KCRW’s Today’s Top Tune

 

 

This podcast features up and coming eclectic, often independent, artists singing their wares.  Available to download just on the day of the release, each song is a unique experience.  To really get the flow of this podcast you should subscribe at least for two weeks. Ironic mustaches and calf hugging denim is not required.

KCRW’s Today’s Top Tune

Podcast Review: NPR Planet Money

 

 

Amidst the financial collapse of the global banking market and the following credit crunch I find myself having difficulty comprehending what is happening in the world around me.  NPR’s Planet Money podcast and blog attempts to answer these questions starting from the ground up.  Shows focus on single topics starting with some form of the basic question, “What exactly is that?”  If you find your self confused by terms like leverage or balance sheets, check out Planet Money.

NPR Planet Money

Podcast Review: Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day

I have problems with word of the day.  I read it, I see the examples, but I end up with awkward  usage and worse pronunciation.  Hearing it in an audio podcast though seems to fix at least the latter issue.  Enter Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day daily podcast.  A little over 2 minutes to a better understanding of the language I slay daily.

Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Day Podcast

Podcast Review: BBC Global News

 

 

Tim Ferris and Dr. Weil both recommend news fasts in their details for living better lives.  I, on the other hand, do not need this advice.  This is because I generally have no clue what is going on in the world.  Enter, BBC Global News podcast.  Just over 20 minutes in length, world coverage, and enough information to keep me abreast of affairs of the foreign world.

Thanks to Collin for recommending this.

BBC Global News Podcast

Podcast Review: Alan Watts

 

 

The addictive thing about the Alan Watts podcast is not the content, but the delivery.  Alan Watts, british philospher and teacher, gave talks interpreting asian religions for western consumption.  The timbre he presents in is a subdued british almost middle atlantic accent.  Coupled with a midcentury dialect it makes every talk absolutely enchanting.  If you can get over that, the content is defintiely worth more than a few thoughts.

Alan Watts Podcast

Podcast Review: TED Talks

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, and Design, but its scope is much broader than that. The heart of TED comes from not its acronym but its slogan, “Ideas worth spreading.” I find myself adhering to the motto and spreading ideas myself to friends and visitors. Sharing both messages I identify with as well as messages that were new to me, it is truly an agent for change.

The podcasts offers a few segments per week in 20 minute or less video clips (and audio I guess if you’re into that). The best part though is that all the podcast archives are available to download, not just the last dozen.

Two of my recent favorites are:

• Jonathan Haidt: The real difference between liberals and conservatives
• Ann Cooper talks school lunches

TED Podcast

Any readers also avid TEDsters? What are your favorite TED talks?

Podcast Review: The Moth Podcast

The moth podcast is personal story telling through an impersonal internet.  Each story is unique, genuine, and the best part, completely and utterly captivating.  From struggling carpenters to new york city cops, it’s about real people with real stories.

The stories range in length from approximately 5 to 17 minutes. Sometimes funny, occasionally sad, often poignant, we hope you will find the stories memorable and representative of many aspects of human experience.

A few of my favorites in the recent downloadable past have been Ed Gavagan’s Drowning on Sullivan Street and Todd Hanson’s The Triumph of Apathy.

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