2.11.09

What's On YOUR iPod?

Today, I achieved something close to podcast nirvana. I have no back episodes waiting for me. When I've been close to having this happen previously, I've inevitably heard about some wonderful new podcast to which I simply had to begin listening. I think I'm done searching out new podcasts, though. I like the (extensive) line up as it is now. I'm leaving out podcasts that aren't updated regularly or haven't been updated for more than a year, even they were updated regularly up until that point.

60 Second Civics & 60 Second Science are both great daily podcasts. The latter is only released on weekdays, but the first one has an episode every day.

Classics for Kids is released every Saturday. Each month takes a different composer as the main focus. Past episodes are also available on the show's website. At six minutes, it's a good length for the kids. We like to listen to it on weekend drives or on the way to Master's Academy.

From the Quick and Dirty Tips group of podcasts, I like to listen to Get-It-Done Guy and Grammar Girl. Get-It-Done Guy isn't always relevant to not working in a corporate office, but plenty of it is. They're both weekly podcasts.

My favorite podcast at which to poke fun is How to Homeschool. It's a homeschool graduate and his mother, and they say completely inane things each and every episode. I only include it for the sake of completeness, really. That, and as a cautionary tale. If you want to do a podcast, don't sound like Scott & Becky.

The Princeton Review has a couple of great podcasts - LSAT Logic in Everyday Life, and The Vocab Minute. The kids love the songs for vocabulary. EG sometimes listens to the logic with me; it's not all that LSAT specific, but does do a good job at covering informal logic.

If you're a geek, don't miss Math Mutation. It's funny and interesting. I blame Math Mutation for FB's obsession with the concept of infinity.

In Our Time, from the BBC, is a new favorite. It covers a variety of topics once a week. EG and I listen to it on the way to and from her piano lesson each Thursday.

I love several podcasts from NPR. Weekly, they compile the education stories and environmental stories into two respective podcasts. I also like the It's All Politics and Science Friday podcasts.

While we're on the subject of politics, my other political indulgences are P3: Post Politics Program, a 25 minute weekly review of the nation's politics, and President Obama's Weekly Address, available in convenient podcast format. I feel more informed by my three weekly political podcasts than I do after days of trying to find real news on mainstream media websites.

Finally, I've recently added Scientific American to the mix. The most recent podcast discussed human evolution, and there was a special episode about the new Nobel laureates.

EG & FB don't listen to all of these, especially not FB. When they do, though, we often have great conversations about them. Since I'm in the car so much, I like not constantly scanning the radio stations for decent music or hearing part of an NPR story only to miss the conclusion when I reach my destination.

What are some of your favorite podcasts?

4 comments:

Lisa said...

Thanks for the suggestions. I am looking forward to checking out 60 Second Civics/Science! There are so many podcasts to wade through- this helps!

Stever Robbins said...

Thank you for listening to the Get-it-Done Guy! I try to do a mix of topics that apply in and out of the workplace, since my listener base spans home and work. I also try to sneak in tips that can be adapted for both places, though I realize that sometimes it's a bit of a stretch to adapt your Ghoul Resurrection Initiative to indexing your daily recipes.

(Four of the next five episodes will apply to everyone/everywhere. The fifth is also universal, but will require a bit of thought to figure out how to apply it everywhere. Thanks to this posting, I'll make special effort when writing the show to point out how it can be used in a non-work setting.)

If you have any requests or suggestions for future shows, please send them along to: getitdone@quickanddirtytips.com.

Thanks again for your support,

Stever Robbins
host of the Get-it-Done Guy's Quick and Dirty Tips to Work Less and Do More

sarah said...

Thanks for inspiring me to catch up on my podcasts...Plus the classics for kids is awesome, thanks for the rec.

Anonymous said...

Great podcast ideas! I have many from NPR, but I love to add more so I don't get bored. :)

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