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Podcasts to bring on a trip
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?
Comments
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
- Film Sack
- Final Score
- The Geek Show
- The Greatest Movie Ever! Podcast
- Remember When
- Galactic Watercooler
Also, Scott, do you object to Netflix's DRM?
(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.)
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.
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.