The Podcast Review

RadoWest is one of the finest examples of radio making the transition to podcast.  They have a generous offering of archives in the iTunes store, and the shows appear quickly and promptly on a daily basis.  The RSS feed is equally well parsed; with a descriptive title and date, and short summary.  The podcast is a daily 50 minute experience and offers up some of the best current affairs and general interest stories out there.  There is an in-focus interview with engaging culture makers, and the host, Doug Fabrizio, is well prepared and asks all the right questions.

Successful podcasts are usually highly focused, or the general interest; it is dangerous to fall in between these two ends.  RadioWest fits the general bill quite well.

this has made my highly protected, and coveted, daily listening list.  Well done Doug.

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this is one of the best tech / geek interview shows out there.  The tech sector seems to be brimming with panel discussions on the latest happenings or buzz, but very rarely do you get to sit down and hear an entrepreneur or major player tell it-like-it-is in their own words.  Maybe they are shy of their own voice, or perhaps they view audio as an in-efficient method of conveying their message, but the Tech Interview podcast is a rare beast indeed.

What hooked me initially into Social Nerdia were these 2 shows:  one with John Poza, founder of Woopra, a web analytics company (the interview is much more interesting than his company sounds!) and this other extended discussion with Bob Knorpp, founder of the BeanCast – a very interesting and lively marketing podcast.  Both introduced me to new players, and extended my understanding of the web space as it is; and how quickly it is changing in daily usage.

For these connections, one is thankful.  One meaningful thread can lead one into world’s of opportunities; exploring sub-ecosystems than one did not know previously existed.  Many do their work in quiet, but the work is done nevertheless.  The result is what counts, not the accolades.

a thoroughly enjoyable show from a dedicated geek.

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this is the most amazing show.  For the larger, curvier woman (ie size 14 and above) a career in the public eye as a model or actress may seem to be out of reach.  Well. Chenese Lewis says no.  Having succeeded herself, she wants to convey to others the message of acceptance.  Large is not ugly in her eyes, large is not something to be shunned.  Here we have a different notion of beauty and reality.

Body image is something that wracks our culture.  It has always been a blight for the young women, but even today, men seem concerned with their skin tone, muscle tone, and general appearance.  It is almost as though we are elevating the exterior over the interior, valuing what we perceive with our senses, rather than trusting our instinct and gut feeling about a person.  The cult of the exterior is dangerous indeed.

this talk / interview show is wonderfully refreshing.  Produced rather spasmodically (two or three times a month) there is a wonderful archive of 30 shows going back a year.  The shows themselves are an hour long, and usually have 3 guests.  It keeps things moving, and provides a prism of opinion; a big advantage over 1 hour 1 guest shows.

the host is interested, without being over-forced, leading the discussion well.  Truly wonderful and inspiring; we are all the same underneath.  Spirits cloaked in a body’s garb.

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I knew nothing about Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) before this podcast.  After just a few episodes, and watching a few fights (check out MMA Core, for eg) I’ve got a grounding of knowledge.  A true example of a podcast teaching through example and passion.

the shows go for an hour, and feature interviews with trainers and fighters.  Actually, the word interview mischaracterises what takes place; it’s more like a private discussion between friends and insiders.  They talk about fights, ask about approaches and technique, and the answers come back clear and bright as a crystal.  Like I said, I knew NOTHING at all about MMA before this podcast; but the talk is plain and direct, and one is humbled as one learns something with each Q&A.

Fighting is something very much on the male mind; we seem built for warfare.  Not that women don’t have aggressive urges, but males of all species are driven by that unholy testosterone urge.  The urge to strike, grapple, and take down … organised combat is one way to play this out.  You know, there is more to fighting than mere boxing.  MMA has shown me that.

one can have disdain on such sports and practices, but there is a fundamental reality to our bodies.  Our knees are more than mere joints.

An intriguing journey.

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it has been my consistent view that Information Technology fundamentally shifts the nature of the human experience; for so many centuries and millenia, information and knowledge was gated down certain pipes; you had to be in the know to ‘know’.  It was a constraint of physics (overhearing a conversation) and technology (parchment, and printing press).  Knowledge was constrained.  Decisions were made with limited data.

with the advent of the computer, and more recently, mass adoption of high speed internet, this limitation has, essentially, been removed.  Knowledge is, for all intents and purposes, a shared space with the likes of google and twitter search.  You have a directed tap into whatever field or real time conversation that your mind aims towards.  It is powerful, and heady.

yet knowledge is not everything.  There is a higher level that exists, and I would posit that it encompasses the world of ‘Understanding‘ and ‘Wisdom‘.  So while we have knowledge and technique on tap, we have to be aware that there is a different game in town; something else being played out.   That’s why, although I have a keen interest in tech and its developments, I remain shy of becoming an uber-geek, and giving myself over to a technocentric world.  I fear there is a trap at the end of the tunnel of funneled electrons.

Supernova – is a blogtalk radio show all about the Network Age.  It investigates the consequences of having an always on, always conencted society.  It’s main approach is from that of the provider – ie, the company and corporation – those that deliver the services that we all rely on.  For example, here is a show on Google Wave, and one on Modern Coding.   But there are also more humanist approaches, asking the questions of how to Digitally Disconnect, and what Twitter Truly Means for us.  Topics are broad and engaging.

