This forum is in permanent archive mode. Our new active community can be found here.

Podcasts to bring on a trip

edited July 2010 in Everything Else
So, I am going to be going on a trip on Wednesday to Alaska and am trying to load up my iPod with stuff to listen to/watch on the road and on the plane. Do any of you guys have suggestions of podcasts I should load up ten or so episodes on?
«13

Comments

  • So, I am going to be going on a trip on Wednesday to Alaska and am trying to load up my iPod with stuff to listen to/watch on the road and on the plane. Do any of you guys have suggestions of podcasts I should load up ten or so episodes on?
    Well, my suggestion is to load up on longer podcasts, and a wide variety.

    If you're into comics, I recommend Major Spoilers, hour long episodes, and they're generally both interesting and funny. They review a wide variety of books, too, not just the DC/Marvel mainline books, like the half dozen Superman titles, two hundred and twenty two Batman titles, The X-men with wolverine, wolverine, wolverine and deadpool, deadpool, deadpool and everyone, wolverine and everyone else(with special guest appearance by Deadpool) - they also do much of the smaller stuff, like many Boom studios, Vertigo, and other more independent titles.

    If you're into RPGs, you could have a go at Critical hit, by the Major Spoilers crew - You're listening to D&D; sessions without being involved, sure, but these guys manage to make D&D; interesting and fun to listen to, and I've found myself laughing out loud quite a few times to this before.

    The Twit Network has a number of excellent podcasts on a range of topics, As does NPR - Though, I personally only listen to This Week In Tech from the TWIT network, and Cartalk from NPR, however, I hear that This American life is also excellent.

    The Nerdist is a series of really funny, really interesting interviews with various people conducted by Chris Hardwick of Web Soup, and his friends.

    Geekson is an Irregular and long format geek discussion show, where a bunch of LA geeks get together and shoot the shit on a topic or three, and sometimes do interviews with people.

    I can't let the chance go by without plugging our own Luke Burrage's podcast, the Science Fiction Book Review Podcast, or the SFBRP. If you're into Sci-fi, even just a little bit, it's an extremely good podcast, and always interesting, along with being handy for recommending some good sci-fi books(and books to stay away from), as well as sometimes reviewing books you've already read, which can show you new things you'd never noticed in the book before. That, And luke is always entertaining, often insightful, and knows a hell of a lot about sci-fi, and a thousand other things besides.

    If you're of a Skeptical bent, there is any number of good podcasts in that vein, including The Skeptic Zone, Skeptics with a K, Skeptic's guide to the universe, Skeptoid, and so on. Just search skeptic on itunes. Also, if you want science with less skepticism, try The naked Scientists, who also have a number of specific field podcasts, such as naked Archaeology.

    For gaming, I'd suggest Weekend confirmed(by the Shacknews guys), The Drunk Tank(Rooster Teeth), Will Game for gold, And The GAP(The Game Arena Podcast).

    Also, finally, How stuff works has a bunch of good podcasts, From Carstuff to Stuff you should know, To techstuff, to stuff mom never told you - a bunch of interesting stuff.
  • If you are interested in anime podcasts, I refurr you to my posts on a thread called "Recommended Anime Podcasts."

    In addition, I recommend the following non-anime podcasts:

    - Every Friday night, the BBC puts out a new Friday Night Comedy podcast. It's just their radio show on the Internet, but I find it amusing. Avoid if you cannot understand British accents.
    - An excellent podcast for slightly off the beaten track movies (i.e. B-movies, cult classics, but also mainstream films) is The Greatest Movie Ever podcast. Not only is the main host, Paul "Unicorn" Chapman, an excellent and knowledgeable one, but he often has special guest hosts like AWO's Daryl Surat, Gerald Rathgolb, Clarissa Graffeo, or Fast Karate's Dave Reilly and Joel White.
    - If you're into history or politics, look up a dude named Dan Carlin. He used to work in radio, and as such his delivery and production values are excellent. His history podcast is called Hardcore History which attempts to tell history with a slightly dramatic bent, it may seem kind of silly, until you really get into it. His political podcast is called Common Sense which tackles modern trends of the day from an independent view. His podcasts always make you think about the issue rather than simply tell you what to think. There was a reason he quit from partisan talk radio.
  • I'd like to echo Churba's comment re: variety being the spice of life. If you're going on a long-haul trip, you're going to want stuff that won't bore you as well as stuff that you can essentially "flip channels" over to. In my regular rotation are the following:

    Gaming:
    - Joystiq's Xbox 360 Fancast - all XBox-related news and views. Typically runs about an hour or so.
    - Rebel FM - Stars a couple guys who were part of the Games For Windows Magazine podcast before that mag got the axe. General gaming along with some funny relationship advice.
    - PC Gamer - Podcast from the mag of the same name. Get the US version. The UK version is good as well, but updated infrequently.

    PC News:
    - I'll second Churba's vote for TWiT and throw in a vote for Security Now! from the TWiT network. If you're interested at all in computer security then you'll find Steve Gibson is right up your alley. Just be aware that when Leo starts talking about one of their sponsors you can fast forward about a minute to two minutes and not miss anything of substance.

    Comics:
    - I just discovered the ComicVine podcast and it's halfway decent.

    I'll also throw in a vote for GeeksOn. It's pretty good but updated very infrequently, and the guys who do it need to learn about keeping their sound levels even, but don't let that chase you away from listening.
  • edited July 2010
    Why the answer is "Fast Karate."
    Seconded, but be sure to get some of the earlier episodes like anything with Dinosaur in the title, and the DearS and Koi Kaze episodes.
    An excellent podcast for slightly off the beaten track movies (i.e. B-movies, cult classics, but also mainstream films) isThe Greatest Movie Everpodcast. Not only is the main host, Paul "Unicorn" Chapman, an excellent and knowledgeable one, but he often has special guest hosts like AWO's Daryl Surat, Gerald Rathgolb, Clarissa Graffeo, or Fast Karate's Dave Reilly and Joel White.
    I second both of these, and be damn sure to download every episode that has either Daryl, Dave, or Joel on them. The best of those are the In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, Crank, Crank 2, and Gamer, and the Wicker Man episodes.
    Post edited by Li_Akahi on
  • edited July 2010
    12 Byzantine Emperors Rulers
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • edited August 2010
    I am going to have to check some of these out. I second Churba's recommendation of Chris Hardwick's "The Nerdist" podcast, as well as most anything on the TWiT network. I recommend their main show, This Week in Technology, and Net@Night for starters.

    Here are the others I subscribe to:
    - Retronauts and Bit Transmission for retro video game discussion. I think both of these shows have a good cast and leads to some interesting conversation.
    - Smodcast by Kevin Smith. Your mileage may vary here. I am a NJ shore local and therefore have a love for Kevin Smith and his work, but these days he is grating on even me, as I feel he is turning into a fat, sloppy, depressed, weed-smoking and masturbating machine after the bombing of his last (excellent) movie.

    Asides from those I've been trying to find one or two more to stick with. Currently I have listened to a few episodes of The Dice Tower and GameOn in my attempts to find more board gaming podcasts. I think the Dice Tower people are a little stuffy and weird, but they have better discussions Jesse and Jordan, who have more fun personalities. Still searching for a perfect balance.

