about hillbilly elegy was especially good because they cut through the garbage of that book pretty well.

I realize this is a very tall order, but I think that if you're going to shred a book like that, which is currently being used to make policy decisions, you have some responsibility to be a little more coherent in how you go about it, because parents and schools are trying to figure out how to deal with this very complex and challenging issue in real time, and "Blaaah, wuuuhhhh, we don't know anything, data confusing, sounds like moral panic" is not a satisfactory answer.

to be fair. the book doesn't seem like a satisfactory answer either. the author seems very determined to make his point without a lot of evidence.

hobbes can be good, but he's been pretty high on his own supply since leaving "you're wrong about." there are times when i'm with him, and there are times when he is as mindlessly committed to a narrative as the targets of his criticism are.

Been enjoying "Blocked Party"... very internetty canadian-flavoured chatter with Stefan Heck and John Cullen (who also hosts a Jeopardy podcast with Emily Heller)

there are times when he is as mindlessly committed to a narrative as the targets of his criticism are

i agree with this. there are moments on IBCK that are very revealing, and it can be frustrating sometimes when the bar is so low and they still barely manage to piece together a coherent critique. peter is usually a bit better than michael tbf

I think the episodes def vary in quality, but I thought the general thesis on the most recent episode was that the book was relying on people's instinctual feelings about things that are "just obvious" to bolster a case that didn't actually have compelling hard evidence. And I think it's by necessity going to be a bit more scattered, because there's obviously negative effects of phone/social media usage (they pretty much agree with his recommendations) but a lot of what they highlight in the book is obvious bullshit (tracking the implementation of facebook at colleges to mental health declines, when facebook didn't have anything beyond pokes and a 'wall' when it rolled out).