The shows themselves go for an hour, but could have done with some editing.  Although the show is recorded live via blogtalk, there are options to upload your own mp3’s, and I feel a better product could have been delivered with some careful curation.  There are some stretches where the conversation lags, and basically, there is a lot of dead, empty air.  This is a shame, because the ideas presented are wide-ranging and deep.  A bit of fast forwarding will aid you in getting the most out of this podcast.

in short, the Ideas are powerful, but the presentation is a little off.   Enough gold to glitter for the seeking eye.

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one of the most contentious theories of recent times is that 9/11 was an inside job – that the official story is an outright lie, and possibly an inside job.  It is a challenging and troubling theory.

so what does one do?  one sees the twin towers come crumbling down, collapsing into it’s own foundations, one sees World Trade Center 7 self demolate on the same day, even though no plane struck it.  One sees … and one marvels – what really happened?

there are in-numerable 9/11 conspiracy sites out there.  They prefer to call themselves the ‘Truth Movement‘ to throw off the stigma of the x-files and ufo’s – this is no ordinary Conspiracy Theory.  There is video, there is eyewitness testimony, there is the timeline, there is digital evidence.  9/11 is a watershed moment in the collective pursuit of truth.

Visibility 9/11 is a podcast that has been running for 4 years.  Hosted by Michael Wolsey, it is a professional, serious, and analytical presentation of various lines of independent investigation.  Each episode  centers around an expert guest who presents their view and supporting evidence.  Shows go for around an hour, and raise some very troubling questions.  If you have an open mind, you owe it to yourself to at least consider the possibility that the 9/11 story has not yet been fully told.  Listen, observe, and weigh for yourself.

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this show proves that you can make a podcast about almost anything.  Is is basically a PR exercise on the part of the Department of Defence; opening it up to the public eye, showing that this is a transparent organisation for the new age.  It features interviews with scientists and researchers associated with the military, and tries to give a laymen’s view of what they are attempting to do.

there is a hard edge to it; the information centers around science, so it’s not all spin.  Some of the topics covered in the 39 shows so far include robotics, energy research, and finding new technological ways to support troops on the ground.  The military and science is a broad interface, and offers a slather of topics to delve into.  Interesting stuff to talk about is not an issue.

The presentation is fairly dry, despite the brassy intro theme.  Shows are weekly, and clock in under the half hour mark; just the perfect length here.  Enough time to get into depth, without turning into a lecture.

interesting insights here; all the more so for a glimpse into this military machine that has come to dominate so much of the globe.

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my biggest gripe with the show is that it is rehearsed.  The questions have been given beforehand, and the interviewees are just reading out their answers.  You can hear it!

who are the makers of culture?  and more importantly, how does it filter down to us?  Is it a bottom up process, or is it something dictated from on-high by book publishers and tv networks?  how does a group or individual create a following?  all fascinating questions, and all pertinent to this long running podcast (there are over 300 shows, going back to March 2006).

The host is Jesse Thorn, and the show is a twice weekly podcast that interviews prominent ‘culture’ makers for half an hour.  The show is ad and promo free and is syndicated across various public radio stations around the US.  Production quality is very high, and the audio is crystal clear; hearing this show makes one appreciate the skills it takes to master a professional radio show.

the guests are an array of comedians, writers and entertainers.  The interviews are light, and the interviewer is smart and wordy.  Show float along, and drip with stories, anecdotes, and personal probing.  If you are at all interested in those who lead ‘tribes’ in our society, this podcast is a must-listen.  Thoroughly entertaining and bright.

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Sean Croxton is a firm believer in metabolic typing.  Basically, this says that every individual has a diet most suited for them.  So forget Atkins, and all his low carbs – you need to find what works for you.

This podcast, Underground Wellness, is a weekly blogtalk radio show that features interviews with guests that would be considered heretical to the traditional medical health system.  It is alternative in the extreme.  But the fundamental motivation behind such a stance is in finding what works; quite frankly, if you look around you, you don’t see wellness and life abounding; rather you see an over-burdened medical system that doesn’t solve the disease and symptoms presented.  That’s because the cause is much deeper – it lies within our food.

this show looks at where our food comes from, what happens before it gets to us, and what we to it before we consume it.  It also asks big questions about *what* we eat, and whether it is appropriate for us.  The shows themselves go over the hour mark, and are well paced.  Sean is a fine interviewer and listener, and allows his guests to present their case.  The content really comes to the fore, and there is a minimum of self-promotion and willy waggling – it is all about the primacy of the information.

this is liberating stuff, and is a trigger for truly life changing decisions.  What are you eating for dinner tonight?

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I only discovered this podcast quite recently; it is quite a revelation.  It is a treasure trove of interviews that go back about 4 years, about 300 shows in all.  They are forty-fifty minute episodes that deal with the mental health field – with writers, professionals, and people who have learned to over-come their own issues.  It is a wonderful exploration of the various permutations that our mind can take.

It often astounds me that there are sites like this dwelling in obscurity, constantly pushing out quality and insightful content.  It makes me wonder what gets surfaced by popular opinion, and if that is a process we should have any faith in at all.  It appears that only ‘entertainment’ and ‘titillating’ stories are the ones that garner promise; not the ones that truly empower us as individual beings.

The mind is wonderful device, a fantastical experience.  PsychJourney is a podcast that explores the inner sanctums of this all-too-forgotten realm.  The physical may be out there, but the experience is, in the end, all internal.

wonderful listenings.

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