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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The ABC is Australia’s national broadcaster (publicly funded) and Radio National is the flagship radio network; producing original, serious content that has wide applicability.  About half of the following programs are very Aussie-centric, but the other half can apply to almost any listener.  There’s plenty here to discover and explore -

360: radio documentaries (rss feed / itunes page)
All in the Mind: consciousness and mental malfunction (rss feed / itunes link)
Artworks: summary of the week’s high art news (rss feed / itunes link)

Australia Talks: daily talk back and call-in show (rss feed / itunes link)
Away!: aboriginal affairs (rss feed / itunes page)
Background Briefing: big ticket current affairs, weekly (rss feed / itunes page)

Big Ideas: lecture series from prominent people (rss feed / itunes page)
CounterPoint: counterviews to the current thinking (rss feed / itunes link)
Edpod: educational news and views (rss feed / itunes link)

Encounter: the clash of morality and modern life (rss feed / itunes page)
Health Report: medical science, weekly (rss feed / itunes link)
Hindsight: looking back at Australian history (rss feed / itunes link)

Late Night Live: lively political discussion (rss feed / itunes link)
Law Report: applied and practical legal matters (rss feed / itunes page)
Life Matters: daily interviews on lifestyle matters (rss feed / itunes link)

Music Show: weekly overview of the professional music scene (rss feed / itunes link)
Science Show: weekly magazine of interesting research from around the world (rss feed / itunes link)
Spirit of Things: earnest questioning of the spiritual path and modernity (rss feed / itunes page)

Verbatim: lengthy interviews with long-lived Aussies (rss feed / itunes link)

shows have a 4 week archive, before the mp3’s disappear into the ABC website.  This is a generous allowance, and strikes a fine balance between accessibility and having to maintain an extended bandwidth presence via the iTunes store.  Very fair.

many of these shows were my mainstays before I discovered the world of podcasting, and I have so many fond memories of a small transistor radio and headphones plugged into my mind.  Many ideas, many worlds opened up via these presenters and guests.  So much to be grateful for.  Hope you can find some joy here.

the ABC Program Site for Radio National

Radio Rookies is an outreach initiative on the part of WNYC – the largest NPR affiliate in the U.S.  The Rookies program aims to bring the voices of teenagers and their stories to a wider public.  They hold one or two workshops a year, where they train youngsters in the art of producing audio, then broadcast the finished product.  The end result is polished, authentic, real, and very satisfying.

The youth of our culture have so many stories to tell, so many experiences that are not represented in the wider media.  The harshness of day to day living – of being in an underclass, being in a family with little money, or being overweight or having a disability – these are the experiences conveyed.  The stories are spliced with audio bites with friends, relatives, and street sounds.  The narration is excellent, as scripts go through repeat edits.

The difference between a raw audio feed and a highly worked radio program is like the difference between a raw vegetable and a prepared steaming vegetarian stew.  Almost unrecognisable.  There are merits to the former (cheap, ‘natural’, unfeigned) but the latter works on all the senses and is a concentrated hit.  Such is the Radio Rookies experience.

I loved listening to these stories – these are real people, telling it the way it is.

Radio Rookies – celebrating our youth.

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this podcast is fairly new (3 months old) and is devoted to gaming.  Maybe seeing the unrivaled success of the Joystiq Podcast, these guys too, are jumping onto the Podcast Bandwagon.

what marks out the Kotaku podcast is that it is run through BlogTalk Radio; that is, it airs live, like a traditional radio program, and takes calls from the public.  This interactive aspect is unique (as far as I know) in gaming podcasts.

the podcast is weekly, and dishes out the usual news, views, and short reviews.  The hosts are lively and thoroughly engaging.  My own understanding of the gaming world is rather sketchy (no xbox, no ps3 here) but I am fascinated by this mainstream activity.  Having grown up on the teat of 90’s pc games, the evolution of this past-time is rather mind-boggling.

gaming is a way of playing out dis-empowerment … of becoming the hero of your own story.  It is a fascinating phenomena indeed.

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blog talk home

Note: call ins are the best part of the show!

long for the good old days of the 30’s and 40’s?  well, maybe not, but they did produce some good radio back then.  These old time radio shows have been revived by Legacy of Laughs, a podcast which brings you a weekly half-hour slice of classic comedy.  I must admit, I was a bit skeptical going in (is this stuff dated, or tired, or just plain unfunny), but I came away seriously laughing out loud.  The most I have in a while.  Genuine comedy plays on inherent, deep-seated human character flaws, and alas, these do not change with time.  In fact, I do wonder at times if this ‘older’, more classical culture understood the human plight better than the pundits we have today.  We seem to have so much knowledge, but so little learning and true wisdom.

but enough with the rant on current times, these radio shows are well produced and well written.  The acting in them is commendable.  When they were produced I am sure they thought it was going to be disposable, a one time play only.  Well, so many years later, and with our infinitely replicating digital machines, that is not the case.

In a one click podcast subscribe, we take a time capsule from the past, and consume it in the present.  Do yourself a favor, sub and laugh.  Smiles all round.

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every September, BeethovenFest is celebrated in Bonn, Germany.  Deustche Welle streams the concerts live, but then also makes available selected highlights.  The recordings are high fidelity, and represent the best in orchestral and solo performances.  This year saw a cycle of Beethoven Piano Sonatas performed on period instruments – the original ‘fortepiano‘. Three of these sonata concerts are available in the podcast feed at the moment.

classical music never fails to inspire, and when we have an outpouring of love and technical prowess as we do here, one can only marvel, yet again, at the wonders of music – it’s ability to move and transcend.  5 stars.

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Deutsche Welle Podcast page

sometimes it’s hard to stay in touch, despite the myriad of information sources we have around us.  Under a swamp of incoming sources, how best to distinguish the signals from the mere noise?  Finding our own information filters is a necessary part of adapting to the digital / internet lifestyle.  It’s the only way we can stay sane.

WYNC is a New York based radio station that has been in operation since 1922.  One of its flagship programs is the morning news show called ‘The Takeaway”.  The full four hour broadcast is available in the itunes store (link here) but most people aren’t going to plough through that.  A nice way to get a slice of it is through their “Story of the Day” cut, served up in podcast format

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the cuts themselves are a handy 10 minutes in length; enough to get into an issue and ask a few questions.  Expert opinions are sought, and the host juggles the various viewpoints with ease.  Topics are, quite understandably, often hot button political issues of the day; for eg, healthcare reform, and Obama’s seemingly omnipresent media whoring.  But societal issues feature too: with stories around digital distraction, and race amnesia having made an appearance.  All in all, it’s a wide ranging diet, and a nice little complement to your daily media intake.

well presented and well argued – well done.

The Bobby Bones Show is a morning FM variety show broadcasting out of Austin, Texas.  It does comedy.  The stars are the aforementioned “Bobby Bones”, main host and wry comedy man; Amy, the chick that questions are bounced off; and “Lunchbox”; the straightup, no bullshit, man on the street guy.  The law of trinities holds that Three is a stable, ever revolving combination of sparking energies, and it works wonderfully well here.

Comedy is their game … and the trio’s observations on daily happenings, quirky events, corrupt politics – this is straight smile to the face stuff.  Hosts are just under 30 years old; so just straddle the line between Gen X and the group that came afterwards.  Those that grew up in a mixed time in society and history; when things were in flux, and all was unstable.  Such uncertainty has infused the attitudes of this generation.

The show isn’t posted wholesale onto itunes.  That would be a little unwieldy.  Instead, the morning’s funnies are cut up into 5-10 minute segments, and you can listen to a bite size piece of smile.  Thoroughly enjoyable stuff.

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