    I started listening to Stuff You Should Know and am not overly impressed, being I've heard it recommended so many places, but I'm not giving up on it yet.
    Post edited by Matt on
  • This American Life
    A Life Well Wasted
    - Which is like This American Life, but for videogames.
    The Bugle - Comedic news podcast with Jon Oliver from the Daily Show and his comedian friend.
    the Dungeons & Dragons Podcast - Only the episodes where the Penny Arcade guys are playing DnD. There are three campaigns where they have a pro DM, and then the most recent where Tycho/Jerry DMs.
  • This American Life
    Seconded, this is probably the best radio show on the planet, I've never laughed so much and cried so much. The shows are generally all awesome.
  • I don't listen to geeknights often so I just load up a backlog of that. Helps me stay awake while pounding down miles on the 95 corridor.
  • I don't listen to geeknights often so I just load up a backlog of that. Helps me stay awake while pounding down miles on the 95 corridor.
    Depends on the vintage. ;^) We have a few good streaks, and a few boring streaks. You don't want to be caught on the highway with a tired crab people show. ;^)
  • I think it's funny that it took until the 12th post for someone to mention Geeknights. I should consider this though, as I've only been listening for the past 6 months. Any particular favorites from the GK archive?

    On a side note, my god did you guys sound tired coming back from Connecticon. The great thing about it though was that I had a ridiculous weekend and was totally burnt out on Tuesday when I listened to the show, so it was perfect. If I had put on something high-energy and peppy, I would have probably just turned it off.
  • Depends on the vintage. ;^) We have a few good streaks, and a few boring streaks. You don't want to be caught on the highway with a tired crab people show. ;^)
    It doesn't really matter what it is, just as long as I hear someone talking it flicks my mind in a different mode and I don't get sleepy.
  • Audiobooks are awesome, just a suggestion.

    As for Podcasts, other than what many others have said here, check out the NPR podcasts.

    Sunday Puzzle Podcast: They are short, but the word games are fun to play.
    Intelligence Squared Podcasts: Debates!
    Most Emailed Stories: Random news. Since I don't have cable nor do I really pay attention to news, it's refreshing to listen to this podcast.

    SModcast: Others have suggested it, there are a lot to listen to and are beyond hilarious.
  • Pseudopod. Genuinely creepy and frightening horror fiction.
  • I'd recommend Idle Thumbs for an intelligent/funny video game podcast, and second A Life Well Wasted and This American Life.
  • edited July 2010
    Audiobooks are great for their sheer length and they can get really immersive.

    In terms of Sheer Volume of Podcasts/Diversity, definitely go with Spill.Com's Selection. And they have 3 weekly podcasts, along with audio movie reviews. (One focused on Movies, one focused on Comics and TV, and one that covers just about everything else with funny stories, internet videos and news) And not only are they entertaining, but they are incredibly funny.

    The movie reviews go between 10 to 30 minutes. The podcasts themselves can go from 1 hours to 3 hours.

    I would also recommend TwiT, even though I'm not big on Tech, they do talk about a lot of good information and they always have podcasts up. My favorite of the TwiT podcasts is NSFW, with the magician Brian Brushwood, and they always play fun games and talk about fun internet stuff.
    Post edited by Nukerjsr on
  • Has anyone ever tried audio books from audible.com? They are constantly advertising on podcasts, whether it be TWiT or The Nerdist, and I'm starting to wonder if they are worth giving a shot.
  • Has anyone ever tried audio books from audible.com? They are constantly advertising on podcasts, whether it be TWiT or The Nerdist, and I'm starting to wonder if they are worth giving a shot.
    I have, and they're very good. Oftentimes, there are famous people doing the readings. When I was younger I really loved the Series of Unfourtunate Events books and those are narrated by Tim Curry in audible.
  • Has anyone ever tried audio books from audible.com? They are constantly advertising on podcasts, whether it be TWiT or The Nerdist, and I'm starting to wonder if they are worth giving a shot.
    Audible is basically where I go whenever I need an audio book.
  • Intelligence Squared Podcasts: Debates!
    Yes, but watch out for the quick debates where they have that bloody woman on there, I can't remember her name, only that she actually shits me off with how wilfully ignorant and stupidly she argues. One memorable example was the google books episode, where she first claims that she's looked up all the information about google books, and then stated that she refuses to trust any of the information that comes from google, because they're obviously evil and therefore it must all be propaganda. The ACTUAL debates are great.
  • Radiolab, as I said in the wrong thread earlier, and Hooked: A Drugs Podcast is also very interesting.
  • Has anyone ever tried audio books from audible.com? They are constantly advertising on podcasts, whether it be TWiT or The Nerdist, and I'm starting to wonder if they are worth giving a shot.
    I'm sure that Audible is very very great. It's like Netflix of audio. The problem is that it is very expensive, and is loaded with DRM. Audible is just as expensive, if not more expensive than, Netflix, and it offers less. If they lower the price and can the DRM, I'll be on it.
  • edited July 2010
    Post edited by Jason on
  • edited July 2010
    Cue Scott's response about how Netflix is making no bones about how they're renting you the movie or selling you the streaming video service while Audible is selling you DRM'd audio-books via a subscription-based service.

