Podcast directory

20 Favorite Podcasts

A friend of mine asked me to send hime some of my favorite podcasts. Since my podcasts are a major source of my public policy perspective, I thought I'd post them here.

I see that they break down into four categories: News/Analysis, Science/Learning and Entertainment. Here are a couple of highlights from each category:

News/Analysis.

Democracy Now. The closest thing to a good news podcast is Democracy Now. Its a liberal coverage of the news, and it covers many issues that don't get into the New York Times. As such its a great source for emerging news that haven't (and sometimes never will) bubble to the mainstream press. There are often times where DN gets news storys days or months before the mainstream. However, the coverage often includes hatchet jobs on current people and issues without any balance (the phrase "we asked a representative of the Bush administration to como on the show and defend its policies, but they declined our request"). Becuase its daily, there is often a lot of stuff that don't get elsewhere.
Media Matters with Bob McChesney. Media Matters covers media issues (e.g. media consolidation, corporate bias, network newtrality, telcom oligopoly) from a "progressive" perspective. Noam Chompsky, Bill Moyers and democratic members of the FCC.
Slate Magazine. Slate covers a variety of current issues from a slightly left-of-NPR perspective.

Science/Learning

In our Time with Melvyn Bragg. This hour-long BBC production takes a one hour look at a single topic that can vary widely, brings in two or three academics, and Melvyn walks them through the history of the topic. Topics are very wide-ranging and have ranged from Aesclepyus' tragedys to the progress of discovering gravitons. It also includes discussions on the lives of historic figures throughout time. Unlike many podcasts, the information therein does not depreciate, and a rehearing months or years later is just as enjoyable as the original. Overall, this is the podcast I most look forward to in a week.
Living on Earth. LOE covers environmental issues. In one sense, it covers them from an inhently liberal bias, becuase the majority of conservatives tend to place lower priority on environmental issues viis a vie private property. However, from a scientific perspective, they are usually (IMO) only a little bit left-leaning.
Best of National Geographic Magazine. NGM is a classic. They don't always choose the article I most want to hear, but it is almost always interesting.
All in the Mind with Natasha Mitchell. AIM is an ABC (Australian Broadcasting Company) production that spends an entire weekly episode covering a single topic in the field of brain science, cognition or mental illness in depth. I don't always enjoy these, but they are usually very informative.

Entertainment

This American Life with Ira Glass. TAL is really in a class by itself. Some episodes are entertainment with some implicit commentary on the human condition and/or american culture. Some episodes simultaneously cover science, public policy or the envoronment. Two recent episodes that show it simultaneously covers multiple categories are the episode that was actually rebroadcast on ABC's All in the Mind (on the removal of homosexuality from the list of mental disorders) and the coverage of measuring the death rate in Iraq, as done by a former Air Force Captain working on the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the start of the second Iraq war. Most of these issues are also timeless, and I collect them.

The Full list is after the jump...

Web Site	Podcast	Frequency	Length (Min)	Decription
Democracy Now	Democracy Now	Weekdays	60	Liberal/Progressive News from Pacifica. This is really the premier liberal news podcast
From Our Own Correspondent	From Our Own Correspondent	Weekly	30	Personal (not-quite news) remineninces of BBC correspondents that gives background to world stories
KPFA's FlashPoints	KPFA's FlashPoints	Weekdays	30	Liberal news show from the Berkeley Nuclear Free Zone
51 Percent	51% Percent	Weekly	30	Women's issues from Russell Sage College
Media Matters	Media Matters	Weekly	50	Liberal/Progressive coverage of the media, regulations laws, technology and network issues
Living on Earth	Living on Earth	Weekly	50	Environmental Issues
Studio 360	Studio 360	Weekly	50	Music, Arts, Culture
On The Media	On The Media	Weekly	50	Media issues ethics and shortcomings
Meet The Press	Meet The Press	Weekly	42	A List Political Interviews and Commentary (Tim Russert)
This Week	This Week	Weekly	42	A List Political Interviews and Commentary (George S)
Slate Magazine	Slate Magazine	Weekdays	20	Commentary
Nightline	Nightline	Weekdays	20	Current News from ABC
In our Time	In Our Time	Weekly	50	In depth learning from the BBC w/ Melvin Bragg
Best of National Geographic Magazine	Best of National Geographic Magazine	Weekly	30	Reading of a magazine article from the classic magazine
National Geographic News	National Geographic News	Weekly	20	Geo-cultural and environmental news
Science Friday	Science Friday	Weekly	50	Science news coverage from NPR
All in the Mind	All in the Mind	Weekly	40	Brain and Mind Science from Australia
Quirks and Quarks	Quirks and Quarks	Weekly	40	General science show
Dan and Dave Show	Dan and Dave Show	Weekly	30	Technology survey from ZDNet
World Technology	World Technology	Weekly	30	Technology from PRI
Clark Howard	Clark Howard	Weekdays	120	Personal savings and finance advice
This American Life	This American Life	Weekly	50	Humor or entertainment
Selected Shorts	Selected Shorts	Weekly	50	UPDATE: Short stories, professionally read by famous people (actors, the author). Also, See important note in the Update.

It seems to me that this list slants substantially to the left. I also listen to a bunch of podcasts of right wing commentators and news. I record these directly from the network feeds on the computer, becuase they aren't available as podcasts.

Right Wing/Conservative: Rush Limbaugh, Glen Beck, Mark Davis,

Finance: Bob Brinker (Who has helped me get to the land of Critical Mass).

News: NPR Talk of the Nation, Brian Leher Show (One segment of Brian Leher is available as a podcast, but I record the entire two hours).

Entertainment: Selected Shorts, Says You, To The Best of Our Knowlege (One segment of Brian Leher is available as a podcast, but I record the entire two hours).

10/31/07 Update: I just noticed that Selected Shorts has begun offering Selected shorts via PodCast. However, as of last night, they had the rrs address wrong for the podcast. The itunes address is correct, and as of now, its the only way to subscribe to the 'cast.