    (Never mind the fact that you can burn the audio-books to CD and re-rip them or just re-capture your audio stream if you're concerned about the DRM wrapper getting in the way.)
    Post edited by Techparadox on
  • edited July 2010
    Cue Scott's response about how Netflix is making no bones about how they're renting you the movie or selling you the streaming video service while Audible is selling you DRM'd audio-books via a subscription-based service. (Never mind the fact that you can burn the audio-books to CD and re-rip them or just re-capture your audio stream if you're concerned about the DRM wrapper getting in the way.)
    It is true that the Netflix streaming is DRM, however the Netflix DVD is just DVDs. And while DVDs do technically have encryption, it's been broken for so long, is that even really considered DRM anymore? If audible also mailed you Audiobooks on CD the way Netflix does DVDs, I would get it so fast.

    Also, yes you are correct. There is sort of a different expectation between renting/selling, keeping/streaming. It's really something I hope is corrected and standardized in the near future.
    Post edited by Apreche on
  • edited July 2010
    Given that Audible is now owned by Amazon, I'm willing to bet that the DRM is only there to keep the publishers happy. Everyone and their dog knows that no one in their right mind would buy a fully-DRM-crippled digital audio playback device these days, so this is the closest the publishers are going to get to a Kindle store for audio-books. Besides, there are programs out there that will strip the DRM off Audible's .AA file format, or you can always use the analog hole to get around it. But why bother with it? People that want DRM-free audio-books are either going to buy the CDs themselves or go bootleg them from the usual sources. When Amazon bought Audible they said that if enough people raised a stink about it then they'd start selling the audio-books without the DRM. The DRM is still there, so apparently not enough people gave a damn. Me? I'd rather read a hard-copy of a book than listen to an audio-book any day of the week (unless they had someone REALLY good doing the narration).
    Post edited by Techparadox on
  • I listen to the following podcasts (in alphabetical order):

    Astronomy Cast, The Bible Geek, The Bugle, Collings and Herrin, Fighting Talk, Filmspotting, gadget, GeekNights, The Good Atheist, In Our Time, Little Atoms, Mark Kermode and Simon Mayo, More or Less, Norman Centuries, Point of Inquiry, Richard Herring's As It Occurs to me, Science Fiction and Politics, SFFaudio, The Skeptic's Guide, Skeptoid, The Sofanauts, This Week in Google, This Week in Photography, Writing Excuses, You Look Nice Today.

    I listen to others, but not regularly. If I was to pick one which you should just download every episode and listen to them all in a row, I suggest You Look Nice Today.

    And as Churba noted, my own podcast is pretty nifty, if you're into reading. I'm thinking of starting (yet another) podcast, about living an interesting and creative lifestyle, but those plans are on hold until after my big summer tour, until my life is slightly less interesting.
  • I have an audible platinum account, and am very happy with it. Living in Germany, with a German credit card, means there are lots of books I'd like to listen to which just aren't available to me. German publishers have the rights to that content in Germany, but only release German language versions. If that happens, and I really want the book in an audio version, I have to get it from a torrent site, or transfer it from a friend. I mean, I have the account, and am happy to pay money for something, but they won't let me pay money for it. In that case, I happy to pirate it. But usually the book is there, and I just use my credits to buy it. It works out slightly more expensive than buying books new, but I like the audio format.
Sign In or Register to comment.